And immediately, Fairy Tail devolves into disarray.
Freed and Levy get to work immediately, reading off the runes, trying to decode the rest.
"This doesn't make sense… Enno-san doesn't have them, so maybe this is only affecting Fairy Tail members?" Erza suggests, taking a headcount of the members currently gathered in the hall. For the ones doing guard duty at the perimeters and those not home yet, it'll have to wait.
"That can't be," Mirajane says. "Master doesn't have them."
"Age?" someone suggests.
"Uhm…" it's Lucy that speaks up, hesitantly, "I don't have them either."
"Okay, maybe we got hit in a certain time frame," Cana says, "can't be when Naked Mummy attacked, since Gray, Erza and I have them too…"
"Can't be anytime after Phantom, too!" Laki says, frustrated, "it makes no sense me and Max have them, we were at school!"
"Same here," Alzack and Bisca point out. "We've not been home for long ."
"But any earlier is way too long ago!" Elfman insists.
"Wait— where's Juvia?"
"No, it's not Phantom behind this," Erza says. "I have it on good faith—"
"Then why did she so conveniently leave now?"
"Aria entered right before too!" someone's reading the entrant chart, "it's too suspicious the timings are—"
"Everyone calm down and stop jumping to conclusions!"
"Runes last forever as long as the caster is alive," Freed says, writing something down with a Light Pen. "They could have set this trap years ago for all we know. It might explain why Lucy doesn't have them… but I don't know a clause that includes all of us and yet excludes Master."
"Who else doesn't have them?"
"Most of us do! Ah— Evergreen doesn't!"
Sure enough, Evergreen is among the few that didn't have a speck of the runes on her body. A few of the others, too— Nigy, for example. It seemed completely arbitrary.
"It might be intrinsically linked to contact and magic, too, so it might not have been all done at the same time, just activated at once," Levy adds. "Magic fades sometimes, but it never forgets."
Chico glances down at her body's runes and she goes pale.
"Wait… mine look slightly different from the rest of yours," she says. "The words are different!"
Levy and Freed's eyes widen as the realisation sinks in simultaneously.
"There's more than one runic criteria!"
Fairy Tail splits up.
Those with no runic marks went out to do damage control.
Calming the citizens and urging them to disperse— with the excuse that they could cast their votes as soon as they got home. Look forward to the Fantasia, we're in for some intense parade preparations! Bye.
Whether it worked or not, everyone kept trying.
Levy, Max, Evergreen, Chico, and Laki, all who were best versed in runic language, stayed in the guild archives to study the patterns. Mirajane knew the archives best, so she remained to help them navigate the shelves.
Bickslow headed out for recon, along with Alzack, as they were mostly covered and wouldn't draw too much attention even with the runes around them. Erza requipped into a large rain cloak and followed, mainly to find Aria.
The rest of them waited impatiently for better news.
"Who's not here?" Master finally asks, and Gray barely finishes the headcount with Vijeeter.
"Macao, Wakaba, Warren," Vijeeter counts. "A few more of the newer members, and some that didn't come home for Fantasia…"
"Laxus," Gray adds. "And Natsu."
Everyone freezes.
"Wait… is Laxus in Magnolia?" because that's a genuine question. He went off on his own some days ago, and no one's even seen him since. They have no idea where he is, or when he even left them. "Someone check Freed's record!"
If Laxus is caught up in the same problem as Natsu—
"He didn't leave!" Cana calls.
At least they could make sure of that. Natsu's been gone for longer, so they don't even know. And now, that troubling thought comes to mind.
"What if Natsu's been hiding because of this same problem?"
Lucy runs around town, trying her best to assure everyone that they've got a huge surprise in store, and the runes are part of it. It's meant as preparations for the Fantasia, kind of like show makeup!
(She makes up enough nonsense to get by.)
What's most important now is for Lucy to act natural. Of course, she should act calm and composed, because everyone in town is now extra wary of Lucy's state of mind as a gauge to Fairy Tail's general environment.
It's useful, even if she hates it.
Everyone's on the lookout for a possible attack, but there's no way they could have bypassed Freed's runes— even then, she'll remain on high alert. If enemies target their town again, Lucy is going to fight this time.
She's going to fight for them, because finally, she can.
(She's a member of Fairy Tail, too.)
(She'll do anything for them.)
"We found out part of what it does."
It's clear that Chico is distressed, Max is exhausted, and it pains Levy to have to tell them any of this. Cana has the outdoors team on a Call Card as the report comes.
"It wasn't too hard to figure out— they wanted us to find out quickly," Levy says.
The original caster himself is no longer in town.
His magic functions on supremacy— submission. By defeating someone, they essentially become his extensions, and he can use his magic through them. So he set off this curse through a 'Key', and ran off like an innocent man.
So, the bomber's long gone.
(It's terrifying to think how many lives he could've ruined with this very same method.)
Supremacy of the Key.
"That means if we find and defeat this Key ," Gray says, "we're free? That's simple, then!"
"Absolutely not!" Levy says, "the Key is the only connection we have to the caster! These runes are so deeply woven into our magic, that if we cut it off instead of dispelling them thoroughly, it could cause rejection reactions. Most likely it'll explode, but at best it'll remain in our magic like poison."
A sharp hiss from Gray.
If that much damage is done to any of their magic systems, most of them may never be able to use magic ever again. They're risking their entire career if they act recklessly.
"Then what about Chico's runes, which are slightly different?"
"We don't know why hers is different, but the activation is the same," Max brings up, "it's more likely that the caster put the curse on her separately, but they activated at the same time. Maybe the caster can only activate all their curses in a specific location at once."
"Which, in this case," Evergreen sighs, "would be the entire town of Magnolia. It also only visibly shows up on mages. So we don't even know if any of the townsfolk are affected."
"Wha— it could be on the people of the town, too?!"
It's a curse cast upon people that are defeated, and thus, is also dispelled when people are defeated. That's right up Fairy Tail's alley, and the second that's clear, everyone's raring to go.
"The problem is who this Key could be…"
"The problem ," Levy raises her voice, "is that we're on a time limit. Do you have any idea how unstable magic of this scale and caliber is? To let runes run rampant on our magic like we're batteries just fueling its activation? If we leave these like this it's just a matter of time before we all explode either way!"
Instant, frigid silence.
So they can't do anything about it, but doing nothing isn't an option. They're forced to struggle against an inevitable.
"I don't have to tell you, right?" Levy says, "the more magic you have, the worse it'll be."
Fairy Tail is Fiore's current strongest guild. Full of proud, strong mages from all over this nation. And this is how their dearly celebrated Fantasia is turning out.
There couldn't have been a better tactic against them.
And there isn't a doubt in anyone's minds of who the culprit could be. Naked Mummy.
"Magic is present in all things in Earthland. But for a civilian, even what little magic they have is enough to be lethal if it explodes . Their magic isn't active or trained, that means they're much more vulnerable to it than we mages are."
And worst of all— once again, they've dragged their hapless townsfolk into a problem they are fully responsible for causing. There's just no going around this one— there's just no way to justify any of this. There's just no way to quell the bubbling, furious anger in their chests.
And they can't risk leaving Magnolia, either. There's no way any Naked Mummy members are in town anymore— they can't even go and fight.
It is Cana that finally asks the question. The questions that everyone already knows the answer to.
They're feeling it. His magic in their veins, threatening to blow them all up. It's warm, it's scorching, and it's familiar. Someone's using the magic of such a proud, bursting soul— and doing this with it, and it makes their hearts ache.
"Did the runes tell you who the key is?"
Levy's face scrunches up with so much grief. This is the person that dictates the targets. The reason why such a seemingly random array of people have been cursed. The townfolk getting caught in all this may be attributed to Naked Mummy— but everyone in Fairy Tail has only one person to blame.
Child of Fire and Dragons.
"It's Natsu."
This spell has taken every wizard that Natsu Dragneel has ever fought and won against.
Hearing it devastates Lucy in a way she just can't describe.
She knows, better than anyone, how it feels to be a stranger in your own home. How it feels to be forced to stay out of sight, out of mind, if only for your own good.
Natsu Dragneel, in all the time he's been missing, has never left Magnolia.
And yet, he's never been home.
(She thinks of her father, who didn't even realize he'd isolated his daughter in his own home. He had been lost in his grief, thinking he was doing all he could to keep the family he inherited afloat— never realizing that all Lucy wanted from him was belonging.)
(Fairy Tail is hardly as tragic an entity.)
(But they've grown so big, they're always a step too late in realizing the hearts they've only pretended to touch. So many lives are right in its walls but they know nothing of them. First Gray, then Lucy, then Loke— now Natsu… who's next?)
(They accepted anyone and everyone, but at what point does acceptance become tolerance, become dismissal? Become indifference?)
(There's no way any of them can focus on all members at once. Someone's going to be less prominent than the others. If everyone is loved, maybe no one truly is; but if someone receives special attention, then are the others just left to drown?)
(How long has Natsu been drowning?)
Fairy Tail breaks off into a mass search party.
"Oh, there they all go," Makarov sighs longsufferingly. "What's the rush? If Natsu wasn't found before, he won't be found now. Certainly not with some last minute scrambling."
"But we still have to try," Mirajane urges.
Her fists are clenched tight at her chest and her breaths come with a weight upon them. This isn't the time to be down and upset.
"If it's Dispel we need, we'll have to get Ms Porlyusica," Levy says, coming at the door with a card in her hand shining to a communication line where Jet had made it to the border where Freed is. "Should we call the Magic Council for help?"
"If civilians are involved, then we definitely do," Cana says, grimly. "I don't like needing to work with them, but we don't have a choice with a magic assault of this scale. Can you handle that, Levy?"
"Yeah," Levy says, though she seems reluctant, "I'll need Laki's help. I don't know which of them will actually bother to hear me out."
"Is Freed still closing the border?" Alzack asks.
"We need to keep anyone from leaving or entering right now," Max says. "Maybe entering Magnolia will add to our casualty count. Or leaving town would cause the spell to implode. We can't risk it."
"We need to get Warren in, at least," Bisca says. "And update them on the situation. We need to keep Macao and Wakaba outside so they can be our link to the outside."
"Them two? Are we sure that's fine?" someone blanches.
Cana snaps, "what's with that tone? Macao and Wakaba are the old guarding faces of this guild! Who else can we trust with a job like this, if not them??"
There's reluctance in Mickey's face.
"I mean, that's old news, isn't it? Those two are hardly as strong now."
"Yeah… Macao's in a wheelchair now, too."
"But all of our current strong members are marked."
"I'd be more assured if Master went… or even Lucy!"
"You've got to be joking!" Cana can't believe her ears. "You would throw Lucy out there alone for a job as important as monitoring the outside alone? Are you all out of your minds?!"
"Cana, you've got to understand! Macao and Wakaba are hardly in their old prominence now, do you really think the world looks upon them as fondly as you do?"
"People don't entrust jobs like that to them anymore! There's a reason you're the face of the guild, Cana— maybe even Gray!"
Cana falls silent at that.
Is that what they all really think?
That none of them except the most famous faces are reliable enough? The weight of every life in this town is a heavy one to any Fairy Tail mage— but when the time comes down to it, they'll inevitably turn to any of the famous faces instead.
No one would even bat an eye at names like Macao or Wakaba. They wouldn't feel assured enough to entrust them with such an important mission at all. Because they may be in the same guild, but it's clear there's a separation in strength, prominence, and trustworthiness.
(A popularity contest, all year around.)
(One that some people would never ever bother to compete, simply because there's no sense in putting yoursel fup there just to get disappointed again.)
(She knows. She knows how achingly frustrating that is.)
(How long has Fairy Tail been like this?)
"Enough about that," Mirajane decides to cut in, to ease the situation. "Cana, ask Freed to get Warren in. His telepathy won't go outside Magnolia anyways, so he's better inside. Macao and Wakaba should stay outside if they want to."
"Romeo and Enno-san aren't affected, but Wakana is," Droy says. He's gone around to finish the list of people in the guild that have been affected. "Hers is the same as Chico's."
Cana decides to drop it.
"I'll tell them," Cana says.
She knows this isn't okay.
But when has Fairy Tail ever been one to air out their dirty laundry and talk feelings? Everyone saw it happen to Lucy and no one wanted to be in her position.
There wasn't much else they could figure out to do. Warning the civilians now will only cause panic, and putting another headless chicken out there to search for Natsu wouldn't do any good.
"Where's Gray?"
"With Elfman, they're looking for Happy."
Mirajane frowns. Happy's been searching himself sick these few days, and it's getting much too worrying. He hasn't been going to either dorm at nights— which is what he usually does when Natsu isn't around— and has been spending time at Lisanna's grave instead.
That's the fault of Fairy Tail. All of them.
"What about Erza?"
Laxus is missing, likely searching for Natsu.
"She went to meet with Aria."
He has Drain. That would definitely help the current situation. Sucking magic out of people isn't ideal for a mage— they could get Deficient sick— but for a civilian, Aria could possibly separate dormant magic with malicious magic and heal them perfectly. There's no telling when this magic may go out of control, but that's why they have to act quickly. Aria is the best possible ally to have on their side at this time.
(How ironic.)
Mirajane supposes Erza came to that conclusion, too.
In that case, as the only remaining available S-class wizard, Mirajane has an important rule to fulfill.
Turning into the building, she beelines for the bar, clapping for attention. Not everyone has run out to search mindlessly for Natsu, so she has hands. "Everyone, I need your help!"
She morphs a single wing to life, and Levy raises a shield near the rune-decoding team just in time to protect the important papers from the large gust of wind. With a swing of her hand Mirajane clears a table of flower petals, cheering banners, and empty mugs.
"Get me all the communication lacrima from the storerooms! I need every connection to the outside right now," Mirajane says, "Cana, you're with me. We're not letting Naked Mummy get ahead of us any longer!"
Lucy finds Gray and Elfman, along with Happy, by Lisanna's grave.
"Sorry, Lisanna," Elfman's talking to the tombstone, "we just lost Natsu, and we don't know where to find him. If you were here, you'd know. We all know you'd never give up until you found him, just like how he still hasn't given up on finding you."
Gray watches over him, deep in thought.
"He'll turn up," Gray says, though he doesn't seem to truly believe it. "He always leaves clues. That's how LIsanna finds him."
But they're not Lisanna— would he even do that, now that she's gone?
"Why would he want to be found?"
Lucy knows. She doesn't know Natsu as well, but he's strong, he's a dragon— just like Ryos… when you've only been able to live for yourself, it becomes impossible to ask for help. Even more so when you're older and less forgivable.
Lucy gazes down, where the vase of flowers had a single new addition. It looked like a daisy, but it was a little different.
It wasn't there the last time she was here.
It's a halzion bloom.
"Wait—" she rushes forward, surprising both Gray and Elfman. "Why is that there?"
Someone added this in later. But when, and why?
It's not a daisy— it can be mistaken as one, but it's not. Daisies grow around the river along Lucy's apartment.
Halzions sprout in much more humid places in Fiore. Much saltier air, much windier climates. That's why they named the port town, Hargeon, after it.
"Oh? Those…" Gray looks closer, "you're right. They look a little different," and surely a creation mage that works with the details in artistic interpretations would know. "Hold on."
He snaps his fingers, a surge of ice magic shooting into the air to draw the attention of a certain soundwave mage.
Lucy's seen a few of them do the same, though she still hasn't quite been able to understand how they intercept the telepathic connection to demand a call so easily. It must be the fruits of working with someone for years, but it still impresses her every time.
"Warren? I need you to get me to Droy."
"You're right," Droy communicates over telepathy. "You can't find Halzions in the residential areas in Magnolia. But you can rarely find them inside the East Forest. Specifically far into it… around that huge lake."
Right now, Fairy Tail mages are running around town. They've cited their runic marks as party makeup of sorts, and they're trying their best not to just scream 'Natsu' in every direction. Everyone that can't do anything to help dispel the runes from civilians is focusing on searchign for Natsu.
Focusing, half-heartedly, on searching for Natsu.
Gray hums affirmatively. "He should still be there. No one goes there often— it's too out of the way, and there's nothing in there for fetch-quests."
"But are you sure, Gray?"
When Droy asks that, no one can ask him what he means. They know.
Going to help him now would wound Natsu's pride. The fact that he'd run and hid rather than ask for help was testament enough. Maybe Natsu didn't trust them with his vulnerability— would it be worth it to break his pride and go help him anyways?
What can they even do, once they find him?
Why'd he run away? Was it because he knew? He's always hiding something and everyone's sick of not knowing whether they can truly trust him. Do you not hear what the townspeople have said? Natsu ran away from the enemies and left the townfolk to suffer. It's hard to ask for help, when it feels like everyone's already against you. To approach the guild now would be hiding in the mass of pity, and to ask for more help on top of all that?
But then again, Natsu knew very well that if he didn't show up— if he didn't even give a warning, everyone, including him, would explode. The civilians may die. Many mages in the guild might never be able to work again.
Why would Natsu hide, knowing all that? How could he doom them all, like that?
"Can't we bring Aria to Natsu?" Elfman suggests.
"Aria can't help everyone. We have the civilians to worry about," Gray says. "And this curse won't dispel unless we completely run out of magic. It's fine for the civilians, but for us mages, Magic Deficiency Disease is the best possible scenario"
It doesn't matter if they wait for the bomb or have all their magic sucked out. They're wagering a very thin line between life and death either way.
For Natsu, especially, there's no telling what his curse does when it activates.
"Since his curse is directly linked to the bomber, there's a high chance any tampering could be noticed early and set off everyone's," Gray says. "He did the right thing, not risking everyone's safety by jumping the gun."
"That doesn't mean we have to like it, though," Elfman says.
His voice is ground out, almost irritated.
"You understand too, right, Gray?" Elfman begins. "If the bombs go off now, the ones in the most danger are our S-class mages! That means big sis—!!"
He clenches shut.
Elfman sighs. The unspoken I don't want to lose another sister while I stand here, helpless, rings out so loudly, Gray can't even look at him.
"Someone has to go get Natsu either way," Gray says.
"But then, what?" Droy asks.
"Then we'll figure it out! Stop fucking asking!" Gray snaps. "What else are we supposed to do, leave him alone?"
"Clearly he wants to be left alone! He fucking ran off and said nothing, he clearly doesn't fucking think we care!"
"And he was right!" Gray snaps, "we did nothing, because we thought he'd be strong enough to handle himself even if he got in trouble! He was fucking right, are we supposed to be happy that we fucked up?!"
"And what are you going to do, baby him once you find him? Don't you realize he'll just see it as an insult?"
Warren interrupts, "stop using my telepathy to fight!" He'd opened a line only with this group, him, and Droy, but he was considering takign away privacy rights. It takes more magic to focus on a few people than just transmit to every Fairy Tail member.
"Then do you have a better ide—"
"Warren."
All of them pause. Someone had overridden Warren's telepathy and sent a message to everyone with the guild mark— and they could tell from the light jolt exactly who did it.
Laxus.
Laxus just showed up.
Before anyone could get out a 'where have you been', Erza and Mirajane seemed to be almost there— Laxus reports, calmly,
"I found Natsu. But right now, I need all of you to do me a favour."
Huh?
A while before the Miss Fairy Tail Contest was abruptly cut short, Laxus had already found Natsu in the East Forest.
"That's enough, you brat," Laxus grumbles. His body is laden with bright blue runes, just like most of the guild. "You're going to keep leading me around in circles, or are you finally sick of it?"
Natsu's runes are a bright, scorching red, and they mark every inch of his skin like a rising hex. He doesn't meet Laxus' eyes, almost ashamed. His face is pale and he's breathing harshly, the entire situation taking a heavy toll on him.
"...how's Happy?"
He asks that, first of all.
Laxus scoffs.
"Crying day in and out at Lisanna's grave, thanks to you. Last I heard he's babysitting Wakana at Fairy Hills."
Natsu hums, noncommittably.
"So? What's the deal here?"
Laxus sits down, where he is. He doesn't approach, doesn't look at Natsu when he doesn't meet his eyes— he just sits, and gets comfortable.
"Just you and me here."
Natsu doesn't run. Doesn't clamp up and void them all again— he's tired of running, too, and they all know it. But at this point, is there really a right answer to it all.
(Gajeel was right. Natsu really didn't trust anyone in Fairy Tail. Didn't love them in any way that truly mattered— he couldn't let himself. He didn't want to. He knew he shouldn't.)
The only part of his body the runes didn't cover was his guild mark.
"You heard the plan. Warren's telepathy has been keeping everyone updated," Laxus says. Everyone knows Aria is around— and if Aria manages to dispel what's on Natsu before Naked Mummy retaliates— and that's possible. They've established a connection outside, and a unified counterattack is possible. "So, what's the problem?"
Natsu's fists whiteknuckle over his side.
"Drain will only work for Erza," he says. "Mirajane's magic is connected to her soul. Remove her magic completely even for a second— and she'll be permanently affected." Chronic Magic Deficiency is the best case scenario.
It's worth it if that's a last resort.
"Yours, too," Natsu says. "Take away the magic that lacrima gave you too quickly, and your body wouldn't know how to sustain itself. You'll be lucky if only some of your organs fail after your magic has been running your immune system for the last decade."
Aria cannot help any of them with the curse.
As for Natsu…
"I can't afford to die, Laxus," he says. And he's selfish— he sounds so childish, so selfish. He knows he sounds pathetic, and he hates it.
But that's the reason.
If he had the choice, he'd die for everyone. Blow himself up if it meant everyone else could go on never knowing anything happened. He'll bite the bullet and get punched and kicked and spat on, if it meant Chico and Wakana could walk home safely. He doesn't need gratitude, he doesn't need a hero's welcome.
He's fine being treated like shit. For everyone else, it's a small price.
But death?
He couldn't die. The one thing he can't do is run out of magic. He can't get all of his magic drained, and his magic blowing up would kill him— he knows this, because the magic sustaining his life is much stronger than himself. If all of that turns against him, he would not only take the continent with him, not a smithereen of his body would be found.
Natsu can't let that happen.
(His life doesn't belong to him. How could he waste it so callously?)
(But he can't just let everyone die. But he can't solve this all on his own. But he can't ask for help without explaining why the easiest solution won't work. He wouldn't know what to say. They wouldn't understand. They've never understood.)
( If I die, what did Zeref bring me back to life for?)
(If I die, who will set Zeref free?)
(No one will understand. Especially not anyone in Fairy Tail.)
(So what should he do?)
(What could he do?)
(He's hidden, and hidden, and hidden, because he realized that there was no one he could turn to. Ryos wasn't around, he couldn't leave to find Gajeel, and there's no one else he trusted enough to understand and help unconditionally.)
(He didn't have anyone. He didn't—)
"I can't die, Laxus."
When Natsu pleads this, he lifts his head and he sees himself in Laxus' eyes. It's foreign— agonized, his gaze reflects, and Natsu's face is scrunched up like he's in searing pain. He claws at the air and finds no purchase, but his voice comes a shattered croak, a child's whimper.
Natsu doesn't recognize himself.
And maybe that's why he didn't have the composure to stop his next words.
"I can't die until I see Zeref again. I can't."
He regrets the words the second it escapes, and his face is seized with horror— it fluctuates when Laxus gets up, and he jerks back, throwing up a fistful of flames.
"Get back!"
Laxus doesn't flinch when the punch smacks his face to the side.
He simply turns his head back toward Natsu, who's frozen with shock that he hadn't even tried to dodge.
"You know, Natsu…"
When Laxus rests a hand on his head, Natsu tenses, so fearful. But the words are calm, they're not angry. They're not angry.
Every time Natsu mentioned anything about Zeref, he was always harshly rebuked, called a heretic, and accused of vile crimes and apathy. He'd slipped— he mentioned wanting to see Zeref, positively, desperately, like he'd rather doom everyone than lose the chance to meet Zeref.
(Because Zeref was the reason everyone suffered in the world, and Natsu was his magnum opus.)
But Laxus doesn't even sound mad. He doesn't understand that.
"Natsu, you know," Laxus begins again, "if you were this honest from the start, maybe you would get along with Gray a little better."
He pinches Natsu on the cheek and pulls, earning a whine.
"You done crying?"
Natsu squeaks, "I wasn't—!!"
"Great. Because I'm not exactly willing to get my magic drained out of me either. Shit hurts," Laxus says. "I heard you out, so now, you hear me out."
Laxus always finds a way to avoid pain. He takes the long way around train routes for this reason— if there's a harder way to get to the same destination, he'll do it if it means not being motion sick for half the time. He isn't a stranger to suffering or endurance, he just wants to be the one making the choices.
"So, Natsu," he says. "Don't you think it's about time we had our rematch? You know, to properly re-establish the one true leader of the Thunder Legion?"
Laxus chuckles.
Natsu meets him in the eyes, utterly taken aback.
And that brings them to the telepathic conversation with Warren.
"You found Natsu?"
"Laxus, where have you been?!" Freed yells. He gets dismissed.
"I don't care how any of you do it, but do it loud, make it flamboyant, and make as much of a mess as you can across town," Laxus tosses aside his headphones and his cape. "Good timing, Freed. You're monitoring the members in town right now, aren't you? Raise a headcount, and make sure we don't stop until we get the last man standing."
He cracks his knuckles, and his eyes land forward, where Natsu stands, an agonized look on his face as he tucks halfway behind a tree, the glowing pink runes causing a clearly painful tension through his arms, a furrow in his brows— he grits his teeth, and growls, low and hostile.
"We're running out of time, so I'll make this quick. I want all of you to fight," Laxus says. "Every single one of you, without exception— fight until you're running on empty, destroy each other. If you win… I don't know, you get to be the star float for tonight's Fantasia parade. We'll figure that out later."
"Wha— what are you trying to say?" Makarov's utterly dumbfounded, "Laxus, you want the guild to fight each other? In a situation like this?"
"Wait, are you saying—" Mirajane realizes. She's at the guild, conversing with the outside, but she had to falter at this order, "everyone's out in the middle of the city, and you want us to have an all-out scale battle royale out of nowhere? We've been trying so hard to calm the public down!"
"What are you trying to achieve with it, anyways?" Alzack calls.
Bisca's fairly annoyed. "We're running out of time, shouldn't we prioritize getting the civilians to safety?"
"No wait— I see the logic here," Erza says. "Aria, focus on helping the civilians The rest of you— do as he says!"
"Oh! I get it now!" Laki calls, "but isn't that reckless?"
"Are you telling us to fight until we have no magic left?? It's still going to explode!" Levy groans, "a mage can't consciously use up all his magic on purpose, our human survival instinct won't let that happen!"
"Wait…" that's Freed. "That human instinct is what's going to make this survivable."
Aria has to be very, very careful when he drains magic, and there's no sure way to immediately tell if too much is being taken and stop him before you get terribly Magic Deficient. That makes the process take time, and runs more of a risk than if you'd just gone and used the magic yourself, until you couldn't stand anymore.
"But if you can get pretty close…the explosion's power is weaker," Cana chuckles. "Damn, we're really living up to our name as the most batshit crazy guild in Fiore, are we?"
"Wait—" Gray sputters, "sure the explosion's power would be weaker if we had less magic in our system, but that means we'll be tanking that blow with no magical protection ! It's suicide!"
"Yeah, and so what?" Jet yells into the sky, so loudly someone hears him from the next street. "Living as a mage at all is goddamn suicide for us normal folk!"
And Mickey adds, "We're not all durable monsters like you, not that you're the picture of self-preservation or anything, Gray!"
The multiple voices screeching out denials or agreements in response to that is music to Laxus' ears. He chuckles, fond and exasperated, as he turns his attention forward once more.
Fire licks at Natsu's arms, and he claws at some of the runes, unable to physically get them off, only peeling at skin and goring in with his nails.
Laxus holds a single arm forward, beckoning him to come at him.
"Listen up, no one is allowed to die from the explosion once we hit the time limit. All of you stubborn shits better stay the fuck alive! Now that we've got that clear," Laxus calls. He grins, fangs bared and eyes wide with a feral sort of hunger— "welcome to the very first Battle of Fairy Tail!"
