Chapter 78

Rebuilding


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip


The surviving cult members stared in shock as the summon crumbled to ash. "Im… impossible." Arlok mumbled. "How could this happen?"

"An entire army… defeated by this lowly bunch…" Jerome declared in shock.

"It's not fair… these guys are monsters…" Mary whimpered with tears n her eyes.

Natsu stood up from his attack and glared at the mob, who instantly broke rank and ran for their lives. An iron pillar crashed into Abel as Gajeel picked up the doll. "You know this is forbidden magic. So I'm gonna confiscate it."

The armored giant turned to him only to get slashed in the back by Lily. "Don't let anyone escape! Arrest all of these scumbags!" Council troops rushed in from behind, spears at the ready.

"Gajeel and Lily?" Wendy asked in shock.

"I… don't understand." Juvia confessed.

"Obviously, they work of the Council now…" Gray explained.

"Levy!" Lucy rushed over to her friend and hugged her. "I guess the rumors about you joining the council were true. It's been so long."

"I could say the same to you, Lu." Levy chuckled. "What are you doing here? What happened to you being a reporter?"

Natsu rejoined the main group and smiled at the new faces. "Levy! Lily!… And a guy who looks just like Gajeel?"

"You picking a fight, ya bastard!l?" Gajeel shouted in anger.

"I mean, the Gajeel I knew could never be on the council…" Natsu mumbled.

"Yeah well, tree gramps found me back when I was looking for something to do and asked me, ya'know…" Gajeel explained before breaking out into a grin. "And now I'm WAY above the guild! So rock face! You're under arrest! Matter of fact, you all are! Especially you, Gray!"

An armored hand slapped the back of his head. "Erza!" Lisanna cheered, scaring Natsu and Happy.

"Hello, I'm here too." Brianna spoke up, showing everyone the black tank top underneath her grey jacket. Crude shorts covered her legs as boot heels covered her feet.

"You may look like Gajeel, but that doesn't give you the right to act like him." Erza declared.

"What are you saying!? I AM Gajeel!" He shouted back.

"No." Erza replied. "There's no way Gajeel would ever work for the council."

"…That's actually Gajeel." Lily declared, shocking Natsu and Erza.

"You guys really didn't believe it was him?" Levy asked.

"I lnew it was." Nicholas declared. "He stinks just the same as last time."

"Wanna say that to my face, pebble brain!?" Gajeel growled out.

"Gladly, metal muncher!" He snapped back, their faces glaring at each other.

"Then let's cut to the chase." Erza spoke up. "It was us who stopped Avatar's purification ritual. But I can't take the credit."

"I know." Lily nodded. "It was clear from what we found at their base. The only reason we knew how to get here was because of Gray and we appreciate that…

"You even had me fooled." Levy chuckled.

"Wish I could say the same for you." He told the girl. "You have GOT to work on your disguises."

"I'm lost…" Wendy spoke up. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'll explain everything later." Lisanna assured her.

"In any case, the city is safe for now." Erza declared.

"Yeah, and to top it off, everyone's here too!" Levy cheered.

"We're invincible if we work together!" Natsu cheered.

"It's like we're back at the guild again." Lucy said with a smile.

"This is our victory! So it's time for us to celebrate it with our cheer!" Erza declared, holding up her sword as the others cheered in victory.

High on a cliff, Sting and Rogue looked down at the battle field. "Guess I didn't need to worry about it at all…" Sting said.

"An army of that size versus a team of less than ten people…" Rogue added, impressed by their victory.

"It's quite a view seeing them all together like this." Lector declared. "Don't you agree, Frosh?" He turned to the other Exceed, only to find air. To their surprise, he had somehow gotten over to the Fairy Tail group.

Gray looked down at the green cat, before suddenly hugging him to his face. Natsu sighed in relief as Rogue's shadow turned a lighter color.


One Week Later

Magnolia

"Wow, this place really brings back memories!" Natsu cheered as he and Lisanna looked out at the city.

"Oh wow, they fixed Cardia Cathedral too!" Happy added.

"This place was in ruins a year ago." Wendy mumbled.

"The town's tougher than we thought." Carla said from her arms with a smile.

Lucy walked behind them, rounding out the group. Erza and the rest had other stuff to deal with, so they promised to meet in Magnolia.

Wendy noticed the look on the blondes face, catching her attention. "What's wrong, Lucy? You look kinda down…"

"I'm fine." She assured the younger girl. "I'm just feeling nostalgic since it's been so long…" She came to a stop, catching everyone's attention. "Are you guys afraid… of what we might find?"

"You mean the guild hall?" Lisanna asked. "We can rebuilt it, Lucy. As long as we have everyone, the guild will be fine."

"That's just it…" Lucy replied. "Out of all the letters I sent, how many do you think will actually show up? It's been a year, everyone would've gotten on with their lives now. I don't know if everyone else feels the same way as we do. What if… they've already forgotten about the guild? I…"

A tanned hand with a bottle of booze suddenly wrapped around her. "Yeah, like I'd forget in only a year…" Cana chuckled, making the others smile. "Hey, guys! Wendy, you've grown, haven't you?"

"Cana…" Lucy mumbled.

"Lucky your letter got to me in time." She chuckled. "Was just about to look for my old man." The brunette took a swing from her bottle and swallowed the booze. "I've been in the guild since I was a kid. Like hell we were just gonna let it end. So we've kept in touch as best we could. Let's go see them."

She grabbed Lucy's hands and pulled her, leadign the group to a massive reunion of the guild. Lucy started crying as Natsu ripped a torn Fairy Tail flag out of the ground.


5 Days Later

Lucy grunted as she lifted a log onto her shoulder. "I get this is important… but couldn't you give me something less back breaking to do?"

"Stop your griping." Natsu chuckled, three on his shoulder.

"A guild needs a guild hall." Happy added, a bag over his head.

"Therefor, we're all rebuilding that." Erza declared, carrying a large chunk of stone made by Nicholas. "I'd think Makarov would like to not have to worry about that when he returns."

"Speaking of… anyone seen him in the last year?" The Dragon Slayer asked.

"Not to worry. I have it covered." Reedus said, holding up a picture.

"He's not a criminal!" Brianna declared. "Also, 500 jewel? Really?"

Over on the other side of the site, Gray was hammering the support structure in place. "Wanna hand me a nail, Juvia?"

"Yes, dear." She beamed, using her water to bring it towards him.

"Now it's gonna rust…" He mumbled.

"Hey, you hear the rumors about those two…" Macao asked his old friend. "They say Gray finally manned up and got with Juvia… even have a kid or two…"

"I heard he's had an affair with Lucy and Erza…" Wakaba added.

"Will you stop with those stupid stories!?" Gray shouted in anger. "Besides… I'd describe it less of a shaking up and more of a haunting."

Lisanna rushed around and handed out bottles of water to everyone. "Wow, you sure seem good at this…" Natsu said.

"I know, right?" She declared, spinning a bottle on her finger. "It's so weird… for the last year it was just you, me and Happy. Being with everyone again… it's like we don't fit in anymore."

"Don't worry, Lisanna." He chuckled, pulling her in close. "No matter where we go, I'll always be with you." Lisanna smiled as a pair of shadows rose up from behind, making the two look over their shoulders.

"Wanna tell us what you two did this last year?" Mirajane asked as Elfman cracked his knuckles, scaring Lisanna.


"What are you working on, Levy?" Wendy asked, leaning over the bookworm.

"We can't just say Fairy Tail is back." Levy explained as she straightened the papers in front of her. "Without approval from the council, we'd be considered a Dark Guild. We need to do it the right way, or else they'll shut us down. The big problem is this last box… We need to make a decision about our seventh master."

"Couldn't we just get a stand in like Macao was?" Carla asked.

"I agree." Lily nodded.

"Yeah, but we need to think." Cana spoke up, drinking from a bottle. "We'd need to find someone who can keep the knuckle heads in line."

A massive brawl suddenly broke out, Elfman, Mirajane, and Natsu at the center. It took less than a second for the rest of the guild to join in, bottles and debris flying everywhere. As Lucy and Wendy hid for their lives, a single armored boot stepped down.

"Get back to work." Erza ordered.

The fight died instantly from the menace she radiated before they rushed back to work. Lucy and Wendy stared in shock as Levy just chuckled. "That makes things so much easier. Our seventh master will be Erza Scarlet."

Everyone cheered at the decision while Erza mumbled in fear. "There's no one better than you." A voice spoke up. Everyone turned to see a member walk forward, but what was weird is that no one could remember his name. "I've been waiting for this miment for a year for you to come together again. Master Makarov is in trouble, and the only one who can help him are you guys."


Erza followed the scarred member of the guild down an old staircase, hugging her arm nervously. "I didn't think there'd be something like this under the guild…" She confessed.

"Well, the entrance isn't easy to find." Mest chuckled back.

"So… Doran. No, Mest, was it?" The new master questioned.

"Mest is my real name." He declared. "You got it mixed up, huh? Sorry about that."

"Why is it only I can come down here?" Erza asked.

"Because you're the Seventh Master." Mest replied as they reached a sealed door. "We're about to enter restricted grounds. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't he allowed down here, either." He placed his hand on the door and it slowly creaked open. A light blinded Erza before it suddenly died. "Fairy Tail's biggest secret, the Lumen Histoire."

A large purple crystal was sat in the center of the room, inside the body of Mavis Vermillion. "The First?" Erza asked in shock. Screams caught their attention and they turned to see the rest of her team, Wendy, Carla, Brianna, Nicholas, Lisanna and Slate fall to the ground. "You guys…"

"And even after I said this place was only for guild masters." Mest said, shaking his head.

Instantly, the group snapped up and stared in shock. "Isn't that the first…" Grau mumbled.

"She's naked!" Natsu shouted, turning away in respect.

"Is she still alive?" Lisanna asked.

"Are we not gonna talk about the giant crystal under the guildhall?" Nicholas pointed out. "What is going on here?"

"I don't even know myself." Mest confessed. "But one thing I know for sure. She must be here for a reason." The others grabbed their head and went wide eyed. "Those are my memories. Hopefully it makes things clearer…"

"So Gramps went over to this… empire thingy and he never come back yet?" Natsu asked in shock.

"He wanted to protect us…" Erza mumbled.

"You haven't heard from him in over a year?" Lisanna asked, earning a head shake from Mest.

"And knowing how hard headed the master is, there's not much Mest could have done." Carla pointed out.

"I hope he's okay…" Lucy whispered.

"We can't tell we're still dealing with them or if the country has isolated itself…" Mest said, killing the mood.

"Then we go and break him out." Natsu declared, making the others nod.

"Hold on." The new master declared. "We're going against an enemy that the master himself couldn't beat. We need a plan before we do anything else

"We've all gotten way stronger over the last year!" Natsu snapped back. "You really think these jerks can beat us?!"

"I know how you feel." Erza said back. "But we can't just insult his intentions… that's my stance as the seventh master. As a guild member, I say we storm wherever he is and take him back." Mest flinched at the idea as the others smiled. "We're better off going in small numbers, no one outside this room will come. We find the master, and get out."

Lisanna suddenly stepped over and glared at Natsu. "This is a rescue mission, not a guild brawl. Understand?"

"Y-yeah…" He mumbled with a chuckle.


Guildhall

"Heh, a rescue mission…" Gajeel mumbled, confusing Lily. "Guess we gotta move on our own." He walked over and set his arm down on a panicking Juvia's head.

"What? You wanna drink with me?" Cana chuckled as Mirajane walked by with two mugs of booze.

"We're reforming the B-Team." He declared to Cana and Mira. "We need to go find that lightning bastard…"

"Wait, you know where Laxus is?" Cana asked in surprise, making Gajeel smirk.


Not really an action packed chapter, but that's beyond my control since… that's what happened in the story. Didn't show the flashbacks/memories because I trust you guys to remember that. Plus, it would be an even more boring chapter than it is now. See ya next time.

Forgive the errors. Beta reader just… disappeared/won't do it anymore.