Lucy and Natsu stood parallel to their opponents. The enemies kept unbothered grins on their faces, as if completely disregarding the power of the fairies. Sherry climbed on her giant rat.
"Angelica," The pigtailed mage called out and the rodent leaped into the sky on cue. "Take them out." She went straight for Natsu, who ducked just in time.
"I'm a member of Fairy Tail too!" Lucy grabbed a hold of Angelica's foot and allowed herself to be carried into the sky. Natsu looked at her like she was insane as she screamed and punched the creature. With a glimmer of a dumb idea in her eye, Lucy began to tickle the rat's foot. Her tail stopped spinning as Angelica cackled, causing the two female mages and flying rat to plunge to the Earth.
"They're stupid. They're actually stupid." Natsu deadpanned.
"I'll go check and see if Lucy's okay!" Happy sprouted his wings and flew in the direction of the crash. Natsu zeroed in on Yuka.
"I guess that's my cue to get started." Natsu stretched his arms out in front of him and cracked his fingers. "Brilliant flame." Natsu ignited a flame in both of his hands and brought them together. He aimed the fire towards his enemy, Yuka. Natsu's fire had no effect on his opponent, who cancelled out the spell with a flick of his wrist.
"Those are some ferocious flames you have. Could you be Fairy Tail's Salamander I've heard rumours of?"
"Yeah, but they know me better as Chaos." Natsu grinned darkly. "Chaos Dragon's Flare." Natsu's eyes glowed scarily bright as he locked in on Yuka. A magic seal appeared under the indigo-haired wizard, and he was launched into the air with incredible force. He fell back to the Earth where Natsu waited, catching his enemy with a fist to the abdomen. Yuka dropped to the ground and retched onto the dirt, rolling over onto his back when he could breathe again to see Natsu standing over him intimidatingly.
"Never would I have guessed Salamander and Chaos were one. The way the media describes them so differently- a bright man with a fire in his heart as opposed to a remorseless dark mage with no place in a light guild."
"Shut up." Natsu growled.
"I was in a guild once, you know, a well-known one. We all were. You won't beat us easily. Does the name Lamia Scale ring a bell? Yes, that's where 'hard iron' Jura was-" Yuka's spiel was interrupted by an explosion of fire. "Hey, jerk. Listen to people when they're talking!"
"I'm not interested in your sermon. I've never heard of 'Lamia Scale' but it's nice to know they don't train their members to keep quiet during a fight." Chaos conjured a blue and red ball of energy in each hand and launched them at Yuka, who dodged easily. Before he could make another snarky remark about how easy it'll be to win, the attack spun back around and hit him hard in the back.
"Homing? That was dirty, Chaos!"
"I'm not interested in wasting energy on those below me. Fairy Tail has a no-kill policy on jobs, so I'm forced to go easy on people like you. But see, I'm technically not here on work. If you got Lucy or Gray, things might be different. But there's nothing stopping me from ripping your head off right here, right now but my own sense of morality."
"You sure have a lot of bark, but your bite is certainly soft. I'll hurry and finish you off before my Cold Emperor grows restless. Wave!" Natsu ignited his fist in preparation to burn away whatever attack was thrown at him but gritted his teeth when he realized what magic was being used. He was knocked backwards by Yuka and tumbled across the clearing. "Ah, you've noticed. The vibrations I create can neutralize any type of magic."
Natsu kept quiet, letting his enemy talk while he waited for an opening.
"Back in Lamia Scale, I specialized against combat with other wizards. Here you can see why." Yuka created a magic seal in both hands. "All wizards are powerless before me!" Yuka launched two projectiles towards Natsu, who jumped up to avoid them.
"I don't need to use magic to defeat nuisances like you." Natsu cracked his neck before dragging his feet towards Yuka, who put up a wave shield. "If your specialty is magic, let's see how you do against hand-to-hand combat." Natsu stuck his hand through Yuka's shield and watched his arm vibrate inside.
"It's reckless of you to stick your arm into the vortex of magical power. It'll get blown-" Yuka was cut off by shock as he watched the dragon slayer slowly begin to move his entire body into the vortex. Sweat began to drip down the side of his forehead. "W-what are you going to do now? You can't use magic inside the wave." He smirked, trying to preserve his last bit of confidence. Natsu glanced at his right arm which remained outside of the vortex.
"Fire Dragon's Elbow." Flames erupted from Natsu's right elbow. He used the force to propel his right arm forward through the vortex. His fist collided with Yuka's jaw, who was sent flying several meters back. "Too easy." Natsu said, flexing his left arm and walking over to inspect his enemy's condition.
After confirming Yuka's unconsciousness, Natsu walked over to Bobo's knocked over grave. He picked up the headstone and placed it back on its mount before walking away.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the destroyed village, Lucy stood off against Sherry, who was overwhelmed with emotion from the injury of her beloved pet rat.
Lucy's own celestial spirits had turned against her due to Sherry's doll attack magic and she was at a clear disadvantage. She summoned Plue, a weak celestial spirit who could do nothing to harm her and attacked Sherry with her whip. All was going well until Sherry used her magic to create a large monster out of rocks. Lucy sprinted for her life as Sherry followed from atop the rock monster.
The crazy woman chased Lucy through a forest and down a cliff, all the way to the sea.
"Dead end!" Lucy grimaced, looking between her keys and the ocean in front of her. If I call Aquarius... "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!" As expected, Sherry immediately took to controlling the new spirit. She ordered Aquarius to wash Lucy away but ended up being washed away herself. Both mages fought dizzily on the beach, but Lucy ended up overpowering her opponent. Unexpectedly, as Sherry fell, she called for Angelica to avenge her. The large rat pounced on Lucy. She braced herself, prepared to take the hit- it never came. Lucy opened her eyes slowly. The scarlet hair and iron attire in front of her brought a smile of relief to her face.
"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed with excitement, only to be ignored. As Erza turned around, Lucy's happiness dropped from one hundred to zero. Erza was angry, and Lucy knew exactly why.
"Lucy, you know why I'm here, don't you?" Erza's voice was low and chastising. Lucy grinned sheepishly. Happy arrived moments later, doing no good to help her case.
"Lushy~ Are you safe?" Happy froze upon seeing Titania and flew for his life when she turned around. Erza grabbed the cat with the swiftness of a lion snatching a fawn and was back on Lucy in seconds.
"Where is Gray?" She demanded.
"Please listen! We're sorry for going without permission and manipulating Chaos but this island is in danger-"
"Hold on, manipulating Chaos?"
"Later! There are guys who are trying to resurrect a demon trapped in ice, and the people of the village are suffering thanks to that spell. It's a big problem! We want to save this island somehow."
"I do not care." Erza said. Before Lucy could protest, Erza drew her sword and held the point to Lucy's neck. "You're mistaken, Lucy. You have betrayed the master. Do not think you will get out of this unscathed." For the first time since joining the guild, Lucy was genuinely terrified of the scarlet-haired knight. She had been nothing but kind to Lucy when they did jobs together, but suddenly she was looking at Lucy like Fiore's most wanted criminal.
"Drop the weapon, Titania." Lucy watched Erza visibly tense. The armoured mage turned around and every bit of her attention was on the Chaos Dragon who stood meters away, arms crossed impatiently. "I won't ask again."
"Chaos." The tension between the two was sickening. They stared each other down, neither daring to avert eye contact. Lucy watched the interaction carefully. She felt the magic power in the area surge as conflicting energy rose between Chaos and Titania. This is the power of two S-Class mages. The magic power alone had paralysed her. Erza moved first, obeying Natsu's order and lowering her sword from Lucy's neck. The magic power in the air began to steady. "Would you care to explain why you were unable to complete the simple task of returning two low-rank members back to the guild?"
"I have my reasons. They're staying too."
"I'm bringing Lucy and Gray back. As an S-Class mage, if you want to stay and complete the job, you may. The other two- and the cat- must be punished."
"We made a commitment to the people of this island, Titania. They're suffering, and Fullbuster knows the person behind their suffering personally." Chaos hardened his stare on Erza. "This job isn't even about the reward anymore. We're going to free these people of their curse whether you like it or not. You can go back to Magnolia and let Makarov know Chaos said, 'suck it'. C'mon, blondie. We're going back to the village." Natsu jerked his head for her to follow him. Lucy, suddenly able to breath again, nervously shuffled past Erza and ran after Natsu, Happy trailing behind. Erza stared angrily into the ocean as the three left the beach.
The following morning, Gray Fullbuster woke up to a quiet camp. He sat up and scanned his surroundings. He was in a tent, baskets of medical supplies and herbs sat around his cot, Lucy and Happy slept on top of a wooden crate in the corner.
"Lucy? Are you up?" Gray quietly stepped over and whispered. The blonde nodded and rubbed at her eyes.
"Gray? You're awake!" Lucy sat up and smiled at the ice mage. Her grin faded quickly. "I have bad news. Erza showed up earlier."
"She found us already? How much trouble are we in?"
"A lot." Lucy sighed. "Also, I have to know, something kinda weird happened when she saw Natsu last night. They looked like they hated each other."
"They do. Well, not sure about Chaos. But Erza does for sure. They've got history."
"History?"
"Erza wasn't, isn't, used to losing," Gray hesitated. Back in the day she had this mindset that she was so strong only the most 'formidable opponents' could beat her. She still does, sort of. When Chaos showed up, he beat her so easily. I still remember that fight, it was scary. He was being disrespectful or something so Erza challenged him to a duel to teach him a lesson, and he beat her bad. She was out for days. It really was a one-sided fight. Ever since then, Erza has been obsessed with beating him. She takes these crazy missions to grow stronger so that one day she can win against Chaos. It's sad in a way."
As if on cue, Erza and Chaos both entered the tent.
"Someone decided to stay." Chaos said, taking a cross-legged on the floor beside Lucy's crate. Erza stood next to the entrance, hand resting on the hilt of her sword. The two S-Class mages continued to hold each other's glare.
"See what I mean?" Gray whispered to Lucy.
The blonde glanced back and forth between the pair who still hadn't broken eye contact. She was surprised Erza never mentioned her grudge against Natsu despite knowing how close Lucy was to him. Erza was the first to break the silence.
"While you've been out and about hunting mythical creatures and terrorizing innocent families, I've been going on heroic missions and fighting terrible villains. I believe I can take you down, Chaos." Erza broke the silence.
He didn't say a word.
"This is awkward." Came a small voice from Lucy's lap. She nodded in agreement.
"So, what's the plan?" Gray asked.
"The plan is to return you to the guild where you shall await a punishment." Erza stated.
"I thought I made it clear none of us are going anywhere," Chaos responded. "Too much has happened for us to jump ship now."
"As an S-Class mage, you have every right to stay, Chaos. Lucy, Gray, and Happy, however, have violated the rules that hold our guild together."
"What about the rule that says friendship above all, huh?" Chaos quickly retaliated, standing up to face the requip mage. "You broke that rule when you lifted a blade to Lucy's throat, didn't you?" Erza opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. "That's what I thought. Now here's what's gonna happen. You're either gonna stay and help us protect the legacy of Fullbusters' master, or you can get off this island now and answer to me when we rescue these people and return to the guild." Natsu marched out of the tent. Lucy and Happy hurried after him, but Gray stopped to talk to Erza.
"Do whatever you want. This is the path I've chosen. It's something I have to do. Strike me down if you want, but I'm going to see this through to the end. This is my family we're messing with, Erza. This is my past. At this point, the job is over. Try and stop me, but I won't go down without a fight." Gray walked away, leaving Titania in a daze.
"You're the only one left, Toby." The Cold Emperor inspected his nervous dog-like subject. "Those Fairy Tail bastards are quite impressive."
"This state of affairs puts Deliora's revival in jeopardy." A short man with long spiky green hair entered Lyon's throne room in the ruins. "Deliora shall return tonight, completely infused with the moon's magic. However, should the Moon Drip ceremony be interrupted, Deliora will remain encased in unmeltable ice. Not only that, but we're also dealing with Fairy Tail's Chaos Dragon and Titania as well now."
"I see you're as quickly informed as ever, Zalty. That said, they cannot beat me. I am the blade of ice that surpasses even Ur."
"That is very reassuring, emperor. As you know, I dabble a bit in Lost Magic. Maybe I will have a chance to join the battle too."
Before Lyon could respond to his overzealous advisor, the ground began to shake tremendously, and the ruins crumbled.
"An earthquake?"
Flames burst through the floor and swirled up in a mess of smoke and sparks. The ruined temple tilted to the side as the fire raged throughout the structure. The three dark mages looked down into the giant hole created by the explosion. At the bottom of the hole stood Fairy Tail's own Chaos Dragon, looking up at the trio dispassionately.
"What is the meaning of this?" Lyon shouted.
"I turned the building," Natsu answered nonchalantly. "Now your dumbass moonlight can't hit Deliora."
"How dare you? Curse you Fairy Tail!"
"No, how dare you, Lyon? Do you know what you're doing, messing with a demon of Zeref? You're going to get yourself slaughtered along with everyone and everything within two hundred kilometres."
"What's happening?" Toby scratched his head.
"The fairy is smart. By destroying half of the support pillars below, he was able to tilt the temple, now Deliora is blocked from the moonlight."
Lyon huffed in annoyance. "Come up and fight, Chaos!" He demanded.
"Fight what? That ice decoy you've got? What, do you take me for an idiot?" Natsu whipped around and attacked behind him. "Chaos Dragon's Flare." The geyser of energy appeared under Lyon, who had tried to trick Natsu with a cheap invisibility spell. He was shot up into the air and hit the ground hard. The fall didn't faze the Cold Emperor too much as he quickly recovered and got into ice-make stance.
"Ice-Make: Eagle!" A flock of sharp icy birds flew towards the dragon slayer who melted the projectiles with a fiery breath attack. He followed up his attack with Fire Dragon's Grip Strike. Lyon narrowly avoided by ducking, the wall behind the spot he stood moments earlier reduced to ash. "What ridiculous magic!"
"Says the guy who calls himself the 'Cold Emperor' and makes birds out of snow." Natsu scoffed. Before he could attack again, he felt the ground shift beneath him. He flipped to the left, landing steadily in a crouch. He turned around to see the ground he previously stood on implode to a nearly bottomless pit. His head snapped towards the perpetrator, the green haired man at the top of the pit.
"What the hell was that?" He muttered.
"Zalty, what are you doing?" Lyon snapped.
"You nearly got unlucky there, Cold Emperor. I simply tried to use my power to assist in your undeniable win."
"So, it was your magic that caused my opponent to nearly perish?"
"You are truly impressive, Cold Emperor. Please understand that you are essential to the revival of Deliora. We cannot afford to lose you this far into our success." Suddenly, the temperature dropped drastically, and the room iced over. Natsu took note of the tension between Lyon and his associate, taking a few slow steps back to steer clear of any incoming conflict.
"Are you suggesting one measly fire mage could overpower me in battle?" Spikes of ice emerged from the frozen ceiling and ground as Lyon demonstrated his anger. Lyon pointed towards Chaos, who was watching the interaction unfold with interest. "I will take care of him myself. I am Cold Emperor Lyon, the only wizard capable of defeating Deliora. Letting this fairy give me trouble would tarnish my name."
"Defeat Deliora? That's your goal?" Natsu began to laugh hysterically.
"What's so funny?" Lyon rounded on the dragon slayer in seconds.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just that's so incredibly freakin' stupid I can't help but laugh! How are you gonna defeat a demon of Zeref when you can barely get passed me? I thought you just wanted to wreak havoc or something but god this is so much better."
"It's all to surpass Ur..."
"You're really messed up." Natsu grinned. Lyon begin firing ice projectiles in blind rage towards Chaos, who dodged every shard with ease. "Why not just fight Ur instead of freeing a demon she sealed?"
"Haven't you heard? Ur is long dead." Lyon hissed. Natsu frowned. He thought back to what Gray had said not long ago. 'Master Ur, the one who taught me magic, risked her life to seal it away!' Natsu looked at the rage on the face of Lyon. She died doing that?
Lyon took advantage of the distraction and hit Natsu head on with an icy spear. He smirked in satisfaction. When the smoke cleared, Lyon was shocked to see Chaos had blocked the attack with his arm alone.
"I don't know what happened in the past. But what you're trying to do now is causing trouble for a whole lot of people. Get your shit together!" Natsu ignited his fist in blue and red energy, which collided with Lyon's face.
"It was Gray's fault." Lyon said as gravity pulled him into the icy floor.
"My father was an associate of Zeref, you know." Natsu watched Lyon's eyes widen. "Zeref created these demons to be powerful enough to kill him. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. What I do know is that you will never be strong enough to defeat a demon of Zeref. You will never have the willpower, have the inner strength to survive a fight against a demon of Zeref. If surpassing your master is what you want to do so bad, maybe spend another ten years training."
Natsu scanned the area. Both Zalty and Toby were long gone. With a shrug, he left the ruins.
Thanks for reading. Remember, I like hearing from you guys so leave a review if you'd like. Criticism helps me improve and is not only accepted but encouraged. See you next chapter xd