Chapter 38

Diederick

"What's going on out there!?" Yelled a citizen of Magnolia as he along with a dozen other citizens of Magnolia saw a bunch of creatures appearing all over the Fairy Tail guild and apparently doing battle with the mages there. As people were talking amongst themselves, Diederick was looking at the battlefield in worry.

"What the heck is Phantom Lord doing?" Thought Diederick as he watched the battle continue between both Magic Guilds with regular citizens of Magnolia. One minute he was spending the day with Daxter, the next the two were seeing two legal guilds go up against one another.

"This is crazy." Said Daxter as he adjusted his glasses a bit. "Man, what did Fairy Tail do to anger Phantom Lord so much that they go and do something like this?" That was something Diederick would like to know as well because he know what a Jupiter Cannon was capable of and Phantom tried to use it against Fairy Tail, not caring about the aftermath of what would happen once Jupiter was fired.

"That's a good question." Said Diederick as they looked on with worry at the ongoing battle.

"I hope your mothers are alright." Said Daxter as he recalled Naestra being missing since last night. Diederick told him about it when it was clear to Daxter that something was bothering him during their time together. It shocked him when Diederick revealed that his mother was missing. He always thought Arahan would be the first to go missing on account of how many people she tends to anger.

He comforted his friend as best as he could, saying that he was confident that Naestra was alright and that he had nothing to worry about. Well now that was a lot to worry about now and Daxter couldn't help but wonder if someone was going to die from all this.

Arahan and Naestra

Gwindalor

Naestra stayed silent as she heard her sister crackle madly as she fired arrow after arrow against the phantoms. Unlike her, who calmly shot her arrows, each one taking out a phantom with ease. It seemed that these creations were very weak, but with their numbers, it didn't matter. It reminded her of Goblins. Weak individually, but more than made up for it in numbers. It also helped that these phantoms had the ability to drain the life force of anyone that touched them as they've seen when one phased through Wakaba, taking him out of the fight.

As a result of this, the twins had Gwindalor avoid them and let them do all the fighting. The Great Eagle obeyed and so did his best to avoid the Phantoms, using his superior speed to its full advantage. Taking another down, Naestra looked at Phantom's castle and saw it preparing to fire its Jupiter cannon again.

"Natsu, I have faith in you." Thought Naestra before firing another arrow. She knew that there wasn't enough time for her to take out the cannon herself, not when it's this close to firing, so that left Natsu, Gray, and Elfman to take it out. If they didn't, then things will be over for not only them but Magnolia as well.

"That fool better be finished soon or else." Arahan couldn't finish that sentence as a phantom came right at her, only for Gwindalor to dodge it and allow Naestra to kill it.

"Pay attention, sister." Said Naestra as she killed three more phantoms with ease. "And have faith in Natsu. He will prevail along with Elfman and Gray."

"Really?" Asked Arahan as she watched the Jupiter Cannon gather up energy. She was about to tell Naestra that the boys failed when the Jupiter Cannon suddenly stop gathering energy and blew itself up. Stunned at this, Arahan looked at where the Jupiter cannon was, only to see Natsu, and someone else fighting amongst the ruins of what used to be the Jupiter Cannon. Shocked at this, Arahan couldn't help but feel annoyed when Naestra spoke up.

"As I said before, you need to have more faith in them, Arahan." Said Naestra with a small smile on her face. "With the most visible threat now gone, we need to focus on more pressing matters. Lucy and these phantoms." Arahan had to agree on that. Looking around, she saw the phantoms were being replenished quickly. No matter how many they destroyed, more would come to take their place. While distracting and easy to destroy, Arahan could see the deadliness behind them. However, she felt that something was amiss. Something the others were not seeing. It was something that Naestra knew as well.

"These shades are nothing more than a distraction." Said Arahan as she saw through Jose's plan. "They're meant to hold us here and nothing more."

"Agreed, but for what?" Asked Naestra before she realized that Lucy was Phantom's true objective along with destroying Fairy Tail. Trying to locate Lucy, Naestra saw that she wasn't amongst those that were fighting the phantoms. Neither was Mirajane and their resident Pict mage, Reedus Jonah, a mage that can make anything come to life so long as it's drawn on his stomach. Thinking about this, she realized what was going on and ordered Gwindalor to dive down so she can jump safely off. The eagle did as he was instructed and Naestra got off, leaving Arahan to ride Gwindalor and deal with the phantoms alone. Rushing towards the damaged Guildhall, she yelled inside for Lucy. Soon, however, she saw Lucy coming up towards her, only in Mirajane's clothes. Upon seeing this, Naestra realized what was going on.

"Mirajane, this plan of yours is risky." Said Mirajane as she placed her back against the wall, firing arrows at the phantoms that tried to get close to her and Mirajane, who now looked like Lucy through magical means.

"I know, but it's the best way to keep Lucy safe." Said Mirajane in Lucy's voice. "I had Reedus take Lucy to our safe house nearby. Hopefully, that'll keep Lucy safe until this is all over."

"I would agree to that, but Jose is smart. He'll see through such an obvious ploy." Said Naestra as she kept firing. During all this, she saw something come flying out of the castle. It was a man, but wasn't anyone from Fairy Tail. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. "Then there's his Dragonslayer, Gajeel. He'll likely be sending him to take Lucy for him." Mirajane knew that was a possibility and was about to retort when they both saw Phantom's castle transforming along with everyone else. To everyone's shock, even Arahan, the castle began transforming into a massive robotic monstrosity.

"What in Isha's name." Said Naestra in shock as she saw all this. Mirajane, who was also in shock, then gasped out loud when she saw that robot began casting a magic circle.

"It's casting a magic circle!" Yelled Mirajane as she watched it conduct the magic circle. "And if Jupiter is anything to go by, it's Abyss Break. A powerful destruction spell." Naestra gritted her teeth at that. They really didn't need another calamity right now.

"Is there any way to stop it?" Asked Naestra. Mirajane just nodded her head.

"It won't be easy, but if we either destroy the robot or whatever is powering it, it'll stop." Said Mirajane as she watched the robot continue to cast the spell. "But since we don't know what's powering it and we don't have the magic power to take that thing down with all these phantoms in the air." Naestra nodded in agreement at that. Even if she brought Ceithin-Har into battle, he would just be a massive target for these life-draining phantoms, who just kept coming and coming. Jose must be strong to keep summoning more of these monsters without delay.

"Let's hope the small team we sent against Phantom can, at the very least, delay that monstrosity from casting that magic circle." Said Naestra, piquing Mirajane's curiosity.

"A team?" Asked Mirajane in suprise.

"Yes." Said Naestra. "Elfman, Gray, and Natsu were sent inside Phantom's castle. We would have sent more, but those three will have to do." Mirajane gasped out loud when she heard all that, especially Elfman.

"Elfman is there!?" Yelled Mirajane in shock. "But he's not strong enough to beat any of the Element Four!"

"He is." Said Naestra as she turned around to face Mirajane. "You need to have more faith in your brother, Mirajane. I know you're worried for him, but you need to have faith in him. He's stronger than he was back…" She didn't say anymore as Mirajane lowered her head in sorrow, knowing what she was referring to.

"I know." Said Mirajane. "But he's going to get hurt! I don't want to lose my only blood left." Naestra, knowing how Mirajane felt, nodded in understanding before speaking.

"I understand, but we have no choice." Said Naestra. "With Laxus refusing to help, Erza incapacitated, and Mystogan nowhere to be found, we're pressed for strong wizards to fight Phantom." Mirajane gritted her teeth at all that, knowing that she was absolutely right. Still, she didn't want her brother to be hurt and thus she decided to do something that'll probably earn Naestra's disapproval.

"I'm going to give myself up." Said Mirajane as she got out of the Guildhall, much to Naestra's shock.

"What?" Asked Naestra as she saw Mirajane walked past her and to the battlefield.

"Trust me." Said Mirajane as she walked, praying that this plan will work. Naestra just stayed silent before nodding. As Mirajane walked, she grew sick upon seeing the groaning bodies of her guildmates that were attacked by the phantoms. They were all still alive, but both exhausted and weak from the attacks by the phantoms. She hated to see all of them in pain, her friends and family, and she was going to help put a stop to it, even for a little while. Walking in the middle of all this, Mirajane yelled out for Jose. That caused the phantoms to stop attacking and for the robot to stop drawing the magic circle. Soon, Jose's voice rang out from the robot.

"Well, Miss Heartfilia have you finally come to your senses, now?" Asked Jose with a smile as he looked upon a lacrima screen showing the fake Lucy, seemingly falling for the deception.

"Yes, I have." Said Mirajane as she glared at the robot. "I give myself up if you promise to stop this war and leave Fairy Tail alone. If you do both of these things, I'll do whatever I can to ensure that you get a good reward from my father. Deal?!" A few seconds passed before master Jose spoke again.

"That does sound appealing, Miss Heartfilia. Truly it is." Said Master Jose. "Unfortunately, I know for a fact that you're not the real Lucy Heartfilia." That revelation caused Mirajane to gasp out loud, disrupting her concentration and ending the transformation spell, reverting her back to her true self. Before Mirajane can ask how he found out, Master Jose laughed. "Did you really think that a simple transformation spell can fool me? Even if it could, it wouldn't have made a difference. I knew the moment you all refused to give up Miss Heartfilia that you would try to send her away from all this. To hide her from the clutches. That's why I send my best trackers to find her." Upon hearing all that, Naestra widened her eyes in surprise and horror.

Jose knew that Lucy wasn't here. That meant he sent someone to find her and she had a sneaking feeling that it was Gajeel that was sent after her. Realizing just how much trouble Lucy was in, Naestra yelled out for Gwindalor to come to pick her up. Just as Gwindalor came to her, she heard Mirajane screaming. Turning around, she saw two phantoms grabbing her and taking her away to the Phantom Lord castle.

"Mirajane!" Yelled out Naestra as she saw all this. Clenching her fists, Naestra got on Gwindalor and ordered him to find Lucy. Much as she wanted to go help Mirajane, she knew that Lucy was in more trouble right now. Hopefully, Elfman and the others can save Mirajane for her. Just as Gwindalor was about to take off, Master Jose spotted this and knew that he had to prevent them from interfering.

"Not so fast." Said Jose with a sadistic grin before summoning a massive shade to appear right in front of Gwindalor just as the Great Eagle was about to take off and having it charge right at the Eagle. Arahan and Naestra, upon seeing the shade, managed to jump off in time, but Gwindalor was caught by the shade.

"Gwindalor!" Yelled out both of the Twilight Sisters upon seeing Gwindalor be attacked by the shade, which dissipated as soon as it attacked the Great Eagle. Once it was gone, the two saw Gwindalor give out a weakened screech before collapsing on the ground, its life force drained.

"No!" Yelled out Naestra as she ran towards the Great Eagle while Arahan raged internally at their hurt eagle. Examining Gwindalor, Naestra was relieved to find that he was still breathing. He was exhausted and in great pain, but alive. As Naestra was inspecting Gwindalor, she heard Arahan yell out in rage. Fearing this reaction from her sister, Naestra tried to look around for her only to find her sister charging at the castle, rage apparent throughout her face. Gritting her teeth at this, Naestra went over to the nearest Fairy Tail mage, Cana Alberona, and began giving her instructions.

"Cana, take command and send someone after Lucy." Said Naestra as she pulled Cana from a fight. "If Jose doesn't know where Lucy is yet, he'll know soon. To send someone to help protect her." Cana nodded at that in agreement, having reached the same conclusion as her when Jose said he knew Lucy wasn't here.

"What about you?" Asked Cana, wanting to know what Naestra was doing now that Gwindalor was out of commission.

"I have to keep my sister from giving in to her anger." Said Naestra as she watched Arahan find a way into the robot/castle hybrid. "To prevent her from making a mistake." With that, she quickly pursued her sister, leaving Cana to take command of everything. As she ran, she hoped that Makarov will be healed soon or else things will get so out of hand that the Magic Council may punish both guilds without care to who caused the war in the first place.

Porlyusica's house

East Forest

Though Fairy Tail can take Makarov to any Magnolia doctor to heal him, there was only one that they can both absolutely trust to heal him and be confident that he'll be given the best possible treatment possible to restore his strength. That person was a pink-haired elderly woman by the name of Porlyusica. A former Fairy Tail member, Porlyusica nonetheless assisted Fairy Tail from time to time in terms of medicinal problems. Whenever anyone was sick or hurt, they often turned to Porlyusica to treat them because she knew medicinal treatments that modern doctors had no idea existed, let alone work. It also helped that she did it all for free, which is a godsend for certain members of Fairy Tail.

Right now, Porlyusica was tending to Makarov as best as she can. It's an unfortunate thing, but Makarov was hit with a magical attack that drained the victim of all their magic power. To make matters worse, the more powerful a victim was, the more lethal the spell was. Fortunately, Porlyusica knew how to treat conditions like this. It was simple, really. She just had to restore his magic power and heal his physical body from the damage it sustained by his magic power being depleted so quickly. The unfortunate part, however, is that she can't speed up his recovery beyond what his body can already do. She simply didn't have the herbs and ingredients to do such a thing.

Looking upon Makarov, the pink-haired and red-eyed woman that was Porlyusica couldn't help but wonder what caused Phantom Lord's Guild Master to go to such extremes, having heard the story from the humans that brought Makarov to her.

"Humans. They're so greedy and prideful that they resort to such pointless wars to satiate them." Said Porlyusica in disgust as she looked upon Makarov. "And you're a fool to give Jose what he desired. *Scoffs* Humans." Despite being human herself, Porlyusica had a very negative opinion on her race. So much death and destruction in human history have been caused by either prideful fools, greedy fools, or a combination of the two that left much pain and misery in their wake. It sickened her really. She was about to check Makarov's temperature when a knock on her door interrupted her.

"Humans." Said Porlyusica in disgust. That was another thing, she absolutely hated to be disturbed, hence why she lived out in a forest. Grabbing a broom, Porlyusica was about to give her visitor a whopping when the door suddenly opened, revealing Mystogan.

Surprised to see the S-class mage, Porlyusica nonetheless was annoyed with how rude the man was for barging into her room.

"Don't you know when to wait!?" Demanded Porlyusica as she glared at Mystogan.

"Forgive me, but I have something that will help you in ensuring that Makarov will recover." Said Mystogan before giving her a bag. Feeling it, Porlyusica felt it was just leaves. "Grind the contents into a powder before mixing it together with water. It should help speed up Makarov's recovery once he consumes it. Porlyusica opened the bag and saw the leaves, frowning when she realized she couldn't recognize them. She'd seen many types of leaves throughout her life, but none of them looked anywhere close to these.

"Where did you get these things?" Asked Porlyusica as she looked at Mystogan. "You know how I feel about giving my patients untested formulas and medicine."

"I know, but we have to end the war with Phantom as soon as possible." Said Mystogan. "Before innocents are harmed in this war."

"*Scoffs* As if they haven't been harmed already." Said Porlyusica as she decided to trust Mystogan on this. Placing the leaves into a wooden bowl and gridding them into dust, Porlyusica continued. "People that have not been into either guild long have been dragged into a war because of the pride of their leaders. People who wanted a place to call home and to meet with friends are also dragged into it. And, worst of all, people that know not the horrors of this world will now be forced to see them far too early for their own good. It's sickening."

"I know." Said Mystogan. "But you know that Makarov was forced into this war. Jose would just continue to provoke him until he does something so drastic that even you cannot deny that war is the only option."

"That doesn't mean I still can't call him a fool." Said Porlyusica as she finished grinding the leaves to dust. She then poured clean water into a cup before placing the dust into the cup and began mixing them together. "He's always been a prideful fool. Always causing trouble and that hasn't changed since he became Guild Master to Fairy Tail. What did I ever see in him when I was younger?" Mystogan, feeling bold, retorted.

"You saw the true Makarov past all that arrogance and pride." Said Mystogan. "You saw the kind and noble heart that he possessed and couldn't help but be attracted to it." Upon hearing that, Porlyusica glared at Mystogan, but didn't say anything, knowing it was true. Soon she was done mixing and picked up a strong, purplish substance that she had no idea what it'll do to Makarov once she gave it to him. She trusted Mystogan, though, enough that she'll do this for him. But if Makarov ends up getting hurt from this, she's going to give that boy a good whooping.

Opening Makarov's mouth, Porlyusica gave Makarov the mixed drink. Once he drank all of it, she watched him as his breathing became more controlled and relaxed than it used to be before.

"It'll be a while before the medicine takes effect." Said Porlyusica as she saw his reaction. Mystogan nodded in agreement before taking off.

"Fairy Tail will not have to worry about reinforcements from other Phantom Lord branches." Said Mystogan, surprising Porlyusica. "All other branches have been defeated."

"By yourself?" Asked Porlyusica in surprise. She knew he was powerful, but she didn't think he was that powerful.

"No." Said Mystogan truthfully. "I had some help. From an acquaintance."

"I see." Said Porlyusica as Mystogan left her home, not bothering to ask him who or what this acquaintance is. Turning back to Makarov, Porlyusica let a small smile grace her elderly features. "The guild always seems to attract people of very interesting backgrounds, doesn't it?" When she heard Makarov groan, she blinked before he saw him opening his eyes.

"What? What happened?" Asked Makarov before seeing a surprised Porlyusica looking at him. Looking at his surroundings, Makarov gathered what happened and looked at Porlyusica. "I would have liked a younger woman taking care of me, but you'll do." Porlyusica narrowed her eyes at him before pulling his ear in annoyance.

Meanwhile

Naestra

"Sister, stop!" Yelled out Naestra as she chased after Arahan as the two traversed Phantom Lord's mechanized castle. After the two entered the robot, the two were traversing its insides to find, what Naestra can only assume, Jose. To make him pay for hurting Gwindalor.

It was madness, Naestra thought. Jose is not only more powerful than either of them combined, but they had no strategy. No plan of attack. Not even terrain to give them an advantage. It was suicide to go after Jose head-on and she was trying to convince her sister of that.

"Sister!" Yelled out Naestra as she caught up to Arahan. Looking at her sister, she wasn't at all surprised to see the look of rage coming from her. She'd seen it a few times when it was her that was hurt instead of her. Or when something she loved was endangered or worse. She always went into a near feral state that cared little of what she hurt or killed, even if it was her allies. Naestra knew she had to stop her before she did something that she'll regret.

"Sister, stop!" Yelled out Naestra as she tried to make Arahan stop, only for Arahan to glare at her.

"Sister, when are you going to realize that the time has come for us to reap vengeance on those Phantom fools!?" Yelled Arahan, causing Naestra to sigh. She really hated doing this, but she had no choice.

Without a word, she tackled Arahan to the ground. Stunned that her sister resorted to physical violence to stop her, Arahan took the hit and was sent to the ground with Naestra on top of her. Restraining her sister, Naestra spoke up.

"Sister, enough! You're anger and rage may have benefitted us back at our world to some degree, but it doesn't here." Said Naestra. "The people of this world are not like our previous enemies. They aren't mindless rabble of beastmen or the cowardly Skaven. They're humans with a degree of intelligence and power that urges cautions. Regardless of what Jose is thinking in engaging in war with us, he's still a powerful mage that will kill us with ease if we engage him in open war without a strategy. Going in blindly will only get us killed and make our son susceptible to the Chaos Gods. Do you want that, Arahan? To be the reason that not one, but two worlds are destroyed?" Arahan growled at that and tried to force Naestra off her when they both heard some screaming. Screaming that they both knew of.

"Mirajane!" Yelled out Naestra in concern before getting off Arahan and leaving to find the source of the screaming. Before she did, however, she looked at her sister in concern. "Sister, I share in your anger in Gwindalor being injured by this war, but you must rein in your anger. To prevent it from controlling you. No longer can it do any sort of good, now, sister. Now it only complicates matters. This is not a black and white world when it comes to conflict, sister. The conflicts we face now have more severe consequences than they did before and you must know that before your temper becomes a liability. If it hasn't already." With that, Naestra quickly departed, leaving Arahan alone for a moment before she growled and pursued her sister. As she ran, she remembered back to the time with Phantom Lord and realized that her sister was right about her temper and how it needed to be fixed or, at the very least, adjusted to work in this new world.

"I hate it when you're right about these kinds of things, sister." Thought Arahan as she caught up with her sister. "But mark my words, Jose is going to pay for what he's done." Little did she know that she'll get her to wish, though not in the way that she thought.

Meanwhile

"Reedus!" Yelled out Lucy after he was defeated by a bunch of Phantom Lord cronies led by Black Steel Gajeel. The two had been hiding out safely in one of Fairy Tail's safehouses, but then they were suddenly attacked by Phantom Lord. Reedus tried to fight back, but being outnumbered and having Gajeel as an opponent, he stood no chance at all.

Smirking in satisfaction at the beaten Fairy Tail mage, Gajeel looked at the defenseless Lucy, bereft of her keys after her first capture by Phantom Lord.

"Looks like your white knight got defeated, little girl." Said Gajeel with a cruel smirk. "Normally I beat you up, but Master Jose gave me strict orders to bring you back unharmed. Guess you really pissed him off if he gave me strict orders." Lucy just glared at Gajeel as he walked over to her, giving the unconscious Reedus a kick to the head in the process, sending him flying to a wall. Seeing him not moving, Gajeel let out a laugh. "Guess we were a little rough with him, huh?" Lucy just gave a glare of disgust at Gajeel and was about to deny him something when she noticed something behind the Phantom Lord goons.

Before she could even blink, the two people with Gajeel gave a grunt as something hit their necks and that was all they could do before they suddenly hit the ground unconscious.

"The hell?" Asked Gajeel as he turned around to see this, seeing both of his comrades unconscious. He then suddenly felt something awry and jumped out of the way as a barrage of darts came flying towards where he used to be. Forming spikes in the soles of his boots, Gajeel yelled out "Cheap shot, whoever you are! Why don't you come out and face me like a man!"

As if to answer the question, a figure landed in front of Lucy, revealing it to be Oxyotl himself. Shocked at seeing an orange lizard come to her rescue, Lucy tried to speak, but Oxyotl spoke.

"You are full of pride and arrogance." Said Oxyotl as he looked at Gajeel, who couldn't understand a single word from Oxyotl as did Lucy. One thing was certain for both of them though, the lizard wasn't going to let Gajeel take Lucy. "So certain of your abilities. It makes you susceptible to the machinations of the ruinous powers. By right, you should die, but my visions foresee you're more useful alive than dead, so you will not die this day. Rather, however, I will give you a lesson in humility." With that, Oxyotl brought out his blowpipe and fire it at Gajeel.