~~~Author's Notes~~~
As embarrassing as it is, I did get a huge motivation drain after the previous chapter. Negativity can do that do yea, but I won't let that stop me. I'm still having fun writing this after all lol.
Have a good evening and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Alivia slammed the front door open after overhearing panic outside. Shortly after she went outside, Henry got out of his room and quickly followed suit.
The Exceed flew over and saw many ranchers pointing and gazing with fear in their eyes at the large town in the distance.
"What's going on?!" Alivia asked before following their gazes and widening her eyes.
Henry caught up and quickly looked over. He let out a gasp. They saw smoke erupting from a part of town with random glows of magic being used in other parts of town.
"Y-you don't think…" Alivia whispered..
Henry gulped. "They're…declaring war on them…are they?"
Alivia clenched her teeth and tightened her paws. She let out a growl. "How could they…"
"No wings and no halo…they must be the land-dwellers, sir!" One soldier pointed out.
Argus wipes his chest before rolling his shoulder. He cracks his knuckles and smirks at the two slayers, not bothered by the pain that was inflicted on him earlier. "Heh, you do realize what you're doing right?" He points at the invaders. "I don't know how you planned this without being spotted, but we ain't just gonna let ya declare war on us so willy nilly!"
Gajeel stood right next to Natsu and began to whisper to him. "Hey Salamander, I bet you're raring to just go to that castle right?"
Natsu glances at Gajeel but doesn't respond.
Gajeel gives a cocky smile before walking in front of the fire dragon slayer. He swung his arm towards Natsu. "Gihi, go on ahead. I can deal with all these punks myself."
"Hey! Are you ignoring me?!" Dumbfounded Argus.
The iron dragon slayer cracks his knuckles. "I know we had to cause some ruckus in this area, but I can do plenty without your help."
One soldier began to charge at Gajeel and attempted to thrust his spear at him. The long spiky haired slayer gripped the spear before it could strike his chest and forcefully took it out of his hand. He proceeds to eat the spear shortly after, shocking the angels around him.
"H-he's eating the spear?!" One soldier commented.
Gajeel wiped his mouth with one hand before swinging a punch at the soldier that attacked him. Sending him flying and crashing next to Argus. He clenched his fist. "Go on! Why are you just standing around, Salamander?!"
Natsu paused for a moment before smirking at Gajeel. "Yeah! Let's go Happy!"
"Aye sir!" Happy agreed before grabbing his partner and taking off.
One soldier pointed up. "They're escaping! After them!"
Gajeel spread his legs out and breathed in. "Roar of the Iron Dragon!" He unleashed a tornado of iron which wiped out several soldiers in its path, shredding their armor in the process.
Argus stomped forward and used his momentum to charge directly at Gajeel. He coated his body with some sort of metal armor and slammed directly at his opponent. Gajeel blocked the attack with his arms coated with iron. The clash had a shock of wind which made some remaining soldiers cover their bodies. Not before long, Natsu had already left the scene.
"HA HA HA!" Argus laughed. "I don't know what's on yer minds, but we ain't gonna let you do what you want without a fight!"
"Gihi, bring it on!" Gajeel chuckled.
Several civilians witnessed someone flying right by them as a few of them pointed up at what appeared to be a blue cat carrying someone.
Natsu briefly looked back and realized that they weren't being followed just yet. He looked back at Happy who was keeping his eyes straight at their destination, the castle. "Keep going, Happy! We'll be there in no time!" Natsu urged.
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
Natsu looked down and witnessed several civilians running and hiding as a few soldiers were urging them to find a safe spot to hide. Shortly after, he slightly looked forward and saw a gray haired female angel eyeing the two while holding a smoke pipe. He raised an eyebrow, realizing that she fitted one of the descriptions he was given.
"Hey…isn't that-DOH!" Natsu started before being interrupted by a pink fist smacking him and Happy which sent the two crashing down a couple feet in front of her. The two quickly regained themselves and picked themselves off the ground before they could get attacked again.
"Oh my, you got quite the thick skull to take an attack like that young man." Arya chuckled as the pink smoke returned to her pipe. "I take it you're one of the land-dwellers attacking our country?"
Natsu gave her a funny look, not entirely sure to feel complimented or insulted.
"Hey Natsu, doesn't her magic seem familiar to you?" Happy noted, pointing at her pipe.
Natsu squinted his eyes and stared at the female angel for a moment before putting the pieces together. "You're copying Wakaba!" He accused while pointing at her.
"Who?" Arya asked with a blank expression.
"Ah, forget it! Now outta my way!" Natsu challenged before inhaling, preparing to attack.
Arya lifted two fingers as they began to glow, preparing to strike back. However she suddenly felt a familiar presence as a light beam came flying towards her. Before it could strike her, she flew out of harm's way.
Natsu stopped his attack as he turned his head towards the spot where the light beams came from. Sting emerged from another alleyway while popping his shoulder.
Arya squinted her eyes in annoyance, landing on the ground. "You're following me, what's your goal?"
"Sting?" Natsu questioned.
Sting cracked a smirk, looking at the female angel. "Just because you got some special magic, doesn't mean I'll go down so easily." He raised his fists and pointed them towards Arya, getting in a battle pose. "Nothing personal, but we have to take you down."
Arya puffed out another smoke from her pipe. "To think you all would go this far…"
"Natsu." Sting glanced at the fire dragon slayer for a moment. "Leave her to me, you got your own job to do."
Natsu gave a thumbs up. "Yea! Thanks!" He thanked before Happy grabbed him again.
"Don't forget what we talked about." Sting reminded, turning his back at Natsu.
Natsu paused for a second before scoffing and giving a smirk. "Yeah."
The two immediately took off, leaving just Sting and Arya.
Arya swung her arm and pointed in Natsu's direction. "Don't let them get away." She ordered the nearby soldiers in the area.
"Sir!" The soldiers took off after Natsu.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray swung both arms out and summoned an ice shield which immediately got struck by a blue halberd. The weapon managing to chop the ice melded barrier with quite ease, Gray leaped back to avoid any other attacks.
Torian lifted the halberd and twirlied it with ease with one hand. He gave a glare at the shirtless wizard. "Ice Make eh? Reminds me of old' Balrus' magic!"
Gray pounded his fist on his palm as a cold aura formed around it. "Tch, he swings that thing like it's nothing. No matter! Ice-Make: Spear!" He summoned several ice spears which flew directly at his opponent.
Torian smirked before suddenly vanishing right before Gray's eyes. The ice spears missing their target. Gray squinted his eyes and frantically looked around his surroundings.
"Water Cyclone!" Juvia casted two pillars of water from each palm as they began rotating off each other, wiping out several soldiers in her path and creating a large hole on the of the buildings. The water mage eyed Gray and noticed the clouds behind him making unnatural movements as a silhouette popped out of it. "Gray! Behind you!"
Gray widened his eyes, sensing a presence. He quickly turned and slammed his fist at Torian behind him, which struck his nose. The tall angel yelped in pain and took a few steps back, holding his nose in pain.
"AGH! That was a cheap shot!" Torian groaned.
"Say's the one using cheap tactics." Gray shot back, preparing another attack.
Meanwhile, Lucy was on her guard while being surrounded by several more soldiers pointing spears at the blonde. She pulled out a golden key with a pink symbol on it before swinging it. "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!" Lucy summoned a young woman with pink hair and brown twisted horns. Lucy was already feeling the burning sensation on her chest but ignored the pain.
"What?! That woman summoned another person!" One soldier commented. Despite the shock of the angels, they were also confused by how the ram girl was showing extremely nervous body mannerisms.
"Aries! Take them out!" Lucy ordered.
"I-I'll do m-my best!" Aries squeaked before summoning a large amount of pink fluffy substance around the two. "Wool Wall!"
The soldiers get caught in the fluff as they struggle to move in it. However, all of them spread their wings out and flew out almost immediately.
Lucy and Aries had their mouths gaping open as the former was sweating bullets. Aries collapsed on the floor and began to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm completely useless here!" She blubbered before vanishing immediately. Lucy shrieked shortly after.
Lucy began frantically going through her keys as the soldiers began to charge directly at her. However they were suddenly sent flying by a large water attack which caught the blonde off guard. She saw Juvia approach her, coughing slightly.
"T-thank you, Juvia." Lucy thanked while she nervously chuckled.
"I-It's quite alright. However Juvia suggests keeping in mind the enemy's ability to fly." Juvia advised.
"R-right…" Lucy rubbed the back of her head.
The two girls then noticed Torian crash into the fort. Gray held a large ice cannon before it evaporated instantly. The ice mage ran towards the two, however the two girls noticed unnatural bulge areas on his chest.
"These guys don't put up much of a fight…" Gray commented, looking at the fort. "Think they're not used to fighting like we are?"
"G-Gray, perhaps you need a break?" Juvia hesitated. "Juvia notices you've been using too much magic to handle…"
Gray wiped his mouth and looked down at his chest. "You mean this? Thanks, but I'm fine." He turned his back to fully face the fort. "This pain is nothing compared to the training I went through with Ur."
Despite Gray's confidence, Juvia was still extremely worried. Lucy then overheard something before noticing in the corner of her eye two Exceeds hiding in an alleyway. Once the two notice Lucy looking at them, they ran away immediately. The blonde looked down and frowned, in which Gray took quick notice.
"I know it's hard, that we're basically attacking their home. But don't forget what Erza told us last night…" Gray reminded her.
Lucy nodded and took a deep breath. The three then notice Torian emerge from the fort, dusting off the rubble off of him.
"Damn it! Why did the humans come back?!" Stark fumed, slamming his fists on the table and looking outside the window and seeing the mayhem going on in town. He continued to grind his teeth.
"I will leave the responsibility of the castle to you."
"Just when you were busy, everything went wrong!" Stark chastides as he stands up, knocking his chair over.
Sync was trembling while clenching her scythe. "S-Starky…what should we do?!"
Stark began to stomp out of the room as he swung the door open. Sync was surprised to see the slender angel act like this. Before he left the room, he eyed the younger angel for a moment.
"If this is how they're gonna act, then it is my duty to take care of things. I'll be back." Stark announced before slamming the door shut.
Sync stood silent, not so sure what to do herself.
At another corner of town, Erza and Jellal were just leaving the area they were at earlier. Right behind them were several knocked out soldiers as the two defeated them with relative ease.
"N-no way…just how strong are they?!" An older male angel commented, backing off.
"What are you doing?! We need to get out of here!" A younger male angel said while grabbing the older angel's arm and dragging him away.
Erza glanced over at the two angels leaving as she realized that there were no other civilians in sight before her eyes met with Jellal. "Looks like your hypothesis was right."
"Seems like it, thankfully." Jellal confirmed with a sigh of relief. "The plan is going smoothly thus far…"
~~~Flashback~~~
After the events of earlier and a long talk, the wizards were currently waiting at the outskirts of town by the stone bridge. They were currently waiting for someone as it was commented that said person while was seen, was never witnessed using their magic. After an hour, they spot a shadow on the ground approach the group as Rogue emerges from said shadow. They sent him to spy on the enemy and find their locations and descriptions, since the Tenhei weren't aware of the shadow dragon slayer's magic.
"Sorry for taking so long…" Rogue sighed. "I peaked around as you requested, and I believe I have a good grasp of the Tenhei and the castle…mostly."
"Great work." Jellal praised. "What did you discover?"
"Well…" Rogue started as he crossed his arms. "One of them was one we met at the bar, he had a unique smell to him with bushy looking hair and beard. I overheard the location he would be at, one of the fortresses' tomorrow."
"Eaugh, right that guy…" Gajeel cringed.
"I spotted a woman who carried that same title, she wore a monocle and carried a cigar. She was on her way to one of the bars it seems." Rogue continued.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Why go to the bar so early in the morning?"
"That I'm unsure of. But there's more." Rogue responded. "This one I don't exactly know where he was going, but he looked rather tall and had a pointy nose."
"And what about the castle?" Erza inquired. "Were you able to get inside?"
"Despite the castle being guarded by an armored man with tusks, I was surprisingly able to slip inside quite easily." Rogue informed.
"Tusk guy? Ugh, I think I know who you mean…" Natsu gagged, recalling his encounter with him earlier in the day.
"What were you able to find inside?" Erza continued to inquire.
Rogue rubbed his chin. "It's strange, I didn't see a single soldier. There were plenty of ways to get inside."
"No soldiers? That's odd…" Carla commented.
"I spotted two others, one was a thin looking man wearing glasses and a young girl wielding a large scythe." Rogue explained. "Unfortunately, I did not witness any one of them use magic."
"What about Wendy and that Hahlos bastard?" Gray wondered.
Rogue paused before sighing. "I didn't have enough time to see the whole castle interior. But I didn't spot either of them. Neither did I see this kingdom's ruler."
"If I recall, the smelly one mentioned their god was on the top floor." Carla remembered. "Wendy and that angel are more than likely up there too."
Natsu pounded his fist on his palm. "Heh, then if it's so easy to get inside then let's barge in!"
A sweat drop left Carla's temple. "You can't solve everything by charging in, y'know…"
"If we all simply attack the castle then all their forces will corner us." Erza argued. "They're going to search every corner of the town looking for us, and if they storm us we won't be able to reach Wendy before it's too late."
"Then how about we attack and sneak?" Chelia suggested which got the rest intrigued.
"What do you mean by that?" Jellal wondered.
"Well, they won't be able to sense me right?" Chelia noted before pointing at Carla. "And none of them saw what Carla looks like in her human form. We both can sneak into the castle while you guys keep the ones searching the town busy."
"Oh, I see." Sting planted his fist on his palm. "So the angels will focus their attention on us then?"
Jellal looked down and pondered for a moment. "I suppose that may be the best course of action…" He looked up at Chelia and Carla. "But will you two be alright? Don't forget that there may be some enemies in the castle."
"We'll find a way to snag Wendy and escape." Carla said while clenching a fist.
"In that case, I'll drop you two off once the chaos ensues." Rogue offered. In which the two girls nodded.
"Hahlos will more than likely make a move once the chaos starts." Erza brought up. "Whoever faces him must be careful, don't act recklessly. He can predict our attacks after all."
Even though the plan seemed to be set in stone, Lucy couldn't help but frown and look down. She showed signs of stress and worry during the entire conversation. She clenched both her fists. "W-we're doing the right thing…right?" Lucy stuttered.
The group had their eyes met with Lucy's desperate expression. "I want to save Wendy. But we're technically going to invade and potentially destroy another country aren't we?! Wouldn't that make us the bad guys here?" The celestial wizard hesitated.
"Lucy…" Happy said as he landed on Natsu's shoulder and looked down. The pinkette crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes away.
Erza approached the blonde. "As much as I hate to say it, this may hurt Fairy Tail's reputation. I didn't want to go through this last resort, however our hands have been forced…" Erza declared as she placed a comforting hand on one of Lucy's shoulders and gave a warm smile. "The civilians here will more than likely be scared or even hate us, but at any cost we will not harm them. We will make sure all of them are saved from the potential crumbling of this kingdom."
Lucy felt relief from Erza's comforting tone and smiled back. "I know they won't be hurt, but as long as we're all ready for this…" She clenched her fist. "I'll do what I can to get Wendy out of there!"
"Actually…we may not even have to worry about the civilians at all…" Jellal remarked. "Yes it may be true that every single angel here possesses magic abilities. But if they're so used to their peace, then they may be too afraid to even attack us…"
"There's also this place's strict laws here." Gray remarked, placing his hands behind his head and looking up. "I don't think they'll just drop their no magic rule when there's already soldiers around here."
The sun begins to rise up as the wizards gather around in a circle. Erza raised her arm towards the center.
"Remember, do not in any circumstances harm any civilian here. We'll hide ourselves in Rogue's and Gajeel's shadows and strike when the time is right!" Erza commenced.
Rogue looked over at Sting who raised his arm towards the center next. "So, you're fine with this…master?" He asked with a smirk.
Sting glanced at his fellow Sabertooth member and smiled back. "Of course! We made up our minds earlier after all!"
Natsu raised his arm and placed his hand over Erza's. "We're going to save Wendy no matter what!"
Gray followed suit by placing his palm on top of Natsu's. "You got that right, we'll make those bastards pay for what they did."
"Aye!" Happy agreed, flying towards the center and putting his paw on next.
The remaining wizards stacked their palms on top of each other as the sun began to rise up even more, the bright new morning making itself known. All the wizards cheered in determination as they threw their arms in the air.
~~~Flashback End~~~
"I do hope those two made it to the castle undetected though…" Jellal hoped as he viewed the castle a bit away.
Erza followed Jellal's gaze but couldn't help but feel like something was off.
"Why hasn't Hahlos made a move yet…" The swordswoman thought.
"B-Balrus sir! Should we at least have some soldiers stationed inside?!" A soldier asked as several of them including the Tenhei member surrounded the front gates of the castle in every corner. Some even were flying in the air, keeping watch.
"Impossible, the lord hath given us strict orders to keep the inner walls empty." Balrus denied, blowing more steam out of his nostrils. "They're art still in there and we shalt not disturb them! Even if some foul enemy gets by, lord master Stark will keep the place under guard!"
However, a shadow was swiftly making its move up the castle walls, unknowest to the angels in the area. The shadow stopped in a room where a paper and spilled ink lay on top of a large round table. The room was empty so immediately popped out Rogue, Chelia and Carla. The shadow dragon slayer took a quick glance out the window to see if any of them were spotted. After the coast was clear, he crouched to keep a low profile and his eyes met with the two girls.
"We got in without being spotted, good luck you two." Rogue directed, about to return to his shadow once more.
"What about you?" Chelia asked, whispering.
"Even though he's my master, Sting has a habit of getting himself in more trouble than need be." Rogue commented, half his mouth cracking a smile.
"For a guild master, he is quite reckless for assisting us in this mission y'know." Carla commented.
Rogue didn't respond with words but with a small chuckle before getting swallowed up by his shadow and taking off quickly. Carla and Chelia looked at each other and nodded before leaving the room to search the interior of the castle.
Balrus raised an eyebrow as he swore he sensed something. He narrowed his eyes to his right and saw in the corner of his eye a shadow moving behind an alleyway. Before he could investigate, his ears perked up as one of the soldier guards was shouting and pointing at something ahead.
"Balrus sir! I see someone approaching us dead ahead!" The guard reported, seeing a silhouette flying towards them from the front. The guards and Balrus also witnessed the individual being chased by several soldiers before making out the person as a man wearing a white scarf being carried by a blue cat.
Balrus immediately recognized the man and pounded both his fists together. "He's the enemy! Thou must stop him at any cost!" He boomed.
"Sir!" The guards roared as they heard Natsu let out a battle cry and ignited his arms with flames.
Even though there was chaos going out all over town, the castle interior remained silent as Stark sped walked through the hallways with his footsteps echoing throughout the long empty hallways. He reached a large pair of doors that led to the same balcony where the first ceremony was held. He pushed them open with both his palms and all the battle noise reached his ears quickly.
Stark observes as he notices many soldiers all over town already knocked out, but not killed. He scoffs as he takes off his glasses.
"Tch, so they're invading but still being soft huh?" Stark's pupils reveal to be two reticles as his eyes dart everywhere. "Those foul humans will regret ever invading our country like this."
He recalls the physical description of each human he was told about last night and was able to spot almost all of them almost immediately, minus three of them. He also noticed some of them engaged in battle with other Tenhei members. Stark snickers before requiping a single crossbow like gun as it turns from brown to dark blue. Targets appeared on each human from his point of view.
"I know all your faces, fiends. I'll take care of this quickly." Stark grabs the end of the bow and stretches it out far as the tip of the gun glows brightly.
"Guns Magic: Stream."