Greetings and Bienvenue, we are back and ready for chapter three of Shadows Past Between Worlds I'm going, to be honest, I had this chapter prepared for a few days already but for personal reasons, I wasn't able to post it but everything is fine. Also, just a heads up this chapter length is a little longer than the norm because I will most likely not be able to post any chapter for next month. Other than that I have been doing more research on the Black Clover mana system and see a few errors that will be corrected later on but other than that I hope you enjoy it.
"Last time in our story, Mereoleona forcibly joined the Black Bulls' mission to hunt down the devil from Nacht's past. As she joined they had successfully discovered the devil's location, and Mereoleona not wanting to miss the chance charged ahead to confront the devil Lucifugus, alone. Despite her strength, she was defeated without inflicting any real damage on the devil. As she was about to be killed the Black Bulls and their allies arrived just in time to save her, engaging Lucifugus in a fierce battle and nearly defeating him. In a desperate move, Lucifugus caused his portal to explode in an attempt to escape, pulling the Black Bulls in as well. Inside the portal, Lucifugus tried to seal and crush them. But using his remaining strength, Asta nullified the magic holding them in the portal, resulting in their forcible ejection and scattering them to an unknown location, separated from each other."
Important Disclaimer: I own nothing of these franchises please support the original creators of them.
Chapter 3: The Bulls that Fell from the Sky
Magnolia, once a bustling and vibrant town, now bore the scars of the recent battles against Acnologia and the Alvarez Empire. The streets were filled with the sound of hammers, saws, and the determined voices of the townspeople. Buildings that had been reduced to rubble were slowly rising from the ground, supported by sturdy wooden beams and scaffolding. The air was thick with dust and the scent of fresh-cut wood, mingling with the aroma of sweat and hard work.
The Fairy Tail Guild Hall, a symbol of hope and resilience, stood proudly amidst the reconstruction efforts, its facade partially restored. Flags and banners, tattered from battle, were being replaced with new ones, symbolizing the town's unwavering spirit. The once-destroyed market square was now a hive of activity, with vendors setting up temporary stalls to serve the workers and citizens alike.
Amidst the bustling activity, a group of five people and two cats made their way through the streets, each carrying wooden beams and construction equipment. Despite the hard work, they all seemed content and happy to be part of the rebuilding process, their spirits lifted by the sight of their beloved guild being restored just beyond the supply pick-up points. However, while most of them wore smiles of determination, one among them displayed obvious signs of displeasure.
"Man, why do we have to do this? We just beat Zeref, and I even defeated Acnologia! We should be having a big party, not helping rebuild a town," a pink-haired man in a sleeveless waistcoat and a lizard-scale scarf shouted, his face twisted in annoyance as he tossed a bunch of wooden beams into the air.
"Aye, Sir," said a flying blue cat holding a toolbox and wearing a construction hat.
"See, even Happy agrees with me," Natsu said, looking at his five other companions.
A spiky dark-haired man with a muscular build stared at Natsu with an annoyed expression. "Shut up, man. We're the reason the town got destroyed, so the least we can do is help fix it," Gray said, getting up in Natsu's face while holding two wooden pillars on his shoulder. "Also, it wasn't just you who beat Acnologia. Didn't it take all the other Dragon Slayers and us on the outside to defeat him?" he added with a smug smirk.
With Gray's comment directed at Natsu, intended to provoke him, Natsu went for a punch to Gray's face. Unfortunately for him, Gray dodged out of the way, dropped the wooden beams, and was ready to send a fist toward Natsu, prepared to start a brawl in the middle of the street.
But before they could start, a red-haired woman wearing something akin to a construction outfit, but still having an aspect of a suit of armor. As she approached, she slammed both their heads into the ground. "Knock it off, you two," Erza shouted, tired of having to reprimand them for their constant fighting. "Gray is right. This is all our fault, so the least we can do is help rebuild. Besides, the other guilds need to leave today to assist their own towns after the Alvarez Empire's rampage, so they can't stay for a party."
She looked at Natsu, hoping he understood, but then shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose as she saw Nastu mumbling something on the ground in annoyance. "It was kind enough of them to stay and help with the rebuilding, but they need to take care of their own homes."
To the side of the three mages, two female mages could only laugh at the scene in front of them, a familiar occurrence whenever they were together. The taller one, a blonde-haired woman, wore an outfit that didn't quite match the work she was doing: a white crop top with blue accents that revealed the top of her chest and a blue skirt, paired with a leather belt and pouch, and completed with brown knee-high boots. The shorter one also wore attire that was not suited for the job, though her clothes were more modest: a green and white short-sleeved dress featuring a crisscross pattern, paired with knee-high boots.
As both started to calm down with their laughter, a small white feline figure spoke behind them. "I can't believe we still have to deal with these two and their shenanigans," Carla said, looking at the scene in front of her. Both Lucy and Wendy turned toward her with a smile.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Lucy thought as she looked back at her friends.
Gray got up from the ground, still a little in pain from Erza's strike but used to it by now. He picked up the beams and started to move forward. Natsu, still on the ground recovering from the strike, looked towards the scarlet knight, ready to say something. However, his eyes seemed to gaze past her and looked towards the sky behind her.
"What the? Why does the sky look like crap?" Natsu remarked, pointing to the sky as he got up, noticing the dark clouds that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He then started to sniff the air, trying to understand what was going on. "It looks like a storm is about to hit, but it's weird. I don't smell any rain," he added, confused.
The rest of the group looked up and agreed that the weather seemed unnatural. Lucy looked at Natsu with a sweat drop, thinking, "You can smell the weather?" But she quickly pushed the thought aside as she looked at the sky, realizing that this didn't seem normal.
She wasn't the only one. Erza, looking at the clouds, pondered what was happening as she brought her hand to her chin. "You seem to be right, Natsu," she stated, gears turning in her head as she tried to understand what was going on. She then looked to her companions. "Wasn't the weather very sunny earlier? I don't recall seeing any storm clouds," she asked.
As she asked her question, all of them looked towards her and shook their heads. They, too, didn't recall any storm clouds heading in their direction, nor had there been any mention of the weather turning this bad.
"I mean, yeah, but that's how the weather usually is, it's unpredictable. Well, that's what Grandeeney always told me," Wendy stated, trying to help make sense of the question they all had. She looked down from the sky and recalled all the times Grandeeney would warn her that a strong breeze could bring forth a storm seemingly out of nowhere if you weren't paying attention.
From behind her, the small white Exceed spoke and positioned herself in the middle of the group. "Exactly, child. This is just bad weather, and with the amount of destruction caused by the war and that dragon, bad weather should be the least unnatural thing we've seen," Carla noted. The rest of the group, recalling the amount of destruction caused by both Acnologia and the Alvarez Empire, realized it wasn't abnormal to have bad weather.
But just as they were finally accepting that the weather was nothing to worry about, something unexpected pierced through the sky, appearing out of nowhere and shocking everyone. The two Dragon Slayers were the most stunned as a giant water-based dragon head with sharp teeth came hurtling from the sky, heading straight down towards the town.
As the dragon's head descended, it flew towards the ground, digging into the earth and heading toward the square. Once it reached the square it destroyed several buildings before dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. The group could only watch in bewilderment at what they saw. Lucy was the first to comment, her voice filled with clear shock and nervousness. "Was that just a dragon head that came from the sky?"
The rest were just as shocked and scared as Lucy, realizing that there might actually be something wrong with the weather after all. As all the mages tried to recover from the shock of what had come forth from the sky, one mage had the opposite reaction.
The fiery pink-haired boy started to laugh and shouted, "What was that? Is that another dragon?" He was ready to take off into the sky to see what was going on but was stopped as Erza grabbed his foot and slammed him back to the ground to prevent his takeoff.
"Stop it, Natsu! You can't just go running off. We have to warn the guild and help evacuate the town," Erza shot at him, trying to cover up her nervousness. She picked Natsu up by his coat collar and looked at the rest of her team. "Let's go," she commanded. The rest nodded and started running towards the guild.
As they ran, they looked for any townspeople still outside, directing them to head for the guild hall or to take cover. While they were helping the citizens, each mage felt a spike in mana and looked towards the sky, expecting another water dragon attack. Instead, what appeared in the sky were multiple strikes of blue lightning shooting off in various directions across the town and its outskirts. Though the lightning wasn't as strong as the dragon attack, it still caused damage to the buildings, leaving dark scars or destroying some of the unfinished structures.
"Ah, what is happening? What is causing this from the sky?" Wendy cried as the lightning strikes subsided. She looked at the damage in confusion. With her Sky Dragon powers, she could always sense if the weather would bring rain, snow, or even lightning, but she sensed nothing of the sort. Where were these attacks coming from?
Gray grabbed her shoulder to remind her that they needed to head towards the guild, looking at her with an annoyed expression. "I'm wondering the same thing, but for now we need to get to the guild," he said. Wendy understood and continued towards their destination.
As all the mages headed straight for the guild, they continued to help any townspeople along the way, bringing them towards the guild and hoping that whatever was causing the destruction wouldn't destroy the town.
When they finally arrived at their almost completely repaired guild house, they saw that the guild had already started to work and didn't need to be informed that the citizens needed assistance. They saw Juvia, Gajeel, and Team Shadow Gear helping citizens into the guild.
While Levy was helping people into the guild hall, she noticed Team Natsu and a smile of relief appeared on her face. She then looked towards Jet and Droy, instructing them to handle the people as she started to head towards the group. "Lucy, everyone, you're okay! Did you guys see those attacks?" Levy asked as she walked up to the group, being tailed by Gajeel and Juvia.
Before the group could answer, a blue-haired woman in a dark blue, form-fitting dress with white fur trim and a matching fur hat rushed past the others and straight toward the shirtless ice mage. "Gray, my love! Juvia was so worried about you!" Juvia declared as she ran into Gray's chest, tackling him to the ground as she wrapped her arms around him. Gray could only blush as he picked her up off of him, realizing he was just starting to understand his feelings for her. Standing up, he looked at the rest of the group.
"Yeah, we did. We saw it come down from the sky and destroy a couple of buildings. We thought we should warn everyone and try to help the citizens," Lucy declared, answering her best friend and ignoring Juvia's usual antics. "But why are you guys leading people into the guild?" she asked, looking past them and seeing Jet and Droy ushering people inside.
Levy looked back at the guild and understood her question. "Well, Master said that a bunker has the best defense against aerial attacks, so he wanted all the workers and townspeople to be put into the basement for a bit while we try to handle those attacks from the sky," Levy explained, hoping that the crowd wasn't too much for both Jet and Droy. Her worries were thrown aside when she heard a loud sound coming from the sky and felt a surge of ethernano. Everyone in the area looked up and saw a flashing light.
At that moment, another strike came from the sky, but it was different from the previous ones. One was a green laser that shot off towards the lake, luckily not hitting anything but the water. The second strike was a multi-violet laser that seemed to bend and ricochet from its original point in the sky. This one split into four beams, all heading straight toward Fairy Tail.
But that didn't stop the Fairy Tail mages as they were ready to save their home and the innocent townspeople, "Everyone get down!" Erza yelled as she, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel jumped up to intercept the lasers, trying to stop the beams from hitting the guild or any townspeople nearby.
"Requip! Adamantine Armor!" Erza shouted as she was enveloped in a bright light as her magic formed a sleek, protective armor around her. The armor covered her head to toe, featuring large, embellished pauldrons shaped like shields on her shoulders and arms, an angular visor helmet, and heavily reinforced gauntlets. As the armor fully appeared, she crossed her forearms in an X shape, moving her shoulder shields to the front to block the strike.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray yelled, slamming his hands together to create a large ice shield. The laser met the shield and was neutralized, but as he descended, he noticed cracks forming across the shield. Realizing he hadn't put enough ethernano into it, he knew the shield would have shattered if the attack had been any stronger.
"Iron Dragon: Club!" Gajeel grunted, channeling his magic to morph his right arm into a large metal pole. He swung his metal arm with full force, swatting the strike away.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu roared, generating and sending flames from his arms to stop the beam. Surprisingly, his flames were able to intercept and neutralize the attack, even though both attacks were non-physical and shouldn't have been able to collide.
As they all landed, they were even more confused, as none of the attacks were similar to each other or had been repeated yet. In that confusion, there was one mage who was getting angry. "Ok, what gives? Why the hell is the sky attacking us? What did we ever do to you?" Natsu roared. While Natsu roared, Happy sprouted his wings and flew up towards Natsu's to be right next to his head. "Aye, Sir! What did we do?" he yelled alongside Natsu.
But they were both stopped as a blonde-haired woman came from behind and covered his mouth. "Stop it, Natsu! The sky isn't attacking us; it has to be some mage sending these attacks at us. Why they're doing it, I don't have the slightest clue," Lucy declared, trying to make Natsu think for a second. Natsu and Happy only sweat-dropped at her comment.
But all the mage's thoughts were stopped as they all heard a familiar voice, "Indeed, this seems to be a mage daring to attack us when we are at our lowest. We need a plan because if they think they can attack us, they've got another thing coming," Makarov said as he was wheeled out by Mest. The rest of the group looked towards their Guild Master and father figure, waiting for his orders.
"Right now, all of you are to get inside. We need to discuss a plan. I've already contacted the other guilds in town that didn't leave yet, and they are ready to discuss our next steps," Makarov continued.
Once Makarov gave the orders, the group nodded and began to head inside. However, before they could move, they felt an enormous surge of Ethernano. They all looked towards the sky and saw a bright green light forming in the clouds, shooting straight down like an arrow. As it struck the ground in the center of the city, it erupted into a whirlwind tornado that lasted for a few seconds. The mages watched in shock, realizing this was the strongest strike yet.
With the attack seemingly paused, the mages hurried inside the guild, worried about what might come next. Inside, they saw citizens being directed to the basement for safety. The rest of the guild members were gathering near the stage, where Fairy Tail was communicating with other guilds through a large Lacrima displaying five windows. Each window showed members from Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus, and Lamia Scale, all appearing to be in houses or farmhouses, having sought immediate cover from the random strikes.
Makarov took his place at the center of the stage, his presence commanding everyone's attention. "Thank you all for joining us so quickly," he began, his voice steady but grave.
"Oh good Nastu you're here!" said Sting "And Gajeel," said Rogue much quieter than Sting's voice, As the mages got close to the screen Sting began to talk again "Nastu did you see that water Dragon head that came down it was huge, do you think it some sort of dragon or some dragon magic?" he asked seeming just as excited as Nastu was when he first saw it.
"It was obvious he saw it, if everyone else was able to see then he would have to alongside the rest of the attack appearing from the sky" Minerva stated as Sting seemed to reverse from the front of the screen
"Oh right sorry ma lady," Sting said looking towards her "But where it came from I don't know, and if it wasn't just that one attack, then I wouldn't worry as much," Minerva said looking at all the lacrimal screen in front of her.
"That is why I called you all here," Makarov declared, regaining everyone's attention. "We are under attack by an unknown mage capable of wielding immense power. These strikes from the sky are not natural and pose a significant threat to our town and its people. We need to work together to identify and stop this threat."
He paused, his expression serious but understanding. "I know you've just endured a great deal of hardship, helping us with both the Alvarez Empire and Acnologia. If you feel you can't take on another burden, we understand, but we would greatly appreciate any assistance you can offer."
The rest of the guilds were quiet as they processed Makarov's request, but their silence was not for the reason he feared.
"What? Why wouldn't we help? We're friends, right?" shouted Sherria from the Lamia Scale screen as the rest of her Guild members smiled behind her.
"Agreed. Erza is my companion. If the place she calls home is in danger, I will help," said Kagura firmly with the rest of her group nodding with her statement.
"As will I. Erza's perfume is unmatched, and I would hate for it to be tainted by sadness," declared Ichiya passionately, striking a pose as the rest of team Trimens shined lights, and throwing confided behind him.
"You guys helped us reform our guild for the better, so we owe you. This is nothing," said Sting with a smile while the rest of Sabertooth ready themself behind him.
"Let's get wild and help stop this threat!" cheered Quatro Cerberus members.
Makarov only smiled "Thank you, all of you," Makarov said with a hint of crying in his voice but this wasn't the time he needed to harden up and stop this mage. "Now let's begin"
The other guilds nodded in agreement, their faces reflecting the seriousness of the situation. "Do we have any leads on who might be responsible?" asked Sting from Sabertooth, his usually confident demeanor replaced by concern.
"We have no solid leads yet," Makarov admitted, "but we must stay vigilant and prepare to defend ourselves. I propose we form reconnaissance teams to investigate the surrounding areas and try to locate the source of these attacks; they can't be just coming from the sky" he added, trying to understand if this mage could be more Tactical than they know.
"I'll have our best flyers take to the skies," added Ichiya from Blue Pegasus. "They can cover more ground quickly." but as he was about to strike a pose pointing to the sky he was stopped by a brown-haired man in a tailored suit grabbing his arms.
Hibiki let go of Ichiya when he saw that he released that he had information that could help, "I don't believe we will be needing to send screech party anywhere" he said while pulling up his Archive screen in front of him "From what I can see from my sensors all the magic is coming from the sky; from these dark clouds, so the mage must be in there but I'm not getting anything on my scanner?"
Kagura from Mermaid Heel spoke up next. "Well, we can infer that since all the ethernano is being built in those skies then the mage must be there, and with our assistance, we should be skilled enough to take them down."
"Yeah Quatro Cerberus will join in that," Bacchus declared. "We'll find this mage and make them pay for threatening our friends."
"Weren't you all listening? He said he couldn't sense any person in the sky," Lyon stated firmly. ", but it could be some type of stealth magic that keeps them hidden up there?."
Makarov nodded "True, even with all the information we have seen it likely seems that the mage or mages are in the skies and could be hiding themself with magic but we don't know that for sure." he said "But right now we need to act fast before another.." but as he was giving his orders he was stopped as he and the rest of the mages in the town felt a spike in ethernano as another blast was about to appear from the sky.
From the windows of their respective shelters, each guild group witnessed a sight that could only be described as a beam of pure destruction descending from the sky. This immense attack rained down fire, obliterating the center of the city and igniting fires throughout the area.
As the guild members were still in shock at the display of such devastating power they all began to feel something else begging to swell up in the clouds. As they braced for another strike, they saw a dark aura emanate from the sky. Instead of another beam, the sky split open, leaving a slash-like line in the clouds. Makarov, staring at the sky now parted by this mysterious force, and could only express his fear and confusion.
"Okay, this makes no sense! What is with these strikes?" Makarov shouted, scared.
"From what I've recorded, it seems each attack has been a different elemental strike," Hibiki said, stepping up in front of the lacrima. "So far, we've seen water, lightning, light, wind, and fire. But there have been two attacks I haven't identified yet: the green beam and the slash that just split the skies."
"It's not just that," Fried added, standing next to the Thunder Legion. "There were also some attacks with odd shapes and effects that I have never seen before."
"Yeah," Levy chimed in. "First, there was that Water Dragon head attack that started it all, then the violet light beam that seemed to bend, and then that wind strike that looked like an arrow. Each attack seems to have an elemental attribute but each had a different way to produce it as if they were designed differently "
"And don't forget that fire strike that just happened. In all my years, I've never seen a strike like that, except for one of Natsu's attacks. Has anyone else?" Erza asked, looking around at her guild members and the other guilds. The blank expressions on their faces made it clear that they hadn't.
As everyone tried to make sense of the situation, a man with a white scarf jumped onto one of the tables. "Well, whatever it is, that first attack was special. I sensed dragon magic in it, so that means one of two things: either a Dragon Slayer is up there or another dragon, and they can also use different elemental attacks" Natsu said, slamming his fist into his hand. "And that gets me fired up!"
The rest of the guilds looked at Natsu with uneasy glances. "Natsu, if it's another dragon, this is bad. We had a hard time with Acnologia, and another dragon would be horrible for us," Lucy yelled at Natsu, causing him to fall off the table. She walked up and stood over him. "And the only Dragon Slayer who could use multiple magics like that was God Serena, and he was killed," she added.
Before Natsu could retort to Lucy, all the guild members around them and on the lacrima felt another sudden surge in ethernano, causing them to look toward the sky. The clouds had returned to their original state, and something was coming. This time, the Dragon Head had returned, larger than before. Alongside it was another green wind strike, but instead of an arrow like the last one, it was a laser-like storm, with beams firing off in different directions.
The Fairy Tail mages heard a scream from the lacrima. "Everyone, watch out!" yelled Kagura as she ran off-screen, pulling her sword out to stop the Dragon Head from hitting their shelter. As she collided with the dragon, she realized the strength behind the blast and struggled to hold it back. Activating her magic, she managed to divert the attack to the left, sending the Dragon's Head crashing into multiple buildings, destroying them completely.
Before Fairy Tail could ask if anyone was okay, they heard a yell from one of their mages at the front of the guild. "Ah, watch out!" Macao shouted, grabbing his son to pull him behind cover. "Take cover, everyone!" yelled Wakaba, dropping his cigarette as he headed for safety. But both were shocked as a small blue blur shot past them, as she got past them and made it to the front of the guild Wendy jumped forward and began to breathe in the air around her, eating the attack.
As she ate the attack, she was pushed back by its sheer force. But thanks to her dragon magic, she was unaffected by it and managed to stop it but with it forced behind it she had to lay down from the recoil. Everyone was shocked by what Wendy had just done but snapped out of their thoughts when they heard Sherria scream, "Wendy, are you okay!" Her guild members ran to check on her, only to be surprised by her expression.
Wendy was smiling as if she had just eaten the best thing in the world. "That was so good! I've never had wind like that before," Wendy said, standing up and jumping up and down like a child who had just tasted the best dessert ever. The rest of the guilds and Sherria could only laugh at her reaction.
"Nice thinking, Wen..," Natsu said, but was cut off by Carla yelling, "What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt, Child!"
Wendy looked at Carla, embarrassed, and realized what she did was dangerous but simply replied, "Well, it was wind, so I was going to be fine anyway." she said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment and tried to comfort herself from hitting the floor.
"Now's not the time," Makarov said, relieved that Wendy was okay. "From what we saw, the attack repeated itself, so there must be a pattern, right?"
"Well, no, we can't say that," Hibiki replied. "While the attack did repeat, the water-based one was stronger than before, and the wind-based one was a different attack altogether."
"It doesn't make any sense. Each of these strikes seems so random, with no matching factor. It's almost like someone is just sending them wherever," Levy commented, confused by the strikes.
"Well, what if we aren't the ones being attacked?" Yukino suggested, causing everyone to look at her in surprise, which caused her to be embarrassed as she realized she said that out loud.
"Yukino, I know we are all confused right now, but it's obvious these strikes are meant to attack us. Why else would they be coming down?" Minerva said to Yukino, causing her to become nervous.
"I'm sorry, my lady. I shouldn't have said that," Yukino apologized.
"Wait, no, let her continue. I think she might be onto something," Lucy interjected, wanting to support her celestial wizard friend. Both Sabertooth mages looked at Lucy and nodded.
"W-well, what I meant was, what if these attacks aren't meant for us? What if someone is sending them and it's just in our general direction?" Yukino said, causing everyone to look at her with a confused expression.
"Wh-what I mean by that is, when I use Libra in combat, one of my strategies is to use her gravity to move attacks away from me and direct them elsewhere. So, what if these attacks aren't meant for us but a mage is redirecting them away from themselves?" Yukino explained nervously.
After a few minutes, all the guilds quietly pondered Yukino's idea.
"That would make some sort of sense. If the attacks were being redirected, it wouldn't matter where they went, just as long as they were away from the intended target," Erza said, remembering that each attack so far has been in a different direction that won't make sense in an attacking sense. "So far each attack has been different but each of them hasn't gone the same direction and seems to just be sent away from the clouds"
"But that doesn't make sense because, like the pretty boy said, there isn't anyone up there," Gajeel mentioned. "Also, I can't smell anyone or hear any spells being cast. So, I can attest that no one is up there to move the spells away from."
All the other Dragon Slayers agreed with Gajeel; they couldn't smell or hear anything up there. "But then that opens another question: where are these attacks coming from if no person or creature is up there?" Makarov vocalized, growing more confused by the minute.
"Hey guys, something's happening with the sky! Look!" yelled Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus. With that, everyone in the guilds looked up and saw the clouds building up and closing in on one another. This made everyone panic.
"Everyone, get ready! From what we've seen, this might be the strongest strike of them all!" Erza shouted as she switched to her Adamantine Armor, preparing to stop any attack coming their way.
Following her example, the rest of her guild readied themselves, as did the other guilds in their respective areas. But what shocked them all wasn't some big attack or even multiple attacks. Instead, the clouds suddenly disappeared, revealing clear skies.
"What the hell is this" shouted Jet vocalizing his confusion, "It just disappeared" Mirajane simply noted, "Wait look up in the sky there's something," Laxus said and he was right 6 different groups of light were shooting off in a different direction and one was heading right to fairy tail
"Master Makarov, from what I see, there's a light-headed towards us, possibly crashing into each of our areas of the town. What do you want us to do?" yelled Kagura, unsure of what action to take as she watched the light approaching.
Makarov looked at the light falling and had to think quickly. If it was another attack, they should avoid it, but if it was something else, they would need to investigate. "I want each of you to send a group to investigate where these lights will hit and bring back anything you can," Makarov commanded, seeing each guild nod in agreement.
After the call ended, Makarov was preparing to select a group to investigate the light when he was interrupted by Erza "Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy you're with me. We'll head to one of these locations once the light crashes." she said with an authoritarian voice.
"Understood," Gray replied, already preparing his ice magic.
"Let's get going!" Natsu shouted, eager for action.
Makarov was about to stop them before they left but he didn't get the chance as he and the rest of the guild heard a scream piercing the air.
"Everyone, take cover! It's headed for the guild!" Bisca shouted, grabbing her daughter and sprinting for safety. The rest of the guild froze in shock as the light crashed into the building hitting the floor with a blinding flash, causing a shockwave that knocked several mages off their feet. When the dust settled, they saw a massive crater with dust still surrounding it.
Makarov could only cry out in despair, "No, my guild!" as he fell onto the floor after the shock knocked him off his wheelchair
"What was that?" Lucy asked, shielding her eyes from the dust and looking at the crater.
"I don't know, but we're about to find out," Gray replied, as he and the rest of Team Natsu, Gajeel, Juiva, the Strauss sibling, and Thunder Legion surrounded the hole ready to contain any potential threat.
Natsu stepped forward, flames igniting in his hands. "Whatever it is, it won't stand a chance against us."
As they stood there, confusion hung heavy in the air. They waited, unsure of what to expect next. Wendy used her wind magic to clear the remaining smoke, revealing three figures amidst the wreckage.
One was a tall man with a very muscular build, sporting a stubble mustache and beard. He wore a white A-shirt and black trousers, exuding an aura of strength and ruggedness. Next to him stood a young girl with a distinctive black upside-down bun hairstyle, with fringes framing both sides of her face. She wore a light-colored white tunic and dark-colored pants and seemed to have a small leather bag by her side.
Lastly, there was a young man of short stature but exceptionally muscular build. His messy ash blonde hair added to his unkempt look. He wore a plain-white tunic with a V-shaped collar underneath a dark blue jacket. However, what caught everyone's attention was his right arm, which was black with blood-red cragged markings. His fingers were clawed, also blood-red with black cragged markings and black fingernails. It was clear that they had been through a dangerous ordeal, as they appeared tattered and injured.
The guild members exchanged puzzled glances, wondering who these strangers were and what had brought them to their guild hall in such a state.
To everyone around, the sight was shocking. They hadn't expected to see such a scene. However, out of all the guild members looking at the scene in front of them, Mirajane was the only one fixated on the boy's arms. Her expression revealed shock, as the sight of the arms brought back horrible memories of her own.
As everyone else in Fairy Tail was regaining their bearings, Makarov noticed his strongest children standing around the crater, just staring at whatever was in it. This made him worry. What could be so unusual to make his children stop? As he got back up onto his wheelchair he wheeled himself over, and once he saw the scene that perplexed them he understood. Three different figures were hurt, cut, and banged up. They must have expected a fight but instead found injured people, possibly including a very injured young child.
But as he looked at the young child he realized that they needed to help them and ask questions later. "What are you all staring at? These people are hurt. The least we can do is bandage them up, especially that young child there," Makarov said, snapping his children out of their thoughts. Well, except for one. He looked at Mirajane, wondering what was wrong. When he followed her gaze and saw what she was staring at, he understood.
After Makarov snapped them awake, they carried the three unconscious figures to the medical wing. Elfman and Laxus took the largest of the group, while Natsu and Gray took the younger male. Erza took charge of the young girl. As they arrived, they gently placed them on the remaining beds. Juvia asked, "Should Juvia get Ms. Wakaba to help with these injuries?" The other mages tensed at the thought.
"I don't think so. I feel like with Wendy and her skill, we won't need her help at this moment," Makarov said as Mest wheeled him towards the group. He then turned to Wendy. "What do you say, child? Think you're up for it?"
Wendy smiled at the Master and rushed to the young child, starting to heal her. She would work down the line, but as she began to heal them she noticed the others removing items from the young girl, a bag and a strange book. Wendy didn't pay much attention to that as she focused on her healing.
"Interesting," Erza remarked, examining the two items she had picked up from the young girl. In her hands was an odd book and a small bag. The book was cream-colored and decorated with cloud-like shapes, but what caught her attention were the fork and knife motifs. Curiosity piqued, she opened the bag and found it filled with an assortment of sweets her eyes sparkled with joy at the different types of them.
Thinking the book might be a cookbook, Erza opened it, only to find what appeared to be magic runes instead of recipes. "What is this book? I thought it was some cooking book based on its design, but it looks like it instead contains a bunch of runes in it," Erza exclaimed, puzzled by the discovery.
Levy, Lucy, and Fried took notice and walked over to Erza, intrigued by the book. Erza handed them the book, knowing they were best equipped to decipher its contents.
As Levy opened the book, she was shocked. She had never seen a book like this before, nor had she encountered runes of this kind. "What is this? I don't recognize this language. Is this some sort of code?" Levy asked, puzzled by the mysterious text.
Fried, intrigued, replied, "No, these are magic runes, I think. Some of them, at least. But I also think there's another language on top of it."
Lucy noticed that the two other unconscious figures also had books, and walked over to them. "Hey, both these guys also have a book. Maybe it's some sort of magic item?" Lucy speculated, picking up the books from the men's hips. She noticed that each book had its own unique design.
The younger boy's book was particularly tattered and old. 'Maybe he didn't take care of it? That or it's a very old tome?' she thought as she looked at the book. "It seems that each has their own design, but what they are, I have no clue. But wait, is this a clover?" Lucy exclaimed, pointing to a symbol on one of the books.
As Lucy laid the books down on the table, she noticed that each of the covers had a clover symbol on them. "Yeah, you're right, Lucy. These are clovers, but this one is really old. It's hard to see," Levy observed.
Fried picked up the old book and inspected it closely. "Hey, Levy, the other books—how many leaves do they have?" he inquired. "Um, three leaves. Why?" Levy replied. "Well, this one seems to have five leaves," Fried stated, puzzled. "Which doesn't make sense. I've never heard of a five-leaf clover. I've only heard of a four-leaf clover for good luck."
Lucy, intrigued by this discovery, examined the symbols on the covers more closely. "Maybe these clovers have some significance in the language or culture these runes belong to," she mused. "Or perhaps they indicate different levels of knowledge or power within their magic."
"So what? It's just a book. Shrimp over here has a million books, and there's nothing special about it," Gajeel said, pointing behind him towards Levy as he was facing away and looking at the young girl as Wendy finished healing her.
"I feel the same way. So, they have matching books. Maybe it's a guild symbol, like we have, but in book form," Evergreen suggested.
"Maybe, but I saw a symbol on their robes that resembled a guild mark. I think that's their symbol. But these books are different they have runes in them which I have never seen before, even with my magic I don't think I could understand them."Fried explained as he opened the older man's book and tried to understand the runes. "They might contain a magic we've never encountered before. If we can figure out what it is, then we can be prepared if they attack us,"
Laxus walked over to the young man and noticed a cape-like design on his shoulder. On it was a black and white skeletal bull, which struck Laxus as strange. "I think this weird bull is their guild mark, but I've never seen a guild symbol so detailed before. Do you think it's from a dark guild?" he asked, looking over at Mirajane knowing she knew every legal Wizard Guild and could say if it was a Dark Guild or not. But to his surprise, she had been quiet the whole time and seemed like she didn't hear his question. She was just staring at the boy's arm, holding onto her own right arm as she wore a painful expression.
"Hey, big sis, are you okay?" Elfman asked, noticing Mirajane's unresponsiveness. Lisanna walked up to her and gently touched her shoulder to snap her out of it. "Mira?" she said softly, and Mirajane blinked, looking around at her siblings. "Um, sorry, I wasn't listening," she said, forcing a smile.
"Okay, what's wrong, sis? A real man would help you, but I need to know what's wrong," Elfman said earnestly, and Lisanna nodded in agreement. Mirajane sighed, knowing she couldn't hide it from them. "It's just... his arm. …It brings back some bad memories," she explained.
As they observed the markings on the boy's arms, Elfman and Lisanna couldn't help but be reminded of the difficult past Mirajane had endured. Her "Demon Soul" transformation had been a turning point in their lives, but it did lead them to find solace and kinship within the Fairy Tail guild.
With a shared understanding, Elfman and Lisanna approached Mirajane gently, knowing that confronting her about the memories stirred by the boy's arms was the only way to offer support. "Mira, we understand. Those markings... they remind you of what you've overcome," Lisanna began softly, her voice filled with empathy. "But remember, that's all in the past. You're not alone anymore. We're here for you, just like you've always been there for us," Elfman added, his tone reassuring.
Mirajane looked at her siblings, gratitude and warmth spreading in her heart. She knew she was surrounded by family, and that was a strength that nothing could diminish.
Natsu walked over to the young man with the black arm and studied him intently. "Hmm, now that you mention it, he does kinda look like you guys a bit," he remarked, scratching his head in confusion. "And he smells like Mirajane's demon form, but kinda different," he added, sitting on the edge of the young man's bed with a puzzled expression as he stared at the unconscious figure.
"Aye, Natsu. And with how buff he is, he's kinda like Elfman. Maybe he's like a long-lost brother!" Happy chimed in, perched on the bed frame where the man's head rested. "Um, Natsu, Happy, can you please move?" Wendy asked politely, as she prepared to heal the young man next. Natsu and Happy quickly obliged, moving out of the way to let Wendy do her work.
Mirajane was a little surprised by Natsu's statement, but she could see the resemblance he was referring to. She laughed gently. "No, no, it's just us. We've never had another sibling. But he does bear a resemblance to us, I'll give you that. Although, I do think he might have the same magic as me," she mused as she looked at the boy's arms as Wendy healed him, "Maybe I could help him so he doesn't go through what I went through." she thought with a somber expression.
"Yeah, we don't have any other siblings, but I can tell this guy is a real man from all that muscle he has," Elfman chimed in proudly, while Lisanna could only sweat drop at his comment.
As the rest of Fairy Tail talked, Makarov looked around, wondering if the other guilds had found anyone else from the sky. If there were more people from the same group, they would need to be cautious. However, if they were from different groups, it could mean more trouble. As he was deep in thought he heard the sound of a voice coming from the main hall "They must have called us back, I should see what they found.", signaling Mest to wheel him away.
But just as he was about to leave, a loud bang echoed through the room, making everyone stop. He turned to see Lucy standing there, looking terrified as she had just thrown one of the books across the room.
"Lucy, what happened?" Makarov asked concern etched on his face.
Lucy was breathing heavily, staring at the book she had just thrown away. Her teammates ran up to her.
"Hey, Luc, what's wrong?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, Lucy, why did you throw that book?" Gray added.
Erza walked over, picked up the book, and opened it. The contents were similar to the other two books. "Lucy, is there something wrong with this book?" Erza asked, her voice filled with concern.
Lucy glanced at the book in Erza's hands and then spoke, "I'm sorry. It's just that when I opened that book, it looked just like the other two, but as I kept reading, I found something the others didn't have."
Her words caught everyone's attention. After taking a deep breath, she continued, "I only saw those symbols once before, and they were in your book, Natsu."
Levy and Fried walked over to Erza to examine it again. "It's definitely like the others we've encountered," Levy agreed. "But it seems to have other symbols that the others don't have. But why?" she asked
Gray walked over to Erza and looked in the book and realized "Yeah these are the symbols that showed up on her when she tried to save Nastu but some look a bit different it could be a language thing again" Gray said with a nervous tone
"Wait, does this mean that this young guy has some connection with Zeref?" Elfman asked as he pushed his sibling away from the ash haired boy.
"That shouldn't be the case," Makarov interjected. "It was said that when Zeref is defeated, all his magic would be destroyed, including his demon books." The tension in the room grew thicker.
"But just to be safe, why don't we chain him up?" Makarov suggested. Everyone face-faulted but eventually agreed and tied him up.
"Now, let's go. I believe the other guilds have contacted us so let's see what they have found and if they've encountered anyone else," Makarov stated as he was wheeled out. The rest followed, taking the books with them.
As they left, a loud grumble came from the corner of the room. On top of one of the medical beds a small, hungry woman sat up and asked, "...Food?"
As the group returned to the main hall, they saw other Fairy Tail members gathered around a lacrima, attempting to communicate with another guild and calm them down. As they approached, they realized it was Sabertooth on the other end of the call. The sight shocked them and each Sabertooth member was beaten up and looked utterly defeated.
"Please send us Natsu. He's the only one who can help, please," Sting begged, his left cheek bruised and swollen, his clothes tattered with burn marks all over.
"What happened to you guys? And why do you need me?" Natsu asked, shocked to see the Sabertooth members so beaten up, with burn marks all over them.
Sting's face lit up when he saw Natsu. "Oh, thank god, Natsu, please come over. And send Wendy if you can. We're in for a world of trouble if that woman shows up again," he said, his voice trembling with fear.
"Wait, what's wrong? Why do you need Natsu? And if you need Wendy, then you must have found another group of people, right?" Makarov asked, his concern evident.
"Oh yeah, we found some people, three to be exact, but one of them was crazy," Orga said, trembling as he bore the most damage out of the group.
"Indeed, I have never encountered a mage that strong with fire magic. It was terrifying," stated Rufus, half of his clothes covered in dark burn marks and missing his hat.
"It's true. If it weren't for my lady's territory and the damage she'd already taken, we would have all been defeated by her easily," Rouge said, as Yukino bandaged him in the back.
"Wait, what happened? Are you saying that one of them attacked you after you tried to help her?" Erza asked, trying to figure out what had transpired to leave Sabertooth one of the guilds nearly matching Fairy Tail's power on the ropes against a single mage.
"Well, when we found them, it was two guys: one with dark hair and a long cloak, and another with green tipped hair, along with an orange haired woman. She did this to us," said Sting. "When we saw them, we started to pick them up to take them back and patch them up. But as soon as I got close to touching her, she shot up though It didn't seem like she was fully there when she got up. She moved as if she was going on instinct, but she kept mumbling something about a lion and attacked us with a method of magic we've never seen before."
The rest of Fairy Tail could only imagine what they meant by that as they saw how damaged they were. How strong was this female mage, and how strong were the ones they had? Erza stepped forward, hoping to get more answers as she tried to call their other guild members to report their findings.
As the rest of the guild joined, everything seemed normal, and they were ready to share their findings until Quatro Cerberus appeared, looking completely drained. This alarmed all the other guilds as they saw both Sabertooth badly hurt and Quatro Cerberus looking exhausted.
"Bacchus, what's wrong? Were you all also attacked by someone? You look like you're about to drop dead," Erza asked, concerned that they might have two mages to worry about now.
"Oh, umm, we're fine... we think," said Bacchus, unsettling the other guilds. "We found three guys around a bunch of building rubble, even though it was in the forest. One had red hair, another had some weird face paint, but one looked very sickly and hurt. So, we grabbed them and ran back to the shelter as quickly as we could. But since coming back, we have been feeling like our magic is being siphoned off of us." he said with each new sentence becoming quieter and slower than the last.
"Not wild," said the others as they laid around in the background.
"What do you mean? Is it one of their members doing this?" asked Cana. "If so, you need to tell us where you are, and we will help," she said, taking the center of the screen, worried about the other guild.
"No, the members didn't wake up yet, and they're banged up—more than just from a crash—so I don't think they were trying to attack us," Bacchus said, his voice growing tired. "Also, we're on the outskirts of town towards the east si—"
"Hey, wake up, you idiot! It has to be one of them who's doing this to you guys," yelled Cana, getting worried about him.
Makarov wheeled to the front next to Erza. "That's enough, Cana. We need to discuss what we found," Makarov said seriously and looked towards the screen. "We found three individuals: two men, one younger and the other older, both very muscular and accompanying them is a very young girl."
"I see. Our group was able to find three individuals as well: two young women, one with silver hair and the other with dark black hair but with horns, and one young man with black hair and a nicely tailored robe," said Lyon, reporting his group's findings.
"Same here. We found two young girls, one with light blue hair one with orange hair, and one young blond boy. They seemed to be beaten up a lot. Were the others like that as well?" Kagura asked.
"Indeed. The ones we found were utterly hurt and damaged. The two men we found had the perfume of street punks and prison inmates, but the lady we found gave off such a lively smell one that would make one intoxicated," said Ichiya.
"She smelled like alcohol," Jenny said coldly. "And she was dressed very revealingly, even for me, but I don't know if it was on purpose."
"So, if each of you has found a group of three, that means we're dealing with eighteen people. Did any of you find anything on them, like a book or even a guild symbol with a bull skull?" Erza asked, trying to see any connection with the ones they had.
"Yeah, we did. They all had books, and two of the girls had the bull skull on their clothes, but the guy we have has a sun with a weird face on it," said Lyon, holding up and showing one of the books, which was a simple green one but because of the screen couldn't detain any other details.
"It's the same for us. Both the blue-haired girl and the boy had a bull skull on their clothing, and the orange-haired girl had the same sun symbol on her," said Beth. "They also all had those books you mentioned. I've never seen anything like it before. What are they, anyway?"
"They all have books, and they all have the bull skull symbol," said Bacchus weakly. "Same for us; the group all had books and bull skulls," stated Eve.
"Then we have an odd one out. Both guys had the bull skull, but the woman who attacked us had some sort of lion symbol on her," said Minerva.
"From what we've looked into, these books are some sort of magic items. They each contain magic runes in a different language," Levy said as she walked up, holding three books in her arms. "Also, from the books we have, they all seem to have a three-leaf clover on the cover, except one, which has a five-leaf clover. Are the others like that as well?" she asked.
As every guild except Quatro Cerberus described the books they found, they all discovered that each book only had a three-leaf clover on it. But when it was Lamia Scale's turn, a new variable in the mystery emerged.
"Well, from the books we have, the girls' books had three-leaf clovers on them, but the one from the dark-haired man has a four-leaf clover," Lyon declared. Upon hearing this, Levy, Fried, and Lucy were shocked not only was there a clover with the lucky leaf, but none of them matched the five-leaf one either.
Before the mages could say anything, Sherria took center stage. "Well, actually, we found something else that dark-haired, four-leaf guy also had another book on him when we found him," she said.
The other guilds were confused by the mention of another book, as they had only found one book per person. "There was another book? Did you not find a fourth person with that book?" Makarov asked.
Sherria stepped forward. "No, it was on the fancy-robed guy, so it must be his because all the other ones were found on their person," she said. "But the weird thing is, there isn't a clover on this book ..it's a spade."
As she spoke, Lyon held the book close to the Lacrima to show the others. Each guild saw that instead of a clover, there was a spade in the center, surrounded by a design resembling a glass-paned window. The book appeared to be secured with interlocking box and chain locks.
"I see, since no other book has those markings on it we have a few unanswered problems. First, the fact that there is someone who isn't part of their group and then one who has a second book with a completely different symbol on top of it," Erza said, putting her hand on her chin and beginning to summarize their findings out loud. "Not even counting the five-leaf book we have that has text similar to what was in Zeref's books" However, her thoughts were interrupted as she looked back up at the scenes needing to understand more.
"It would be better if we all meet up because both Sabertooth and Quatro Cerberus need medical care and assistance. Can all of you come to the guild house from your locations and possibly bring your group of three?"
"No way!" shouted Sabertooth. "We just told you we almost died because we tried to bring that woman back to our shelter, and you think we will do that again?" Minerva voiced. "How about you all come to us? It's better that way."
"Oh, come on! How can one mage be that strong that you guys can't handle her?" Gajeel snarled, getting more annoyed as Sabertooth kept complaining about the fire mage.
But as Gajeel voiced his feelings, the other guilds all seemed to get a surprised look on their faces, as they just saw something they were not expecting to see. "Um, what gives, bud? Why do you all look so surprised all of a sudden?" Gajeel shot at them.
"Um, guys, you might want to turn around," said Ren in response to Gajeel's question. With that, all of Fairy Tail turned around, and what they saw shocked them. The young child they had helped earlier was sitting at the bar, next to an amount of food that was almost comical for her size. She was simply eating away, paying no attention to the members of Fairy Tail.
"Wait, the little brat is eating all our food!" Evergreen shouted.
"Well, maybe she's hungry. She did just come from a bad fall," Macao stated but still found it confusing that the small girl eating so much and wondered how she got all of their food in one place.
"Well, yeah, but there's no way a small girl like that should be eating that amount of food," Wakaba said, as he relit his large cigarettes.
As the Fairy Tail mages watched the girl devouring the mountain of food, one blue feline came to a shocking realization. "Wait, she's eating my fish!" Happy cried. "Lucy, do something."
"What? Why me? And also, she's just a little girl. You can just go and ask her for your smelly fish back," Lucy replied to the blue cat.
"You're right. I'll show her! Hey girl, give me back my fish!" Happy said, running up to the girl. But once he got on top of the bar and saw her face, Happy went ice-cold as he looked at her all he could see was her face completely darkened and with glowing white eyes. "...Food?" was all the girl said, which scared Happy. "Natsu, help she's going to eat me!" he cried, running back to the group.
"Aw, come on, Happy, it's not that big of a deal," Natsu said, walking past Happy and going towards the girl. Once he was right next to her, he said, "Hey, can you give back my partner's fish?" There was no response as she continued to eat. "Hey, are you listening to me? My friend wants his fish back," Natsu said again, still receiving no response.
The rest of the guild didn't like where this was going. "Hey, dude, just stop. You're trying to intimidate a little girl. That's so not cool," Gray said, noticing Natsu about to do something below him.
"Shut up, Gray, and you pay attention when someone's talking to you," Natsu said. He then used his flames to burn the food in her hand careful not to aim at her so it would scare her but unfortunately for Happy that was his fish, "My fish!" Happy cried as he fell to the floor in defeat as he watched his fish get burned into ash.
The girl just stood there, seemingly stunned. "Did you just destroy my food?" she said.
"Yeah, I did because you weren't listening to me," Natsu roared. But the girl stood up and faced the fire wizard. "Anyone who disrespects my food is in for a world of pain," she said.
"Huh?" Natsu uttered, taken aback.
As the guild watched, they heard Levy get startled. "What? Um, huh!?" They all saw the book that Levy was holding, which belonged to the young girl, glow yellow and fly out of Levy's hands, floating right next to the young girl. While this happened, the book started to flip open, and pages began to pass by.
"What's happening? That book flew towards her," Wendy asked, which all the guild saw with her. They realized that Natsu might be in trouble as they noticed a big glob of something forming behind her.
As the glob kept growing, it reached the height of the guild hall, taking the form of a giant sheep. The guild was shocked by what this girl had just summoned and how much magic she had. "Cotton Magic: Sleeping Sheep Strike," she said. The fist of the sheep came down faster than Natsu or anyone else was expecting, hitting Natsu and sending him flying outside the guild hall, leaving a massive hole in his path.
Once Natsu crashed through the guild hall's wall, he landed in a heap outside. The young girl stood amid the chaos, her expression unreadable. The rest of Fairy Tail stared in disbelief at the power she had just displayed.
"Whoa, that's some serious magic," Gray muttered, awestruck.
Lucy stepped forward, trying to defuse the tension. "Hey, let's all calm down. There's no need for violence," she said, looking at the girl surprised at the amount of magic she had.
"After the strike, the sheep seemed to dissipate, and the girl's expression turned sad. "My food," she lamented, "I was so hungry." With a heavy heart, she turned back to the remaining food and began to eat once more."
While this unfolded, the rest of the guild on the Lacrima were in shock at what they had just witnessed.
"What was that? Is Juvia's eyes playing tricks on her, or did Juvia just see a little girl beat Natsu?" Juvia exclaimed, clearly astonished by what had transpired.
"Yeah, I think she did," Lisanna concurred. "And did you feel her magic power? She could match one of us with that." The realization of the girl's strength left them all deeply unsettled.
Erza approached the girl, hoping her presence would draw the girl's attention so they could ask her questions. However, the young girl seemed completely focused on the food, ignoring their presence entirely.
Before anyone could say anything to the young mage, they all heard a fiery scream, growing louder and closer. "Hey, I'm not done yet! Come here, you little brat!" Natsu's voice roared through the clearing as he sprinted back towards the guild.
As Natsu returned, the rest of the guild tried to stop him from going into full attack mode on the girl.
"Cool it, man. You attacked her first she was just getting you back," Gray shouted as he grabbed his right arm to try to hold him back.
"Yeah, Salamander, it was your own damn fault for attacking the kid," Gajeel added as he pulled on his clothes and other arm.
"A real man wouldn't hurt a little girl, you jerk," Elfman said, grabbing Natsu's waist.
"Yeah, why would you even attack a kid?!" Lucy exclaimed, disappointed in Natsu as she tried to pull him by his scarf to no effect.
"Wait, what? I'm not a kid, I'm 20 years old!" the young girl suddenly yelled, her voice full of indignation. Her words caused the whole guild to come to a sudden stop, everyone staring at her in astonishment. "What?!" they all exclaimed, shocked by her unexpected revelation.
"Wait, who are you guys, and where am I?" the girl asked, looking around at the bewildering scene before her. The guild members exchanged nervous glances, "she just realized now that she wasn't in her usual surroundings " though all of the guild as Nastu calmed down as Erza came from behind and hit him into the floor.
"You are in the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, and we are the Fairy Tail wizard guild in Fiore," Makarov said, rolling up to the girl who appeared older than she claimed. "Would you kindly tell us who you are and where you come from?"
Charmy looked at the old man before her. "Oh, um, my name is Charmy Pappitson, and I'm a Magic Knight for the Black Bulls. I have never heard of Fairy Tail or Fiore, but you guys have some yummy food. Can I have some more?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with delight.
Makarov was surprised by her answer. "Oh... um, sure, go ahead," he answered as she cheered and returned to her meal. However, Makarov was still deep in thought. She had never heard of Fairy Tail or Fiore, which was surprising as the latter was one of the most well-known countries on the continent. It was a little shocking that she didn't know of Fairy Tail, especially since Guildarts had told him that other countries had heard of them after their disbandment last year. Moreover, what kept him most confused was the girl's declared occupation. "What in the world is a Magic Knight?" he thought.
"Um, hey, guys," Sting said, getting everyone's attention back on him. "Can you guys ask her about the fire mage? If she knows her, maybe we can use that so she won't attack us when she wakes up," Sting and the rest of Sabertooth asked.
"Oh, um, sure, we can do that," Lucy said, walking over to the girl at the bar who was still happily eating their food.
"Um, hey... Charmy, was it?" Lucy called to the small girl.
"Yes," Charmy looked over with a very happy smile.
"You see, we might have a problem with one of your friends. I think they attacked our friends, so do you think you can tell them to stop or how to stop them?" Lucy asked, hoping the girl would be able to help.
Once Lucy asked her question the small girl seemed to stop eating and look at the Celestial mage in front of her "Huh? Oh, you mean Henry. That's not good. If he's outside of the base, he's going to absorb all their magic," Charmy said, her tone filled with concern. "Where are they? If I give them my food, I should be able to help before it's too late."
At the end of her statement, the rest of the guild members' eyes widened. The girl didn't mention the fire mage but described something concerning happening to another guild.
"Wait, did you say he was going to absorb their magic?" Fried asked, pointing towards the Quatro Cerberus screen. "Like how they are acting right now."
Charmy walked over and looked at the screen. "Oh yeah, that's Henry's magic. He must have landed by them. But if he's in the hideout, it shouldn't hurt them," she concluded calmly.
"Well, what if this guy isn't in your hideout? Will they still be fine, or could you tell him to stop draining their magic?" Cana asked, stepping in front of Charmy with a worried expression.
Charmy's face turned very nervous as they asked her this question. "Well, if he's outside of the hideout, then he would probably absorb all their magic. They won't be in danger if it's only for a little bit." After explaining the potential outcome if her friend was outside of their 'hideout', the members of Fairy Tail grew increasingly worried. If their magic energy kept getting drained, their lives could be endangered.
"Well, tell him to stop, you extra shrimp! They've been like that for half an hour," Gajeel roared at the girl.
The girl only looked at the man. "Hey, don't you yell at me! I can't ask him to stop; he can't control that power. He's sick, and it just activates on its own," Charmy retorted.
This revelation surprised the guild once again. "He's sick?" asked Wendy, concern evident in her voice.
"Yeah, if he doesn't eat up enough mana, he would die. So, his body developed a method to absorb mana from around him. But when he's outside, he can't control it and takes too much from people and other things, so he can't eat around people or animals without being in our base" Charmy explained, her tone now somber.
While the guild was confused by her explanation of magic, they believed they understood the gist of it and started to feel sympathy for Henry's condition. However, their immediate concern was saving their friends.
"What can we do so that they don't get hurt and he doesn't hurt anyone else?" Erza asked, eager to find a solution quickly.
"Well, we would have to pick him up and bring him to the hideout," Charmy replied. Her statement made them all worry because they couldn't get close to Henry without being weakened by him.
"If we can find Asta, he could do it," Charmy suggested. This statement both confused and delighted the guild, as the girl had given them a potential solution.
"Wait, I thought you just said that anyone with magic would be super weak if they got close to that Henry guy, so why would this 'Asta' be okay?" Laxus asked, confused by the contradiction in the girl's solution. Before his question could be answered, Cana interjected.
"It doesn't matter. Just hurry up and tell us what he looks like so we can wake him up!" Cana yelled at the small girl. "All your friends are at each one of our locations, so we can have him run towards Henry and help him."
"Oh, okay. Well, Asta is a very muscular guy with ash-blonde hair. His arm looks weird now, but he's a nice guy who shares his food with me," Charmy said happily, answering Cana's question.
"I don't think any of us have him, so that means you guys must have the right," Sherria remarked.
"True, I don't recall anyone else saying they had a man that fit that description other than Fairy Tail," Rufus added.
"Well, that makes things easy, for a change," Wakaba and Macao chimed in, unaware of what had transpired in the medical wing when they took Asta there.
Meanwhile, Makarov and the other Fairy Tail members in the medical room were starting to sweat bullets. They had to explain why they had tied Asta up before he woke up.
"Hey, Gajeel, Natsu, go untie him before he wakes up," Makarov said in a whisper. However, before they could do anything, they heard a scream.
"Why the hell am I tied up? Captain, help!" Asta yelled. Makarov felt like crying as now he had to explain what he had done.
To be Continued
That was the third chapter and we finally have the Black Bulls and Co. meeting Fairy Tail ..well three of them at least, and Luckily for them the town that the portal opened up on was Magnolia but will just say it was a happy coincidence. As you see most of this chapter was dialogue but I feel like it was needed for the events that took place for each group (which also contributes to why it was longer). Also, I feel like it would help show the confusion and actions they would take if this sort of event happened to them and try to put the puzzle pieces together. But next up it going to be Yami, Asta, and Charmy (officially) to introduce themself and see where the rest of their squads are and for Fairy Tail to get some answer. So for now I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you liked it please favorite, follow, or leave a review.
Until we meet again