updated 9/12/24, replacing chapter 27
Otaku789(1), if you've managed to giggle for two months, colour me highly impressed. Haha
Phoenix(1), the two month cliff! Argh! Hmm, I'd say we're getting pretty close to the climax? (Spoilers, the climax is definitely when Natsu meets Jude again and it's 110 percent gonna be another cliffie) oh no, is you dead? Whoopsies. (Honestly I'm so frazzled right now I thought 'hey The Napoleon didn't pain the Mona Britain overnight' instead of 'Hey the Mona Lisa wasn't created overnight, yeah?' I need help)
Guest(1), Hot Cross Buns, I'm sure I'll write tons, hot cross buns, I'm sure no one I'll shun, one-a-penny, two-a-penny, of things left to do this stories got plenty, Hot Cross Buns! Finally, a December(kind of) update! Oh yes this is definitely once a week yep mhm 100%. Ugh I don't even want to think about school right now it's been crushing me. I haven't had the chance to see Dragon Cry yet but I'm looking forward to it! (This is definitely soon)
Guest(2), I'm only two months late, that's all!
Phoenix(2), ah, see there, it's made a slight misstep and fallen into a ditch. Oh dear, the ditch seems to have lit itself on fire. The Sunday Pattern, such a rare creature, yet so prone to Calamity. Ahem. Oh no, I'm so sorry I'm late with the insta-happy! (Oh no my secret magic skill has been uncovered calling in swat team '100-PANIC-PANIC)
Otaku789(2), indeed, the weekend! What a great time for updates! Oh, there it goes. And again. And again. And again. An-
Guest(3), indeed it has! Uh… twice over… ahem. This definitely counts as soon shhhhhhh. You need wait no longer!
Otaku789(3), November is indeed over! In fact, so is the year! Whoops. Anyway. On with the Lord of the Phantoms!
Phoenix(3), oh no, people are looking at their calendars, what to do, what to do uhhhhhhhhh. Well, the hiatus is over! I agree, I would just hate to leave this unfinished.
Otaku789(4), well, I feel like in the middle of an arc would be a bad place for a Christmas special, seeing as it would probably shatter the flow of the story. (Plus there's the fact Wendy, Sting, and Rogue were written into it and they would probably have some reaction to suddenly being in the Fairy Tail guild hall hahaha) mine wasn't out until Friday either, what a coincidence! Belated Holiday cheer for all!
Phoenix(4), Merry (belated) Christmas! :)
Phoenix(5), and a happy new year!
The nice thing about Cana is that she's clever, so she's probably put most of the story together on her own and therefor she isn't asking Lucy any questions. Which is good, because Lucy doesn't have many answers. And also she's pissed.
She doesn't know what the hell this guy did to Natsu, but she does know she's going to kick his ass. Both her and Cana are on the edge of S-class, after all, having done the trial before, even if they both failed. Experience is still experience, Lucy reminds herself, sorting through her keys. Taurus's gate is still open; Lucy is sure that won't matter.
The big guy clearly isn't expecting the barrier to go down— hell, he wasn't even facing them, he was facing the battle of the guilds. Big mistake on his part.
The second that barrier goes down, Cana throws out an array of cards, activating in a chain to bring a thunderstorm down on the guy. Lucy throws herself forwards, whip in hand, as she tries not to think of all the ways this could go wrong.
.•.•.•.
Erza doesn't pass out until a full thirty seconds after the cannon has stopped firing, and when she does, she stays on her feet. Her adamantine shield is shattered, the armour in a similar state, but Fairy Tail is unwounded. A raucous cheer raises, a Fairy Tail battle cry.
Elfman carves through the battle to retrieve her, scooping her up and falling back behind a line of defensive wooden panelling from Laki. As a unit, Fairy Tail covers his retreat to the basement, where he places Erza on one of the tables, for a lack of a bed, and takes off his jacket to wad it under her head as a pillow. That… that was so manly. Elfman has never been more impressed.
Reinvigorated, he charges out into battle, and finds that yet again the situation has changed. The Phantom Lord guild hall is moving, massive stone monster swiping at the crowd. People scatter in every direction, but he's got eyes out for one mage in particular— a sweep of white and he sees her. Mirajane, who has been wielding a frying pan in lieu of her refusal to use her magic, falls back with the crowd, but still, Elfmans heart seizes with worry.
Spells raise up to strike back at the guild hall in retaliation— just from observing, Elfman can see Macao's fire, Reedus's paints, and what's either Bisca or Alzac, or maybe both of them, firing potshots into the stonework.
He wouldn't be a member of Fairy Tail, or even a man, if he passed up this chance to get involved. His takeover magic surges, and he moves, catching one of the stone hands when it comes back down and holding it up, raw wild animal strength fuelling him. Fairy Tail seizes the chance, and the now-stationary target is barraged. Elfman digs his fingers in, determined not to let up, and to his credit, he doesn't. Not even a little.
Not even when the guild switches tactics from pressing down to lifting up.
"Oops! Looks like I caught one!" Stone fingers wrap around Elfman, grinding and crushing. His takeover magic is only an arm, not enough to protect him from this, and out of pure self preservation, out of an inborn magical instinct, he reaches for the only full body takeover he has.
The monster hurts very badly. It rages and thrashes against its cage, but it cannot loosen it. It howls, a guttural sound of bestial agony, not unlike the last time the monster was alive to scream.
Not unlike the last time the monster was alive to scream, someone else's screaming joins it.
The monster recognizes that screaming. It thinks, briefly, of a dead little girl that loved it very much.
Someone else is thinking about that little girl too.
Elfman blinks the rage out of his eyes just in time to see the pulse of dark power from Mirajane as she, for the first time in years, activates her own takeover magic.
Mirajane moves too quickly for the human eye to follow, severing the arm holding Elfman from the guild's body. The tension eases, and Elfman springs free, but Mira doesn't stop. She cleaves the other arm off, this one from the shoulder, and that's as much as she gets done before the master of Phantom Lord starts attacking her directly.
It's a fight that is as brutal as it is stomach turning, two titans of dark magic throwing everything they have at each other. The end, when it comes, comes like this:
Mirajane is an immensely powerful wizard, still every ounce as deserving of the title of S-class that she was when she earned it, but she hasn't used her magic, or fought at all, in years. Clawed hands pull back, a swarm of dark energy swimming between them in preparation for a Soul Extinctor, and the jaws of Jose's trap spring shut: a dozen shades weave out of the ether and around Mirajane, entangling her in dark magic.
They wrap around her wings and she begins to fall, though she's caught by the open hands of Fairy Tail. She struggles against their binding, swearing and snarling, when a voice cuts through the chaos.
"You have done well, my children. Please, allow an old man to take it from here."
"Gramps!" The cheer goes up in a wave, but Mira doesn't stop struggling until Elfman gets to her, takes her clawed hand in his. She blinks at him, and her takeover drops, taking the bulk of the oppressive, dark magic with it.
And with that falling away, the rising tide of a different magic becomes immediately obvious.
"Jose!" Makarov calls, walking forwards "you have attacked my guild hall, threatened and injured my children, and attempted to destroy Fairy Tail. I will give you one chance:"
Makarov comes to a stop at the edge of the cliff, hands balled into fists so tightly that they're shaking, rage written into every line of his body.
"Kneel and beg for mercy."
Silence. Then, a thin laugh, not weak but mocking, and the guild master of Phantom Lord joins Makarov on the cliffs edge.
"Me? Beg for mercy?" He laughs again, "when I am, undoubtedly, the superior wizard?" His hands darken with magical energy. "I can take you on. I could take all of you on!"
Makarov sighs. "I gave you a chance, Jose. Goodbye." He puts his hands together in front of him, and then pulls them apart, generating a golden orb of power so radiant it's pure white in the centre. The magic power alone is intense enough that most of Fairy Tail steps backwards, shielding their eyes from the intense light. "I envoke thee: Fairy Law."
Golden light floods Magnolia, seeking out and destroying every member of Phantom Lord left. The two inside the guild hall, who were already run ragged just from keeping it moving. Aria, wrapped in battle with Lucy and Cana. Jose.
Only one member of Phantom Lord escapes destruction, by simple fact that he's gotten far enough away.
In one swift move, Phantom Lord is defeated— beyond that, crushed.
.•.•.•.
Regrouping after battle is a process and a half. Lucy and Cana reappear first, bearing the bad news that Natsu is gone— despite everything, they failed to protect him. Erza breaks a table clean in half when she hears, but assures the guild, in a very Erza way, that she isn't mad at any of them.
Makarov, burned and drained from casting such a powerful spell, has to lie down for a while, but he's aware enough to get Jet to run for Porlyusica first.
Levy joins them not long after, hobbling in on a pair of crutches made of script, with a leg bound up in the word 'cast'. She gets an earful from Porlyusica, when the healer arrives, and also gets solidly fussed over by Jet and Droy, but she doesn't begrudge the injury at all.
"I got him back," she says, and when she grins it's vicious around the edges.
The Thunder Legion are found and collected— Bixslow being practically at the guild's doorstep already. Laxus is unconscious in the middle of a crater that used to be the Cardia Cathedrals roof. Freed, with a sizeable knot on the back of his head, is dragged in by Juvia and Gray. The main enigma is Evergreen, who Lucy swears up and down that she just left stuck in the ground, but who is found pale and unconscious from what Porlyusica diagnoses as severe magic withdrawal.
Both Free and Bixslow appear stricken by this, and humbled. Laxus, when he wakes rolls his eyes right up until Makarov officially expels him.
Fairy Tail gathers its feet under it again.
Makarov, when he wakes up, requests the presence of Lucy, Happy, Erza, and Gray right away.
It wasn't so much forethought as it was a lack of planning that led to Makarov having a second office in the basement of Fairy Tail. Primarily, the room was used for storage, so it's quite cluttered with a litany of dusty objects. Someone had managed to find a cot amongst the mess, and a blanket, and it's on the edge of that cot that Makarov sits when he addresses them.
"I want you to understand that I am not encouraging you to act rashly when I share this," he says. It's uncharacteristically serious of him, and they all stand a little bit straighter for it. Individually, their thoughts all go to the same place. Makarov continues, "I believe I know exactly where Natsu has been taken to."
"What?"
" Where ,"
"It will not be as easy as marching in to get him back." Makarov sighs, and instead of the happy-go-lucky grandfather of the guild, or the wise old guild master, for a moment he just looks old. Tired. "I did some research while you were on that job to that island, and what I found… even if Natsu wanted to go back, I wouldn't have let him. What I am about to share, I share in confidence. Do you understand that?"
Silence as they all let that sink in, thinking their answers over instead of the immediate 'of course' that springs to mind. Natsu was a pretty private guy, and he had never mentioned much of anything about where he came from. It does feel, in a way, like a violation.
Ultimately, it's Erza who speaks up.
"Natsu didn't judge me for my past. I will not judge him for his." Both Lucy and Gray nod, and Happy lets out a subdued "aye."
"By all odds, Natsu is likely on his way to the Heartphilia estate."
"The Heartphilias?" Lucy asks, "isn't that, that old rich family? They used to have a few golden keys, but they sold them all a while ago. I have a couple, actually…"
"Yes, that same family. After the passing of his wife and child, Jude Heartphilia adopted an heir."
"Wait, you're telling me that guy was rich the whole time?" Gray asks, trying to reconcile Natsu with where this is surely going.
"From the articles I found, that child was clearly Natsu," Makarov says, ignoring Gray. "If Natsu went to such lengths to get away, then it is my belief that he was unhappy with this arrangement."
"Then we go get him back," Erza says, brow furrowed.
"I wish it were that easy," Makarov says, "but you have seen what Jude has done to keep Natsu in his clutches. Almost every guild Natsu joined before Fairy Tail was either bought out or shut down by the Heartphilia estate. Those that weren't were crushed and disbanded. Moreover, it seems as though Jude has been paying the magic council to turn a blind eye, or even, to aid him in his search for Natsu."
"We can't just leave him!"
"I'm not suggesting that we are. Fairy Tail will rebuild, and we will look into every dark nook and crevice that we can find about the Heartphilia estate. We are going to destroy him so thoroughly he will have no ins with anyone ever again."
"But that could take weeks!" Lucy exclaims, recoiling at the thought of leaving Natsu alone for that long. Would he think they were abandoning him? Surely not, right?
Makarov nods, grave. "I'm aware of that. However, with Jude's connections to the magic council, unless we manage to find an unbiased outside observer, a witness to his activities, then this is the route we'll have to take. I'm not any happier about this than you are."
"If it could take that long, we should start now," Erza says. "Lucy, could you ask Levy for help?"
It isn't exactly the usual Fairy Tail modus operandi, but for a friend, they'll do just about anything.
.•.•.•.
Gajeel grits his teeth as he hauls several pounds of unconscious guy off of a train, stomach churning. Figures, he gets stuck with the boring bit of actually delivering the guy. Natsu doesn't even have the decency to be conscious for it either, so Gajeel can't ask him what the hell he thinks he's pulling off, using two types of dragon slayer magic. Hell, having dragon slayer magic at all. What are the odds that this guy has seen Metallicana somewhere?
He's running out of time to ask. The Heartwhatever place is just up ahead— Gajeel makes it maybe two steps onto the property before he's swarmed by anxious servants, who all recognize Natsu and have something to say about it.
"Is he alright?"
"It's young master Natsu!"
"He's home?"
"Oh no, he looks quite unwell,"
Gajeel rears back from the crowd, and snaps a quick "back off" that gets most of them to move away. A few of the most annoying linger, though, and Gajeel is fully prepared to push past when one speaks up. She's a portly maid, who had come running as soon as the commotion had started, and when she speaks up it's with iron in her spine and steel in her eyes.
"You shouldn't have brought him back," she says. "Phantom Lord has disbanded. You shouldn't have brought him back."
Gajeel pauses to consider her, and knows, on some level, that she's probably right. Juvia wouldn't join a wimpy guild, after all. Disbanded is probably a polite way of putting 'split up and arrested'.
"I don't know what the hell you expect me to do about that," he snarks back, shouldering past her.
Natsu wakes up on the threshold of the manor, and Gajeel preemptively turns his skin to iron, expecting a struggle… but the guy just looks around and then… wilts. It's weird.
"Where the hell did all your fight go?" Gajeel asks, mostly out of surprise.
"Here," is Natsu's answer, gesturing at the manor. Gajeel sets the guy down, narrowing his eyes in case he thinks of making a break for it, but he just frowns and rubs at his bracelet.
The manor doors pull open, revealing another gaggle of servants. How many maids or whatever does one guy need?
Nobody here looks happy to see either of them. Gajeel wasn't exactly expecting fireworks or anything, but even just a smile seems to be too much to ask for. This whole thing is poking at his detective senses.
With Phantom Lord disbanded, he doesn't have much to go back to. Spur of the moment, Gajeel puts together a plan.