It had been days since Grimoire Heart's defeat at the hands of the guilds Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, who were assisted by the guilds Mermaid Heel, , Qautro Cerberus, Sabertooth, and two guilds who are starting to make a name for themselves, especially after helping out with the Grimoire Heart incident, Cosmic Star and Twilight Zone. The Fairy Tail guild hall was slowly rebuilt, and had been restored about 70% of the way. Everyone was in the guild this time around, so the process went smoothly. "I'm getting real tired of people coming over here and smashing the place up…" Gajeel said with an annoyed sigh as he used his hand, which was now morphed into a wrench for the time being, to screw in a few nuts at the roof of the ceiling.
"You know…you were one of those people not too long ago…" Alzack said with a slight chuckle, poking some fun towards the iron dragon slayer.
"Well you know what…!?" Gajeel started, obviously slightly irritated by the gun slinging fairy, though Alzack just gave a joking laugh in response.
"Oi," Laxus said, walking over to Natsu. "What ever happened to that old man, and the rest of his crew?" He asked, referring to Hades and the other members.
"Put him right where he belongs! In a jail cell!" Natsu said to the fellow dragon slayer with a grin. "He…and…and…just him…"
"You don't know what happened to the others?" Laxus asked.
"Nope," Natsu said with a straight face.
"Oi…" Laxus let out a slightly annoyed sigh before turning and walking off.
"You really don't know what happened to the other members of Grimoire Heart?" Erza asked.
"Aside from Hades," Lucy started as she tapped her chin. "I don't know what happened ot the other members…"
"I suppose it doesn't matter for now, babies," Bickslow said with a subtle shrug.
"I guess," Lucy replied before shrugging.
Mirajane acting her usual cheery self, walked around what was currently the guild hall, passing drinks around to anyone who wanted one. "You're all doing a great job!" She said with an optimistic voice.
"How can she stay so happy all the time…?" Cynthia said in a depressed down, blue lines appearing over her head in an animated fashion.
"Mira-nee always tries her best to be happy around the guild!" Lisanna replied. Lisanna then noticed Cynthia's depressed mood. "Cynthia…are you alright…?"
"I'm fine…" Cynthia replied as she walked off after, unintentionally being rude.
"Oi," Max Alors, the sand mage, said as he walked over to Lisanna, furrowing a brow in confusion. "Is she alright…? She's usually much more cheery."
"She's been depressed ever since they came back from that battle…" Lisanna sighed. "I wonder what happened…"
"She just needs some space." Wendy said, frowning slightly with concern for her best friend. A few more minutes past within the busy guild until the town started shifting in a slightly familiar formation.
"T-The town's moving again…!" Lisanna gasped slightly.
"Does this mean!?" Natsu perked up in excitement as he rushed to the only window that faced the town of Magnolia that wasn't broken, and sure enough, Natsu's assumption was correct. The town was now in a position to where there was just a single straight path to the guild.
"He's coming back…shit…" Cana sighed slightly before grabbing the nearest barrel of alcohol and started chugging down, enjoying her last few moments of freedom before she was smothered with love she found quite unnecessary.
"It's been quite some time…" Makarov said to himself as he examined the mostly ruined guild. "At least he won't break a much…heheh…" A few minutes passed, and the one and only ace of Fairy Tail walked in, Gildarts Clive, a small back slung over his shoulder as he walked inside. Gildarts looked around, furrowing a brow in confusion as he wasn't quite sure what was going on within the guild.
"Huh…something seems different about this place…every single time I leave it's like something new happens…" Gildarts said to himself, not quite taking notice of the other members yet.
"How is he not noticing…?" Cana started with a sigh.
"GILDARTS!" Natsu shouted, igniting his fist in flames as soon as he laid eyes on the ace, grinning widely as he dashed forward towards the ace. "Fight me!"
Natsu's yelling attracted Gildarts' attention, and before Natsu could even swing his fist, Gildarts caught the ecstatic dragon slayer and spun him around a few times before flinging Natsu into the ceiling…or to be more accurate, what he THOUGHT was the ceiling. Since a part of the ceiling wasn't around, Gildarts inadvertently flung Natsu into the sky. Upon doing so, Gildarts immediately realized what was different about the guild. "…Did I do this?"
"NATSU!" Happy shouted, immediately flying up to retrieve Natsu from the sky.
"And there he goes…" Levy said while looking up at the sky.
"Welcome back, Gildarts!" Makarov said with a grin.
"GILDARTS!" Cynthia tackled Gildarts quite happily, almost bringing the crash mage onto the ground, but he managed to catch himself. "Welcome back!"
"Whoa!" Gildarts caught the little girl before setting her down. "Thank you for the welcome!" Gildarts quickly scanned the area, and then spotted Cana in the corner, drinking her beer. "CANA!"
"Shit…!" Cana heard her named called, and the next thing she knew Gildarts started to smother her immediately. "Dammit! Put me down old man!"
Gildarts completely ignored Cana as he continued to smother her. "How's my baby girl been!?"
.
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White Eclipse was slightly better off than Fairy Tail in terms of guild damage. The only damage that remained within the guild was the injury of a few members. "How many times have you almost died now?" Cygnus asked Luke as he nudged the copy mage.
"Too many to count…" Luke replied with a slight laugh.
"Your close calls won't last forever," Sidney said as he walked past the two.
"And there goes the mood…" Luke said with a sigh.
"Could be worse," Cygnus said with a shrug before walking off. Aira and Zain then walked into the main room from the infirmary, both sighing slightly.
"How's Master…?" Nami asked.
"He's fine, for now," Zain said while rubbing the back of his head. "He really shouldn't have taken that battle though…"
"He knew that," Waiston said with a slight sigh of disappointment. "But he tried to protect us…"
"He'll be fine!" Aira said with a hopeful tone. "He took his medicine, and now he just needs a lot of rest, and he should be good as new!"
"Good!" Kuro said while eating a bowl of noodles.
"Until then, what do we do?" Nami asked.
"Just don't bother him…otherwise…" Zain started, trailing off as the members around quickly knew what he was going to say.
"You hear that?" Reve said as he walked forward. "No bothering the old man."
.
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At the Mermaid Heel guild, the main members, including Kagura, were inside as they were preparing the addition of their newest female member. "Feeling spiffy?!" Milliana asked as she constantly walked around Melody in excitement.
"W-What…?" Melody looked towards the female feline with confusion. "What's what mean!? Wait, no…better question…do I want to know?"
"You should relax more…!" Beth said with a nod.
Kagura walked over towards Melody, a faint smile on her face as she held the Mermaid Heel stamp up. "You aren't even a member of this guild, yet you've done a lot for this guild, and you never even had to."
"Yes I did…!" Melody replied. "You took me in when I was in such a bad state…I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for your kindness to me, Kagura…"
"Would you like you join Mermaid Heel?" Kagura asked.
"W-Would you really let me…!?" Melody's eyes widened in excitement at the question, even more so when the female before her gave a nod. "Then yes, I want to join!"
.
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"It's not surprising they failed," Ruika said while waving a hand dismissively.
"What do you mean not surprising!?" Zancrow asked in annoyance.
"You lost to children," Ruika replied. "I saw the entire thing, and it appears a "Gecko" can beat a god."
"Why you…!" Zancrow clenched his fist, his black flames starting to flare.
"Cool it, annoying wanker…" Maggie said with an uninterested yawn. "You and your buddies should be thankful we decided to pull you out before the Council got you."
"They got everyone else aside from myself and Zancrow," Rutsyrose replied while fixing his glasses with his index finger.
"Couldn't they have gotten you too…?" Kiora sighed in annoyance.
"Heh…someone who Kiora hates even more than me," Tobias said with a slight smirk, feeling somewhat confident about his new standing.
"Shut up, Tobias," Kiora said right after Tobias spoke.
"Sora likes Tobias!" The pinkette said with a grin.
"What'd you pull us out for, anyway?" Zancrow asked as he crossed his arms, looking at the Tartaros members around.
"It appears Dait still has some use for you two," Rugal said as he walked in the room alongside Mithril.
"And if you fail him again, he said I have full permission to eat you," Mithril said to the two Grimoire Heart mages as he licked his lips.
"…This fucker is crazier than I am…" Zancrow said as he took a step back from Mithril.
"So, how'd it feel losing to someone who doesn't even have their own abilities?" Kiora asked Rustyrose with a taunting smile.
"His kind is the lowest of the low, and I feel ashamed to have been finished by his attack…" Rustyrose replied.
"Ah…don't feel bad…he got me too…" Tobias said.
"Shut up, Tobias," Daityas said as he walked into the room. "You two are still alive, eh?"
"You want us, apparently," Zancrow replied.
"For now, I want you two to lay low," Daityas said. "Now then…what are the reports on the other members of Grimoire Heart?"
"Azuma's condition is unknown," Ruika said. "But he's most likely dead. Kain Hikaru, Bluenote Stinger, and Hades are all in Magic Council prison, with no chance of escape."
"They caught Bluenote and Hades, hm…" Daityas thought aloud.
"It appears that Bluenote chap had quite a good run before eventually getting defeated," Maggie said as she sat back in a chair, crossing one leg over the other as she had a demon servant bring her a drink. "Council, two gravity mages, and silver make mage."
"HA!" Ruika couldn't let out a chuckle. "Makers…what a joke…"
Kiora raised an eyebrow at Ruika's comment about maker magic, as Kiora did indeed use Shadow Make Magic occasionally. "Oh?"
"Aside from you, of course," Ruika continued.
"Reminds me of that one maker mage…" Tobias started, starting to trail off. "I forget her name, but she was a powerful Ice make wizard…and she had power equal to one of the ten wizard saints…"
"Tobias what the fuck did I just…" Daityas started, but then he stopped, as Tobias actually started to stir an idea in the king of hell's mind. "Repeat that?"
"I said…Ice Make female mage…?" Tobias said with a puzzled expression.
Sometimes, Tobias was actually good for something. Daityas' annoyed look soon turned into that of sinister smile. "…Ah…ahaha…Rugal!" Daityas turned to Rugal, who turned to Daityas attentively.
"Yes, Master?" The green haired dimension mage asked.
"I need you to take a trip to the ocean," Daityas said. "Specifically…"
"Is that all…? Easy," Rugal nodded, and a portal appeared behind him. Rugal then stepped backwards into the portal, and it faded.
"Oh…if that's who you're after…" Ruika started. "I also have reports on a guild below us."
"A guild below us?" Kiora asked. "Which one, there are so many."
"Silent Sanctum," Ruika replied. "I've seen that they've revived Ultear Mlikovich, and seem to be on a particular movement…"
"Let them do as they wish," Daityas replied. "Keep an eye on them, so their movements will be within our eyes the entire time. For now, we'll just see how far they can get without us interfering."
.
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"The mighty time ark mage defeated by a gunslinger? Weak...!" Byron said in a mocking tone as Ultear, who was wrapped in some bandages, walked into the always dusty main room which somewhat resembled a bar.
"I didn't lose." Ultear stated with a glare, making sure Byron got the facts right. "I had no intentions of risking myself and putting Jikan's plans at risk. That's not something I expect you to understand."
"You were defeated by Titania, the same gunslinger, and a construction mage half a year ago…" Veronica said with a taunting smirk.
"I was beating Titania!" Byron shouted.
"Sure you were," Veronica replied while waving a hand tauntingly.
Ultear gave a nod to Veronica before sitting at the bar where Horoki was. "Oi…I need a drink…"
"I think anyone would if they got their ass kicked as bad as you did," Horoki chuckled, but when he received a dark glare from Ultear, he put the joke aside and poured the mage a mug of beer. "Here you are."
Ultear snatched the mug with a scowl. "I had that man dead to rights. But I couldn't risk anything with his partner there. I had no idea what he could do."
"Oh, you would've been fine if it was Zalen." That voice belonged to Jikan. "He's a building mage. Time is his worst enemy."
"Is everyone here?" Aloysius asked as he walked down into the main room with Jikan.
"It appears all my pupils are indeed here…" Jikan said with an approving nod.
"What's up, Master Jikan?" Veronica asked.
"It appears an opportunity has risen with Grimoire Heart's attack…" Jikan said with a slight smirk.
"I don't understand…" Byron said with a puzzled expression.
"You don't get a lot of things," Ultear replied as she turned around, crossing one leg over the other with her drink in hand. "What is it, Master Jikan?"
"Our plan's second phase is about to begin…" Jikan said with a devious grin. Grimoire Heart was a fun distraction that kept the public eye off of them. But now, it was time for things to change.