updated 15/11/2024, replacing chapter... um. 25? i guess?
Phoenix, Gahaha! Gajeel! I have so many plans for you, you lump of metal! And Laxus too! Granted this mishmash arc wasn't actually what I initially had planned for Laxus but ey. It's workin. Evergreen spares no one. Unless they're under a table. Or in a back room. Or something else I won't specify. Jude is a real butt-muffin isn't he? A real stubborn butt-muffin. Honestly I'm not fully decided on if he'll give up or not. Depends on the retribution I will probably maybe someday unload on him. Well I mean Juvia is currently a slightly damp rock, so I mean I don't think she's gonna be doing much. Not yet. Actually, it's not really something I hear often, more so I read it often but hey. (My English teacher tells me my writing leaves something to be desired. Excuse you lady but I don't see your stories with one hundred followers. I don't see one of your stories that you half regret writing on a school recommend archive. Give me more than half an hour to write something adequate dammit!)
Guest, Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a bucket of water, with what the authors got planned someone might-as-well as shot her, Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after, really truly now what does Laxus' plan even matter? Ok, I'll admit that was a tough one. The last lines kinda weak too cause Laxus' plan definitely matters. Gah. School. Don't remind me. Mine starts like a week before my birthday. Couldn't start a week later, nooo. I've probably overindulged myself considering I've done lots of reading but not nearly enough writing…
Otaku789, thank you! Man it almost physically pained me to compare Natsu with Endeavor but I managed it (Never again never again). Well, we'll just have to wait and see, eh? This is soon, right?
For a building that was never supposed to be continuously struck by lightning, the Cardia Cathedral is holding up well. The same can't be said for Gajeel, though he'd never admit it. That Laxus asshole keeps throwing out blankets of lightning, and it's not slowing Natsu down at all. If anything, it's invigorating him, which is annoying as hell because Gajeel thought he was a fire dragon slayer.
Hell, the fact Natsu is a dragon slayer at all is annoying. Master Jose had to have known— did he think it was funny, to not tell Gajeel? Why the hell isn't anyone telling Gajeel shit.
Gajeel launches himself into the air to avoid another wave of lightning from Laxus, but that only opens him to attack from Natsu, who has been ignoring Laxus almost entirely.
Lightning sizzles along his skin, grinds through his piercings, dances across his teeth. Natsu spikes him down into the roof of the cathedral, tile shattering under him, and Gajeel has to take a second. From his spot he can see Laxus, who looks annoyed that Natsu has been ignoring him, and in a stroke of luck Laxus engages Natsu in hand-to-hand combat, instead of throwing out another round of lightning. There are nails holding the beams together. Gajeel starts prying a few out, watching the fight. Laxus looks pretty damn pissed that his lightning isn't working on Natsu. That shoulder Gajeel noticed earlier is throwing Natsu off, but otherwise, it would be a pretty close fight.
The nails come out. He stuffs them into his mouth, and leaves.
He's just going to regroup with Aria, that's all.
Unfortunately, in his ongoing streak of bad luck, he gets maybe thirty steps away from the cathedral before bumping in to someone. Already a bad sign. Anyone with half a brain is going the opposite direction.
Or, he corrects, looking at the short, blue haired woman he ran in to, anyone who isn't a member of Fairy Tail.
Her eyes dart to his shoulder, to the cathedral behind him, and then lock with his.
"You're a member of Phantom Lord," she says.
"Yeah," Gajeel says, "what are you gonna do about it?"
She frowns, magic gathering at her fingertips, and Gajeel lashes out, crashes an iron fist into one of her legs. Bone splinters, and her expression splinters from determination to pain. She collapses, hands clutching at the injury, and Gajeel moves past her. He doesn't consider her a threat anymore, doesn't even think twice about turning his back— that's why he's so surprised when she retaliates.
"Lightning!" The word crashes into him, and he bites his tongue by accident, missing a step and coming down heavily on his knees. He twists to see her, sprawled out after him and face pale from pain.
"Damn," he says, "not bad, shorty," and then he leaps away before she can get him again.
Where the hell is Aria?
.•.•.•.
It's dragon lightning that Laxus is throwing around, and Natsu knows that for sure, because it tastes just like Empra's. He doesn't seem to know what he's doing with it, though— he's not roaring, using wing or claw attacks— he's using it, but he's not using it like a dragon would. Like a dragon slayer should, even though he undoubtedly is one.
Knowing that, using lightning against Laxus is completely useless. It's about as effective as Laxus using it against Natsu, except Laxus isn't eating any. It's the principle of the thing, though. If Laxus isn't going to act like a proper dragon slayer, then Natsu will, consequences be damned.
This guy thinks he can hurt Fairy Tail, for reasons completely unrelated to Natsu. Natsu would go back to Jude before he let that happen.
Even with Gajeel out of the way— off to lick his wounds, probably— Laxus has gone from firing off his lightning indiscriminately to taking a more hands-on approach. He's still crackling with lightning, because he clearly hasn't figured out that he's fuelling Natsu.
It should be a joke of a fight, that considered, but Laxus is still good at hand to hand combat— better than Natsu, Natsu just keeps shoving lightning into his face and distracting him— and he's clearly noticed Natsu's shoulder.
Annoying thing is still tender, probably because of the stitches that the doctors insisted were necessary. Natsu heals quick, always has, but something about this injury is making it linger.
Laxus catches one of his punches, so Natsu turns his head and roars in his face, surprising Laxus into letting go. Even with an immunity to the element, getting a deluge of it right to the face is both very bright and very loud, especially to dragon slayer senses. Natsu rolls back, considering his next angle of attack, when something just behind Laxus catches his attention and makes him stop.
Makarov swells from ten feet, to twenty, more, until he's towering over the cathedral in a display of both might and magical power.
"What do you think you're doing?" He demands of Laxus, who turns around, surprised and trying not to show it.
"Making Fairy Tail stronger," Laxus responds, "like you should have been."
"This isn't strength, Laxus! This is nonsense!" Makarov raises a giant hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, old man. Didn't Bixslow tell you about the lacrima? Attack me and I'll set off every single one, fry this whole city and everyone in it. Unless you hand over the guild."
Natsu glances up; he had noticed the lacrima, of course, but he hadn't known their purpose. If they're lightning lacrima…
Makarov wavers, lowers his hand. "Laxus, this is foolishness. What do you think you'll get out of this? An empty guild? Fairy Tail's strength has nothing to do with its name, it's about the bonds that people share."
Laxus barks out a laugh, "Wrong, and Phantom Lord knows it. Once Fairy Tail is mine, I'll crush that third rate guild and show the world what it really means to be strong."
Natsu catches Makarov's eye, summons a bit of lightning to his hands, and then pointedly looks up. Makarov's head dips, just the slightest bit.
Natsu slips away as Makarov responds, confident that he'll keep Laxus distracted while Natsu figures out what to do about those Lacrima.
I mean, break them, obviously, he was going to break them, but there were a few details he needed to narrow down. Would breaking one set off a chain reaction? Would breaking them have the same effect as Laxus setting them off, and if so, how would he mitigate that? He switches elements as he moves, mind turning over the possibilities, when an answer comes in a rather abrupt way.
Half a dozen swords fan out from just in front of the guild hall, and pierce into the sky. Each finds a lacrima, shatters it, and then dispels. So that's where Erza is, and Natsu has just enough time to think 'doesn't look like there's any backlash at all' before the backlash happens. Half a dozen bolts of lightning hail down on where the swords came from.
He starts heading that way immediately, thinking about the effects of lightning on an unprepared body. He also thinks about how it's going to be obvious as hell where he is when he takes out the lacrima, and then, when a dozen more swords raise up, he thinks that he needs to move faster or Erza is going to fry herself.
.•.•.•.
Lucy cuts through Magnolia like a woman on a mission, because that's exactly what she is. Her other new silver summon trods ahead of her, periodically sniffing the ground and making corners, leading her steadfastly towards Evergreen.
The wolf constellation, Canis Major.
Following in the wolf's silvery footsteps, Lucy does take a moment to reflect on what a surprise that had been— two days out from the Tower of Heaven, she had felt prepared enough to make contracts with the other two of her new summons, Sagittarius and Canis Major. Sagittarius had been about as she had expected, but she would be lying if the silver key hadn't put thoughts of a bigger Plue in her head.
So, just a straight up wolf had been a surprise. He didn't speak, like most celestial spirits did, but he diligently marked off a few days when Lucy provided him with a calendar, and had been quite good at charades.
It was a bit silly, but Lucy had already started calling him 'Big Plue' in her head before summoning him— seeing the actual result, a wolf made of starlight and silver, she had put the words together and called him Blue before she could think better of it, and he didn't seem to mind.
Back in the present, Blue sniffs a corner, snarls, jerks his head to the right and then dismisses himself. Not a second too soon, because Evergreen makes herself known with an attack, a hail of needles filling the space where Blue was just a second ago.
Lucy is already on it, hands flying to her belt to select her next key— the last of her new summons, Sagittarius.
Like Lucy thought, Evergreen hovers around the corner, fairy wings keeping her afloat. Sagittarius fixes that problem even as Lucy slaps a hand over her eyes, determined not to be turned to stone.
"How dare you!" Evergreen shrieks, and Lucy responds in a very mature way; by sticking her tongue out.
Sagittarius urges her out of the way a second later, as another hail of needles comes flying at them. There's the twang of another arrow being released, but this time the only response is a smug laugh— Lucy reached out to find that Sagittarius has been turned to stone, and dismisses him, mentally thanking him for his work and resolving to make it up to him later.
She's sorting through her keys with her eyes determinedly closed when suddenly the world is dyed red, bright light piercing her eyelids. She opens her eyes on pure instinct, surprised to find Loke stood between her and Evergreen. The guy avoids her like the plague, always has— what the hell is he doing here? Uh, which is to say, "Thanks for the assist!"
"No problem, princess," he says, radiant magic dying down from around his hands. Evergreen curses, hands pressed to her eyes, and Lucy puts together what happened; Loke had dropped the magical equivalent of a flashbang.
Lucy continues with step two (three? does finding Evergreen with Blue count as a step?) of her ultimate plan, which she cobbled together extremely hastily when it looked like Erza decided to attack Bixslow instead. "Open, gate of the maiden!"
Virgo appears in a flash of celestial light, and sets about burying Evergreen in an extremely efficient manner. Once she's fully retrained, submerged in stone to her shoulders… Lucy pauses.
"We have to knock her out to stop her magic, right?" She asks Loke, not expecting a response.
Loke side eyes Virgo, who side eyes him right back— does he have beef with a spirit? Is that why he avoids her? "I don't know. It can't hurt to try, can it? Though I hesitate to hit a pretty lady."
"I don't. Virgo, can you get a good sized rock? A blunt one, I don't want to hurt her that badly."
"Fine!" Evergreen shrieks, "I'll let go! They're free! Don't hit me with a rock, you lunatic!"
"Huh, that was easier than I thought."
"So no punishment?"
"… that's a really sharp rock— did you hear what I said?"
"Well!" Loke cuts in, "I'll be departing from you now." He glances again at Virgo, and then shoves his hands in his pockets and strides away.
"Weirdo," Lucy mutters at his back.
"Don't be too harsh on him, Princess," Virgo says. "After all, he's—"
The rock hits the ground with a thud as Virgo dismisses herself mid sentence. Used to the weird idiosyncrasies of celestial spirits, Lucy doesn't think much of it.
Right, she had Natsu to find! She summons Blue again, and follows him as he tracks out a new scent.
"Is anyone going to let me up?" Evergreen asks, far too late to be heard by anyone.
Almost anyone.
"Being abandoned by your guild mates… that's so tragic…"
.•.•.•.
Natsu rounds the corner just as another dozen lightning bolts strike, too slow to do anything about them. Erza is still standing when they dissipate; her heavens wheel armour is charred and she's breathing heavily. She reacts to Natsu much slower than she usually would, but once she does it's to snap into a stern expression and posture.
"Natsu. This is not your fault," she says, and she almost makes him believe it.
He can't find a response to that, so instead: "I can deal with the lightning lacrima."
She narrows her eyes at him, like she can detect through looking alone if he's lying or not. A second later she requips back out of her heavens wheel armour, and into a new set, something Natsu hasn't seen her in before. Her chest is compressed by bandages, her hair held out of her face by a high ponytail. There's a long katana in one of her hands, and she's got a loose pair of red pants with a flame motif trailing their bottom edge on.
"Then I'll deal with Phantom Lord," she says, pressing one of her hands to her chest, just above her heart.
Natsu nods, and then scales the closest building— to his surprise, Erza follows him. He had thought she might go after the guild, but maybe she's decided for a bodyguard position instead? "You might want to stand a little further away."
She squints at him like he's going to make a break for it, but does back up several steps.
Alright. There are, by eyeballing it, about four hundred lightning lacrima. Erza took out a good number, but that's still over three hundred for Natsu. Good thing Laxus overfilled his magic reserves.
Little balls of earthen magic, hardened and polished to bullets, rise into the air around him. While all his other elements are more practiced, they all have their drawbacks when it comes to this task; fire is too hard to control, ice would melt, water would lose too much momentum to drag, and there was every chance that these lacrima were enchanted to be resistant to lightning damage, given their nature.
Grotee hadn't been a great teacher, or even necessarily a good one, but his element was perfect for this.
This level of precise control, fanning out over the entire city of Magnolia, is going to take a lot out of him.
Three hundred and thirty eight balls of earth shoot up, into the sky. Three hundred and thirty eight lightning bolts retaliate.
Luckily, lightning only makes Natsu stronger.
The first thing he hears when the lightning clears is cheering. He's practically bursting at the seams with magical energy, which is a new and welcome feeling, but the cheering doesn't make any sense until he looks down and sees what must be the entire Fairy Tail guild gathered outside.
(He doesn't look at the guild building. He won't let himself look at the guild building.)
Are they… cheering… for him? But why?
Erza steps up next to him, and looks down at the crowd.
"Fairy Tail!" She shouts, and they quiet. "Phantom Lord has attacked us, thinking they can take one of our members. Laxus and his Thunder Legion have turned against us, believing us to be weak! These things are not true, and we will show them. Fairy Tail stands strong, and we stand together!"
She raises a fist into the sky, and the crowd reciprocates, cheering louder than ever.
Not loud enough to cover the approach of a monster of stone and magic, an entire guild hall made to walk.
I've been doing some research into constellations and man are they interesting. My current favourite would have to be Altair the Eagle.(note from current author: haha gee i wonder if perhaps i will put altair in this story. perhaps after changing his name, theoretically, just guessing here, to something like aquila. that would be crazy haha right. right.) ~ShadeShadow