Phantom's Calling Card

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! We've finally reached the Phantom Lord Arc, where the changes I've been making finally start coming to fruition. Also, Natsu finally gets to do things starting now! Get excited for his heated reunion with his fellow Dragon Slayer…s.

Also, Lucy will also get a moment to shine that I'm excited for soon. If you've been paying attention, then you can probably guess what I've been setting up ever since the beginning of this series, but I wonder how many of you will be shocked by the reveals this chapter.

There's still plenty of mysteries to solve though, so be prepared for more villains being mysterious and stuff.

Make sure to comment your thoughts, I love hearing reactions to my ideas, both positive and negative.

(Magic Council Headquarters)

Ultear walks into the room with Siegrain with an unreadable expression her face. "I apologize, Master Siegrain. I had no idea that woman's magic would be so advanced."

"Don't worry about it," Siegrain says. "That was simply a side objective. Though I understand that the new Fairy Tail rookies got involved. How did the four-leaf boy do?"

"He was definitely skilled. I only used half of my power, yet he has shown a frightening ability to control mana so soon" Ultear says. "However, he is no where strong enough to be used as the source of the tower yet. Though given time-" Siegrain raises his hand, cutting her off. "No, he is not to be used for the tower. The Midnight Sun has asked me to keep a close eye on that boy's progress."

Ultear looks at him inquisitively. "What is your connection to the Midnight Sun, Master Siegrain? Ever since you joined the ranks of the Wizard Saints, you've been talking about them more and more. It makes me wonder if you have ulterior motives?"

Siegrain looks at her with a smile on his face. "The same could be said for you, Ultear. I know that you're hiding something from me. I can't imagine your plan has stayed the same now that your mother Ur has returned."

Ultear's face immediately hardens in anger. "Do not mention that woman's name around me," she says, flaring her magical aura for a brief moment. "That woman was dead to me long before she turned herself into ice. The next time that we meet, will be her end."

Siegrain simply gives a knowing smile and turns his back to her. "Oh well, being human means lying to ourselves and those around us." He then looks out the window wistfully. "One last thing. Was Natsu Dragneel there as well?"

Ultear looks at him in further confusion. "Yes, but what do you care about that buffoon? He goes around claiming that he was raised by dragons all the time. How absurd."

"It's not."

The atmosphere in the room becomes tense at Siegrain's words. "I know for a fact that he is speaking the truth. I hope we can meet in person one day. HAHAHAH!" Siegrain then laughs with a maniacal look on his face.

(Magnolia)

The returning Fairy Tail wizards return from the Galuna Island mission, U, Gray's teacher, accompanying them. At some point, Nero had popped out of Asta's hood, completely forgotten about on their journey. In their beak contained an odd stone that Asta deemed to keep in his room later.

"So, Ur, are you thinking about joining Fairy Tail?" Gray asks his mentor. "I don't know," Ur says contemplatively, "I'm used to being more of a solo act. Plus," She then opens her hand, trying to form something out of it, but it comes out misshapen. "I don't think I'm using magic for a while."

Asta immediately has a look of horror upon his face. "Oh no! Did stabbing you in the ice take away all your magic!" He then immediately prostates on the ground before her. "I'm so sorry! I don't have any magic either, so I know how hard it must be! Losing it must be so hard!"

Ur looks down on the magicless swordsman nervously, noticing the bystanders watching the scene that they're making. "Hey kid, get up," she says while pulling him up to his feet. "My magic isn't gone forever; I can feel it coming back. I just won't be at full power for a while, that's all."

Ur then pats Asta on the shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure the problem was less your swords than it was being stuck as a giant ice prison for years. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Asta has tears and stars in his eyes from Ur's encouragement. "Thank you so much!" He then gets hit by Erza on the head. "Don't forget, you still need to receive punishment from the guildmaster for breaking the rules."

Asta is immediately brought back to earth by her comment. "Oh no! What if I get kicked out?! How will I be Wizard King now?!" Ur looks at him in shock at his comment. "Wait, you wanna be Wizard King?"

Asta stops freaking out to explain. "Yeah, that's why me and Yuno joined Fairy Tail. So we could get strong enough to become Wizard King. Why, did you want to be Wizard King – uh Queen?"

Ur has a sad smile on her face as she shakes her head. "No, I don't deserve the right to have such a lofty dream." The rest of the group, minus Gray who knows what she's talking about, are confused before Ur keeps talking. "Besides, that was never my dream to begin with. It was more of my friend's dream."

Lucy takes that as a cue to immediately start pushing the group forward. "Hey guys, let's get going, wouldn't want to make the Guildmaster more upset by making him wait, besides people are whispering a lot about us, let's just go!" She says frantically.

"Luce is right," Natsu says. "I can hear people whispering something about the guildhall." They then turn the corner that lets them see the guildhall from a distance.

"I wonder…why?"

Gasps come from the group as they lay their eyes upon the destruction before them; The Fairy Tail guildhall, completely skewered with giant iron logs. Natsu's eyes widen in realization as he looks at the wrecked guildhall.

"It can't be," he whispers, before running off in the direction of the guildhall. "Natsu, wait for us!" Erza shouts as they all follow him.

They eventually catch up with Natsu, who is visibly heating up in anger. "That bastard. I'd know his scent anywhere!" Natsu growls, the air getting hotter around him. "How dare he. He knows what this means!"

"Who would do something like this?" Lucy asks to no one. "It was Phantom," A voice behind them answers, turning out to be a distraught Mirajane.

Mirajane then leads them down to the guild's basement, where the rest of the guild is located. They walk up to Makarov and Yami, who are drunk off their asses. "Yo, what's up troublemakers!" Yami calls out to them in a drunken tone. "Glad you jackasses didn't die! I see you brought someone new with you too! Sorry the places is such a shithole. Hahahah!"

"What the hell are you guys doing just sitting around?!" Natsu yells angrily. "Yeah!" Asta joins Natsu in his anger. "We can't just let those guys walk all over us! Let's show them what's for!"

"Calm down," Makarov says, his words slurred. "It ain't that big a deal." They gasp as Makarov continues. "They didn't even attack while we were open, so no harm no foul. Just forget about it and move on."

SMASH

Natsu punches his hand into a crate next to him. "Don't give me that bullshit! He attacked our home; we can't just let them walk all over us!" Yami takes a long smoke of his cigarette. "Stop being a crybaby, Natsu. Go burn down a forest or something if you're just gonna break things, that's what I have Luck and Magna doing right now."

"Now then, I gotta go home and sleep this hangover off, Julius said he wanted a bunch of the Wizard Saints to meet up, so I'm gonna try and sleep off this hangover." Yami yawns as he walks out of the guildhall.

"Oh yeah," Makarov slurs, "You four left on an S-Class mission without permission. You better be lucky the guildhall was destroyed, or else I'd have to give you all a big spanking!" Makarov then laughs while Mira scolds him before heading off to the little man's room.

"I know it may not seem like they care," Mira says with a frown, "but they're just trying to keep the mood light. Fighting between guilds is strictly forbidden by the Magic Council, so we'd be in big trouble if we fought."

Natsu stomps out of the guildhall in anger, the mood in the room brought down by his attitude.

(Later that night)

Most of the guild had left by that point, leaving only four people inside before closing: Yuno, Mirajane, Cana, and Charmy.

Mirajane and Charmy usually stay late as the usual barkeeps and close down the store (well Mira does, Charmy is usually too busy making her fifty second meal of the day) and Cana is usually there late because she's drunken herself into a stupor.

The odd one out is Yuno, who had begun reading a book about advanced magic from their library (which was thankfully untouched) as soon as he got back from the mission. 'Wind attribute mages are said to be one of the most naturally attuned among wizards.' Yuno reads. 'The only two in the same realm of mana sensitivity are spatial mages and stellar mages. Stellar magic has many categories, but it is an exceedingly rare type of magic. Even Celestial Spirit magic, which anyone can use if they form a contract with the keys, is hard to come by because the keys to use said magic are limited.

'Among the three pre-mentioned types of magic, they are said to have the easiest time learning the advanced technique Mana Zone. It is such an advanced technique, most mages can live their entire lives without even coming close to learning it. It is a talent that you are either born with or not, and most who have achieved it have their name etched in history.'

Yuno then opens up a second book, this one about spirits. 'Spirits can be found throughout the world as manifestations of natural mana, but there are four spirits that are known much more than the rest. The Four Great Spirits are the most powerful spirits, but most have not been seen in over a hundred years.

'Sylph is the Spirit of Wind, and the one that has been gone the longest in history, with no record of her before X277. Salamander is the Spirit of Flame, and it disappeared from our world not long after. It is also the most bestial of the spirits and has been mistaken as a dragon multiple times throughout history. Undine is the Spirit of Water, and it was last reported to be seen in Heart Kingdom, though there are no reported hosts to her. It is often debated whether or not she is stronger than the guardian deity of the Sea Temple, though it is mostly speculation. The final spirit is the Spirit of Ice, Skald, who has had various users throughout history. Skald is most known for his carefree personality and trickster tendencies, though the ice power he gives his wielders is unparallel, even to Wizard Kings of the past who have used ice magic.

'The height of Spirit Magic is the Spirit Dive spell, where the user becomes one with their spirit. There are very few reports of wizards who have achieved this form, but they say that power rivals that of Slayer Magic. To achieve this form requires extensive knowledge of the Mana Zone technique, and even then the technique is said to be too extensive for some spirt hosts to maintain for long periods of time.'

Yuno absorbs every bit of information that he can from the books, engrossed in their contents. 'I'm completely self-taught in how to use magic, so I have to learn as much as possible if I want to be Wizard King.' Yuno is so engrossed in fact, that he doesn't realize how long he's been studying until he hears a forced cough from behind him.

"Ahem." Mira says, "I apologize Yuno, but we are now closed. You can continue reading back home." Yuno closes his books. "Sorry Mirajane, I was just researching more about my magic. It was kind of hard to find magic books back in Hage."

"I know what you mean," Mira says with a wistful smile on her face. "I came to Fairy Tail because I didn't know how my magic worked. I won't go into details, but the village thought I was possessed by a devil when my magic first activated. We figured out how my magic worked when we got to Fairy Tail, but they didn't even care that I looked like a demon."

She then smiles at Yuno. "You and your brother are lucky to have each other to watch over. I always tried to be a bit too hard back in the day to be strong older sister. Well until-"

"Until Lisanna," Yuno finishes, causing Mira to gasp. "Natsu told us about her on Galuna Island. I'm sorry, I know it must hurt to think about. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to forgive myself either. I do have a question though."

"Why did you give up?"

…

The quietness of bar suddenly increased a hundred-fold when Yuno dropped that bomb of a question. It was so shocking that Charmy stopped her sheep from cooking and Cana immediately sobered up.

"What. Did. You. Just. Ask. Me?" Mira says, a dark aura surrounding her as she speaks. Yuno feels the dark mana coming off of her but doesn't flinch and continues talking. "I understand being distraught about your younger sister's death. I even understand taking a break for a while to mourn her death. What I don't understand is why you stopped going on missions altogether."

"Because it was my fault!" Mira shouts, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I was the one who brought them on that mission! I'm the one who couldn't stop the Beast from destroying that town! I'm the one that sat there and watched as her younger brother, who was out of his mind, swatted his sister into a cliff LIKE SHE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN AN INSECT! What would you do if that happened to you then!"

"I admit, I don't know how I'd react if I that did happen to Asta, but I do know one thing." Yuno says.

"He would never want me to give up on our dream."

Mira's anger subsides a bit as Yuno talks. "I wouldn't want him to give up either if it happened to me. If anything, I'd want him to give 200% in achieving his goal. So that no one else would ever have to die from our mistakes ever again, like your sister did."

"I guess in a way that it wasn't just Lisanna who died," Yuno says, his tone now softer, "You did too in a way. I can tell that every time Erza looks at you she feels like she's looking at the empty shell of her former rival. It's the same one I had when Asta first got upset at the fact that he didn't have magic. The difference is that he got over it pretty quick and never gave up."

Yuno's piercing gold eyes then meet Mira's as he defiantly asks. "Do you think Lisanna would want you to give up?"

Mira's dark aura ceases as Mira calms down. "No," she cries tearfully, "She wouldn't." Yuno then pats her on the head. "This would make the kids back in the orphanage feel better," Yuno says with a soft smile on his face, "Sorry if I made you upset. I just wanted to help someone find the same spark that Asta inspired in me."

Charmy immediately takes that moment to interrupt. "Oh, Yuno! I have an extra special meal just for you to take home, La!" 'Oh no! I hope this doesn't awaken anything in Mira, or else I may lose my Meal-Prince to her, La!' Charmy cries out in her head. 'No! Even if a hundred woman were to be pining for him, I would never lose!'

As Yuno goes to take his impromptu takeout from Charmy, Cana walks over to Mira, who is blushing madly after Yuno's head pats. 'What the hell was that?!' Mira thinks in her head. 'I've been on dates with plenty of guys, and even some girls, but none of them have ever made me feel like this!'

Cana leans her arm over Mira's shoulder while pointing at Yuno. "So, did tall, dark, and handsome over there just make the 'She-Devil's' black heart quiver?" Cana asks teasingly. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Mira says as she pushes Cana off of her.

"Well, you better figure it out soon," Cana says while looking at Yuno in interest. "Or else, I might find out what the eye of the storm is really like."

Lucy walks home alongside her strange dog/snowman spirit, Plue. "I can't believe that Phantom Lord attacked the guildhall. To think that I almost joined them instead of Fairy Tail." She eventually reaches her apartment. "Well, I sure am glad that I joined Fairy Tail instead. They make every day…"

Lucy opens the door to her room, seeing Erza, Natsu, Happy, Ur, and Gray chilling out in her room. "A NEW HEADACHE!" Lucy cries out comedically. "What are you doing in my room!"

"Since Phantom Lord attacked us, most of the guild members are staying together in case of an attack," Erza explains. "Plus, Natsu was adamant about being here in case of an attack."

"Why is Natsu so upset about this," Lucy whispers to Erza. "I can still hear you guys, you know." Natsu says his from his place on the bed with his back turned to them.

"Well then, why are you upset, Natsu? Just because you don't get to fight those guys?" Lucy asks.

"Because I know who wrecked our guild," Natsu says as he turns to face them, "And I'm royally pissed off at that bastard right now, and it's taking every bit of me not to go beat him up right now."

"So, who was it then? I've been a giant ice sculpture for a few years so can you explain what's going on?" Ur asks. Natsu responds with a frown on his face. "It was another Dragon Slayer. His name's Gajeel Redfox."

"Isn't he one of the Dragon Slayers that you mentioned you grew up with?" Lucy asks. "Yeah, and if he knows what's good for him he won't attack us again."

"Who are these Phantom Lord guys?" Ur asks. "I didn't pay much attention to guild politics back in the day, but they might have changed a bit since then."

"Phantom Lord are our rival guild, they have almost as much power as Fairy Tail," Erza explains. "Their four S-Class mages are called the Element 4, known for their elemental mastery of magic. "Black Steel" Gajeel is said to be even stronger than all of them, not to mention that their guildmaster, Jose, is a Wizard Saint. A fight between our guilds would cause a lot of destruction and possibly end in both of our guild's destruction." Erza takes a minute to think of a certain blue haired man. 'The same title as that man…'

Ur frowns at this explanation. "If I still had my old magic power, I could help you guys out." Gray shakes his head. "Don't worry about it master, you aren't a part of the guild right now, so you don't have to worry about this."

Ur's face twitches in anger at Gray's comment and then puts her student into a headlock. "Oh, so I can't worry about my foolish disciple just because I'm not in the same guild!"

"No… I'm sorry," Gray chokes out. At some point, the two of them had stripped down unknowingly, so the two of them grapple in their underwear for a bit before Lucy comments on it. "I guess she really was Gray's teacher," Lucy says with sweat going down her face.

In the streets of Magnolia Levy, Fairy Tail's resident bookworm, and her two simps, Jet and Droy, are walking down the street. Unbeknownst to them, a figure with long, spiky black hair watches them, his red draconic eyes focusing in on the bluenette.

"Geh heh, sorry girlie, but you should've been careful," The man says with a devious smile, showing his mouthful of fangs. "Stay out of a dragon's way when he's on a hunt."

(The Next Day)

A crowd surrounds a giant tree in the middle of the park, gasps and gossip coming from various people. Various Fairy Tail mages push the through the crowd, having received news that Fairy Tail members had been attacked here.

But nothing could prepare them for the horrific sight they would see.

Strung across the tree like trophies, Levy, Jet, and Droy's unconscious forms were battered and bruised, their clothing torn to shreds. Their wrists were surrounded by iron bindings, leaving their arms wide and their heads fallen down in a mark of shame.

To make it clear that they wanted everyone to know who did this, painted across Levy's stomach was the Phantom Lord logo, plain for everyone to see.

Natsu simply stared at his friends' unconscious bodies, but doesn't say a word as he turns around and begins walking away, his steps burning the grass beneath his feet.

He stops once he's in front of Makarov, his face shadowed as he begins to speak. "So, Gramps," Natsu says without emotion, "Can we go kick their asses now?"

Makarov silently walks forward to look upon the beaten forms of the Fairy Tail mages on the tree. "I could handle it when they attacked our guildhall. While it will take time, we can fix it," Makarov says, anger seeping through his tone.

"However, a father cannot stand when one deigns to threaten their children!" Makarov shouts as he crushes his staff. "We have no choice but to got war!"

Cheers of agreement come from the crowd as everyone's anger is inflamed by Makarov's statement. However, Lucy simply stares at her friend's body, the pain in her heart being overshadowed by a growing sense of dread.

'I feel like something terrible is about to happen,' Lucy thinks despondently, 'And even worse, I feel like I'm somehow connected to it.

In the local hospital, Mimosa, Noelle, Yuno, and Asta are watching over their injured comrades. Thankfully, Mimosa's healing magic came in handy, though they haven't woken up yet.

"Ugh, why do we have to sit here instead of beating up those Phantom Lord jerks!" Asta complains. "Because Makarov said that we cannot get involved," Yuno reminds him, "It wouldn't be very good for a future Wizard King to have attacking another guild on their records."

"Plus, he didn't want to leave them undefended in case they came to finish the job," Noelle finishes. "Now be quiet, and let Mimosa do her job." Asta grumbles as he sits down and stews in anger.

(A/N: Romeo in this is twelve and has his timeskip design.)

Romeo stomps through the forest in anger at being left behind by the rest of the guild. "Stupid dad, I'm not just gonna sit at home and do nothing" he complains, "So what if I'm only twelve years old. I could still help beat up those Phantom jerk wads."

While he's stomping through the forest, he notices a rustling in the bushes and stops to take a look at it. "I bet that's a spy from Phantom Lord hunting guild members!" Romeo whispers as he summons a blue flame in his hand. "Once I beat this guy, everyone will see how awesome I am. Blue Flare!"

Romeo shoots the fire at the bushes, but what comes out isn't a wizard, but a bipedal red cat that cries out in pain. "YEOWCH!" Lector cries out in pain. "Who the heck burns someone when they're taking a leak!" (Don't ask where they pee from, Romeo asked Happy once and couldn't sleep for a week.)

Romeo looks at him in shock. "Woah! A talking cat like Happy!" Romeo exclaims. He then walks toward the cat. "I'm sorry, I thought you were trying to hurt my guild."

Unfortunately, Lector does not listen and shouts at the top of his lungs. "STING! COME BEAT THIS GUY UP FOR ME!"

Romeo looks at the cat in confusion until he senses a strong magic power coming towards him. Thankfully, he dodges just in time as a white laser shoots out and smashes through several trees.

"What the hell was that?!" Romeo exclaims as the figure who caused the attack shows up. It's a young blond boy with blonde hair and earrings, who bares his teeth at him. "Leave Lector alone, you bully!"

Romeo looks at Sting and notices that his teeth are sharper right before the mystery youth takes a big breath. "White Dragon's Roar!" Romeo's eyes widen in realization as he dodges the breath attack.

To Romeo's horror, Sting then moves his mouth, causing the laser to move with him. Romeo barely manages to doge the laser, receiving only a glancing blow on his leg. "Wait, are you a Dragon Slayer?" Romeo shouts, trying to placate the young Dragon Slayer.

"Yeah, I'm Sting Eucliffe the White Dragon Slayer. What do you know about us Dragon Slayers?" Sting asks. "Do you know Natsu Dragneel?" Romeo asks.

Sting immediately stops being hostile once Natsu's name is brought up. "You know Big Bro? You must be in Fairy Tail," Sting says with an excited look on his face as he helps Romeo up off the ground. "I've been looking for him forever! I heard that he's part of Fairy Tail, so that's why me and my buddy Lector over here came here."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait a bit before you can talk to him," Romeo explains while dusting himself off. "He went off with the rest of the guild to go beat up on some jackasses who attacked us."

"Well, I guess we can wait a bit longer," Sting says, "Show us the way to the Fairy Tail guild, cat attacker." Romeo frowns at the young Dragon Slayer. "Are you ever gonna get over that?" he asks. "Nope," Sting says with a dumb smile on his face.

The group then walks back into the city, arguing the whole time.

"So, you're the White Dragon Slayer?" Romeo asks them once they're in the city, as the sky turns gray. "What does that even mean?"

"It means I eat white things, duh." Sting responds. "That's kind of dumb," Romeo says, infuriating Sting. "Yeah, well you can't eat any fire, so take that, bluey!" Sting shouts, childishly antagonizing Romeo.

"Stop trying to be smart, you aren't good at it, white face!" Romeo shouts out, reigniting their argument, but stops once he realizes who's walking towards them carrying groceries. "Oh, hey Lucy!"

Lucy had stayed with Team Black Clover because she didn't want to be in a fight like that. "Hey, Romeo," Lucy smiles before noticing Sting and the cat next to him, "Who are these two?"

"This is Sting, he says he knows Natsu," Romeo explains while Sting looks intently at the Celestial Spirit mage.

"You smell a lot like her," Sting mutters, "Do you know someone named Anna?" Lucy frowns at Sting. "Who is this Anna lady? Natsu mentioned him when we first met, but I have no idea who that is."

Before Sting can respond, his nose twitches as it begins to rain. "Wait a minute, is that..."

As Sting focuses on the familiar scent, Lucy notices a woman with blue hair and a doll on her chest walking towards her. "Drip, drip, drop," The woman says with a monotone voice. "Juvia is the Rain Woman."

Lucy is immediately on guard at the odd woman walking toward her. 'This lady's magic power is incredible, but I feel like there are more people nearby.' Romeo chooses that moment to aggravate the situation. "Hey, lady! Get out of the way, if you know what's good for you."

Romeo then shoots his blue flames at her, only for her body to turn into water and contort around the attack. They have no time to be shocked by that, as the ground underneath them starts morphing into a man with green hair. "Oh non, it seems like Fairy Tail has children as their last defense," he says with a weird French accent.

While the Frenchman explains that he, who is named Sol, and Juvia are part of the Element 4 of Phantom Lord, Sting focuses on their feet as if watching for something.

"Now then mademoiselle Heartfilia, if you would be so kind as to come with us," Sol says menacingly, "Or else we will be forced to use underhanded methods."

Lucy gasps when he mentions her last name. "H-how did you know that name?" Lucy asks, the question catching her off guard so that she doesn't notice a shadow emerging from underneath Juvia and heading straight toward her.

Thankfully, Sting notices and fires a white beam into the laser, dispelling it and knocking out a small boy with black hair and a black cloak out of it. "I thought I smelled something familiar, Rogue."

Rogue rolls across the ground towards the Phantom Lord mages with a frown on his face. "What are you doing here, Sting? This has nothing to do with you."

Sting frowns as well at the shadow user. "You can't have her Rogue. You can smell her, right?" Sting points at Lucy, "If you do anything bad to her, then Big Bro Natsu's gonna be really mad. Besides, she also smells a lot like our teacher Anna."

Rogue simply scoffs. "That doesn't matter to me right now, Sting. Gajeel asked me to do this, so I'm going to help him no matter what." He then takes a big breath, prompting Sting to do the same.

"White Dragon's…"

"Shadow Dragon's…"

"Roar!"

The two breath attacks meet in the middle, blowing back their allied mages and cracking the pavement below them. When the smoke clears, Sting and his group were gone, having used the chance to escape the confrontation.

"We can't fight those two Phantom Lord members on our own," Lucy pants as they run away, "Let's get to the hospital, Asta and his team are hiding out there." Unfortunately, they're stopped as the ground beneath them becomes soft.

Sting falls forward on his face, and the ground begins rolling him around, causing him to get motion sick. "Oh, man," Sting moans while trying not to vomit out his lunch, "Why did that have to kick in early?"

Romeo is then attacked from behind as Rogue appears as a shadow before delivering a shadowy jab to his back, leaving the fire mage dazed.

"Sting, Romeo!" Lucy cries as she begins to pull out her keys but drops them as a ball of water appears arounds her and begins to drown her.

The last thought she has before she passes out is how her bad feeling has only proven to be true.

"Hey, is Lucy back from her grocery run yet," Asta asks. "Let me check," Mimosa says as she starts preparing to use her Magic Flower Guidepost before Yuno stops her. "Let me try, I've been working on my mana sensing abilities a lot."

Yuno then reaches out his senses across the city, trying to look for Lucy's mana, which he notes as being especially bright. Unfortunately, when he does find her, he notices that there are other signatures next to her, and seem to be in a fight.

"Oh no!" Yuno shouts as he opens the window and summons his transportation spell. "Lucy's in trouble! Asta, get on we gotta help her."

Yuno and Asta fly over to where Lucy's fight with the Phantom Lord mages happened, only to find Romeo and Sting sitting dejectedly.

"What happened here?" Yuno asks Romeo. Romeo, still recovering from the attack earlier can only groggily reply, "Lucy… Phantom took her."

Yuno's face becomes harder has he summons his transportation spell again, putting the two youths on. "This is bad. Hopefully, things are going better at with the rest at the Phantom Lord guildhall."

(Phantom Lord Guildhall)

The assault on Phantom Lord had started with a furious explosion from Natsu, who was on the warpath for the Iron Dragon Slayer of Phantom Lord.

He eventually got his wish as Gajeel made his presence known with an attack that took out some of his own allies in the process. He had engaged Elfman in combat for a bit before Natsu entered the fight with a flaming fist to the Iron Dragon's face.

"Gajeel," Natsu growls, "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Gajeel responds with a smile on his face. "Hey, Salamander. You've finally come to play. Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel turns his hand into a steel club that then extends toward Natsu, who catches it his hands.

Natsu then wreathes his whole body in flames as he begins to crush Gajeel's iron appendage. Gajeel retracts the pole, turning it back into a steaming hand. "Alright, glad to see that you're raring to go."

"Stop with the bullshit, Gajeel!" Natsu roars in anger, "You attacked my home, you attacked my friends, now you're going to pay! Fire Dragon's Talons!" Natsu launches a flaming kick straight at Gajeel, launching him into the wooden rafters above, but Gajeel forms daggers on the bottom of his feet, standing upside down while Natsu jumped on another one.

Before the fight can commence however, an explosion from the top floor catches everyone's attention. From it falls the body of Makarov, his skin a pale green. "W-what happened?" The old man mutters, "My magic..."

The Fairy Tail members immediately surround the ill-looking guildmaster. 'This is bad,' Erza thinks as she sees the fight starting to turn against them. 'Once Jose gets involved, there's no way that we can win.'

As Erza calls for a retreat, Natsu hears Gajeel talking to a large, tan skinned man on top of the ceiling. "So Aria," Gajeel says, "You still being a creep as always?" Aria cries as tears fall out of the blindfold that he's wearing. "They've lost their guildmaster, how sad!"

"Geez, stop crying all the time," Gajeel comments, "Anyway, did Jose get that Lucy girl?"

THUMP

Natsu can't believe the words that he hears out of Gajeel's mouth.

"That poor wrench is being held at headquarters," Aria cries. Gajeel laughs. "Guess she won't be getting the nice treatment after all."

Natsu looks at Gajeel, before roaring out in fury. "You bastard, you better not have hurt her or else you're dead!"

Gajeel just laughs the threat off as Aria's wind surrounds them. "We'll finish this next time, Salamander."

As everyone else leaves, Natsu grabs a random goon by neck and drags him away. Once their in an alleyway, Natsu pulls the man to his feet harshly, letting him see his eyes that are now tinged red.

"Tell me where is Lucy is." The man simply stutters in fear before Natsu punches his hand into the wall behind him. "NOW!"

"I don't know man! Honest!" The Phantom goon cries in terror. Natsu just growls as he then grabs his hand before setting it on fire, causing him to cry out in pain. "AAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

"You feel that burning sensation," Natsu says while pushing his head closer, "Then you better tell me where she is before I make sure the rest of your life is spent burning every piece of you to smithereens!"

The goon eventually manages to stutter out the location of their headquarters. "Now, will you please let me go man!"

THUMP

Natsu stares at him, two red orbs in his eyes burning brightly. "You pieces of shit took Lucy."

THUMP

"I doubt they care about someone as weak as you in a guild like that."

THUMP

"And if anyone ever does care enough to find you."

The mage has stopped screaming as his body is now completely covered in flames, with hints of red in them. The mage then falls down, his corpse turning into ash.

"They'll never find out what happened."

'Natsu' kicks the ash away, scattering it to the wind just as Happy flies around the corner. "There you are Natsu! We gotta go with the rest of the guild!"

Natsu turns back to Happy, who is unnerved by the look on 'Natsu's' face. "We got something to do first, Happy."

Lucy wakes up in a cold dark room with her arms tied up. "What the hell? How did I get here?" She then notices that her arm's are tied up and can't feel her gate keys on her. Surprisingly, the only thing they didn't take was her grimoire.

"Oh, so you've awakened?" A voice says from outside the room. Lucy turns to face the one door to the room open, revealing a man with a tall warlock hat and bat wings as his distinguishing features. "I am Jose Porla, master of the Phantom Lord guild."

"I apologize for the demeaning arrangements, but a prisoner must be treated as a prisoner, no matter where they come from," Jose mockingly says.

"Why the hell do you keep attacking us?!" Lucy asks, "It can't be as simple as guild rivalry motivating you."

"Hohoh, give the young mistress a cookie for being smarter than I thought," Jose laughs. "I guess that you're more than a pretty face and a daddy's girl."

Lucy freezes when he mentions 'daddy.' "How. The. Hell. Do you know. My family?" Lucy asks through gritted teeth, trying to offset the fear inside her with anger.

"Oh, why it's simple," Jose responds, "Your father was the one that requested us to get you."

At that moment, the fear completely smothers the anger she was feeling. "My - my father was the one who did this?" Lucy mutters in disbelief. "That can't be. He doesn't care about me. He hasn't even talked to me since I left! Why does he want me now."

"I don't know my dear, but I do know that he is paying me a rather large amount of money to get you. And even better," Jose says, barely containing his laughter. "He's not the only one willing to pay! I have another group willing to pay me just as much to get you, so now I can see who will pay me more before I hand you over."

Lucy's heart breaks as she realizes that everything that happened is because of her. "No… No it can't be… It's all my fault. I'm responsible for all the bad things happening to the guild."

Jose smirks as he sees the Celestial Spirt mage fall into despair. "Now, maybe a day or two in this cell will make you more reasonable."

As Jose turns to leave the room, Lucy's rage then comes back twice as powerful. Lucy gets up to her feet, running towards the unaware Wizard Saint before giving him a hard kick to the groin.

Jose crumples as his precious jewels shatter, leaving Lucy free to run past him, looking for a way out. She heads towards a door with light pouring out of it, only to realize that the floor she's on is several stories off the ground.

As she hears Jose about to recover behind her, Lucy ponders for a moment about what to do. 'Maybe I should just let them take me. At least then they'll leave Fairy Tail alone.' But then she remembers her father, which motivates her.

To jump out of the tower at a height promising certain death.

'I could sense him. I don't know why he's here. I don't even know how I knew it was him. His magic feels different than usual, but I know for a fact that he is here.'

Lucy then screams out, her heart fully certain that she will be caught.

"NAAAAAAATSUUUUUUUU!"

For a brief moment, she fears that she was wrong. That she mistook some other fire user for her friend. But her efforts are rewarded as she hears his voice call out for her.

"LUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCYYYYYYYYY!"

Natsu then catches Lucy in midair, using his flames to fly through the air before crashing into a wall, though Natsu turns so that only he takes the damage.

Lucy rolls off of Natsu, who gets up with a casual smile on his face, although his eyes have returned to being black.

"Damn Luce. We're gonna have to train really hard once we're done so you don't get kidnapped again," Natsu laughs trying to lift her spirits. Unfortunately, Happy chooses that moment to fly over and start talking.

"Lushi, you're okay!" Happy says with comedic tears in his eyes. "We gotta go back to the guild, things went bad, Makarov can't fight, and a bunch of us got hurt, and-" Happy stops rambling once he realizes the look Natsu is giving him.

Lucy then breaks into tears after hearing Happy talk about the fight. "This is all my fault," She says between tears, "It's because of me that Phantom Lord has attacked us. Even sill, I know that it may be selfish of me, but I want to stay."

"I love being in Fairy Tail!"

After that Lucy starts to sob uncontrollably until Natsu pulls her into a hug, cradling her head in his hand. "You'll never have to leave Fairy Tail Luce," Natsu says, "Because Fairy Tail will always be there to help you."

Lucy just bawls even harder after hearing that, so Natsu just carries her on his back on the way to Fairy Tail.

The rest of the Fairy Tail mages had been waiting out in the guildhall after the raid, recovering from the injuries they received and preparing to go attack once more, especially once they heard that Lucy had been kidnapped by Phantom Lord.

"Don't worry," Gray says, "I saw Natsu dragging off a Phantom member earlier. I'm sure he's heading straight there to rescue her. Hopefully he doesn't try to bite off more than he can chew."

At that moment, Natsu and Happy come in from upstairs, Lucy on his back and no longer crying, but her eyes are still red. "Hey, we're back," Natsu says, his tone much softer than usual.

Natsu puts Lucy down a crate, where people start bombarding her with questions. Natsu puts a stop to that quick by growling at them to give her some space.

Once everyone calms down, Lucy takes a moment to collect herself. 'I guess it's time. I think it's only fair for them to know the truth.'

"Everyone, I have something that I think that you all need to know," Lucy calls out to the guild. Everyone gathers around, curios about what the blonde has to say.

Lucy takes a big breath once she has everyone's attention before giving a big sigh. "I haven't been fully honest with you all about myself. For those of you who were there during the capital invasion, you may remember me saying that my mom was a Wizard Saint before she died, and that was how I knew Julius. That was not the full truth."

Lucy takes the last moment she'll have before she drops the bombshell she had hidden from most the rest.

"My full name is Lucy Heartfilia. My father is in charge of the Heartfilia Konzern, and one of the greatest industrialists in the country. But what I've really been hiding from you, more important than my family name, or even my rich background…"

"My mother's name was Layla Heartfilia, the 'Celestial Queen,' and was known as the previous Wizard Queen of the Fiore Kingdom."

So, how many of you saw that one coming?

Shock of all shocks, Layla Heartfilia was not just a Wizard Saint, but actually held the title of Wizard Queen before she died. I had been planning this for a long time, and there's still plenty to learn about the Heartfilia family.

Kind of random, but in this chapter, I revealed that Romeo is older than he was in canon, this way I could have doing plot and character related things, like him hanging out Sting and starting to form a little rivalry. They're both Natsu wannabes, so I thought it'd be perfect. Though for those of you who know about later events in Fairy Tail, future events start becoming very odd.

Rogue also showed up a bit in this chapter, though I have more planned for him to do later. Not that shocking if Sting is also gonna make an early appearance that his future partner in crime does as well.

That Jellal scene at the beginning hints at future developments I have planned for Jellal and Ultear, though I wonder if anyone can guess what it is before the reveal happens.

I did promise a romantic start to a relationship this chapter, though Levy and Gajeel's first encounter is not what I'm talking about. I don't know why, but the idea of Yuno x Mira x Cana x Charmy would not leave my head ever since I made that joke ages ago. The only one that feels kind of flimsy there right now is Cana, but I plan to make her attraction to him less vain over time.

Yami is not here because he had a meeting with Julius before anyone heard about Levy because I don't want him to fight Jose. I have another character planned to do that, feel free to guess who it is. He's not showing up in this, so just wait a bit longer till our favorite dark wizard starts kicking ass.

Another character who I made unable to fight Jose was Ur. The depowering is not permanent, she'll be back to full strength eventually. I'm gonna use her a lot more in the future, so don't worry, I didn't bring her back to life just so she could have no relevance to the plot later.

The final thing I wanna talk about is the scene with 'Natsu,' or rather E.N.D. near the end. Yeah, I'll just say that death will be slightly more common in this than in canon, though not to an excessive degree. Mostly characters like that jobber who don't matter, or who are morally repulsive. But yeah, Natsu just killed a random guy, and I'll delve into how he feels about that more a bit later.

Next time, we start delving into the fight with Phantom Lord and the matchups against the Element 4. Sparks will fly, earth will be shattered, and the sky may be split asunder, but the battle rages on.

Next Time: "Love on the Battlefield"