Our group hurried as fast as we could, and there was absolutely no one near us. However, the closer we got to the Guild, the more people appeared and the scent of iron got closer and closer. Natsu then gasped. "You smell it too, don't you?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said. We glanced around at the people of Magnolia as they whispered, pointing to us.
"Why is everyone staring at us?" Gray questioned.
"It's not the good kind of staring." Happy admitted.
"Is it about the Guild?" Mizuki wondered.
"It feels like pity." Erza commented. I lifted my gaze and I froze, my eyes widening. I was right, the iron scent was coming from the Guild...which seemed to be impaled with what looked to be iron clubs from almost every angle. "What...why does the Guild look so bizarre?" We eventually made it to the Guild, and...it was destroyed…
"No." Mizuki sobbed. "Our home…"
"Our Guild…" Natsu growled. "Someone did this to our Guild!"
"But who would do such a thing?" Erza asked.
"It was Phantom." A voice said from behind us. I turned to see Mira looking at us with sad eyes.
"Are you serious?" Gray demanded.
"You mean Phantom did this?" Natsu asked, a murderous look crossing his face.
"We couldn't do anything to stop them." Mira admitted softly. "They got us good." She lead us downstairs into Fairy Tail's basement where everyone had gathered. I tried to hold it together when I heard sniffles. My heart pounded when I heard them. I pushed past Mira to see Sting, Ryos and Rini sitting in the corner, my sons with tears falling down their cheeks. I hurried forward, kneeling in front of them. They looked up, and their eyes were rimmed red.
"Are you ok?" I asked shakily, reaching forward and running my finger's through their hair. "Please, tell me your ok." Ryos threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around my neck and pressing close as he cried. I wrapped an arm around him and reached out to Sting, drawing him close. He tried to be strong, shaking as he held back tears. A pair of pale hands reached forward and picked up Rini, who was cooing happily. She didn't understand. Erza held Rini against her un-armoured chest. We turned to Master Makarov who greeted us warmly.
"Yo." He said. "Wassap kids?" He was drunk.
"Sorry we weren't here sooner." Erza apologised, running a hand up and down Rini's back.
"Why the heck are you all just sittin around down here!" Natsu demanded with a clenched fist.
"Oh, your right." Master Makarov slurred. He seemed to collect his senses for a moment. "You people stole an S-Class Quest and went off without permission! You will be punished! I will dole out your punishment! Prepare yourselves!"
"There is no time for that!" Master Makarov extended his hand and chopped each of our heads, except Lucy whom he slapped on the ass.
"Master, stop that right now." Mira huffed.
"Master, do you understand the gravity of the situation?" Erza asked.
"The Guild Hall has been completely destroyed." Natsu reminded him.
"There's no need to get yourselves all worked up." Master Makarov informed us, his slur returning. "It's not the end of the world or anything." Master Makarov took a big gulp of his beer.
"What?" Gray breathed.
"Just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are. They struck when no one was here." I sagged in relief, holding Sting and Ryos a little tighter. "Is that anything worth bragging about?"
"Nobody was here?" Erza clarified.
"It was after everyone had already left for the night." Mira said.
"So you boys weren't hurt, I'm so glad." I whispered. I pressed kisses to the side of Sting and Ryos' head.
"I suppose we can be thankful for that." Erza muttered, drawing Rini closer. "At least no one in our Guild was hurt in the attack."
"We shouldn't trouble ourselves worrying about people who don't even have the guts to face us head on." Master Makarov stated. "Forget about those fools!" Natsu punched a hole in a crate.
"Aint gonna happen Gramps." He declared. "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"
"I'm not talking about this any longer. We'll handle Job Requests down here 'till the upstairs is repaired."
"We shouldn't be worrying about Jobs right now!"
"Natsu! That's enough out of you!" Master Makarov reached out and slapped Lucy on the ass again.
"And you spanked me because…?" The blonde trailed off.
"Hands to yourself, Master." Mira ordered. Master Makarov then jumped off the crate he was on, claiming he had to go pee.
"I don't understand why he's being like this." Natsu admitted.
"Listen, this is just as hard on him as it is on you." MIra reminded us. "He's mad, but conflict between the Guilds is strictly forbidden by the Council."
"It's not fair! Thone Phantom creeps started it!"
"I know, but that doesn't matter!"
"If the Master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it." Erza said.
TIMESKIP
As night fell, Mira advised everyone to pair up for protection. Because Fairy Tail was attacked, we could only assume that they knew where we lived. Minnie and Luna went off to pair up with Cana and Laki, while Erza and I opened our home to Lucy. Rini was asleep, which was a relief, honestly, I didn't want to attempt to put her to bed with Lucy in the house, she wouldn't go down. "You were really freaked out back at the Guild, Yui." Lucy said as the six of us walked through Magnolia. "Are you ok?"
"I'm just relieved." I told her, drawing Rini close. "Knowing that the Guild was attacked and we weren't there, by Mavis, I'm just so thankful for Minnie for looking out for them." I looked down at Sting and Ryos who were walking along next to Erza, clutching her hands. "I…" I looked forward again with a sigh. "I told you what I would do if a dragon's Hatchlings are hurt, I wouldn't have been able to follow Master Makarov's orders. I would have kicked down Phantom's doors and destroyed them myself."
"You know, I am kinda glad that I'm with you." Lucy admitted. "If someone were to hurt any of the kids, you'd be a force to be reckoned with."
"Indeed she would be." Erza agreed with a soft smile. "And I'd be fighting right alongside her." We eventually made it to the house, and I fished around my pocket for the keys.
"Now then, let's get some dinner in us and get some-" I cut myself off, opening the door to see Natsu and Gray lounging on our furniture, the Ice Wizard only in his boxers. "...sleep…"
"How dare you come into my home unannounced!" Erza shouted, letting go of Sting and Ryos' hands before summoning a sword and chasing the two boys around the room. "You'll pay for this!"
"How did you even find our house?" I asked, heading towards the stairs.
"Easy." Natsu said once Erza had finished chasing him. "We just followed your scent."
"Woh, really?" Lucy asked.
"Nah." Gray said. "Minnie told us."
"Alright, if you boys are here to stay, you're helping with dinner." I ordered. "Let me put Rini down and we can get started." We made a simple meal as a team, enough to feed Erza, the kids and myself for at least a week, but it would be done in half an hour once it was time to eat. Erza prepared us drinks and we set up at the dining room table. We made sure Sting and Ryos had their plates before we all started chatting and eating. Happy sat on the table next to Natsu with a plate of fish with Mizuki next to me chowing down on watermelon. After dinner, I made sure the boys were washed and in bed before helping Erza bring out the futons. We were laying them down when Erza turned to Gray and Natsu.
"We have a serious problem." Erza stated, "You boys, hygiene. I refuse to have you stink up our house with your sweat."
"I don't wanna take a bath right now." Natsu moaned.
"But I already got into bed!" Gray complained.
"Come on boys, do we have to take a bath together like we did when we were kids?" Erza inquired.
"What kind of relationship do you guys have?!" Lucy asked hysterically,
"They're the strongest team!" Happy chirped,
"More like the strangest team!"
"Shhhhh!" I hissed, my finger to my lips. "I just got the boys to bed and Rini's only just starting to sleep full nights, I don't need you all bickering and wake them up! Lucy, you take the couch, Gray, Natsu, you two are on the Futons. But first, Erza's right, go have a bath, if not we're kicking you out."
TIMESKIP
After everyone had cleaned up, we gathered in the dining room as none of us could sleep. "Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue like that?" Lucy asked.
"I'm afraid not." Erza admitted. "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never anything on this sort of magnitude before."
"If Gramps wasn't so scared on 'em, we could wipe out those punks once and for all." Natsu grumbled.
"Come on, you know Master isn't afraid of them Natsu." Gray said. "You seem to be forgetting he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"So what's with these Ten Wizard Saints anyway?" Lucy asked.
"It's an honour bestowed by the Magic Council, an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful Wizards on the continent." Erza started to explain.
"Really?"
"Phantom Lord's Master Jose is one of them too." Happy told her. Natsu slammed his hand on the table.
"Don't go breaking our furniture." I scolded.
"He is afraid." Natsu stated. "He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle."
"Can you please use your inside voice." Lucy requested. "The kids are still asleep."
"That is not true and you know it." Gray retorted. "It's just like Master and Mira said before, the consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the Magical world is at stake here."
"Plus, an all-out Guild War could end in both Guilds disbanding." I reminded them softly. "That's hundreds of Wizards out of jobs, unable to provide, and who knows if other Guilds would take them in once they realise."
"But I don't understand why." Lucy said. "Are they that strong?"
"They ain't got nothin' on us." Natsu stated. "We can take those clowns."
"No." Erza argued. "If we were to engage them in battle, neither Guild would survive. Their strength equals ours. Phantom's Master, Jose, is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov."
"Someone as strong as Master Makarov?" Mizuki questioned, her paws becoming fists in her lap. "That scares Mizuki, she doesn't want to be hurt." I reached out and gently scratched Mizuki behind the ear.
"Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." I said.
"They also have an elite group of Wizards similar to our S-Class, known as the Element Four." Erza continued. "However, their biggest threat may be Black Steel Gajeel. I believe he's the one most likely responsible for the Guild Hall's destruction. He's known as the Iron Dragon Slayer."
"He's a Dragon Slayer too?!" Lucy asked. "I thought Natsu, Minnie and Yui were the only ones."
"There were a lot of Dragons when we were kids." I explained. "There was Natsu's father Igneel, Minnie's fathers Cyrus and Jasper, and then y parents, Selene and Helios. It's not too far of a stretch to think that other Dragons took on Humans and taught them Magic."
"So if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats Iron?" I met Natsu's gaze, a curious look passing between us.
TIMESKIP
Early the next morning, after reluctantly dropping the kids off at daycare so they'd be safe, Natsu, Happy, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Mizuki and I found ourselves called to Magnolia Southgate Park. "Excuse us, were from their guild." Erza said as we all walked through the crowd. "Please, let us through." I smelt the iron before I saw it. Levy, Jet and Droy were all pinned against the large tree in Magnolia Gate Park. On Levy's exposed stomach, the Phantom Lord guild mark was drawn.
"Levy!" Lucy gasped.
"Jet...Droy." Gray added.
"Phantom Lord did this." Natsu growled. I looked over to Minnie, who had pushed her way through the crowd. We nodded at each other. We walked up to the base of the tree and looked up at our friends. Minnie placed her hands on the ground and the earth lifted us up to their height. I used my magic to break the shackles around their wrists and Minnie carefully lowered them to the ground. I heard Master Makarov approach us.
"Master." Erza greeted. Master Makarov was silent for a moment.
"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble...but I will not let harm come to my children without taking revenge!" Master Makarov shouted as he gripped his staff so tight it broke in two. "We have no choice but to go to war." Master's Magical Aura surrounded him, a shiver going down my spine at it's intensity.
TIMESKIP
Master Makarov wasn't kidding, the entire Fairy Tail Guild marched out of Magnolia and to Oak Town, where the main Phantom Lord Branch was. The second we got there, Natsu, Minnie and I stepped forward. "Earth Dragon…" Minnie started.
"Fire Dragon…" Natsu continued.
"Eclipse Dragon…" I finished.
"ROAR!" The three of us screamed, the attack blowing the door off it's hinges and destroying a few the surrounding stones.
"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Master Makarov declared. Phantom Lord charged, and Natsu sent a good portion of them flying.
"Alright!" He called. "Who wants to play with Fire!"
"Charge!" Someone ordered, and Fairy Tail advanced, fighting the Phantom Lord Members. We had the upper hand, and I was gleefully hurting those who dared attack our Guild. I then felt guilty, taking pleasure in other's suffering. I reigned my attacks in somewhat, only knocking the Phantom Lord members out rather than sending them flying.
"He's a monster." One of them groaned.
"And you dared to lay your hands on this Monster's children!" Master Makarov bellowed. He had to have transformed. "Are you foolish enough to believe Human Laws would protect you from my reach! Jose! Show yourself!" I fought alongside Erza, the two of us working in tandem.
"Tell me, where can I find Black Steel Gajeel and the Element Four!" She demanded. The Fire users were of little consequence to us, Natsu and I ate their attacks easily, and the Earth users were overtaken by Minnie soon after. We made quick work of the members, but I turned to Master Makarov who had shrunken and was walking upstairs.
"Erza! I'll leave the rabble to you." He stated.
"Yes sir!"
"Don't worry Master." I punched my fist into my palm. "They won't escape us."