Chapter 24

Oshibana Station

"We got to get out of here!" Yelled Natsu as he tried to punch his way out of the wind barrier, only for it to send him crashing into the floor. Growling, Natsu tried to try again when Lucy and Naestra stopped him.

"That won't help." Said Naestra as she held Natsu with Lucy. This was the fifth time he tried to use brute force to break through to no avail. Thus, she and Lucy were holding him back from attempting again as it was clear to them that it wasn't working. "This wind barrier is too powerful for any of us to breakthrough. Erigor must have put it up to prevent us from leaving."

"Damnit." Said Gray as he looked at the wind barrier. "His guild was just a diversion for him to set this up. Now we can't get out in time to stop him from taking out the guild masters."

After telling both Gray and Natsu the truth of Eisenwald's plan, everyone realized the barrier that surrounded the train station, trapping them, the remains of Eisenwald, and some citizens that weren't able to escape in time. It had to have been set up by Erigor to prevent them from interfering with his mission. To use Lullaby on the Guild Master's conference in Clover Town. Right now, the Fairy Tail members were trying to break through to no avail.

"Which is why we have to get out now!" Yelled Natsu as he tried to break free from Lucy's and Naestra's grasp. "The master needs us right now!"

"And we will, but we need to be rational about it." Said Naestra as she held firm against Natsu's attempt to break free. While all this was happening, both Erza and Arahan were trying to figure out a way to break free from the wind barrier. Much like Natsu, Erza attempted before to break through with brute force but stopped when she realized it won't work. And given Erigor's reputation, she knew they needed all the strength they can muster to defeat him, especially with Lullaby in his possession.

"This is a conundrum." Said Erza as she looked at the wind barrier. "There has to be a way to breakthrough. This was planned, yes, but this barrier had to be done quick enough for us to not notice it. That means there is something that Erigor neglected to do in order to set it up. But what is it?" Arahan, meanwhile, was silently gauging the wind barrier, trying to figure out its weakness along with Erza.

Through analyzing and careful planning was more of Naestra's field, Arahan was still a wood elf. She knew when to stop and analyze her surroundings, even when she much preferred the straightforward approach, to get past certain obstacles. And right now, this was a time for intelligence, rather than sheer strength.

Looking at the barrier, Arahan could see that if they tried to force their way through, they would either end up dead or too exhausted to do anything to Erigor in time. She then looked up to see that the wind barrier went so high that trying to climb up would be fruitless. Plus, it seemed that it was closed at the end, preventing that route as well.

Looking back at the train station, Arahan guessed the wind barrier was strong enough to repel the trains if the Fairy Tail members wanted to use them to escape. Even if Erigor was an idiot, he couldn't be too dumb to let such an obvious object be a threat to his plan if he was the dangerous individual as his reputation makes him to be.

Growling a bit as she tried to figure out a way, Arahan was trying to figure out a plan when suddenly the annoying blue cat thing came right at her face.

"Arahan I need your help!" Yelled Happy as he grabbed her hood. "Lucy, won't listen to what I'm trying to tell her, but it's something really important!" Arahan glared at Happy for daring to put his hands on her clothes. She was about to order him to get his hands off her when Erza grabbed him and forced him gently off Arahan.

"I assume it's something truly important, considering our situation Happy?" Asked Erza as she looked at the cat in annoyance. If it wasn't important, then she wasn't going to be happy. Happy, however, nodded at that question.

"Yeah, it is!" Yelled Happy before bringing out a golden key. "This is the key for a spirit called Virgo! I got it ever since Natsu and Lucy went on a mission against a guy called Everlue! You see, this spirit has the ability to dig underground. So, I thought that may come in handy in this situation, right?" Although he didn't get a verbal answer from either Erza or Arahan, they knew what Happy was trying to tell them.

"That might be able to get us past this barrier." Said Erza as she looked at the barrier with widened eyes. Arahan nodded in agreement at that. It's certainly possible that Erigor didn't have enough time to set up a way to prevent them from going digging underground to pass his barrier or he just wasn't capable of doing so. Whatever the reason, they're taking it, even if it wouldn't actually work. Anything to do anything.

With that, Arahan went over to Lucy, who was still holding back Natsu with her sister, before she shouted.

"Naestra, the cat has a plan for us to get out of this predicament." Said Arahan, catching Natsu, Lucy, and Naestra's attention.

"Is this true, Happy?" Asked Naestra as she looked at the blue cat, who was holding a key in his hand. A celestial key at that.

"Yes, ma'am." Said Happy as he waved the key around. "This key belongs to a celestial spirit called Virgo. She can dig underground, so we can escape." Upon hearing that, Lucy widened her eyes in shock before grabbing the key.

"Really!? Why didn't you tell me about it earlier!?" Yelled Lucy as she looked at Happy in shock. Happy just shrugged and gave a minor glare.

"Someone kept interrupting me while I was trying to tell you about it.' Said Happy bluntly as he recalled all the times, he tried to tell Lucy, only to end up failing because of one thing or another, most of which came from Lucy herself. Before anyone could comment on this, Naestra bumped into Lucy.

"Lucy, if you wouldn't mind." Said Naestra as she motioned to her to take the key from Happy. Upon seeing that, she nodded before taking the key from Happy.

"Alright! Here we go! Open gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Yelled Lucy before the floor in front of Lucy broke open and from it came forth a petite young woman with pink hair and blue eyes. Wearing a maid uniform along with chains attached to metal cuffs on her wrists, the petite woman looked at Lucy with a blank look on her face.

"I'm at your service, mistress." Said the spirit as she continued to stare blankly at Lucy, who was staring at the spirit in bewilderment. She recovered soon, however, and began to speak.

"What the heck?" Asked Lucy, bewildered as she looked at the spirit she summoned, Virgo. "You look so radically different from when we first met." Upon hearing that, Naestra raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Asked Naestra, curious. Before Lucy could elaborate further, Natsu butted in.

"Yeah, she looks a lot different." Said Natsu as he looked at Virgo intently. "Really different, but I can't put a finger on it. Have you've lost weight?" Lucy then butted in.

"She didn't just lose weight, Natsu!" Yelled Lucy, annoyed with his stupid question. "She's a completely different person." She then looked at Naestra before explaining. "You see, when I first met her, she was this gigantic, gorilla-like monster for a maid girl that was set upon both me and Natsu during a mission against a jerk named Everlue. And I mean gigantic." Lucy then went on to use hand signals to highlight just how big Virgo used to be.

"I see." Said Naestra as she saw Lucy's hand signals. "Regardless, if she still possesses the same abilities, then it matters little in the grand scheme of things." Lucy sighed at that.

"Yeah, I guess so." Said Lucy before turning towards Virgo. "Look, Virgo, I know that we need to set up a contract and all, but we're kind of in a hurry, so can you please help us in getting out of here?"

"Of course, master." Said Virgo as she looked at the wind barrier in front of her. "I'm assuming that you want me to dig you a tunnel to escape that barrier, yes?"

"Right." Said Lucy, happy that Virgo was listening to her. "And, uh, can you please not refer me as a master? It's not how I go with my spirits."

"Alright, then. How about queen?" Asked Virgo. Lucy just responded negatively at that and was about to ask Virgo to just proceed in making the tunnel when Virgo asked if she can refer Lucy as a princess instead. Upon hearing that, Lucy immediately gets a big smile and placed a hand on her left cheek.

"Oh yeah. That'll do." Said Lucy, satisfied. Naestra couldn't help but shake her head at that while Arahan rolled her eyes. Before either of them could speak, Erza spoke up.

"We need to focus, Lucy." Scolded Erza as she came right up to Lucy, scaring her a bit. "We need to catch Erigor, remember?"

"Right!" Said Lucy, upon remembering their predicament. "Virgo! Do your thing!" Virgo then did what she was instructed and began digging a tunnel with a quick acknowledgment to Lucy. With that, Erza began ordering Gray to gather up the civilians with them as well as ordering Natsu to go in first so he can try to catch Erigor as fast as possible. With that, Natsu and Happy went in with Virgo while Lucy, Arahan, and Naestra were looking at the barrier.

"I hope Erigor hasn't made it to the conference yet." Said Lucy before getting into the tunnel next, followed by Arahan.

"As do I, Lucy." Said Naestra before going in with them. "As do I." In the meantime, Natsu was getting out of the tunnel that Virgo made, which had passed the wind barrier by around fifteen or so meters away from it. Despite the distance, Natsu can still feel the power of the barrier as it was blowing everything around, even his hair.

"Dang, that's one powerful barrier." Said Natsu as his loose clothing and hair flew all over him while he kept a hand on his scarf, preventing it from flowing around like his clothing.

"Aye." Said Happy as he also got out of the tunnel. Once he was out of the tunnel, he went over to Natsu, who grabbed him to prevent him from flying away due to the winds. With his little buddy in hand, Natsu began to run off to face Erigor.

"Tell the others that I'm going ahead of them, Virgo!" Yelled Natsu as he ran with Happy in tow. "Good luck!" Virgo just looked at the pink-haired boy as he left her, not giving any sign that she acknowledged what he said to her. When her princess came along with the two ladies with hoods, she told them what Natsu told her, shocking them.

"That pink-haired fool." Said Arahan out loud as she heard that. "Does he really think he can deal with Erigor on his own?"

"He must believe it's better to delay Erigor from approaching Clover Town than to wait for all of us." Said Naestra as she looked down at the tunnel, waiting for both Erza and Gray to arrive with the civilians. "And given the situation, I can see the reasoning behind it. And if I'm not mistaken, you would have done the same thing as well sister." Arahan glared at Naestra for that remark.

"What that idiot is doing right now is nowhere what I do, sister." Argued Arahan. "How typical of you, sister, to throw baseless accusations on your own sister."

"They're not baseless if they're true, sister." Said Naestra while she was trying to hear the tunnels for noise. Sure enough noise was indeed coming from the tunnels, mostly from Gray and Erza leading the civilians to safety. Arahan scoffed at her sister's comment. Lucy, meanwhile, was quietly moving away from the sisters so she didn't have to be anywhere near them should a fight occur between them, much like those that happen when Gray and Natsu were alone with each other. She may be an only child, but she knew that sometimes siblings can fight in ways that can be physical at times. And given what she saw Arahan, that was a very likely thing to happen between these two.

Virgo, meanwhile, was keeping Lucy's skirt from going up, revealing her undergarments. Unknowingly, or rather she didn't care, her own skirt was going up on account of the winds, revealing her own panties in the process, something that Gray wasn't sure if he appreciated or not. Something that Lucy didn't know on account of her focus on both Naestra and Arahan as they argued with each other.

Later

Erigor

"Just a little more and I'll be able to finally enact my vengeance on those that wronged my guild." Said Erigor as he was making his way to Clover Town, flying his way there using his wind magic. Smiling as he snickered, Erigor brought out the poison gifted by his wonderful supporters and began to coat his scythe with some of it, saving some just in case he needed it. Watching the poison coat his blade in a sickly green, Erigor wondered just how strong this poison was if his supporter gave this to him so that Makarov will be brought before her. As he thought about this, he suddenly heard the sounds of someone approaching him. Surprised at this, he turned around and saw, to his shock, a flying cat thing and the pink-haired Fairy Tail mage being carried by said cat. Seeing them coming straight at him, Erigor dodged out of the way as the flying duo tried to hit him. After that failed attack, the cat groaned and began to fall to the train tracks below them. This caused the Fairy Tail mage to free himself from the cat's grip and hold him as they fell down, landing on his feet safely.

"You did good, Happy." Said Natsu as the Happy weakly looked at his friend. "Now rest up." The cat nodded before closing its eyes. Natsu then gently laid Happy on the ground before glaring up at Erigor, who was sneering down at this display of affection.

"Since you're here, I'm assuming you managed to beat my entire guild, huh?" Asked Erigor, disappointed that his guild couldn't hold back the Fairies for long. Then again, he should have expected it when he saw the two sisters, Arahan and Naestra, along with Titania amongst the Fairies. The former two may have lacked magic, but they're still no less deadly on the battlefield, especially since he heard that they won't shy away from killing. It angered Erigor that the Magic Council would give these two a pass, but not his guild. Just showed the hypocrisy of the system. And then there was Titania, who was trained by one of them since she was a child if rumors were to believed.

"That's right and we've managed to figure out your plan!" Yelled Natsu as his fists were covered in flames. "We won't let you kill off those in Clover Town, much less those in the guild conference." Erigor smirked at that.

"You think you can stop me!?" Yelled Erigor as he brandished his scythe, confident that he can deal with this pink-haired loser without Lullaby. "I'm Erigor, the most powerful wizard in Eisenwald. I will not be denied my vengeance by you."

"We'll see that, old man!" Yelled Natsu as he launched himself into the air to fight Erigor. Sending a fist to Erigor's face, Natsu was a bit surprised when Erigor put a wind barrier in front of him before knocking Natsu to the train tracks by firing a blast of wind at him.

Crashing into the ground, Natsu shook his head to get the stars out of his vision before glaring up at Erigor.

"Hey, actually fight fair you jerk!" Yelled Natsu in annoyance before leaping up to fight again, causing Erigor to do the same thing again, annoying Natsu even further.

"As I said, I will not be denied my vengeance!" Yelled Erigor before sending an even stronger blast of wind against Natsu. The dragon slayer held his footing as Erigor tried to send him to his knees. Gritting his teeth, Natsu tried to think up of a way to get Erigor on his feet when an idea popped up in his mind. Fighting the winds, Natsu placed his hands near his mouth before firing a burst of flames at Erigor.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Yelled out Natsu as the flames traveled to Erigor.

"Fool." Said Erigor as he deflected the flame attack with a barrier of wind. As he did this, however, Natsu once again leaped up towards Erigor while he was deflecting the attack. Just as the attack was over, Natsu launched a kick at Erigor's left cheek, actually landing a hit on him this time. Erigor was so stunned at the attack that he was sent flying towards the ground. He managed to catch himself in time before he hit the rocky terrain below him. Enraged that Natsu landed a hit on him but also impressed, Erigor launched himself back up to face Natsu.

"Impressive." Said Erigor as he touched his cheek, feeling a bruise forming. "Guess you're not half bad after all." He then held his scythe with both hands. "Even if you're delaying my efforts to have my vengeance on those that wronged my guild, I'll enjoy killing you."

"You can try." Said Natsu as he prepared for a fight. The two then looked at each other for a moment before charging at one another. As they charged at each other, Natsu saw the sickly green substance on Erigor's scythe and immediately knew something was off with the scythe. Thus, he avoided any slashes from the scythe while counterattacking with his own punches and kicks.

Impressed with the kid, Erigor can see that the kid had spotted the poison on his scythe in time to realize that he needed to avoid it at all costs. Much as that impressed him, he really needed to end this quick. No doubt the other Fairies were making their way here right now and he doubted he can beat all of them, especially with the Sisters, Arahan and Naestra, with them. So, without much effort, Erigor made a feint move by making it look like he was going for an overhead attack with his scythe, to fool Natsu that he was going for his head. When Natsu tried to sidestep out of the way, Erigor suddenly tilted his scythe towards Natsu's direction and used his magic to hasten the speed he moved, making it impossible to avoid the slash.

It worked and Natsu was instantly slashed across his shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain, Natsu kicked Erigor in the stomach sending him sliding back a few feet. Erigor grunted in pain as he clenched his stomach. This kid can really put out the hurt, Erigor won't deny that. But unfortunately for him, the battle was over and Erigor would be able to make his escape. That poison that he had soaked his scythe in was enough to paralyze the great Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. There was no way a random wizard from Fairy Tail can handle it.

And just as he predicted, the poison started to show its effects as the kid suddenly couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried.

"The…hell…is…happening." Said Natsu as he struggled to move, but found he couldn't. Erigor just laughed out loud before speaking.

"My scythe was coated in a special poison." Explained Erigor as he watched the kid tried his best to move to no avail. "A poison that was kindly gifted to a supporter of mine that wants your guild master alive. For what, I have no idea, but she's paying a lot of money so I'm not complaining, especially since she seemed to want to hurt him really bad. *Chuckles* I really hope she does too. That old man deserves what's coming to him." Upon hearing that, Natsu glared at Erigor and tried to summon his magic to beat this guy up, but couldn't. Tried as hard as he could, he couldn't summon his magic nor move much at all. All he could do was watch as Erigor used his magic to fly up and look down at Natsu with a smirk.

"Much as I would like to slice you to ribbons right now, boy." Said Erigor. "I got a job to do. So, I guess this is your lucky day." Laughing out loud, Erigor was about to take his leave when an arrow suddenly found itself embedded into his shoulder, making him yell out loud in pain.

As he pulled the arrow out, he looked around to see a Magical Vehicle making its way towards him on the train tracks. On top of it were Naestra and Arahan, whose bows were already notched with more arrows ready to be launched towards Erigor.

Gritting his teeth at the arrival of more Fairy Tail members, Erigor knew that he was outmatched and so quickly left before more arrows were launched his way, utilizing more magic in order to get out of there quickly. Even if it meant that he would have little magic power to face the Guild Masters should it come to it, Erigor didn't care. After all, he had Lullaby with him. And with it, he can kill anyone that he wanted. As he flew away, however, he began to feel a little lightheaded.

Meanwhile, the Fairy Tail members caught up to Natsu and Happy. While Lucy was taking care of an exhausted Happy, Erza was observing an immobile Natsu.

"What happened to you, flame-breath?" Asked Gray as he watched Natsu struggle to move around.

"Shut…up, ice-breath." Said Natsu as he tried to speak. Erza hummed as she inspected Natsu.

"I'm guessing Erigor must have placed a paralyzing spell on you?" Asked Erza before spotting a wound on his shoulder. "Unless that wound is the cause."

"It…is." Said Natsu as he still struggled to speak. "Erigor's…scythe…did this."

"A poisoned blade." Said Naestra as she looked at Natsu and how much he was struggling to move, let alone speak. "It must be quite powerful if it can paralyze Natsu this much."

"Not powerful enough to stop him from speaking." Said Arahan nastily as she looked at where Erigor went. Her arrow managed to hit him, but he still managed to escape. She just hoped the poison that she laced it with was enough to slow him down for them to catch up to him before it's too late. Naestra ignored this as she observed Natsu further. Based on how much Natsu was struggling yet was still able to speak, albeit barely, she guessed that was intentional. But why?

"Did Erigor say where he got the poison from?" Asked Naestra. It was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Yeah." Said Natsu. "Said…it came…from a…supporter that…hates Makarov. Hates him enough…that she paid…Erigor to…capture him." Naestra blinked at that. So someone was paying Erigor to capture Makarov? But who? She knew Makarov had made some enemies during his time, but who would hire Erigor to capture him when he had a powerful artifact like Lullaby in his possession.

Her thoughts then went to the Dreadwaters and how Makarov once told her that he encountered a Druchii Dreadlord and how he didn't know what happened to her after he casted Fairy Law on her. It was a long shot, but perhaps that was the one that wanted Makarov alive. It would certainly fit the behavior of a Dark Elf, wanting revenge on what bested them in battle and wanting to do it themselves, particularly if it can be done slowly and painfully.

Regardless if it's that Druchii or not, Makarov was in danger and if Erigor had access to more of the poison that Natsu was inflicted with, then the other Guild Masters were in danger as well, especially as Erigor still had Lullaby in his possession. Thus, she ordered everyone to get back into the Magical Vehicle quickly so they can pursue Erigor. Thus, after getting Natsu inside, the Fairly Tail team quickly made their way towards Clover Town to stop Erigor before he could use Lullaby.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a single spyglass was observing them as they made their way to Clover Town. Their own displeased at seeing the Fairy Tail group so close to Erigor. Thus, they decided that in case Erigor failed, a fail-back plan was needed in order to capture Makarov for their lord and master. Otherwise, the punishment that will come to them for failing to bring Makarov to her will be quite…lethal.