[Re-edited 06.14.23]
Happy Sunday everyone!
Remember when I said chapters were going back to 7k? I lied! This chapter's a monster too. 10k words seems to be my happy place lately.
Anyway, spin on Galuna ahead. I hope you all enjoy this mini interlude! We also see the guild arrive at the Games this chapter as well ;)
~Onward
42
-Galuna Island-
They'd guessed that the island would be about two hours off the coast, based solely on the rumours Natsu and Lucy had heard from the fishermen the night they'd snuck off for a solo dinner. After sailing for a little less than an hour, they spotted the remnants of the Tower of Heaven and Haru and Juvia slowed the flow of their magic, letting the boat float by in silent contemplation. Coincidentally, every one of the fairies involved in the rampage that devastated the tower, was currently present on small boat now. Each of them eyed the mostly collapsed structure, still as eery as ever, the ethernano crystal refracting the sun's light in rainbows around it.
"More memories…" Lucy said quietly. She'd been reminiscing over training camp memories since their arrival at the Akane resort, though these particular memories were a little less fun. Natsu folded her into his arms in front of him, resting his chin on her shoulder, and Gray wrapped a supportive arm around Erza's shoulders as their boat continued to glide by.
Juvia's sudden loud protests and declarations that Erza was now her new love rival broke them from their collective silence, staring blankly as the blunette demanded a fight for her beloved's affections. The group stared at the scene, a mix of reactions ranging from shock at the Juvia's challenge to pure amusement. Juvia's entire attention remained fixed solely on the knight, though Erza in turn still hadn't torn her own from the Tower. Slowly, an easy laughter replaced the melancholy mood and it was that, that finally snapped Erza out of whatever memories had swallowed her. She blinked as she realized she was half of the subject of that laughter and quickly assured Gray she was alright, lest Juvia sink their boat…
As soon as the ice mage removed his arm, Juvia flung herself against his side, wrapping her arms around his biceps in an iron clad grip. Clicking his tongue in irritation, Haru addressed Juvia, "I guess you're done helping then?"
She cracked one eye open at him with pursed lips before burying her face further into the struggling ice mage's shoulder. Rolling his eyes, Haru took up the slack of his fellow water mage, increasing the current around their boat again to continue their travels eastward to the supposed location of the mystery island.
Eventually Laxus and Natsu took over manually rowing the boat to give Haru a break as Juvia still hadn't relinquished her grip on Gray to help out. Gray had long given up on freeing himself from her clutches, though it was a wonder to Natsu why he ever bothered trying to pry the girl off himself in the first place… he never succeeded. Natsu glanced around as he rowed, they were far enough out now that they were surrounded by endless stretches of blue in all directions and it appeared Lucy, Wendy, and Carla, were starting to get anxious.
"Maybe this place doesn't actually exist, I mean it could just be a legend that sprung up in the village after some poor travel-delirious fisherman thought he saw something." Lucy suggested.
"And I don't like the… feeling… I'm sensing from the skies," Wendy added, apprehensively watching the perfectly clear skies above.
The rest of the group looked skyward as well and Laxus quirked a brow at the teen, "What do you mean Wendy?" he asked.
Shifting uncomfortably and squeezing Carla tensely, she just gnawed on her bottom lip, "I don't know… It just feels wrong the farther east we get." Laxus exchanged a look with Natsu, though neither stopped their rowing.
"What about you, Haru? Picking up anything weird from the ocean?" Natsu asked, turning toward the back of the boat where the Water Slayer had stretched out with an arm slung over the side to glide through the water.
Haru lifted a cupped hand and watched the water run off his palm absently, humming contently. "Nope, nothing out of the ordinary."
From the nose of the boat Erza requipped a lacrimascope to peer into the distance, and Natsu scoffed, pointing out that dragon sight was better than any scope… but she ignored him. "Maybe we should turn around, just get back to regular training. I don't see anything," she told them, even as she continued to scan the horizon. The group broke into a debate on what to do, when the skies darkened in an instant, black clouds heavy with rain rolling in to obscure the sun. Everyone cut off their discussion, heads tipping back to look at the sky in awe, and then giant ribbons of lightning streaked across the sky, and they were met with a torrential rain.
"What the fuck?!" Various complaints of shock sounded from the mages. Laxus leapt up reflexively, landing on the bench in front of him and Natsu. He thrust an arm into the air just in time to attract a massive bolt of lightning to himself and quickly inhaled the stray static that poured off the strike.
"That was close!" Wendy breathed.
The lightning mage turned a cocky look on her, gave her a wink. "You guys couldn't take me unaware in training, why would you ever think the sky could?!"
"Did you actually just challenge the sky, Spark Plug?!" Natsu asked with a bark of laughter, returning Laxus' smug smile.
"You wish you were half as awesome, Pinkie!"
"Really guys?! Now is not the time for your jokes!" Erza screamed back at them just as the ocean threw their boat forward violently, she caught her balance and mumbled under her breath, "idiots." The winds whipped the waters into giant thrashing waves and their combined shrieks of surprise were swallowed by the storm, everyone scrambling for purchase on the boat. More lightning streaked down around them and Natsu jumped up to join Laxus this time. They sprang to one end of the boat each, attention fixed on the storm, prepared to inhale or redirect anything that struck too close.
"Juvia, water shields!" Haru yelled over the storm.
"Right! Water dome!"
"Water Dragon's lair!"
The dome of water Juvia summoned around the entire vessel was quickly reinforced by an even larger sphere that Haru cast around hers, giving them a double layer of protection against the elements and ensuring their boat couldn't be capsized. "Good thinking Haru!" Erza praised. But even with the new shield, they were still at the mercy of the storm. The mages huddled together at the center of their boat, each prepared to do what they could, to counteract the storm. Wendy groaned suddenly and pointed toward the sky where the clouds were swirling together in multiple places, the beginnings of funnel clouds.
"Shit…" Natsu swore, bracing when the first tornado connected with the ocean surface not far from them. Gusts of wind rocked the boat and their water shields again, and another pair of twisters met the waters behind them. The first crashed into the outer water dome and Haru and Juvia reactively began feeding more magic into their spells. But against ongoing abuse, the water spheres eventually shattered under the force of the peculiar storm.
Haru cursed loudly, and Wendy leapt passed him, shouting, "Leave this to me!" She inhaled deeply, drawing the windy vortexes toward her, and arched back, "Sky Dragon's ROAR!" she screamed, unleashing an incredible gust of her own to tear through the twisters. The storm folded back in on them almost immediately, and despite the teamwork of Natsu and Laxus countering the lightning, Haru and Juvia countering the towering waves, and Wendy countering the twisters, the elements eventually breeched their defences.
Cold water was suddenly submerging him, and Natsu's mind whirled along with his body, he hadn't even registered their boat being struck before hitting the water. He desperately tried to slow his uncontrolled spinning in the undertow and finally locked eyes on the slightly lighter blue of the surface above him. He swam. He swam and broke the water with a gasp, searching wildly through the rough ocean waters for his comrades and spotted the occasional flare of magic in the distance. A wave freezing instantly, a burst of demonic magic cutting through another, a golden glow that preceded Aquarius' arrival… Natsu tried to swim toward Aquarius, and hopefully, Lucy, when another giant wave rose over his head. Reflexively, Natsu released a fiery breath attack, but only succeeded in diminishing the wave partially before he was plunged back under water once more. Whirling in backward loops, he struggled back to the surface again and realized in a moment of panic that he could no longer see any of his friends.
. . .
"Lucy… LUCY. Wake your lazy ass up, you ungrateful brat!"
Lucy shot up, choking out a lungful of water and slipped into a fit of coughs. A hand ran over her back in soothing circles, a direct contrast to the blunt words. Breathing slightly under control, Lucy turned to find Aquarius, trying, and failing, to look detached and angry, but the stellar mage could see the relief on her face regardless. "How dare you scare me like that!" the spirit barked furiously.
"Yeah, sorry about that… Thanks Aquarius," Lucy said genuinely, gaining a blush from her friend who averted her eyes with a click of her tongue. With a shock of memories, Lucy's hand flew to her hip to land on the warmth of her keys and she sighed at the confirmation that she and her spirits made it out of the freak storm okay. "Dammit. When I get my hands on Natsu—" her eyes flew open, and she launched to her feet, frantically scanning the sandy shore she'd landed on, for him, and the rest of her comrades. She caught sight of Wendy just down the beach, flat on her stomach, the water still lapping at her ankles. Lucy ran toward the Sky Slayer, "Wendy!"
Easing the teen into her arms, Lucy was relieved to note steady breathing as Aquarius appeared over her shoulder again. "Your friends are all fine," she assured, gesturing further down the shoreline. Lucy looked over to see Erza sitting with her head in her hands, possibly trying to get her bearings. Gray, Juvia and Mira all sprawled out and making shaky attempts at getting up. Finally, Haru, looking completely exhausted, was dragging both Laxus and Natsu behind him, all three collapsed into the shallows with a splash. Erza was already moving to their aid when Wendy shifted in Lucy's arms, looking around in confusion, "Lucy? What… happened?"
"I have no clue…" Lucy admitted softly, she lifted Wendy onto her back and moved down the beach to join the rest of their guildmates. Erza had pulled the trio of Dragon Slayers out of the water and Laxus and Natsu were already up and arguing back and forth about what to do now, when Lucy reached them.
"Luce!" Natsu leapt forward and pulled her, and consequently, Wendy, into a hug. Some realization seemed to flash in his eyes when he pulled back and stared over her shoulder at the younger slayer. Then he released Lucy's shoulders and spun in a full circle before looking back at them again. "Where are Happy and Carla?"
"What?" Wendy rasped, she scrambled off Lucy's back and ran a few steps passed the Fire Slayer, only now realizing the absence of her partner as her disorientation faded. "CARLA!" She shouted desperately as she ran across the beach in random directions, caught between searching the ocean or the jungle edging the shore. Turning back to Natsu with tear filled eyes, she asked, "you don't think they—"
"No… no they made it ashore, I'm sure of it," Haru said from behind them, pressing himself up into a seated position. He gingerly pressed a hand to his temple with a wince of pain, "Carla was with Wendy when I pulled Erza ashore…" he elaborated.
"Then where the hell'd they go?!" Natsu growled.
"If that damn cat of yours is playing a prank on us—"
Natsu interrupted the lightning mage's threat, "Though I wouldn't put it passed Happy, I seriously doubt Carla would go along with his games."
Laxus shrugged, fair point.
Lucy put one hand on Natsu's shoulder and the other on Wendy's, "Alright, so we just have to find them. They gotta be on the island somewhere. What if we split into two teams and search?" she suggested.
Natsu
If this was Galuna, and Natsu couldn't make sense of any other option, then it made perfect sense why the island was the catalyst of so many myths and rumours. He'd bet his scarf on the theory that the storm that shipwrecked them was not natural; it had essentially formed just long enough to tear their boat apart and suck them into the island. If he had to guess, he'd theorize there was no chance of drowning in that storm either. Something wanted them here, alive. The fact that when they all awoke on the island they were surrounded by the purest blue skies, with no real memory of what happened after their boat capsized, seemed to confirm that further. Even Haru, who'd pulled most of them from the water, said he'd come to, floating a couple hundred feet offshore, with abruptly perfect weather.
Natsu mumbled under his breath, eyes flicking from side to side at the equally odd jungle that pressed in around them, it was like they'd stepped into a completely different hemisphere. Akane beach was hot, but not nearly humid enough to support this kind of vegetation. He shared his train of thought with Lucy, Laxus and Erza as they walked.
"You were the one who just had to go exploring!" Laxus snapped.
"Don't give me that shit. You were the first one on board," Natsu countered without glancing at the other man, gaze trailing upward at the increasingly dense canopy that blocked more and more of the sun's rays. The light hitting the leaves cast their vision through a green film.
"Will you two quit arguing?!" Erza growled, spreading a clump of branches out of her way with the flat of her sword as she led them. The jungle was wild, apparently untouched by any human development, thick moss created a spongy carpet under their feet and spread up over tree trunks and rocks everywhere they looked.
When they came to a deep crevasse cutting through the earth with a wide creek at its bottom, they paused briefly to exchange curious looks. Wondering just how large the island was. The only thing they knew for sure, was the presence of an active volcano towering over the jungle, they had seen it emitting a thin haze into the air from the beach. Without any real discussion, Natsu and Laxus cleared the distance in streams of fire and lightning and Lucy and Erza were right on their heels with flight transformations. They pressed on without a word, sporadically calling for their furry companions, no longer giving a shit if anyone was around to hear. Enemy or not.
After a good hour of exploring the island for any signs of their missing friends, the jungle thinned slightly, and they were met with an incredible pyramidal ruin rising from the forest floor. The foursome stepped out into the clearing, and all stopped to gape at the structure. It was clearly ancient and long since abandoned, judging by the blanket of moss and tangles of vines enveloping it and the odd tree penetrating its structure.
"Uh… so does this mean there were humans here at some point?" Natsu asked, mesmerized.
"I suppose those legends had to have come from somewhere, considering no one has stepped foot here in recent memory," Lucy pondered.
The four approached the ruin cautiously and paused again, just in front of a daunting and intricately carved entrance. Natsu cocked his head, eyes running over the glyphs that covered a set of pillars and placed two fingers to his temple, "Hey Haru… you aren't going to believe what we found."
"Do I want to know?" came his partner's uneasy response.
"We found an old temple, we're gonna check it out…" he said, considering the possibility that the cats were being held inside or simply the potential of getting answers to the mysterious island.
Silence stretched out, but Natsu could feel a flicker of anxiety from his partner, "Right... Well, one of you should stay outside, just to be safe. Avoid being trapped inside or getting ambushed."
"Good call… we'll do that."
"Be careful, we'll make our way to you as soon as we can."
"You, too. Who knows what is lurking on this island…"
Erza volunteered to stand watch and waved as the remaining trio were swallowed by the darkness deeper in the temple.
Haru
"A temple… in the middle of an island… that no one has actually stepped foot on in Gods know how long."
Mira laughed softly at his incredulous tone, and he glanced down at her. "Once again, we have let Natsu get us mixed up in something crazy," she chirped, seemingly untouched by their situation thus far.
Haru just shrugged, "Sounds about right."
Ahead of them, Wendy walked between Gray and Juvia who was doing a surprisingly great job of keeping the teen calm, instead of doting on the ice mage. Haru directed their team more toward the island's interior, heading in the direction Natsu's team had left in. The temple unnerved him. Actually, if he was being honest, something about the island in general, had been unnerving him well before Natsu's group stumbled onto the temple and it wasn't just their missing friends. Something caught his attention and he slowed to stop, listening intently as he tried to differentiate between the variety of smells and scanned the foliage for anything abnormal.
Attention locking on to one specific spot, he called, "I know you're there. Come on out."
The rest of the group stopped then as well, only now realizing that Haru had, and followed his gaze to the random section of jungle. "Uh, Haru?" Gray asked uncertainly.
Nothing moved, not the slightest shift in the vegetation suggested whatever was following them was going to heed his demand. Haru released an impatient breath and brought an arm up, pointer and middle fingers extended. "Water Dragon's piercing bullets," he said, shooting off a series of condensed bullets of water into the tree line, drawing a pair of surprised cries before two figures burst out of the shrubs. They threw themselves down on their knees, torsos pressed to the ground and immediately began begging the Fairy Tail mages to not harm them.
Haru arched a brow, taking in their skin tones, one blue, one maroon, the horns on their heads… 'Demons? –They don't seem like any demon I've ever encountered…' he wondered. He lowered his arm, eyes glimpsing the equally stunned looks on his friends. "Why were you following us?" he asked bluntly, still not letting go of his suspicions yet.
The male demon risked a look at his female companion before glancing nervously over Haru and his comrades. "My name is Bobo, this is Lulu," he gestured to his blue companion, "we didn't mean to threaten you, it's just, there have been a lot of humans appearing on our island recently… We were just trying to determine if you're the good kind…"
"The good kind?" Haru asked in confusion, "there are other humans here?"
Bobo nodded, "Not the friendly kind either," he said slowly, "this island is normally protected by the Storm Barrier, it keeps us hidden from the outside world… Humans aren't exactly welcoming of demon kind, as you might know." Mira nodded empathetically, a distant look in her eyes and Haru reached out to run a hand up and down her back as he asked the pair of demons to elaborate further.
"Well, a group of humans managed to navigate the storm veil which generally disguises Galuna and physically turns boats around that come too close. But whoever these people are, used powerful magic tools that dispelled the storm and landed right on our beach."
Lulu interrupted him, eyes seeming to blaze with a certain ferocity, "They've killed some of our friends… harvested their horns, their wings… apparently, our lives can fetch a pretty price on black markets," she spat.
"But we aren't very strong you see, so we were forced to abandon our village and go into hiding," the male continued despondently, placing a firm hand on Lulu's shoulder. "At first we thought you might be with them, but you seemed to be searching for those small creatures you arrived with, it is possible they have them as well."
Wendy's hands flew up to cover her mouth, and Haru grit his teeth, asking, "Do you know where they are?"
"The Moon Temple."
Haru cursed loudly and ran a hand back through his hair, "Shit, I knew you'd say that." He immediately tried contacting Natsu, but determined the pyramid effectively cut off his telepathy. "Dammit. Alright, we should get to that temple too." Haru took off with the rest of his team at a run, but something Bobo had said pressed at his mind and he stopped abruptly again. Turning to glance over his shoulder, the demons both looked at him curiously. "You said the Storm Barrier that protects this island forcibly turns boats around…" they nodded in confirmation and a sinking feeling settled over him, "then why did our boat get pulled in?"
With a blank face, Bobo said cryptically, "Too many people appearing on our island lately," in the barest whisper that only Haru could have possibly caught.
"Explain."
"That wasn't our storm that pulled you in, another walks our island."
Haru exchanged a glance with Mira who shook her head, taking his hand to pull him on toward the temple without another word.
Lucy
Natsu walked ahead of them with flames dancing along the length of his arm to cast the dark passages in a warm glow, head swivelling side to side as he navigated the temple halls. Lucy followed close behind with Laxus to her right, all of them carefully on guard for the sporadic traps that they'd been springing inadvertently since entering. None of the traps had been much to concern over, a few poison darts here, a pit fall trap there, swinging battering rams, the usual. A large span of the corridor floor gave way to another field of spikes a couple meters below, and without so much as a sound, Natsu and Laxus channeled bursts of magic to propel over. Lucy sent her whip flying with a snap of her wrist to wrap around one of the thick roots that penetrated the structure and swung to safety. All three landed softly on the other side of the trap and continued moving as though nothing had happened.
Natsu paused at the mouth of a new hall that branched off from their current path and eyed it with interest. He turned to gaze down the hall they were presently travelling and finally turned to face the two blondes. "What do you guys think?"
Laxus shrugged indifferently, Lucy would have expected nothing more, "Whatever you think Natsu," she said.
"You guys are no help," he chuckled, drawing both their smiles, Laxus crossed his arms over his chest and waited for his decision. So Natsu glanced back down the new option, "hang on… I need a boost," he announced.
Lucy flinched back under the familiar heat that peeled off him and brought an arm up to shield her face against the scorching temperature. When it dissipated and she looked back, he was standing still, eyes closed and apparently focusing the entirety of his further enhanced senses between the two passages. His eyes snapped open, and the flames that still licked over his right arm set his scales glimmering, he waved a hand at them and strode into the new corridor. "I've got something," he said with interest, "seems sort of familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."
"So, it's not Happy or Carla?" Lucy asked.
Gold flecked eyes met hers and he shook his head despondently, "I don't think so."
The trio followed the narrow passage for a while and sprang no new traps, which Lucy thought was lucky, considering the cramped nature of this hall would make maneuvering more challenging. Up ahead, a warm light bled into the hall, turning the stonework a soft orange, Natsu extinguished his fire as they drew closer to the source. It was a chamber, a large one at that, with a tall ceiling and light emanating from a few lacrima lanterns.
"What is this…" Lucy asked softly. The walls were lined with large trunks, hunting gear, magic tools, and cages, mostly empty.
The fire mage had crossed the room in a couple bounds and crouched in front of one cage, but Lucy couldn't see passed him to see what had garnered his attention. "You're a cat, like Happy!" he said stunned.
"That's exceed!" a low voice grumbled back.
Lucy and Laxus moved closer to find a black cat with rounded ears sitting slumped against the back bars of his cage looking suspicious. "Where have we heard that before?" Lucy asked.
"Mystogan, and some of the Edolas locals—"
"You know Edolas?!" the black cat interrupted, uncrossing his limbs and shifting closer to Natsu hovering in front of the cage.
"Yeah…" Natsu said slowly, curious at the sudden interest, "hey, have you seen any cats like you? Blue or white?"
The cat cocked his head, seemingly surprised at the mention of more exceeds, "No, I haven't seen any other exceeds since leaving Extalia," he told them.
Pursing his lips with more questions, Natsu let it go, now was not the time for stories. "My name's Natsu, my friends here, are Lucy and Laxus," he said pointing them out over his shoulder.
"Panther Lily, but Lily will do."
"Whats say we get you out of here Lily? And you can tell us how you ended up here while we look for Happy and Carla." Natsu's pointer finger ignited, and he began melting the lock mechanism in a controlled burst until the door swung open. Lily thanked them as he stepped out of the small cage.
"Hey! What are you doing with our merchandise?!"
Without standing from his crouch, Natsu looked over his shoulder to find his blond comrades already in combative postures. A group of six men were slowly spreading out along the back wall to better surround them, Natsu couldn't sense much magic pressure from them, but they did seem to be brandishing various magic tools. Speaking of Edolas…
He stood as well when Lucy yelled, "Release Happy and Carla, now!" Looking passed his comrades he realized the two men at the chamber's entrance held a cage between them, containing the unmoving shapes of their friends.
"If you hurt them…" Natsu trailed off in a low ultimatum causing a couple of the men to shutter under the furious gazes of the Fairy Tail mages.
A large man to the left of the cage sneered, "Exceeds fetch enough Jewel to retire comfortably, and they happen to be unbelievably rare! Imagine our surprise to find two washed up on our beach, just like that?" His eyes crawled over Panther Lily standing at Natsu's side, now holding a sword ready in his paws. "A few mages certainly won't make us give up this find."
"They aren't finds, they're FRIENDS!" Lucy shouted angrily and leapt into the center of the room, her palms glowing. "But if that's the way you want it," she clapped her hands overhead and a burst of gold shot upward, "Star Reform: shatter!" the orb of gold exploded in a multitude of meteor-like streaks, piercing their foes.
The cage clattered to the ground with a loud ring on the stone, jolting the cats inside awake with startled cries. Natsu flew across the room in a pink blur, slamming a fiery knee into the chest of one of the men who'd managed to negate Lucy's attack with a magic tool. Skidding to a stop, he slashed through the top of the cage with a precisely placed claw attack.
"Natshuuu!" Happy whined, leaping out of the cage and fitting himself to Natsu's head as he blubbered incoherently.
"We need to take this battle outside, don't want history coming down on our heads!" Laxus announced, zapping through the mess of people, he spun on his foot and took off at a sprint down the hall. Lucy grabbed Carla before spinning a brutal kick into the head of a merc who tried to pursue and followed the lightning mage.
A loud series of screams echoed down the hall behind her, and Lucy glanced back to catch a wave of fire pouring into the hall, "NATSU! Let's GO!" she screamed back.
He burst out the door a moment later, Lily folded under one arm and Happy under the other as he sped down the hall, catching up to her in an instant.
Erza
Erza sat in a comfortable squat, chin resting on the palm of one hand braced on her knee and her other lazily holding a sword. Her eyes grazed over the unconscious forms of five men and she released a bored sigh, "Well, that was hardly worth the effort." She stood, and scanned the jungle, wondering what the immense pressure she'd felt earlier was… It had felt as stifling as Natsu's and Haru's combined Dragon Force… but different somehow. It certainly wasn't coming from the morons that pathetically attempted to ambush her.
She eyed the trunk they'd been carrying between them, and sauntered over to slash the lock off it, might as well amuse herself while she waited for her comrades… She dropped to the ground, amongst a pile of various magic artifacts and began happily puttering any that caught her curiosity, until she heard her name.
"Erza!" Gray called as he and Juvia burst out of the dense jungle, Haru, Mira and Wendy were right behind them. "Looks like you had some fun," Mira said as they approached, she leaned down to pick up a strange cube and turned it over in her hands as she looked over the contents of the trunk.
The redhead shrugged, "To the victor, go the spoils of war," she said with a glint in her eye.
"You didn't find Carla? Or Happy?" Wendy asked in a choked voice. Haru wrapped an arm around her small shoulders in silent comfort when the knight shook her head sadly.
"We'll find them—"
"WENDY!" Wendy's eyes flew open as the white cat shot out of the temple entrance like a bullet, and crashed right into her chest, knocking them both down to the ground. Erza and her reunited comrades all gaped at Carla's sudden appearance, Haru looked just as dumbfounded, so he likely hadn't caught her scent yet. But now a subtle smile was pulling at his face as he turned his attention away from the partners crying happily on the ground, to focus on the cave entrance. Laxus sauntered out, looking his usual stoic self, and Natsu and Lucy walked out after with Happy draped over the fire mage's head and a black cat between them.
Gray chuckled, "Seems we found one more cat than we'd planned on."
"Exceed!" Lily barked.
The other's shrugged at the ice mage's admonished look as Natsu introduced the new exceed as Lily. "Apparently, we've been dealing with a merc guild that deals solely in black market items," Natsu relayed, "Lily here was taken unaware on the mainland, brought here, where these jackasses—" he nudged one of the downed mercs with the toe edge of his boot, "—like to hide out because that storm disguises the island."
"Shitty luck for them then, the storm knocked us right into the island!" Laxus declared with a bark of laughter.
"Uh, about that," Haru started, and the group's laughter died down as they picked up the disconcerting tone, Erza didn't like the look on the Water Slayer's face. "We ran into a couple demons—"
"Demons?! Here? You mean that wasn't a just a ghost tale?" Natsu shouted, eyes crawling over Haru's group appraisingly. He seemed confused that they didn't appear to have been in a fight, Erza definitely shared that confusion. Demons were no joke.
"These demons are far from dangerous… In fact it appears the Merc guild was hunting them for valuable parts." Haru folded his arms over his chest, "but more to the point, they told me that the storm that pulled us in, was not the island's Storm Barrier… the real storm shield wouldn't have allowed us to make it to Galuna."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Erza asked, thinking on the massive scale of the storm they'd experienced, and the daunting pressure that had vanished as soon as the mercs attacked her.
"There's someone else on the island with us, powerful enough to conjure the storm that shipwrecked us."
Erza chewed on her lip, eyes flitting up to meet Haru's as she shared her earlier experience with the group, the stifling pressure, and the unnerving feeling of being watched. "It didn't feel… right. Like magic. It didn't feel like magic," she repeated, stumbling for the right words to describe the chilling sensation.
The redhead narrowed her eyes when Haru's eyes flickered off hers, flashing somewhere behind her for an instant, before returning to hers so quickly she could have easily missed it. Erza knew without looking, that Natsu would be behind her in that direction, and that told her the Twin Dragons were conversing telepathically. She prided herself on being able to pick up on subtleties, it was part of what made her a great warrior. She also knew they wouldn't hold information from them without good reason. They'd been working on tracking demon activity for the past year, or more, specifically, searching for Tartaros. A powerful demon would certainly shed some light on why the power she'd sensed had felt so strange, so intense, so tainted.
"Care to share your thoughts with the rest of the class?" Erza drawled, looking between Haru and Natsu who only seemed slightly surprised she'd caught them. The rest of the Fairy Tail mages on the other hand, looked rightly surprised at whatever subtle nuance she'd picked up on.
Natsu ran a hand through wild pink locks, rubbing irritably at his skull, and Haru merely raised a knuckle to his lips as they considered the group. Finally, Natsu sighed, "It's not like we're trying to hide things from you all, we just don't want to drag you into anything unnecessarily, before we know more."
Laxus clocked him over the back of the head before Natsu even registered his fist had raised, "The fuck Laxus?!" he growled angrily, rounding on the taller man.
Laxus rolled his eyes and threw his hands to his hips, "You deserved more than that, for saying stupid shit."
Despite everything, Haru chuckled, "Fair enough, glad I wasn't the one standing next to you…"
"I could hit you," Gray offered.
"Just try it…" Haru countered, glaring sidelong at the ice mage who held up his hands and laughed lightly.
"All of this is pure speculation of course. Natsu and I have eliminated a few powerful demons over the year, but we've never found any wearing Tartaros' mark, none of the elite Etherious, aside from Lullaby. That said, we've stumbled onto plenty of rumours during our searches, including rumours regarding a couple of the rumoured 13 Gates and their supposed curses." The group waited with bated breath, and Erza did not like where this conversation seemed to be heading.
"This could be Tempester, the Calamity," Natsu said.
. . .
After some discussion, the group decided that going hunting for a potentially dangerous enemy would be foolish right now. Fairy Tail was counting on them to raise their Guild back to its previous prestige, and he and Haru had been hunting Tartaros for over a year, another month wouldn't be the end of the world. Laxus, Gray and Erza went to round up the mercs that had been left unconscious in the temple chamber, and Natsu and Lucy tied up the ones Erza had knocked out. They'd hand the black market mercs over to the Rune Knights, freeing the demons of Galuna to live in peace again… It seemed unlikely Tempester would bother harming low-class demonkin. Though, they didn't know the demon's purpose for being on the island in the first place, or if the Twin Dragons' theory that it was the Calamity Demon was even correct.
Natsu and Haru broke off from the rest of the group to go hunting for the Merc Guild's boat. According to the demon locals, the intruders had made it to the island unscathed. So, reason would dictate, they must have a vessel that they'd been using to navigate the Storm Barrier as they came and went. The boys walked along the shoreline and Happy clung to Natsu's shoulder, having refused to be separated from the Dragon Slayers again so soon.
"I'm not sure about this Haru."
"I know what you mean, but Laxus was right, Fairy Tail is counting on you guys. Alternates aren't unlimited, so you can't bail." Natsu nodded absently, he was so conflicted. On one hand he could never bring himself to let Fairy Tail down, but on the other, this was the first real lead they'd stumbled across since beginning their mission. If they could locate, and somehow capture Tempester, they could potentially get the location of the dark guild's headquarters, finally.
"You know it wouldn't be that easy," Haru said suddenly, eyes still locked ahead as they walked. Natsu gave him an irritated sidelong look, his partner had gotten as adept at reading him over the years as he'd always been with the water mage.
He blew out an exacerbated breath. "I know…" He and Haru had eliminated a few demons, including one Etherious, but none on par with the rumoured power of the Demon Gates, and even then, those battles had been some of the toughest they'd ever faced. Plus, it seemed unlikely, that even if they could capture Tempester alive, that the demon would divulge the location of Tartaros. "It's just, we've never gotten this close to one of the Demon Gates before, and now one practically falls into our laps."
"We also have the others to worry about," Haru added, "not that they can't handle themselves, but we both know Tartaros wouldn't be above underhanded tactics and we'd practically be offering the chance to use the most important people in our lives against us." Happy began adding his own objections to their discussion, but other than Natsu reaching up to scratch his ear comfortingly, they mostly ignored his complaints. Haru continued, "I'd be shocked if Tartaros hasn't gotten wind of our activities over the last year, we'll be in their sights, if we aren't already. And though I know we can't do this without Fairy Tail, I'm not ready to drag them into this until we know more. We need to stick to recon."
Natsu grumbled an agreeance, damn Haru, and his perfect, undeniable logic. He dropped the subject, and pointed ahead, "There's the boat." It was a fair-sized ship, a hell of a lot sturdier than their little rowboat, maybe they could gift it to the fishing village as an apology for destroying the boat they'd borrowed. Happy jumped from Natsu's shoulder, wings carrying him over to where the ship was anchored just offshore. A moment after, the boys channeled their elements to sail over the ocean waters as well, landing on the deck to look around. They found a pair of mercs below deck, napping in hammocks and made quick work of knocking them out and restraining them to one of the masts.
Haru grumbled about how they should have brought Wendy as Natsu unfurled the sails, her sky magic could have moved the larger ship with less energy than it would take him to summon a strong enough current.
"Just be glad motion sickness doesn't still knock us on our asses…" Natsu chuckled, Haru deadpanned at the thought.
"Could you imagine?" he threw back, standing at the stern of the boat pulling his arms through the air in wave like motions. Natsu drew the anchor up, just as the first of a series of waves caught the boat, urging it forward through the Ocean toward the section of beach where their comrades would likely have the Mercs gathered by now.
. . .
Natsu leaned over the railing of the ship to reach for the restrained criminals being shuttled up to the boat on a platform of ice by Gray below. He and Haru dragged the five mercs up and pitched them over the railing to land hard on the ship's deck. Laxus and the girls, aside from Erza, who was busy tying the first group of men to the mast, were chatting with the village Chief and a few other demons who'd appeared with thanks and attempts to reward them.
Natsu could hear the lightning mage refusing any payment, it wasn't an official job. However he did tell them that if they should face any trouble in the future, they should contact Fairy Tail. Their values as a guild, would never allow them to discriminate based on race, demon or not.
They were just securing the last five mercs to the railing of the boat when a low rumble peeled up from deep within the island. They all paused in their conversations and various tasks as a slight tremor followed, rocking the whole island and then a cloud of smoke and ash exploded from the volcano.
Cries of panic sounded from the demons as they began running around the beach haphazardly, "The island spirit is angry with us!" Moka shouted wildly.
"Seize your ridiculous screaming!" Erza demanded, "this is just a volcanic eruption."
"Just, she says... Just a volcanic eruption..." Natsu said incredulously. The looks on the rest of his comrades showed they shared his thought.
"Volcan Galuna hasn't erupted in over a century!" Moka countered, "it is the spirit, it all started with the failure of the Storm Barrier!"
Still standing and watching the volcano actively spew thick curtains of ash into the air, Natsu vaguely listened to Erza arguing with the villagers, trying to calm them.
"The Calamity…"
Natsu looked to his side to find Haru at his shoulder, having whispered for his ears alone. The fire mage gave a single nod, "We have to try to stop it Haru, or the villagers won't have an island anymore."
It appeared the water mage agreed, he moved to the bow to join Erza, eyes scanning over the panicking group below and their comrades attempting to reign in the eccentric demons. "SHUT UP!" Natsu roared, having stepped up beside his partner. Immediately the demon locals froze and robotically turned to look toward the ship.
Chuckling despite everything, Haru took over directing the groups. "Laxus, Mira, Erza and Wendy, go with Moka to evacuate the villagers back to here… in case we aren't able to stop the eruption. Gray, Juvia and Lucy, stay here, water and ice will be the most effective at chilling and hardening the lava if it gets this far…"
The groups exchanged looks and Gray cocked his head as he looked up at them from the shore, "Then why wouldn't you stay with us too?" he asked Haru.
"Natsu and I will try to stop it at the source," he stated, before catching the black exceed's attention, "Lily, can you fly?" Lily nodded with an expression that shouted 'duh,' masked under a layer of confusion. "Will you help us?"
He only appeared more confused now, until Happy whipped across the deck of the ship, wings unfurling to snap Natsu into the air. Catching on with a smirk, Lily agreed, "Alright!" and shot up from the beach to follow Happy's example. As the two exceeds began soaring toward the volcano, Natsu yelled back, "stay safe everyone!" and then they were moving at top speed. Blistering heat began to press in around them the closer they came and Haru quickly entered Drive and allowed his blizzard magic to spill out to chill the air enough to protect himself and the cats.
"Get us in close!" Haru called over the wind whipping by them.
"Aye sir!"
They flew in just above and back from the crater to avoid the beginnings of molten liquid being spewed from deep within. Natsu directed Happy down along lines of fire eating the sparse vegetation that clung to the volcanic rock, quickly inhaling to stop the spread. Haru's magic pressure exploded above him as he went full Dragon Force and prepared to throw as much blizzard and water magic as he could muster into the Volcano to try to solidify the magma within.
"You must be the Ghost we've heard so much about…"
Natsu whirled, searching for the deep voice, looking upward at his partner who appeared to be equally at a loss. "Show yourself!" Natsu demanded. Smoke and ash whipped into a vortex, accompanied by the voice saying 'whoosh,' before the tornado cut across the air to slam into him. Happy went spiralling with a cry and Haru's worried shout followed.
"Keep focusing on stopping that eruption!" Natsu yelled back telepathically, "we will keep him off your back!"
"Be careful Natsu!"
"Kaboom." A shock of pain racked Natsu's body as an explosion of energy tore him and Happy apart, and both went flying. Rolling in the air, fire erupted from his feet as Natsu shot back into the air to catch Happy.
"Happy, wake up buddy, we need your wings!" he pleaded with the cat even as he channelled bursts of fire to dodge various cyclones midair.
"Zap." A bolt of lightning struck out of the sky, Natsu ingested it and shot back a stream of fire and lightning indiscriminately, hoping to force his enemy's appearance. Still in free fall, he sent out waves of fire to slow their descent and absorbed the fall in a shoulder roll, coming to a stop in a kneel. Trying and failing again to rouse Happy, he leapt back as another tornado tore into the ground just ahead of them and blew apart to reveal a blonde human-like demon. Only gray-brown skin, long claws and curse energy marked him as anything but. Natsu took a deep breath, letting dragonic instinct take over, immediately entering Dragon Force.
"Interesting. You aren't so human yourself."
"Oh, fuck off!" Natsu snapped back. Happy's eyes cracked open, and he quickly took in the situation, yelping and flying off to a safe distance. The Fire Slayer and demon vanished, colliding in a storm of disastrous elemental power. Fire, lightning, and wind clashed across the volcano cliffside and then the air around them chilled considerably, snowflakes fluttering around them. Natsu and Tempester both snapped their attention toward the volcano where it appeared as though the mountain was erupting in a spectacular whirlpool of water and ice. 'Nice work Haru…' Natsu thought, just as his foe spun again with an arm wrapped in a tornado, "whoosh."
"What is with you and your damn sound effects?!" Natsu yelled as he threw up a vortex of fire to eat away at the wind, which in turn extinguished his flames.
"Shhhhh." The demon sounded in response, and the skies opened in a down pour, though they oddly remained a crystal blue. Then suddenly the rain was being drawn back as Lily flew forward to drop Haru into the fray. "Thanks…" Haru grumbled, "I needed that, used up nearly all my magic in that last spell…"
Tempester growled furiously, and then the ground beneath them was quaking, cracking apart as a mix of cyclones and lightning crashed down from the skies. Lily released a terrified sound and bolted for cover. "Fwoosh!" the demon drawled, and an inferno mixed into the variety of natural disasters, the mix of elements making it impossible for either slayer to absorb their respective elements. Vanishing into their Flash Steps, they made to dodge instead, but the magnitude of the curse overwhelmed them anyway and they both cried out in pain as they went crashing into the ground.
"Lily, we gotta get—" Happy was yelling, but something cut him off, Natsu wasn't sure what. He was laid out flat on his stomach, his head ringing with that last strike. He craned his neck to get eyes on the cats and found Happy trying to talk sense into his fellow cowering exceed. So, didn't look like a flight rescue was an option then. Natsu pressed himself back up as pain racked him and saw Haru doing the same in his peripheral.
Tempester stood, with mockingly lazy posture, a short distance above them, "You two hardly live up to the reputation," he announced. "I will just be done with you," he puffed up his cheeks and blew out a black wind before a tornado whirled up around him, dispersing whatever he'd just unleashed.
"What—" Natsu asked, inspecting the contaminated looking air. His eyes widened, "bane particles!" The tornado diminished and Tempester had seemingly vanished along with it, though his storm still raged overhead. "RUN!" Natsu yelled, spinning to bolt for the cats, but the particles were spreading quickly, too quickly.
"Get down!" A white and blue blur streaked between them, and they kept running, looking back over their shoulders. "Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: SKY DRILL!" Wendy and Carla spun into a glittering white tornado of their own, resulting in gusts of wind that sucked the particles into the torrent. The pair shot out the end of the sky drill, leaving a vortex of black bane particles in their wake. "Natsu!" Wendy called from overhead, "it'll start to spread again, try your Purifying Flames!"
Natsu's jaw dropped, slamming the heel of his hand into his forehead, "Why the fuck didn't I think of that?!" he berated himself, "—Happy!" The blue cat left Lily who was still trembling under an apparent phobia, and flew Natsu up once more. Natsu gathered gold flames in both hands as they flew, and once they were in position, unleashed its power, "Fire Dragon's purifying flame storm!" A massive burst of gold fire burned across the bane particles, and died away to clean air again. The team stared dumbly at the space for a moment before breathing a huge collective sigh of relief. Natsu landed back on the ground with his fellow slayers and cocked a curious brow at Wendy, "not that I am not unbelievably grateful that you showed up… but why are you here Wendy?"
The girl laughed and shrugged a shoulder, "Got that weird feeling from the sky again…"
Exchanging an incredulous look, the guys burst into laughter, "Well thank the Gods you did," Haru said, dropping a hand on her head.
"You're my idol from now on!" Natsu added enthusiastically, achieving a bright blush from the younger Dragon Slayer.
When the thunder slowed and Lily got a handle on his panic, the three exceeds gathered the slayers and began the flight back to their comrades. "What was that anyway?" Wendy asked as they flew.
"Tempester." Haru said lowly, "and we should count ourselves very lucky he didn't consider us worth his time…" Natsu growled next to him, clearly irritated with the insult to their power, but even in Dragon Force they had been struggling, not that they'd had the chance to attack him full on... Still, the rumours of the Demon Gates' power had not been exaggerated, and that was majorly disconcerting. At least they'd managed to prevent the island's destruction, leaving the demons of Galuna to live peacefully, hidden from the world.
The Twin Dragons shared what had happened with the rest of the group as they sailed back to the mainland. Erza was torn between scolding Wendy for running off without a word and showering her with gratitude and praise for saving them all from the bane particles.
While their adventure on Galuna turned out to be more harrowing than they'd expected and dredged up some major anxiety around their inevitable confrontation with Tartaros, all they could do for now was return to their training. Their motivations to get stronger were certainly influenced by more than simply taking the Games by storm now.
A Month Later
The roar of the crowd was as exhilarating as it was deafening, and Natsu couldn't keep the giant grin of anticipation for the events off his face as Fairy Tail's team strode confidently out into the sandy arena of Domus Flau. The month of training, especially following his and Haru's run in with Tempester had been intense to say the least. With the entire team even more motivated to power up with Tartaros' own power looming over them, they each threw themselves into near constant training. They purposefully worked to the point of complete magic exhaustion in an attempt to force their full magic potentials. Igneel had once explained to him, that this could result in awakening a mage's Second Origin, and he and Haru took over training to help their teammates to that realization as well.
Everyone had made some huge strides over the month, and now it was time to put thoughts of Tartaros on the back burner and just let themselves have some fun, (and kick some butt). Natsu turned in a full circle as he walked, taking in the entire crowd, excitement growing by the second. Though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't just a little irked they'd only placed third in the preliminaries, his gaze swept over the four other qualifying teams that had already taken their spotlight. Fairy Tail's team came to a stop and took a moment to wave and absorb the crowd's mixed reactions, half cheering, and half eyeing them silently, appraisingly.
The articles that had broken headlines over the last couple months after their return had done a fair job of building momentum amongst fans of the Games. There had been a fair amount of excitement from the public when Makarov had put out the official announcement that Fairy Tail would be participating in the games this year. Though most of that excitement seemed based in expectations of seeing the previous top guild get their butts kicked by the new undisputable top guild. That wasn't to say they didn't still have their fair share of die-hard fans out there, if the occasional vibrant crimson, gold and black Fairy Tail flags dotting the stands were any indication.
"Gonna be fun taking our spot back from those Saber Brats," Laxus said lowly to Natsu's side, he caught the Lightning Slayer's eyes and grinned back.
"You know it." He and Laxus stood at the team's center, Lucy and Mira, Erza and Gray to their sides respectively. Natsu dropped his arms to cross over his chest as the rest of his comrades finished their waves as well to listen as the emcee introduced the second placed team, Raven Tail, to take their place on the field. Natsu grumbled at the Guild name and received questioning sidelong glances from his teammates in response.
Blowing out an irritated puff of fire, Natsu explained, "Raven Tail is one of the guilds that spent no shortage of time trying to destroy Fairy Tail while you were all missing. Me an' Haru had a couple run ins with them."
No one gave a noticeable reaction to his statement, but they all stood in defiance when Raven Tail emerged from the shadows of one of the corridors that led to the stadium. The six mages walked straight toward them, ignoring the other guilds that were gathered, and came to a stop in a line directly in front of them. Both teams glaring each other down with a palpable intensity.
"Wooooah!" What do we have here?!" the announcer called excitedly, "a standoff between the Ravens and the Fairies? You all know about the Twin Dragon rivalry but looks like there's a score to settle here too! Does everyone want a piece of Fairy Tail?!"
Murmurs grew to goading and cheering as the crowd egged on the two guilds locked in an unspoken confrontation. "Meredy?" Natsu's eyes snapped over to the end where Gray had stepped toward the mage across from him, and the addressed mage pulled back their hood to reveal a head of long pink locks and a stony expression.
"Gray," she greeted coldly. "We only entered when we learned Fairy Tail would be participating, we have no interest in the Games," she informed them.
A short bulky man with odd purple skin chuckled lowly, "Taking you fairies out, is our only motivation, we will destroy you."
Natsu was about to retort when Gray broke in again, "Meredy, why—"
"I will have my revenge Gray," she said sharply, then she spun on her heel, "let's go," she commanded her apparent guildmates. The other five flashed various looks at them before turning and following the pinkette, leaving just the red-haired girl who stopped after a couple steps. She tipped her head back, peering at them from the corner of one scarlet eye, "be seeing you soon, Blondie," she said with a deranged giggle. Natsu glanced down at Lucy as the redhead skipped away after her team, and the stellar mage looked up at him with a quirked brow, apparently at a loss as well. Natsu pursed his lips in curiosity, before slowly becoming aware of the crowd shouting its displeasure at not getting a pre-Games fight after the intense standoff. They were swiftly pacified…
"Now the team you've been waiting for! Your returning champions… Number one guild in Fiore… SABERTOOTH!"
Erupting into the loudest cheers yet, the crowd exploded with exuberant energy, and directly across the stadium the subjects of that excitement sauntered out into the daylight. At the group's center, the White Dragon Slayer took steps that were just the right balance of nonchalance to be arrogant, his fists thrust high above him as he revved up the crowd even further. The blond's mannerisms weren't unlike Natsu's own, he thought, and that immediately grated on his nerves further. To Sting's side, the Shadow Dragon Slayer, Rogue, moved with a bored air, hands buried in his pockets and not bothering to acknowledge their fans with a single wave. The other two male members, Natsu only knew from brief descriptions of their performance the previous year, but the new member, a dangerous looking woman with jet black hair was a total mystery. Yukino stood to the mystery woman's side, meeting his eyes briefly before trailing off around the stadium. The feigned indifference felt strange, but they had agreed to act as though they had no previous affiliation during the Games.
When Sting caught sight of Natsu, he immediately dropped his hands and adopted a cocky smirk as he approached, the rest of his team remained behind, entirely disinterested in the fairies. The White Slayer stopped just inches in front of him, a hand on his hip and Natsu just raised a single brow, finding a posture that screamed boredom.
If Sting noticed the silent insult, he gave no sign, instead asking, "Where is Haru. We challenged the original Twin Dragons, not…" he gestured at Natsu's comrades, "your rag-tag bunch."
Lucy and Laxus glared, Mira fixed him with her dangerously sweet smile, and Gray growled at the insult outright, but they remained quiet as Natsu considered his fellow Dragon Slayer with a still arched brow. "We decided it would be overkill for both of us to meet your challenge…" Natsu said condescendingly, smirking when the muscles of Sting's jaw contracted under the subtle clench of his teeth. "And for the record, any one of my teammates here, could take both your sorry asses down."
Sting clicked his tongue in annoyance, gaze raking over the other Fairy Tail mages before locking back onto onyx eyes. He turned away partially, "Haru better be ready for our fight, our fans have been waiting patiently to see the official end to your legacy." With that, Sting left them to rejoin his team, and Natsu glared at his retreating form.
"I can't wait to see you and Haru take them down a notch… or ten," Lucy growled beside him. Pulling his eyes off Sabertooth's team to return Lucy's attention, he gave her a lopsided grin and tossed his arm around her shoulders. He loved how she didn't even consider the possibility that he and Haru could struggle against the other Dragon Slayers. He promised her a full beat down.
Chapati was still ramping up the crowd's energy into a frenzy, promising an action packed first event to be announced in one hour's time. With that, the participating teams began to dissipate to mingle amongst each other. Natsu immediately broke off to bounce over to Mermaid Heel, spotting a familiar face that he was dying to share his excitement with. Erza bolted by him catching him off guard and bowled over the cat girl on the end, "Millianna!" the redhead squealed as the pair landed in a tangle of limbs.
Natsu paused in front of the other mermaids, but his attention remained on the two girls. "Erzie! I never thought I'd see you again!"
Smiling at the emotional reunion Natsu turned back to fix a smile on his new friend, "So, you joined an official guild! Way more fun, wouldn't you say?" he asked happily.
The stoic brunette in front of him actually afforded him a subtle smile, "You may have been right about a couple things," she admitted.
Natsu pulled her into a hug, much to the girl's shock, and that of her new comrades, "It's good to see you, Sienna!"
Clearly the Earth Slayer had made a big impression to make it onto Mermaid Heel's elite team for the Games so soon after joining and he was proud of her for escaping the darkness. This also meant that all seven of the first generation—the true— Dragon Slayers were present at the Games.
"Haru isn't here?" Sienna asked with a note of surprise.
Natsu chuckled, "He's never been much for big public events and attention," he jabbed a thumb at the stands where the rest of their Guildmates were seated with giant flags and banners emblazoned with their emblem. "He's a reserve member though, Sabertooth's Twin Dragons—" he spat the title, "have been challenging us for some time."
"Oh yeah, I saw Sorcerer's most recent issue, they are something else!" she laughed, and Natsu smiled hearing her genuine laughter for the first time.
While he caught up with his fellow Dragon Slayer, he watched the rest of Fairy Tail's team dart around to chat up the other light mages as well. It seemed, two years later, their guild members were still the catalysts to any party atmosphere. Sabertooth and Raven Tail had both abandoned the field with equally dismissive airs, disappearing down their respective corridors, not bothering to give the other teams the time of day. Laxus approached and shook Jura's hand as Gray caught up with Lyon and exchanged various bets and insults. Mira had dragged Lucy with her to Blue Pegasus, whether to catch up with Jenny, or to banter with her main rival for Sorcerer's most popular model, remained to be seen. Unfortunately, her back and forth with the other model left Lucy at the mercy of the Trimen's flirtatious behaviour. "Well," Natsu said to Sienna, "better go rescue my girlfriend," he told her with a chuckle, waving as he left.
He came up behind the girls and threw an arm around each of their shoulders, shooting a warning glare at the Trimen for good measure. "Well, shall we find our balcony before the announcement?" The rest of the teams had slowly started heading off as well. Lucy sighed in relief, and Mira gave Jenny a departing, sickly sweet, smile. They rounded up the rest of their team and headed for their assigned seats to await commencement of the first event.
A/N. So, what'd you guys think of Galuna, simple but hopefully a fun tease for Tartaros.
Plus, a little fun with the Opening Ceremonies for the Games. This arc will be a mix of showing some events and battles as well as evening interactions between the light guilds.
**As for Lily, help me out here, I haven't fully decided what I'm going to do with him. Juggling all the cats can be a pain, so I had initially planned on keeping him with Gajeel, but then briefly considered him staying with Haru. I don't really conform to the idea that all first gen slayers need an exceed anyway. But what are your thoughts? And should he still have his battle form?
This week's shout outs to SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, Valerioux, Joker D. Zero, FireShifter, EternalFlame and guests.
'Till next week,
R&R
xx. Loka Muse