[ Phantom Lord Arc {3} ]

-L-H-

A persistent tap on the cheek with smooth, cold surface is what wakes Lucy up as she lets out a small groan and scrunches her face. The back of her head was throbbing a bit, and her body felt sore as if it's been stuck in the same position for a while. Rushii was silent in her mind as she crossed her arms, staring dead ahead at the figure that was in front of her. A rush of cold anger flows through Lucy, it's origins originate from her sister, and she quickly blinks out of her muddled daze as her eyes focus.

There, an older man with a dark ponytail and a long mustache was staring down at her with a cold calculative look on his face. He had a knife in his hand, it was alarmingly close to Lucy's face, and she realizes that that must've been what had been used to wake her up. Her heart climbs into her chest in fear at what would happen next, as she's tied up tightly around her wrists.

"Stay calm, Lucy."

She's-She's trying too.

But the soft scoff that Jose gives out from the look on her face must've proven otherwise, as he gets up from his previous position to pace around idly. As if he's in thought of how to proceed next.

"Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of Jude and Layla," Jose begins and Lucy feels sick to her stomach. How did a man like him know who she was? In fact, the other people who had kidnapped her seemed to have an idea of her background, why was that? Why did it matter, anyways?

And just who the hell was this guy?

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to give my Element 4 a run for their money. I was under the impression that you were a frail child that would hesitate to fight back," Jose trailed off thoughtfully, curious about the nature of Lucy. It was clear that her descriptions from Jude had proven to be incredibly false, as if he didn't know who his child even was. Well that would explain her running away then, the Phantom Lord guildmaster thought a little dryly.

"You are a little competent."

"I fail to see that has a compliment from you ," Lucy spat confidently despite feeling the exact opposite. Rushii let out a choked noise in the back of her throat at her words, feeling a bit tense. That was one of the Ten Wizard Saints that Lucy was in a room alone with. It would do good to rein in the clipped comments, despite their feelings being mutual about the man.

"You need to be careful with him, that is not a man we can win against in a fight if it comes to it."

Lucy was shocked, "Not even if..we worked together?"

"You are strong Lucy, but not strong enough to defeat him yet. That is one of the Ten Wizard Saints in front of you, I won't fill your mind with useless bravado that'll only lead you to our death."

"Our…death?" Lucy's heart raced unevenly at the thought.

"If he chooses so." Rushii finished before frowning at the thought of Jose. A sadist at his core, that man was, and there was only a matter of time before his faux exterior shatters and he releases his true self. Lucy couldn't even get a proper hold of her keys at the moment, the chances of surviving a direct engagement with Jose was close to zero. No, that would allude her into thinking that there was a chance, and Rushii was not about to take unnecessary risks in a situation that was already incredibly disadvantagous.

"Right here, right now. This is a lesson for the books, Lucy." Rushii whispers.

"Show Fairytail's confidence, but not enough to be cocky. If you're too meek and scared, it'll bore Jose, and that could spell trouble as well. You've already made a snapping comment back at him before, you must dance the battle of wits with him now."

Lucy let out a high-pitched curse as her fear escalated, "Shit, I-I wasn't even thinking when I said that, did I mess things up for us?"

"You just have a fire in you, imouto." Rushii chuckled dryly. "It was bound to pop up and potentially bite us in the ass. Who knows what would've happened if you hadn't said anything at all? No one does. So we move on and deal with Jose using what I know from my past, and what you do in this current present. We got this."

"...we got this."

Because she's never truly facing these things alone, right?

Her Nee-san will always be there right with her, walking into the fire.

"Why me?" Lucy stares directly in Jose's dark eyes as the other looks down at her with small amusement. Jose Porla egged her on a bit, looking at her with an especially devious look in his eye.

"Why you?"

"Yeah. You seem to know a lot about me, despite me knowing for a fact that we've never met even once. Why do you know so much about me, and now that I think about it, why aren't I injured more?" Lucy came to a small realization as she talked with Jose. They knew who she was, and yet they didn't take extreme measures to capture her. In fact, the last thing she remembered was being imobilized, and while that was uncomfortable, she realized that they hadn't exactly hurt her any more than they had to. That meant that she was needed for something, she was important to them.

But for what?

"Nee-san, why haven't they tortured me like Team Shadow Gear? Am I important to them?"

Silence.

"I guess blondes aren't dumb after all," Jose chuckled to himself, before grinning at Lucy. She was a reason for attacking Fairytail, and he wondered what her reaction would be if he tells her. He doesn't care about the girl enough for it to be the sole reason of attacking their rival guild, Makarov had played a part into that as well. Boasting about Fairytail's power and their pride as a guild, ha! Jose wanted to sneer every single time a word had released from the midget's mouth.

He'll show that Phantom Lord reigns supreme.

He'll show everyone what true power is.

"It's you, that Phantom Lord wants." Jose smirks.

" What? " Lucy says, suddenly speechless. Her heart begins to pick up pace once more at the horrifying realization, as her head begins to spin. He wasn't saying what she thinks he's saying, right?

"That's right, Miss Heartfilia. We were hired to kidnap you by your father , who's decided that he wanted you back by any means. And since you were apart of Fairytail, well, that's what ended up being the target as well. Collateral damage." Not really as they were always a target in Jose's mind, but it was easier to mask his true intentions with using Lucy as the face.

"I-" Lucy was at a lost as she fell back against the wall, feeling a rush of hopelessness and despair at the revelation. Tears burned in her eyes as her face scrunched up, because she refused to cry pathetically in front of Jose. But it was hard , because everything was all her fault . Levy's burns, Droy and Jet's bruises. The destruction of the guild hall, and the war that was declared by Makarov. It was all her fault .

Rushii closed her eyes as the pain fills her body from Lucy's anguish at the news. She knew it was going to devastate her. She had warned her that this was personal, and it was going to test her. But this…this was beyond what she could've imagine.

And her father is to blame.

There's a flare of raw anger at the thought of the man who had essentially stepped away from her life once Mama had died. He didn't bother to interact with his daughter, and all of the sudden he wants her to come back using extreme force? What the hell ? Why was his first thought to send kidnappers to get her, why couldn't he just send her a letter requesting her? Or send Michael, or any other official from the Manor in order to find her?

No, this was probably just some other sick way of flexing his money just because he could , and suddenly fueled by the anger of Jose's words and the thought of her father's actions, Lucy gets up suddenly with a small angry roar of her own and charges at Jose. Jose blinks in shock, he didn't expect her to make a move, he had thought she was going to cry and look pathetic which is what he was aiming for.

But the crazed look in Lucy's eyes as she ran forwards with her hands trapped behind her back, caused Jose to take a step back. That momentum was all she needed for her to roar, "Lucy Kick!" and send a powerful kick to Jose's crotch, who was caught completely off-guard. It was his own fault in the end however, because like the other members of Phantom Lord before him, he had underestimated the blonde.

She's come a long way from when she had first arrived at Fairytail. She was hesitant, looking for friends, and wasn't sure of what she wanted to do in life. Going with the flow with Natsu at first, finding herself with a new family that she's grown to love and care. She's a team leader now too, of the proud Team Haluna and she cares for her members, because over these missions she's grown to get to know them more, to see other sides of their lives. She's even picked up some of their habits, roaring like Natsu in the middle of battle, or thinking critically like Gray in the midst of chaos.

If she's the cause of their suffering, then she'll remedy it just as fast.

Lucy runs through the halls of the building, looking for a way out as Jose is distracted. She turns, and there was a large window that was at the end of the hallway. Lucy didn't know how tall this building was, but she didn't have much of a choice. Jose's footsteps were pounding through the room, or maybe it was goons that he sent after her. Regardless, she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

Shoving all thoughts aside, Lucy mentally prepares herself as the adrenaline still courses through her veins and she takes off, running towards the window to prepare to jump out of it.

Because she doesn't have to be told to have faith this time, she knows someone was going to be there for her. Her gut feeling told her that she was going to be okay, that everything was going to work out.

And with that, she jumps.

The sound of glass breaking echoes in her ears as she shoulders through the window, soaring into the air. Lucy felt weightless for a moment, almost as if she was walking on the wind as she flew higher. Before beginning to fall due to gravity and all of its elements. Her stomach lurches and she couldn't help the small scream that escapes her as she falls from the sky, but that fear empowers her, and she screams for the first person that she knows will catch her no matter what.

"NATSU!"

He's smashing his way through buildings without hesitation, using his sharp nose to track her down unsuccessfully when he hears her. When he hears her cry of help from a couple blocks away that makes he let out a growl and he's blasting through the air, running and hopping on roof tops in order to get to her. Because she had called for him.

And he'll always answer her calls. Always.

"LUCY!" He roars back as he catches wind of her situation, of her falling through the sky while bounded. His heart falls into his stomach and he's never moved so fast in his entire life, blasting off like a rocket as he raced towards her. Flames glow brightly as he propelled himself forwards, flying into the sky. Arms stretch out, catching the girl mid-air as he gets a good grip on her before they fall together. It's only for a moment though, before Natsu uses his flames to ease them down periodically, so that they wouldn't crash into Magnolia.

"Natsu…" Lucy looks at him in awe, because despite having a good amount faith in him to catch her, he..he really did . He came out of no where, he had to have come directly from Phantom Lord's base because that's where she last knew where he was. And it must've been a journey, because Natsu was sweating and he was breathing heavy as he looked at her with wild eyes.

Lucy's breath is caught in her throat as she watches the dark marks fade from his skin, the carnal look in his eye disappear as it's replaced with the soft eyes that she knows. That ancient aura that she's sensed inside him very faintly before, crawls back into isolation and returns to it's dormant state.

Power , she thinks in awe. Whatever that was, it was power .

"Lucy," He murmurs quietly, his feet touching the ground gently as he holds Lucy close to his chest. She was disleveled, and he quickly burned through the ropes that had her hands tied before they fell off in a burned heap on the ground. The celestial spirit mage finally sighs in relief and fear. There was so much that has happened in the past couple of days, and it was getting to her.

But all she could think of right at this moment was how warm his skin was against hers. He held her close with a consistent strength, but handled her with a care that was gentle. How being in his arms felt so incredibly right , how her heart was beginning to flutter as she's filled with a sense of overwhelming contentness. She felt safe , and it suddenly didn't matter what had just happened with Jose, and how she just jumped out of a fucking window-

"Thank you," She breaths out.

"What for?" Natsu breaths in.

"You saved me, Natsu"

"I'll always save you," Natsu smiles. It's effortless when he says it. It isn't some charged up emotional moment that causes the world to slow down to a stop. Fireworks don't happen at the softness of his tone, despite the gentle rush it gives Lucy at the sound of his words. No, it's something that she's always known, and maybe that's why it isn't such a big shock from the lengths that Natsu's willing to go for her anymore. But it doesn't stop her from clutching onto him, smile hidden within his vest as Natsu gently chuckles at her reaction, eyes watching.

His eyes were always on her some way or another after all.

And it feels so right.

That's why when the second wave hits her, when her mind snaps out of the moment between them and the adrenaline wears off, it strikes with force. Because she has so many things to lose now, and she's the reason for all of this madness. It starts off slow, feeling her chest become heavy with dismay as she begins to recall her kidnapping attempt with Jose. It quickly escalates to choked sobs as she thinks about the cost of her freedom, the expenses of everyone else.

Natsu freezes at the sound of Lucy's crying, muscles tensing as he stops walking.

"Luce?" He asks hesitantly, because he's not sure what to do. Why was she crying? How-How could he make it better?

It hurts him to see her so sad.

"It's all my fault," She mutters into his chest as she cries. Natsu isn't sure what that means, and he tries to ask her but she's lost to the world now. She's caught up in her own misery, and it breaks a piece of his heart at the sight. So he continues to walk once more and decides just to hold her close and hope that his presence alone can help soothe her worries.

He rubs her back with his lone thumb and they walk back to Fairytail with heavy hearts.

-L-H-

"Where the hell have you be-" Gray falters before staring at Lucy's dried teared face as she walks into the basement with Natsu trailing behind her. Sharp dark blue eyes flickered to Natsu's after noticing the dull look on Lucy's face as she walked pasted him without a second glance. Natsu meets his gaze with a look of concern of his own and a small shrug, he hadn't thought much of what had happened when he went to go save Lucy. He was just wired to push himself to the limit at the time.

"What's wrong with her?" Gray asked a bit worriedly, following Lucy who walked past the others that had returned from the attack on the Phantom Lord base. Gray had been on his way from leaving Erza, getting a headstart on coming back from the enemies base. He had been shocked to see the debris from a fight when he walked in, and immediately came over to check on Team Shadow Gear only to find that they were relatively unharmed.

But Lucy was gone, and Gray was growing extremely concerned at the time about what the hell happened, because it wasn't making a lot of sense to him. Then Warren Rocko runs in with the others and tells him that Makarov is hurt , Lucy's still missing, and Elfman pipes up saying that they found out that she was kidnapped ?!

"I don't know," Natsu answered before walking over towards Cana and Mirajane off to the side as they discussed what had happened. Cana was looking a little ragged with her white jacket being on the dustier side and having some cuts and bruises that Mira was patching up for her as they talked.

"...this massive dude just came from the ceiling and casting some ultimate spell on the old geezer, Mira-" Cana let out a small curse at the feeling of the alcohol against her wound as Mira flashed her a sympathetic frown before bandaging the last one. Cana let out a small sigh as she got up afterwards and stretched for a moment, before turning around to give Mira a quick kiss on the lips as a thank you.

"I split up to find Warren and get everybody out of there using his telepathy, but Erza was with Makarov. Fuck, this is so ugh! " Cana let out a frustrated shout towards the end of the play by play, running a hand through her hair. "And why isn't anyone talking about what the hell happened here? Why does it look like a war-zone?"

"That's because it was," Lucy said darkly, shame filling her body. The guild turned silent at Lucy's words, despite her not speaking loudly. That was right, it was Lucy that had been left behind to protect the injured. Considering the news of her kidnapping however, it was clear that something big happened here after all.

"It's-"

The door slams open, and Erza Scarlet walks in with a dark look on her face as she comes back with straws of a broom on her body. She had hustled to Polyursica immediately after splitting off with Cana, and had to fight off the feral woman before explaining the situation. Polyurisca was shocked to say the least for a moment, before she grew serious and took the old man in before kicking Erza out once more.

That lead her to come back here, feeling anger in her veins at the mere thought of Phantom Lord. First Team Shadow Gear, now Makarov. Judgement is coming.

The sight of the S-Class Mage sends a small wave of reassurance throughout the guild, as one of the strongest symbols of Fairytail has returned and she looked ready to take the lead. Erza quickly glanced around the room and counted the heads, letting out a small look of relief at the sight of Lucy back in their hands, before clapping her hands to gain everyone's attention.

"Makarov is with Polyurisca as we speak. He's being treated, but unfortunately, we're going to have to continue on without him. How's everyone doing so far?"

"Um, Erza?" Alzack Connell spoke up, still staring Lucy who looked like she was on the verge of another tearful breakdown. Erza followed his line of sight and looked at Lucy, who suddenly felt anxious as all eyes were on her. What would they say when they find out that everything was because of her? Would they force her to leave in order to protect everyone else?

Lucy paused, because no.

She'll leave on her own, that's the best course of action. She'll sacrifice herself so that no one else would get hurt, and Phantom Lord would leave Fairytail alone. And the thought of leaving Fairytail hurts Lucy to her core, because she's really begun to love the guild and what it stands for. Her friends that she's come to known and still learning. Travelling with Team Haluna and making memories.

But if it's to keep everyone safe-

"It's my fault, that this is happening," Lucy says softly, her voice shaking as she held back her emotions. "For those who didn't know, I was kidnapped by Phantom Lord who came here, which is why you see the debris all around in the basement. I thought they were here to find others and cause chaos, but it turns out that I was the goal all along."

She sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "Later, I found myself in front of the Phantom Lord guildmaster, and that's when he told me that they attacked Fairytail because of my father's hiring. He hired Phantom Lord to kidnap me and send me back home."

"So as you can see, I'm…responsible for all of this. A-And I'll make it right, I promise . I'm going to turn mysel-"

"Don't even think about finishing that statement, Lucy." Erza said with anger visible on her face. Lucy faltered mid-way of her speech as she looked at the requip mage with wide eyes. As she looked around the entire guild, they all had similar looks of outrage on their faces. Lucy's heart sunk into her chest and as hard as she tried to fight it, her tears began to fall. So it seems that they do blame her after all, and she understands-

"How dare Jose kidnap one of our own on such foul circumstances? How dare your father resort to kidnapping his own daughter in order to meet with her? Do not worry, Lucy, we shall punish them accordingly, at least with Phantom Lord." Erza declared powerfully as the rest of the guild roared in approval, before talking all at once to give Lucy her reassurances. That it wasn't her fault, that they didn't blame her.

An arm was thrown around her shoulder, and she turned to see that it was Gray looking at her with a serious expression on his face. She was in disbelief, and it must've showed on his face, because he let out a small sigh at the sight of it.

"Yanno, for a team leader, you sure are dumb."

W-what?

"What does that have to do with-"

"We're a team, Lucy," Gray said in a softer tone. "When one of us is in trouble, we all come to help. That's how Fairytail works as well. Your dad sucks ass, and Phantom Lord is a pain in ours, but we won't abandon you. We're your family now, Lucy. We're going to stand together, right Flame Brain?"

Natsu's on her other side as well as he gives her a smile. "Of course, Ice Princess. No one is going to take you away from us, we're going to go down together. What do I always say, Lucy? Have faith in us."

Words are just words until they are taken action upon. One could always say to believe in them, to have faith, but how can one place trust when they don't know the true extent of their abilities? Of their kindness? It took time for her to believe in Natsu, and he delivered in her faith. He did it even more when he had caught her from her jump. She believed in Gray on the Galuna Island, and he delivered in her faith. She believed in Team Haluna, and they come out victorious in the end.

And now, it seems that it's finally time to put her faith in Fairytail, as they work together to accomplish their shared goal of stopping Phantom Lord and by extension, her father. It was time to truly become a member of Fairytail, and believe in them. Because once she believes in them, she'll never doubt them again.

As she looks around, all she sees are determined faces, ready to aide her.

The tears that come next aren't tears of despair, but gratefulness.

Fairytail was her home now.

She won't leave without a proper fight.

"All right people, we got shit to do." Cana shouted as she stood up. She made eye-contact with Mirajane and Erza, and they split up to take charge as Makarov recovers. It was instinctive, as if they knew that they had to take charge. "I need some people with me, we got some lacrima-calls to make. Wait, does anyone know Mystogan's location? No? Fucking hell, I need a drink."

"Come to me if you need some assistance with any injuries. We mages tend to heal faster than normal, but that is no excuse to leave open wounds, open!" Mira called out sweetly as some people walked over towards her.

"I want a status report on all Element 4 and Gajeel Redfox, as to what their magics seem to be. Any information is useful at this time, come over for the debrief." Ezra's voice boomed towards the end as Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and others made their way over to talk about what they've seen so far. Happy flew over to Lucy, as she took a seat on one of the salvaged table. Natsu came up and leaned against the wall right next to her, crossing his arms. Gray grabbed a chair and shook off some dust and sand with a small curse before placing it down next to Lucy and taking a seat.

Erza immediately stood near them, and they began to exchange information seamlessly. To other onlookers, it always looked as if they were moving as a smoothly running machine. Macao Conbolt just smirked at them as he listened but observed their interactions. The gestures, the seriousness, the nods in unison.

When they make it through this catastrophe, he feels that they just might be the strongest team that Fairytail can develop yet.

"The two elements that I fought were water and earth. I don't remember their names, but the earth guy seemed to have something up his sleeve, so there's that. Water girl was really good with manipulating her element, she even has the ability to turn her body into water. I wish that I could've seen more, but as you know, a lot was happening at the time."

Natsu nodded to Lucy before taking over, "You should probably leave the Iron Head to me. He's got the power, that's for sure. I'll figure something out against him."

Gray was next. "I haven't properly met anyone yet so I don't have any new information to share other than what we talked about at Lucy's place. It seems like I'll keep an eye out for the water one though, I'll probably be effective against her the most."

Erza and Lucy nodded to his words, if he could freeze her water attacks, it did sound effective. Erza let out a dark frown as she recalled the events leading up to Makarov's injury. "I believe the man that Cana and I had briefly engaged with was Aria, the Air Element. If he was strong enough to render Makarov into that state, then he's a formidable opponent indeed. Be on guard with him, and keep an eye out for Fire. No one's seem to have seen him yet."

"You son of a bitch," Cana hissed into the lacrima with anger across the hall as she stared at Laxus's smug face. To see someone who she had loved and cared for deeply when she was younger, turn into an arrogant egomaniac that laughed at their hardships just boiled her blood. It should've been Mira that had called Laxus, everyone knew that Cana couldn't stand the man anymore.

"If Fairytail can't handle those wannabes, then I guess I'll come back to be the hero," Laxus laughed once more and Cana turned off the Lacrima at once, not even bothering to hang up politely. She took a sip from her flask as she walked over to Erza and the rest, informing them that they couldn't get in contact with two of the three other active S-Class mages. Gildarts and Mystogan.

"And Laxus..?"

"What do you think," Cana scowled and Erza let out a small sigh of her own as she nodded, leaving the alcoholic to walk off. "You're the only S-Class here, Erza. We'll do our best to lighten your burden, Fairytail's honor."

Across the room, Mirajane flinched.

Erza and Mirajane made eye-contact for a brief second, before the former looked away first. Mirajane closed her eyes for a moment, suddenly feeling sick that she couldn't do anything more to help. Cana had finally acknowledged that she wasn't an S-Class mage anymore, and she should be grateful, because she was fighting her about it this entire time. But in this crisis, that only meant that she wasn't particularly useful on the battlefield. And…it leaves her feeling a massive amount of conflict.

She can do…more..?

"Alright, so moving forwar-"

A shockwave interrupts Erza's and other's words as it shakes the guild. Everyone scrambles to stay upright, Loki quickly casts a Regulus Wall to protect the infirmary section just in case debris fell from the ceiling. It was quick however, and no damage was done. But it left a mass confusion in the around as Bisca ran towards the front of the doors, trying to figure out what just happened.

She summoned a sniper and looked through the enhanced scoped lenses and her eyes widened dramatically as she dropped her gun in shock at the sight. Alzack was the first question his partner, feeling a sense of unease from her reaction.

"Bisca? Bisca, what is it?"

"It's…Phantom Lord, and they're moving towards the guild on a walking… guild ?!"

"HUH?!" The entire guild exclaimed at once.

-L-H-

Lucy stood hidden between the other members of Fairytail as Erza took the lead in the showdown in the streets of Magnolia. She was equipped with her sword, having it faced down as she clasped her hands on the hilt of the sword. She looked up in front of the guild in defiance, red-head whipping in the wind.

She'll be the strength that Fairytail needs as an S-Class.

She won't let them down.

"Give us Lucy Heartfilia at once," a thought-projection of Jose Porla appeared but Erza quickly slashed the image in an act of resistance. She then pointed her sword at Jose's neck, and said,

" Never. "

Jose, who was irritated by the turn of events with Lucy in his grasp earlier, just let out an anger scowl and scoffed before disappearing. "Then you're just going to have to be forcibly removed out of my way, it seems."

"Fire Jupiter !"

Erza's eyes widened as she felt a massive amount of energy begin to form from the moving guild that had froze, and she screamed for everybody to get behind her immediately. A large whitish blue glow was beginning to form as the guild transform a part of it's body into a cannon, and it was about to fire.

Quick thinking allows her to requip to one of her strongest defensive armors at the moment, which happened to be her Adamantine Armor. Lucy looked at her back in awe, Erza was shining as she prepared to take the blast of the cannon from them. It shot forwards within the minute, and Erza clashed her shields together in order to take the brunt of the hit. It was a beam, so it was a continuous strain on Erza, who bit her lip bloodied as she held on for the sake of the rest of them.

Every time her shields threatened to crack, she had to reinforce it with her mana over and over again. It was draining her magical power immensely, but she had to hang in there, she had to hold on. When she yelled out, in order to maintain her composure, Fairytail shivered in awe behind her, and the extent of her physical and mental power.

And when it was finally over, and Erza let out a strangled breath before falling to one knee, Fairytail rushed to protect Erza, to surround her fallen form with their own. Together, in case something happened as a counter measure, they would be her shield this time. Erza tried to get up but her muscles spasmed and she let out a pained hiss, but a two hands on either side of her shoulders stopped her from attempting again.

"Take it easy, Erza," Natsu looked down at her with a fire in his eyes and a determined nod.

"Save your energy," Gray said right after, staring steadily at the cannon that was pointed at them.

Both boys looked at each other for a moment at their unison for helping Erza, but just rolled their eyes at each other, and looked away at the same time. It was a little funny to see that their rivalry still took place even if it was on the small scale. It almost gave Lucy complete reassurance that they were going to be just fine, because Fairytail's members haven't changed due to the circumstances. They will just get through it like they always do.

The sense of normalcy was perfectly timed indeed.

Thought-Projected Jose appeared before them once more, this time with visible anger on his face as he spatted out to Fairytail, "You got fifteen minutes to hand over Lucy Heartfilia, otherwise the Jupiter cannon will be fired once more."

He took a look Titania in the crowd and gave a cruel sneer, "And Titania won't be able to save you all this time."

The moment he disappeared, there was a wave of Shades that he had summoned in order to attack Fairytail that moved from the guild, beaming towards them. They seemed to be coming in hundreds, moving like a wave, and Cana was quick to yell out to all of them, "You heard the bastard! We got fifteen minutes to change how this game is gonna play, let's fucking go Fairytail!"

"LET'S BE REAL MEN!"

"Yeah, we got this guys!"

"Incoming wave, we're gonna kick Phantom Lord's ass!"

"Chaaarggeeee~" Happy squeaked out as Natsu blasted himself into the sky, before kick starting the battle against the Shades with a massive Fire Dragon's Roar. Running through the flames was Fairytail meeting the Shades head to head, as the fighting kick started.

Cana grabbed one of the cards on her decks and enlarged it before flicking her wrist, sending the card that was as sharp as a blade through the Shades, cutting their heads off. Enlarging another card to make a shield, she turned towards Lucy who was in the backlines for obvious reasons, even though the look on her face showed that she wanted to fight.

"I see that look of your face, kid. Looking like a true Fairytail member," Cana snorted as she summoned a bunch of cards into a circle, before whispering one last card and putting it into the wheel. Alcohol blasted from the card washing the Shades away, and Cana secretly mourned that card because she was planning to use it in case she needed a drink on the middle of a quest, but duty calls. Lucy was a bit confused at the method though,

"Why alcohol? Why not water?"

"Because water can't do this , when paired with this other card," Cana smirked as she summoned a flare card and blew into it, before her eyes widened and she enlarged a card to make it a shield again. The sparks kickstarted a massive fire as the shades were all effected, due to the alcohol on them. Cana flicked her wrist once more after a moment, throwing a water sprinker card above the shield as it began to put out the residue of the flames.

Lucy looked Cana in shock, she really was stronger than she had originally thought. It seems to magic cards in Cana's arsenal are more adaptive than she had anticipated, Cana really is a good all-rounder mage if that's the case.

"You're going to go to one of the safe houses in Magnolia," Cana told Lucy as she fought. The moment the celestial mage tried to retort, Cana whipped her head and sent her a glare that made her feel rather chastised.

"I know how you're feeling, but everything is lost if you're captured. If I give you the instructions, do you think that you can go by yourself? Stay low, of course. If you fucking get captured again, I swear to-"

"I can stay low," Lucy agreed as she listened to Cana's instruction before taking off immediately. Before, she probably would've been stubborn in wanting to leave everyone behind. Lucy understands her role though, if she's captured, then everyone is fighting for nothing. She'll play her part.

Looking into the distance, watching Lucy retreat, Cana called Gray over. "Oi, get over here Fullbuster."

Gray stomped on the ground and casted ice spikes to finish off the Shades he was fighting before running over to Cana. "Yeah?"

Cana jerked her head into Lucy's direction, "She's heading over to Safe House A. Follow her, and make sure she gets there safe. I have a gut feeling that someone is going to come for her, and I'd rather us move on the safe side of things."

"Got you." Gray nodded at once and took off without another word. He also felt strongly about protecting Lucy anyways. Earlier he had came back from the Phantom Lord base raid earlier because of his paranoia, and he ended up being right. He'd rather make sure she'd get to the safe house safely through his own measures this time, that's why he didn't put up a fight.

"Erza's going to be okay. I gave her some supplements and she's resting to regain her strength," Mira said as she jogged forwards towards Cana and Elfman, who were fighting Shades together. Cana's eyes widened at the shade that appeared behind Mira, and she quickly shot a card over there that took it down at once. These shadowy figures people never seem to go down, but it was better for someone with magic to be fighting them than someone without.

"What the hell are you doing here, Mira? Go back!" Cana yelled at her girlfriend as she dodged a shade that got up and personal, before downing them quickly. They were easy to deal with, dispersing after severing their heads. The problem was their sheer amount of numbers.

"What are you saying? I'm here to help." Mira argued back.

"Elfman!" Cana shouted and Elfman nodded as he took the brunt of the Shades for a moment as Cana ran over to meet Mira half-way, creating a shield to protect them as they talked for a moment.

"We're not about to argue about this right now, in the middle of battle." Cana told her bluntly. What she was about to say next was going to undoubtedly hurt her girlfriend's feelings, but it was the truth. If you can't do magic in the middle of war, you should've even be on the battlefield.

"Your inability to do magic puts you at civilian rank, Mira. If you remain here, you're just going to get in the way."

Mira looked at Cana in shock. Surely…there was something that she could do to help, right? Maybe she couldn't do magic right now, but she's not…completely useless? What could she do to her nakama, her girlfriend, her brother-

"I could pretend to be Lucy, to draw attention away from her."

"What?" Cana exclaimed incredulously. "Do you really think you can fool a Ten Wizard Saint?"

"If it works only for one second, then I've done my job," Mira argued back. Cana could feel herself getting angrier, at the lengths that Mira is willing to go despite being unable to protect herself. Doesn't she see how dangerous this is for her? '

" No , you're not doing this. No way. I won't allow it."

"You don't allow me to do anything, Cana. I'm going in there, and I'll play my part."

"It's fucking stupid-what-Mira?! Mira! " Cana yelled after her as she watched Mirajane commit to transforming into Lucy as she runs into the battlefield. She screams for her to stop, but she doesn't understand Mira's feelings on the matter. Mira knows that she's useless in all other aspects, but she can't let them hurt her loved ones. And that means that if she has to do whatever it takes in order to help protect them, then she will. That means putting herself at risk as she transforms into Lucy, much to Cana's displeasure.

-N-D-

Slamming his feet onto the floor of the cannon with Happy by his side was the easy part. He walked around for a moment, but it was nothing but darkness. So he kept walking through the dark tunnel, using his sharp sense to detect if anyone was around him, before it lead him to an open space with a massive piece of Lacrima inside of it.

"Seems like this was the spot for charging up the cannon!" Happy exclaimed as Natsu nodded at him. It seemed so.

"Like I'll let you do that," A man with black and white hair with a black markings on his face. He wore ninja-like garbs and had fur in the neck area, as he got off from leaning against the wall. Natsu looked at him up and down for a moment, before readying himself for a fight. There was something about this guy that made him a little bit interested.

"Pink hair? You aren't Salamander, are you?"

"Who's asking?" Natsu bit back as set his fists on fire.

The guy smirked, before summoning different colors of flames around him as he readied himself as well. Natsu realized that he was probably looking at the "Fire" element of the Element 4, and narrowed his eyes once he realized that he probably could control fire as well. A supposingly even match, is that right?

He grinned, now that sounded like a great challenge.