We arrived back at the Guild in no time after almost another day of wandering Clover Canyon. Minnie berated me as soon as I stepped through the doors. Pulling my cheeks and shouting at me for destroying the Guild Master's Conference Hall. I guess word travels fast. The day after we had all recovered, Natsu declared that this was the day to fight. I put all my money on Erza, there was no way she was gonna lose. I held Rini in my arms, and tried to keep Sting and Ryos in check as they cheered for their mother. Mizuki didn't like her friends fighting so she opted to stay inside the guild and do a couple of odd things to help out Mira while the fight was going on. A figure pushed their way through the crowd and stood next to me. "No way!" Lucy gasped. "They're really going through with it?"
"Erza never backs down from a challenge." I told her, my eyes not leaving the duo in the middle of the circle.
"Oh, hey Lucy." Mira greeted.
"Well, if those two value their manhood, then they'd better go through with it." Elfman stated.
"Erza's not a man."
"But you've got to admit, she's manly." Macao commented.
"Aren't you worried this fight could tear our strongest team apart?" Lucy wondered.
"What are you talking about, our strongest team?" Gray asked her.
"You, Natsu, Yui and Erza, you dummy! You're the four strongest Wizards in the Guild?"
"We are? Yeah, right, what idiot fed you that line?" Mira's smile held on for a second...before she broke down in tears. "Oh, you're not an idiot Mira." I balled my fist and conked Gray in the back of the head.
"Smooth move Gray." Lucy muttered.
"I'll hand it to Natsu and Gray, they're tough little dudes." Elfman stated, "But neither of them are even close to being the strongest. There are guys in Fairy Tail who are stronger than both of them combined. Like this guy!" Elfman pointed at himself.
"But calling Erza one of the strongest women in the Guild is a pretty safe bet." Levy added. "She and Yui are pretty close in regards to strength."
"As far as the guys, it's a tough call, but I'd put my money on Laxus or Mystogan." Jet continued.
"All I meant was the four of them work well together, and they have the best team chemistry in all of Fairy Tail." Mira sobbed.
"Ok, and this is coming from the same person who sent me on a mission to keep Natsu and Gray from killing each other when Erza wasn't around?" Lucy wondered.
"Gotta say, I'm pretty psyched to see how this fight turns out." Elfman admitted.
"Oh yeah? I'm sure she'll end up moping the floor with him." Gray told him.
"If that's not the case then I'm three-thousand Jewel in the hole." I said. I then frowned. "And then Erza is gonna kill me. I bet that something would happen and Erza would beat Natsu after the battle."
"That's really specific." Lucy told me.
"Yeah, but knowing our guild, it's probably gonna happen."
"It's been quite a while since we've squared off like this." Erza commented. "Hasnt it Natsu?"
"I was just a little kid back then." Natsu stated. "Today's gonna be different. 'Cause I'm taking you down Erza."
"Well, I'm not going to go easy on you. In fact I have the perfect armour for this occasion."
"Fame Emperess! Flame Empress!" Sting and Ryos cheered as Erza Requiped into said armour. Erza's Flame Emperess Armour was mainly red and black, with a bit of orange mixed in as well. She wore claw-like shoes, gauntlets on her hands and black bands that held her hair into two high-ponytails. On the back of her armour was two dragon-wing like extensions.
"That's Flame Empress Armour." Macao realised. "Good choice against Fire Magic."
"Now Natsu's flames will only be half as effective." Laki added.
"Come on Erza, at least give the kid a fighting chance." Wakaba complained.
"Why are you guys picking sides?" Lucy whined, "I don't want either of them to lose."
"Get into the spirit Lucy." Gray told her.
"Wow, Flame Emperess Armour, huh?" Natsu mused. "Good news for me. That means I can turn up the heat as high as I want to." Natsu emphasized his point by lighting a fist on fire.
"Round One, start!" Master Makarov declared. Natsu and Erza then started to fight, trading blows back and forth and even burning the toes of a couple of members.
"Woah…" Lucy breathed.
"See, it's a good fight, huh?" Elfman commented.
"This fight sucks." Gray grumbled.
"Go Mum! Go Mum!" Sting and Ryos cheered, jumping around my legs happily. There was then a large gong sound, and Erza and Natsu froze in place. Everyone turned to see a frog-like person step into the circle. She wore Magic Council robes, so she was here in official business.
"This fight is over!" She declared. "May I have your attention, please. I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council."
"No way!" Levy gasped.
"Seriously?" Jet added.
"Why would the Council send her here?" Droy continued.
"Am I the only one who noticed she's a frog?" Lucy asked.
"Mamma, what's the Magic Council?" Ryos asked looking up at me. I gently placed my hand on his head.
"Not now baby." I muttered to him, "Later, this is one of the times you need to be respectful."
"As a result of the Eisenwald incident, a member of your Guild has been charged with eleven counts of criminal property damage." The Messanger Frog stated, reading from a scroll she had pulled out of her bag. "Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest!"
"Huh?" Natsu exclaimed, "You're putting her under a-what?"
"You've got to be kidding me." I breathed, my eyes wide as I watched Erza Requip back into her normal armour and be lead away by the Messanger and some guards she had bought with her.
"Are you alright?" Minnie asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah..I…" Everyone started to file back into the Guild Hall, but I could feel there stares piercing into my back. "I never thought she'd be arrested." Minnie ussured me and my kids into the Guild Hall. She bought out colouring books for the kids to distract them with and sat them on a corner table as Mira bought me a mug of beer. I nursed the mug as a little lizard Natsu shouted from underneath a glass across the bar from my seat. Mizuki sat next to me, her paws on my arm to comfort me.
"It's going to be ok Yui." Mizuki said softly, "Mizuki knows Erza will be back soon."
"This isn't fair you guys!" Natsu complained, "Let me out of here already!"
"Natsu, try to calm down." Mira ordered.
"Let me out! Pretty please?"
"You'll go on a rampage."
"I'll be good, I swear! Now please just turn me back to the way I was before!"
"The second we turn you back, you'll run out to save Erza."
"Give me a break, I couldn't care less what happens to her." My grip tightened on my ug at Natsu's words.
"Even if you wanted to help her, it's not like we can face of with the Council."
"But don't those jerks on the Council realise that Erza did what she had to do to save the lives of the Guild Masters from those bad guys and their evil death flute?"
"It's the Magic Council, Natsu." I muttered angrily, "If they say you're guilty, then you're guilty. I learned that the hard way. They don't care about us, our words don't matter to them."
"I just don't get it." Elfman said, "We've destroyed plenty of stuff in the past, and they never make a big deal out fo it."
"I know. It doesn't make any sense." Laki added.
"It's like there's some other reason for this." Lucy stated. She then stood up from her slumped position at her table. "This is wong. We should be there to testify."
"But Lucy-" Nab started.
"We're not going to court." Master Makarov interrupted.
"Why not Master? We all know she's innocent. We can't just sit here and let them lock her away."
"Even if we left this very second, there's no way we'd make it there in time."
"But-"
"I've been stuck under this stupid glass all day!" Natsu complained. "It's getting hard to breathe! Come on you gotta let me out of here."
"Are you sure you want out?" Master Makarov clarified. Natsu went silent. "What's the matter? It seems you've lost the fire in your belly. HA!" Master Makarov shot a blast of Magic at Natsu, which destroyed the glass covering him. There was a poof and sitting on the floor was Macao.
"That was you!" Everyone exclaimed.
"Yeah, sorry guys, but I owed Natsu a favour." Macao apologised. "I turned myself into a Salamander so that everybody would think I was him."
"Do you know where he went?" Lucy asked.
"He went after Erza, didn't he?" Gray stated.
"Yeah, afraid so…" Macao muttered. My cup broke in my hand. I stalked up to Macao, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him down.
"Do you know what you've done?" I demanded, my voice breaking, "With Natsu going to try and save her they're gonna think they planned this from the beginning and they're both gonna be thrown in goal. I can't raise three kids by myself."
"Would everyone just calm down." Master Makarov said. I closed my eyes, reluctantly letting go of Macao's shirt. "We've no choice but to wait and see what happens."
TIMESKIP
It was getting late, so I took my kids and Mizuki back home. Erza and I lived just outside of Magnolia's town borders. We used to live in Fairy Hills, but then when we adopted the boys we had to find somewhere else to live. Our house was pretty simple for a family of five. It was two stories, the outside made out of simple red-brick with a panelled roof. The bottom floor consisted of the kitchen, living room, dining room, toilet and a small study. There as a playroom for the kids just off the study so we could keep an eye on them. Our top floor was the bedrooms. The master for Erza and I, with an ensuite attached, a separate bedroom for each of the kids with a communal bathroom for the three.
I got the kids to bed, said goodnight and switched off the lights before trudging downstairs. I collapsed on the couch running my hands over my eyes. It wasn't until the door opened sometime later that the door opened. I looked up and saw Erza walk in. She sighed and closed the door behind her. "Erza." I said, surprised slightly. Erza turned to me with a small smile. She requiped out of her armour, leaving her in her casual clothes. She took off her boots and set them by the door before padding over to me. She fell into the seat next to me. "How'd the trial go?" I asked, shifting so my head was resting her shoulder.
"It was just a formality." Erza told me, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me close. "They would have sent me back with just a slap on the wrist. But when Natsu shoed up they threw us in prison."
"I was freaking out. I thought you'd be in the hole for ages. I can't raise three kids by myself."
"I'm here love." Erza pressed a kiss to my temple. "I'm never leaving you." I smiled softly, closing my eyes and falling asleep right there on the couch.
TIMESKIP
The next day, Natsu was running around the guild with fire spewing out of his mouth ecstatic that he had won. "Who would have thought fresh air could smell so sweet!" He cheered. "I'm gonna breathe it in all day! It's the sweet smell of freedom!" I watched with a smile sitting next to Erza as she ate at a table near where Lucy and Gray were sitting with Elfman. Sting and Ryos were off at school so this was a welcome bit of levity for the two of us.
"Shut up." Jet groaned.
"I'll never take it for grants again!"
"I can't believe that stupid arrest and trial were all just for show." Lucy moaned. "All that worrying for nothing."
"So she wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scapegoat." Gray realised.
"You must be one heck of an Ice Wizard 'cause even your jokes leave me cold." Elfman muttered. "Hey Natsu! You gonna finish going Man-to-Man with Erza?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Natsu said. "So, what do you say? Wanna pick up where we left off?"
"I'm not in the mood right now." Erza told him. Natsu ignored her, lighting his fist.
"I'm not letting you off the hook that easy!"
"I swear…"
"Can you blame him babe? It's Natsu." I reminded her, "He's as stubborn as a Dragon." Erza sighed and stood, sinking her fist into Natsu's stomach. The boy froze, and collapsed on the floor.
"How's that? Are you satisfied?"
"And that's it!" Mizuki cheered, "Natsu is out!"
"Way to go champ!" Gray laughed.
"Guess we know who the real man is." Elfman added.
"Wait, who won the betting pool then?" A random member asked. There were many protests until the tub of Jewl was set in front of me.
"The winner is Yui!" Cana declared, "She was the most accurate guess." There were groans across the guild, and I cheered happily. But then, I started to feel tried. I yawned, putting my hand over my mouth.
"You've got to be kidding me." I groaned, slumping into Erza, "Must he do this every time he comes…" I fell asleep for a second, before I snapped awake.
"Who is this Mystogan guy?" Lucy wondered.
"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest Wizard." Elfman told her.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Gray agreed. "And for some reason, he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like."
"That guy always creeps me out." I said, counting my winnings. "Whenever he comes back to the Guild, to take a job or report to Master or something, he always puts everyone to sleep."
"That's kinda creepy." Lucy commented.
"Master Makarov is the only one who's ever seen what Mystogan actually looks like."
"That's not true, I've seen him before." A voice from the second floor spoke up, causing everyone to tilt their heads upwards. Laxus Dreyer, Master Makarov's grandson and a fellow S-Class Wizard.
"Laxus?" Elfman questioned.
"Talk about rare." Macao added.
"You're never here." Wakaba said.
"And here's another contender." Gray droned.
"Mystogan's just a little shy." Laxus explained snootily, "You should all respect his privacy."
"Alright Laxus! You ane me! Right now!" Natsu declared, jumping up from his spot on the floor. Huh, I guess he woke up.
"Getting your but kicked once today wasn't enough?" Gray asked.
"Yeah pal. If you can't even win against the redhead, why bother with me?"
"What are you trying to say?" Ezra demanded, a glare that could cut stone directed up at the blond man.
"Baby, there's no reason to get worked up." I said softly, placing my hand on her plated shoulder.
"I'm saying that I'm the Guild's strongest Wizard." Laxus said.
"Then come down here and prove it." Natsu said.
"You come up to me, little man." My palm made contact with my forehead as Natsu went to run up the stairs to reach the second floor. Master Makarov then slammed a large fist down on him,
"You're not allowed on the Second Floor, Natsu." Master Makarov stated. "At least not yet."
"I think you made him grumpy." Laxus taunted.
"Shut up!" Natsu ground.
"That's enough out of you Laxus." Master Makarov ordered.
"The most powerful one in the Guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo." Laxus stated, rising to his full height. "You wanna know what the strongest Wizard looks like? You're looking right at him!" Laxus pointed to himself with his thumb. I glared up at him, my fist clenching. One day. One day I'm gonna surpass that lightning freak.