Arc is about to heat up. Quite literally.

Also I finally caught back up with the manga. I have mixed feelings but at least I'm caught up.

Enjoy!

Explosions resounded all across the battlefield as Natsu, Nashi and Neptu flew around dealing fiery blows to one another. Despite the chaos around them, Neptu was very clearly on the defensive. Both Natsu and Nashi kept forcing him backwards, making all of them fly all over the place.

"Enough of this!" Neptu shouted, crating a wall of fire between them. Natsu grinded to a halt and made around it, but Nashi forced her way right through it and kept the assault going. "You two sure are keeping this fight entertaining! And to think the old man was on his hands and knees before his girl showed up!"

"Shut up already!" Natsu growled, punching him in the gut. "You're on the wrong side of this fight at the moment, hate to break it to you!"

"Oh is this that right?" He asked. "Is that why you were going to lose a moment ago?"

"You're a loud one, aren't you?!" Nashi demanded, driving her fist into his stomach. "Feels just that much better to shut you up, then!" Neptu laughed as he pushed her back and soon Nashi became enveloped in a typhoon of purple flames. Natsu watched, frozen as his daughters form was barely visible within the fire. Soon she reappeared, looked burnt a little but otherwise okay. Natsu growled and turned to Neptu, unleashing a roar that caught Neptu off guard and forced him back.

"You okay, Nashi?" He called, looking back at her. He watched her stumble around as she stood, gripping her wounds.

"Ow, shit..." She hissed. "Why does this fire burn so much? What's up with it, Dad?" Natsu gulped.

"It's a different type of slayer fire." He explained vaguely. "It'll hurt."

"Oh, that it?" Natsu nodded weakly. That was bull and he knew it. It was because of the part of her that was weak to the flames. But this was not the time to be talking about that, they had other things to deal with. "Well, I guess that makes sense...Ugh..." Natsu looked back at her, and saw her gripping her head.

"You dizzy?" He asked her. She didn't reply, she just gripped her head tighter.

"Ugh...Shut up..." He heard her hiss. "I...I'm fine..."

"Nashi?" He asked, nervous.

"I'm fine!" She shouted, lifting her head back up. "It's nothing, just dizzy."

"You sure?"

"...Yes!" She replied. "Let's just get him already! I have an idea."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Listen up."

Neptu made his way back to the father and daughter, who seemed to be having a conversation.

"Ah, strategy meeting?" He asked. Neither looked up, but he'd give them their time. It didn't really matter what they did anyway. The flames from Natsu's roar hadn't done much to him. In fact, they'd been rather tasty.

"Got it?" The daughter, Nashi if he recalled correctly.

"Yep." her father agreed, a small smile on his face. "Ready when you are." Nashi nodded, and Neptu readied himself as they both flew at him once more. Both dealt him blow after blow, which didn't hurt as much Neptu figured they thought it did.

"Dad, now!" Neptu stumbled back and watched as Natsu grabbed his daughter and made a face as he threw her into the air. He watched her boost away with flames, confused.

"What do you two have up your sleeves now?" He asked. "Pay attention, jackass!" Natsu shouted. Neptu looked back just in time to block a strike. "She's farther away, not your priority!"

"Don't tell me how to fight!" Neptu retorted. The two went at it, but just like before Nashi showed up Natsu was having a hard time with Neptu. Pushing the older man back, Neptu prepared a breath attack.

"On second thought, perhaps you should've payed attention to Nashi." Natsu said with a laugh. Neptu made a face, and slowly looked up.

Descending towards him was a swirling mass of red and black.

Breath attack dissipating, Neptu gaped at the meteor flying down towards him.

Is that...Black fire?

At this, Neptu heard Natsu inhale. Looking back, flames began to circle his mouth, and electricity crackled around him.

Ah shit...

"Lightning Fire Dragon Roar!"

"Dragon God's Divine Flame!"

BOOM!

Kumi lost her balance as an explosion erupted in the distance. Turning, she watched as red and black fire exploded outwards, an explosion large enough to level several city blocks. Electricity seemed to crackle around it as well, so it was a pretty devastating looking sight.

"What the hell is going on over there?" She asked aloud. "I feel bad for whoever is in the middle of that, nyah."

"I'd recognize that fire anywhere after being in the middle of it." Keita said from her right. "That's Nashi fire. But I thought she stayed at the guild hall?"

"I did too." Kumi agreed. "Perhaps she got sent out?"

"Maybe." Keita said. "Has it really gotten that bad?"

"I hope not."

Natsu watched as the fire raged in the area their blasts had collided.

"Damn," Nashi said from his left as she landed gracefully following her attack. "That explosion was bigger than I intended."

"It's about what I expected." Natsu replied. "Be on guard though, there's no way that was enough."

"How do you figure?" Nashi asked. "That was a huge explosion."

"Yeah, but..." Natsu didn't get to finish his sentence before Neptu apparently made his point for him.

Natsu watched the regular flames being consumed by the man protected by his own flames, and frowned.

"Yeah, that's about what I expected," he said.

"But how can he eat ours?" Nashi asked, sounding confused. "Are we really low on the food chain or what?" Natsu opted out of answering that question as Neptu finished eating their flames.

"Huh," he said, smacking his lips. "It's funny how I can tell the distinction between father and daughter by taste of the flames." He said. "Natsu's are hotter, but Nashi's have a zing to them."

"Are you done?" Natsu asked.

"Depends." Neptu replied. "Are you?" Natsu rolled his eyes.

"We've been over this a hundred times." He said. "We're not going to give him up."

"And I won't stop until he's dead." Neptu said.

"Why're you so mad at Gin?" Nashi asked, joining the argument. "What did he ever do to you?" Neptu turned his attention to her.

"Why?" He asked. "Allow me to explain, girl. Not only has he killed many of my Hunters, but he is both the representation and the very thing I despise in this world. Demons. And I won't rest until the world is rid of them."

"Killing your men in an act of self defense is a foolish way to condemn someone." Nashi replied. "And whatever happened to you isn't Gin's fault." Neptu snorted in derision.

"Why was I expecting a teenage girl to understand?" He asked neither of them in particular. "There's no way you could understand."

"Let me try." Nashi said. "I didn't know my dad until last year. He'd been gone that whole time." Natsu flinched.

"Really?" he asked weakly. Neptu looked slightly intrigued.

"And?" He asked.

"Did that make me hate everyone's dads?" She asked. "Do I think all Dads are the same and do I want nothing to do with any of them? No! Because that's a stupid way to look at it. every situation is different. Every person is different." Neptu watched Nashi with a careful gaze, but he sighed and closed his eyes.

"A silly comparison," he told her. "You're comparing your human father with the logic of monsters." Natsu spared a thought to pity Neptu for knowing so little. "Surely your lovely father had his reasons, hm? Surely it happened for a reason."

Neptu was painfully on the mark, there.

"So what if there was?" Nashi asked.

"What happened to me had no rhyme or reason." Neptu replied. "It was a random, senseless act of destruction and violence. Oh, and one more thing." Nashi huffed.

"What?" She asked. Neptu lowered his gaze slightly.

"You're father is right there." He said, raising a hand to point at Natsu. "He stands right here by your side, perfectly willing to throw his own life away for his daughter that he loves." Natsu spared a glance at Nashi to see her looking at him.

"So?" She asked.

"My family was not so lucky. They're currently six feet under, graves marked crudely by a boy with no better way to do so. My only living relative, my sister, also left me. I have no one left, all because of that monster. The one Gin is in league with."

"That's bullshit!" Nashi shouted. "If you have no one left, why is there a war zone around me?! Why are there hundreds if not thousands of people who came here at your command to help you?! Why do you have an inner circle that does so as well?! You have no one left?!I've never heard such bullshit it my life! You have more than most people could ever dream of!" Natsu looked at his daughter after this.

"Nashi..." he started, unsure as to what to say. Nashi looked pretty angry as she glared at Neptu. Turning back to the man in question, he too seemed conflicted.

"Nothing left," Nashi spat. "You're nothing but a war mongering peace of filth. Coming after someone like this just for-!" Natsu jumped as a blast of purple flames connected with her, sending her flying back.

"Nashi!" he shouted, whipping back to Neptu just in time to see another blast coming right for him. Taking the brunt of the force, Natsu felt his legs buckling underneath him. He was so much weaker than he'd expected. Collapsing to the ground, Natsu could only hear Neptu growling.

"What arrogance." He hissed. "For her to think she understands what I've gone through."

"Right," Nashi's voice came. Looking up, Natsu noticed she know stood between him and Neptu. "I'm the arrogant one. My Dad looks a bit winded, so about I knock you around instead?"

"Nashi..." Natsu started, trying to get up.

"Dad, stop." She said, turning back to look at him. "I know you're just trying to protect me. But now it's my turn. Catch your breath, I'll keep him busy." without allowing him a word in edgewise, Nashi blasted off towards Neptu and the two began to brawl. Watching as the two dueled, he slowly rested his head down.

"She's way to much like me..." He hissed to himself.

Gin probably should've gone back to the guild hall seeing as he'd been given a free chance. Hell, he could've just wandered off and not caused Fairy Tail anymore trouble. And yet here he was, sitting on the cliff they'd left him at, watching the battlefield with vague interest. The gigantic explosion from a minute or two ago had rocked him slightly, but otherwise he was fine.

"You doing alright kid?" Surprised at this voice, Gin turned to find a shirtless man standing there. His chest had the Fairy Tail emblem on it though, so Gin felt no reason to be suspicious.

"Um, hi." He said. "I don't believe I caught your name."

"Gray," the man said. Gin nodded at this, and Gray walked towards him. "I caught a glimpse of you while I was down there pummeling Hunters, so I decided to come check on you. My girl get you out okay?"

"Your girl?" Gin asked. "Oh, Ultear. Yes, she did."

"That's good. Why haven't you gone back to the guild hall yet?"

"I'm not sure." Gin replied. "Perhaps I wanted to see how much more devastation my existence caused." Gray made a strange sound.

"You're not still on your self blame train are you?" He demanded. "Cut that shit. No one, on our side anyway, blames you for what's going on down there."

"And if I blame myself for it?" Gin asked, overlooking the chaos. "The only reason you and the Demon Hunters butted heads is because I got involved."

"Not true." Gray said. "Damien had a run in with them before, or so I've been told. One day, they'd have come for him too. And even then, this would've happened. What difference does it make if this war is for you or him?" Gin tared silently down at the fighting, contemplating this.

"I suppose," he replied. "But perhaps it's just been too long since something hasn't been my fault."

"Right, right." Gray replied, moving towards the ledge. "I'd better get back out there. My wife'll start bragging she's taken out more." Gray then turned to look back at Gin. "And you'd better come up with a plan. Cause no matter how this turns out, you'll need a plan of action." Gin nodded, and watched the man disappear back into the chaos.

"This frigging guild..." He muttered.

"Drake? C'mon man, we're missing all the action." his was the first thing Drake heard as he began to come too. Opening his eyes slowly, he noted Michael smirking at him. "Morning, princess."

"...Fuck you." Drake managed, coughing. His whole system felt sore. Slowly sitting up, Drake massaged his shoulder. "What happened?"

"If I had to wager a guess, Elizabeth's stupid overpowered enchant knocked us out." Michael replied. "Don't worry, Keita should be on his way to stop her."

"Which way do we go?" Drake watched Michael point off to the side, right into the chaos they were slightly away from. "Ah, right into the heart of the fight. Nice."

"Basically," Michael agreed. Drake tried to stand up, only for his body to tell him it wasn't a good idea by having pain shoot up and down his back. Groaning, Drake slowly sat back down.

"Ah shit, that hurts..." He hissed.

"You might wanna take a minute." Michael warned. "I've been up on my feet for longer than you and I'm still feeling like shit."

"We don't have a minute." Drake replied. "In that minute Keita might suffer the same fate as us, or worse. Maybe Elizabeth will help someone else knock out one of our friends. We don't have a minute, Michael."

"Alright, jeez." Michael said, crossing his arms. "By my guest and get up then." Drake glared at Michael, but growled and forced himself to stand up slowly, the pain not going away. He'd really done a number on himself thanks to Elizabeth's enchant. Michael slowly stood as well, and together the two hobbled after Keita's scent as they got closer to the full on brawl.

"So," Drake started. "What's our game plan when we catch up?"

"Hope we don't die." Michael retorted immediately. "I'm hurting, man. I don't know."

"I suppose we'll have to pull out all the stops then, hm?" Drake asked, smirking weakly at Michael. The blonde nodded in agreement.

"Sure will," he said. "Ow!" Michael stopped and gripped his leg. "She really did a number on us man, we're too strong for our own good." Drake too felt this, but they couldn't stop. But surely they could do something about the pain.

And then, Drake got an idea.

"Come here, you bastard." Drake said. Coating his hand in light green poison, Drake slapped Michael's leg where he was holding it. Michael made a face.

"The pain's dying away." he said, testing his leg out. "Not completely, but it's fading." Drake smiled.

"My poison's dulled the pain." He said. "I'd be careful though, it's not healing us. We're in pretty bad shape."

"Right," Michael agreed. "So we'll still have to go all out." Drake nodded.

"Essentially." Michael frowned and looked out over the battlefield.

"Let's get this over with already, I'm sleepy."

"You're far to right."

"How long as he been staring at Archive for?" Mami asked Taro, who was also watching Ken rapidly typing.

"Without saying a word?" Taro asked. "Twenty minutes, at least."

"Would you two stop teasing him?" Akio asked. "Keita asked him to find the enemies weakness, I would think an attention to detail would be incredibly important."

"We're not teasing," Mami replied, trying to look innocent. "We were just wondering."

"Besides, we're not saying it's a bad thing." Taro said. "It's just so strange watching him got sucked into that database for sometimes hours at a time."

"Well, I suppose you aren't wrong there." Mami agreed. Ken had been working since Keita left a good half an hour ago, but for the last twenty or so minutes he'd gotten totally absorbed in what he was doing. Mami equated it to Bella trying on clothes. Just caught up in what he was doing. Which was good, because judging from Keita's description of the problem it wasn't good down there.

"We have anymore bombs, Akio?" Taro asked. Akio shook his head.

"No, but we did a number on those guys. Really thinned em out."

"That's good." Mami said. "Make it easier on everyone down ther-"

"YES!" Everyone aside from Ken jumped in surprise, who jumped out of his seat happily. "I found something!"

"You alright, Ken?" Mami asked, trying to slow he heart down after the near stroke.

"I found something!" He shouted happily. "It was locked away behind some Zentopia files and I had to go through so many documents on church building and signatures from the priests and holy hell don't get me started on curses and how to avoid them..."

"To the point, Kenny." Taro said.

"Look at this!" Ken replied. Mami and the other two walked to the Archive display and read what they saw.

"The Blessing Of The Cross..." Mami read, continuing down the document.

"Soon, the Christina's bridge fell silent as everyone finished reading up on the document.

"What the hell..." Taro hissed.

"Seriously?" Akio asked. "This can't be for real."

"I-It matches Keita's description." Ken said. Mami gulped.

"The Blessing Of The Cross is an old form of holy magic," she read off aloud. "Once cast on four Cross shaped necklaces, the magic power will keep the four wearers from falling combat. They will never fall in a fight..."

"...No matter what is done, even if two or three fall at the exact same time, The Blessing Of The Cross will allow them to rise again."

A nice stopping point for today. I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!

Chapter 261: Stand Together