chapter eight: the phantom and the fairy

"Is that a job?"

The flier in question disappeared from Lucy's hands before she could even get to the bottom of the job description. She huffed in annoyance, but knew any attempt in getting it back was futile. Instead, she drummed her fingers impatiently against the bar and waited for Natsu to decide it was of little interest to him. It was a simple request; no monsters for Natsu to fight, no demons of Zeref, or dark guilds, just a regular, old, boring-

"This'll be a cinch!" the dragon-slayer declared, pressing the flier back into her hands. "And it's within walking distance! Hear that, Happy? No trains!"

"Aye!"

Lucy opened her mouth around an objection, but Natsu's sudden increase in energy had attracted Gray. "Is that a job?" he leaned over her shoulder for a quick scan. "OI! Erza! We're going on a job!"

"Very well. I'll return home at once to begin packing. When do we depart?"

"Wait!" Lucy suddenly shouted, and all four of her teammates paused in their preparations to look over at her in confusion. "Five wizards is-"

"Five?" Natsu held up his fingers in puzzlement like he was counting. "Wait, where's Miya-chan? She's part of Team Natsu too! Miya-chan!" he bellowed, cupping his hands over his mouth and surveying the guild hall.

"Miya-chan left this morning," Mira called over. "She took a lacrima call and ran out without even saying goodbye to Master."

Gray hummed in understanding. "Must have been Mystogan. She never leaves like that unless he's involved."

This Mystogan character again? The more Lucy learned about him the more suspicious she became of him. Still, neither Gray, Erza, or Mira seemed worried that Miyako had departed so abruptly. Natsu pouted. "Team job minus Mi-chan," he amended.

"You're lucky she isn't here to hear you call her that," Gray said, rolling his eyes.

They agreed to meet at Lucy's house in twenty minutes to depart and Lucy waved goodbye to her teammates as they parted ways just outside the guildhall. She had no idea as she cast one last look over her shoulder, that would be the last time she saw the guild intact.

-O-

Miyako stepped off the train into Komu station. Komu was a rural town on the fringes of Crocus that was so small there was barely even a need for the one train platform, which was only about forty-five meters long with no cover or signage. The ticket booth was the largest structure for miles and though it was very modest compared to anything one might find in Magnolia, it was surrounded by vast fields of wheat on either side and stuck out anyway.

The only person at the station besides Miyako was Mystogan. Her guildmate was waiting for her at the edge of the platform, customary hat, head scarf, and high collar obstructing all but the tiniest peek of his distinct blue hair from the rest of the world. Behind her, the train door slid shut and the train itself began trundling back down the track, carrying its empty cars back to civilization.

"You got here quickly," Mystogan said gratefully. "I hope I didn't pull you away from anything too important."

Truth was, Miykao had been locked in her research lab for the last three days making very little progress in her attempts to understand Lullaby's magic. The fresh air of the countryside was more than welcome. "You know that Anima takes precedence over any of my other research," she replied easily. "How much time do we have?"

Mystogan closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. "I estimate about an hour before Anima touches down."

Miyako nodded, pleased with the answer. Sometimes Anima touched down in such a distant location, or with such little warning, she and Mystogan only had minutes to do their work. An hour was a lifetime. "Okay, lead the way."

The trek to Anima's exact location was about fifteen minutes on foot. As they walked, they traded stories of their most recent jobs. Mystogan listened intently as Miykao described the events that occurred on Galuna island and her current work with Lullaby.

"Jīchan asked me to not investigate," Miyako admitted, "And I'll respect his wishes and not pursue anything outside of Lullaby, but…"

"But you're Miyako Dreyar and you can't stand an unsolved puzzle?" Mystogan filled in for her, offering her a teasing sort of smile. He'd long since removed his headscarf and hat, and Miyako's heart fluttered, pleased, as she always was, that he was comfortable enough around her to be so open.

There was something potent about being the only person who knew who Mystogan was really. Jīchan and Laxus knew Mystogan's face, but they didn't know him. That information was Miyko's entirely and she felt a little possessive of it. In turn, she'd told Mystogan things about herself she'd never told anyone else, not even her brother. Being with him made her blood sing. It wasn't just their work with Anima that had Miyako dropping anything and everything to meet Mystogan whenever he called.

"They're called puzzles for a reason," Miyako reasoned. "Have you ever heard of anyone called Zalty? You always have your ear to the ground about unusual things. He's the wizard who used time arc magic on Galuna."

Mystogan was quiet for a thoughtful moment. He tilted his chin back as he racked his head, and Miyako could not help but admire the sharp line of his jaw. "I don't think so," he finally answered. "I have a contact who specializes in tracking down wizards with unusual magic types though. I can put some feelers out."

Miyako hesitated. She'd promised jīchan she'd forget about Zeref for now, but… "Thanks, Mystogan," she said. "I just have a bad feeling."

"Trust me, I understand," he assured her, before coming to a stop. "I think here is good. We should begin setting up."

With about forty more minutes until Anima, Mystogan and Miyako fell into a familiar rhythm. Miyako slid her bag off her shoulders and pulled out her specialized lacrima. The lacrima took a number of readings from the air around them–magic levels, temperature, pressure, ect–which Miyko then threw into an equation she'd cooked up years ago when Mystogan and her had first started out.

"Check my math?" she requested, holding her notebook out.

"Well, you didn't forget to carry any ones," he said a minute later. He shook his head as he began sorting his staves. "Though I still don't understand how this equation works. You're really smart, Miyko. I'm lucky to have you."

Heat flared in her cheeks, and Miyako had to duck her head so Mystogan wouldn't see. "Anima's epicenter will be at 117 degrees 7 minutes south and 43 degrees and 35 minutes east," she said.

"Lacrima?"

She tossed it to him so he could use its global positioning function to place his stave at the exact coordinates she'd given him. As he headed off further into the field, Miyko busied herself with filling in her notes and willing her face to cool down. It took Mystogan only ten minutes to position his staves according to Miyko's calculations, and by then, Miyko's heart had stopped attempting to flush all the blood in her body towards her cheeks.

When he returned to her side, Miyako slipped on her mage glasses and said, "Ready?"

Mystogan sucked in a deep breath. "Ready."

The air thickened with magic as Mystogan began drawing it in from the world around them and concentrating it through his staves. His skin shimmered with light, and Miyko's breath was taken away by how beautiful he looked, glowing gold like a god. She'd seen him do this more than a dozen times, but she was never not blown away by his control and power.

Above them, the sky cracked open, right on time, quickly becoming a swirling, black vortex. Before Anima could take hold, Mystogan slammed his final stave into the ground. The radial staves lit up like fireworks, brilliant blue light arcing through them all before connecting with the central stave and beaming up directly into the eye of Anima's storm.

Mystogan's magic quickly wrestled Anima into a stranglehold, resulting in a brilliant light show, and from there it was all over. The sky began to clear, the magic in the air settling. He'd made it look easy, but Miyko knew that feat had been anything but.

"Amazing," she breathed out.

Mystogan laughed tiredly. "We are," he agreed.

Before Miyako could embarrass herself by attempting to respond to that frank and honest statement, her personal communication lacrima lit up. She fumbled it out of her bag and answered with a slightly flustered, "Hello?"

Mirajane's somber face appeared in the lacrima and Miyako tensed automatically. "Miya-chan… it's Master."

"What happened?" Miyako asked instantly. Next to her, but out of sight of the lacrima, Mystogan's eyes widened.

They listened intently as Mirajane explained everything that had happened in their absence. How the guildhall had been wrecked in the night, how Team Shadowgear had been hospitalized, how jīchan had decided to lead a full frontal assault on Phantom Lord and how quickly everything had fallen apart.

When Mirajane had finally exhausted her words, Miyako swallowed hard and said, "I see… and where's Laxus?"

"He's not answering my calls," Mirajane admitted. "Cana is looking for Mystogan but-"

"She can stop," Miyako quickly cut in. "I'm with Mystogan right now. We're on our way. And don't bother with Laxus, I'll call him."

"Thank you, Miya-chan," Mirajane said, exhaustion evident in every line of her face. "Stay safe, we'll see you soon."

The call ended and Miyako clenched the lacrima so tightly in her fist it cracked under the sheer force of her anger. Mystogan's hands flew to cover hers, prying her fingers loose as he murmured, "It'll be okay, Miyako."

She nodded her head jerkily. "I know," she said automatically, though she didn't believe it yet herself. She'd believe it when she had a plan. Her mind was already swimming with possibilities and she didn't like how the numbers were adding up. "Phantom Lord has subdivisions all over eastern Fiore and Jose can call on any of them for reinforcements. Fairy Tail was always the smaller guild and some of us are still scattered in the wind."

"Leave the subdivisions to me," Mystogan said. "Phantom Lord might have numbers but they have no big players outside of the representative guild in Oak Town."

Miyako closed her eyes, shifting numbers and factors around in her head like an abacus. "Okay, we split up. Phantom Lord's closest outpost is east of Crocus. you head there. I'm going straight to Oak Town to gather jīchan's magic. We'll need him if we want a snowball's chance of defeating Jose."

"Understood," Mystogan said. He placed his hand on Miyko's shoulder, and her eyes popped open. "It'll be okay," he repeated, more firmly, and Miyako was bare before him.

"I know," she said, this time with the confidence she'd been lacking. He smiled, and Miyako returned the gesture automatically. "Go collect your staves. I'm going to call Laxus."

He let go of her shoulder, and Miyako felt his absence keenly. She waited until he was a suitable distance away, before sucking in a shaky breath and calling her brother. Disappointment lanced through her when he didn't pick up and she grit her teeth, trying Freed's lacrima instead.

"Miyako-san?" Freed answered, and Miyako's cheek twitched when she saw that Freed was currently in what appeared to be a hotel room.

"I need to speak with my brother," she said shortly. "Is he there?"

"Of course."

The anger that coursed through Miyako's veins when her brother appeared in the lacrima was hot and all-consuming. It flushed through her body and lit every nerve-ending on fire until she was boiling from the inside out. She couldn't imagine what reason he had to ignore all of Mirajane's and her own calls when he was doing nothing but lazing around a hotel and likely drinking during his downtime.

"What is it?" Laxus demanded. He had the audacity to appear annoyed, as if she was one of his silly little flings that was acting too clingy and not his flesh and blood sister.

"Why weren't you answering your lacrima? Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail. Jīchan and lots of other people are hurt. We need your help, Laxus," she said.

Laxus raised a lazy eyebrow. "Serves him right. If the old man decided to pick a fight-"

"He didn't pick a fight," Miyako snapped, feeling tears prick at her eyes. "Phantom Lord instigated. They attacked Team Shadowgear and are after Lucy. Jīchan is gravely wounded. Laxus, I'm really worried, please, won't you come home?"

"It takes two to fight," Laxus said cruelly. She was certain he'd been drinking now. His tongue was only this sharp when he had a couple fingers of whiskey in him. "I'm not getting my hands dirty in an interguild brawl just to bail the old codger out. If he steps down as Master then I'll consider cleaning up his mess. But until then, it's not my problem."

Miyako stared at the man on the other end of the lacrima. This wasn't her brother. His grey eyes were that of a stranger's. No, they were worse. She was looking into the eyes of her father. Her scar ached with the phantom pain of what he'd done to her, and in an instant, Miyako's anger froze over. "Laxus," she said, and her voice sounded far away to her own ears. "If you don't come home, I will never forgive you."

The eerie calm of her voice and the finality of her statement threw him off balance for a second, but only for a second. His surprised expression quickly morphed into a sneer. "If the old man makes it, tell him to hurry up and retire so-"

He never got to finish his sentence. The lacrima shattered in Miyako's hand and she continued to clench her fist around the shards of crystal now embedded in her palm. Rivulets of warm blood dripped down her wrist towards her elbow, but Miyako didn't feel the pain.

"Miyako!"

Mystogan's worried voice filtered in past the ringing in her ears and Miyako flexed her hand, finally releasing the bloody fragments. "I'm okay," she said hollowly. "Let's go."

-O-

The central hall of Phantom Lord's guild had been utterly destroyed as well. Gray's eyes swept over the swaths of charred debris and singed walls and just knew Natsu had been here. Heat from his flames was still radiating through the air, and he hoped his group of Elfman, Mirajane, and himself were not too far behind him.

"Erza!" Mirajane cried out, and Gray tore his eyes away from the destruction,

They widened when they landed on his redheaded teammate slumped against one of the few standing columns. If it was possible, she looked even worse than when he had last seen her after taking a direct hit from Jupiter's cannon. "Erza," he breathed out.

Her eyes fluttered open, and he was relieved to see her lucid. "It's you guys," she croaked out, breathing ragged.

"When did you break in?" Gray demanded, reevaluating the hallway's battle scars. Now that he was looking for it, it was clear the damage wasn't just from Natsu's flames. There was unignorable evidence of Erza's powerful sword strokes slicing clean through curtains and slashing a Phantom Lord banner on the wall. He easily recognized the indicators of her Heaven's Wheel attack.

"You shouldn't even be standing," Mirajane said.

"H-hey!" Elfman stuttered. Gray followed Elfman's wide-eyed gaze to a man sprawled out on the floor. He instantly recognized him as Aria of Element Four. Elfman voiced their collective disbelief. "You actually fought with wounds like that?"

Gray clenched his jaw, simultaneously amazed with Erza's tenacity and horrified by her lack of sense. "What were you thinking?" he demanded.

Erza had the gall to smile at him sheepishly. "I never wanted you to see me so weak like this," she admitted. "I guess I still have a long way to go."

A sudden shudder wracked through his body, but not from Erza's words, and definitely not from any cold. It felt like the air from his lungs had been ripped out of his body and a frisson of dark magic crept its way up his spine. Gray caught Erza's eye and saw her pupils had dilated to pinpricks. "What is this?" he choked out.

"I sense death." Erza hissed.

"The malice is palpable," came Mirajane's strangled whisper, and Gray braced himself automatically. This was dark magic, dark magic that could make even a former Satan Soul wizard tremble.

Behind them, someone began to clap in a sarcastic manner. "My, my. I'm quite impressed, my Fairy Tail wizards," a man drawled. The malicious aura poured off his body and Gray had to fight back the urge to throw up as the magic squirmed under his skin like live worms. "To think I would be able to have such fun… I never would have dreamed of it. Destroying Jupiter, taking down Element 4, and even bringing my magic giant to its knees."

"Master Jose," Erza snapped.

It clicked in Gray's head. This was Phantom Lord's master, one of the ten wizard saints on par with jīchan.

"Now, I must thank you for the fun you've given me," Master Jose said. The magic around him began to swell, and Gray knew they had to act quickly. Erza was down, and Mirajane was vulnerable.

"Elfman!" he called out.

"Right!"

"Ice-make: Saucer!" he shouted.

Next to him, Elfman called on his own magic, but before either of them could even get close to Jose, the man released his magic in a torrent of dark shades. Gray cried out as the shades bombarded him. The second the searingly dark magic touched his skin he felt the energy being sapped out of his body. His back slammed into the wall and Gray groaned.

"Jose!"

Gray's eyes popped open, and he found the strength to turn his head. "Miyako." Her name came out as a string of strangled syllables, and he coughed, blood splattering the floor in front of him, but he tried again. "Miyako!"

She barely acknowledged that she'd heard him. Her eyes darted over, hardening to onyx when they took in his injuries, before returning to Jose.

"Miyako-san," Jose said in a simpering voice. His eyes raked up and down Miyako's body in a way that made even Gray uncomfortable, but Miyako just raised her chin defiantly. "I was hoping I'd get the pleasure of seeing you today."

"Enjoy it while you can," Miyako said. "You've made a big mistake Jose. The rune knights are on their way."

Jose threw his head back and laughed. "Oh? You called the rune knights. Miyako-san, I'm so… disappointed in you." The wizard saint crossed the room in a few strides. He was a good foot taller than Miyako, and loomed over her. Gray could swear he felt one of his molars crack from how forcefully he clenched his teeth when Jose touched Miyako, his long, pale fingers grasping her chin. His thumb stroked along her jaw as he said, "It takes two to fight. Your precious Fairy Tail will be in just as much trouble as Phantom Lord. In fact, I seem to recall that Fairy Tail made the first illegal move against Phantom Lord. My, my, attacking our guild in broad daylight. What will the Magic Council think?"

"No." Miyako slapped Jose's hand away from her face. "Fairy Tail was attempting to dissolve the illegal, dark guild, Phantom Lord, which is perfectly within the law."

"Illegal?" Jose repeated, sounding amused. He tsk-ed. "Miyako-san, what kind of guild do you imagine that I am running? Phantom Lord is above board."

Gray was helpless to watch the exchange. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elfman and Erza were also struggling to regain their strength from Jose's attack. He didn't know what game Miyako was playing with Jose, but if she could keep him talking…

"It was above board," Miyako said coolly, "Until three days ago when Phantom Lord accepted and acted on an illegal job request."

Jose's eyes narrowed, the mirth dissolving from his features. "Illegal job request?" he repeated through gritted teeth.

"Yes." Miyako's smile bared her teeth, and Gray almost pitied Jose. "By decree of the Magic Council, any job request that involves abduction is illegal, and any guild that accepts such a job request automatically loses their status as an official guild. Lucy Heatifilia is a working mage over the age of sixteen, making her a legally recognized adult. Forcefully relocating her, even by request of her father, constitutes abduction. Do you understand now, Jose?" Miyako said.

For a full ten seconds, Jose did not react. His shoulders were trembling, head bowed so his face was curtained by his oily hair. Then, Gray heard it. A chuckle. Jose's manic laughter quickly grew, until his whole body was shaking from it. When he finally looked up, his eyes were glowing red and his magic simmered underneath his skin.

"MIYAKO!" Gray shouted.

Jose's magic exploded and an inhuman howl tore its way out of his throat. Gray lost sight of Miyako as he was forced to cover his head as he was slammed by the aftershocks. The attack wasn't directed at him, but he was overwhelmed by it anyway. He fought to keep hold of consciousness, but it was too slippery and everything quickly faded to black.