"So how are we gonna kick these asshole's asses?!" Natsu looked around, just waiting for a plan of action to follow. As long as it involved kicking a Tartarus' demon's ass, he was going to follow it.
"We have every guild on this communication, yes?" Erza glanced around, noticing that the White Eclipse signal was still out. It only remained this way for a few moments before it clicked up, showing Calium on screen. "Oh…Master Calium, is everything all right?"
"We are fine." Calium reported. "An unexpected event occurred and temporarily blocked our channel, however everything is all right. What seems to be the issue now?"
"Tartarus is making their move and continues to advance." Makarov explained. "They are targeting the Wizard Saints…old and new. So it is imperative that we form an alliance as quickly as possible. We should send mages to other guilds for added protection."
"I agree with Makarov-san!" Sting exclaimed. "There is strength in numbers. We can't afford to stay divided like this. It will only make us easier targets."
"As much as I hate agreeing with the dragon slayer…" Satoshi tipped his hat. "I suppose he has a point. The wind's been moving in an unsettling fashion…so I believe it would be best to be there for each other."
"You don't have to worry about Black Phoenix." Anri said while rudely eating a sandwich. She was indeed listening but perhaps she was taking the situation less seriously than everyone else. "If anyone of those nonthreatening demons even tries to step foot in my guild, I'll send them to the abyss of the void forever more."
"That's nice 'n all…" Mac commented. "But I reckon it's better to stick in greater numbers. Only a fool would try to solo Tartarus." Right after he said that, Natsu was literally about to bust out of the guild, but Erza grabbed the back of his scarf and yanked him back into position.
"You're not going anywhere just yet. Keep still." Erza demanded.
"So, what is the plan?" Minoru spoke. He usually wasn't one for these discussions but Avani was currently resting and he was the guild master of Radioactive Decay so it naturally fell on him. "I'm going to be setting up a defensive rune around this guild to prevent any demon from stepping inside. Though we what we're dealing with I'm not sure how effective it will be."
"Always thinkin' ahead." Satoshi commented on Minoru's plan; however it only just irritated silently aggravated the usually silent guild master.
"Regardless…" Minoru continued. "With the Council out of commission…it falls on us to be on the defensive."
"You are absolutely right, Minoru." Makarov nodded. "Which is why we will not allow these demons to rob anymore lives from us; I will divide my guild into teams and send them out to a few guilds. I'm sure the rest of you will do the same." With that, the communication shut off. Turning to his kids, Makarov prepared to break them into groups. "Is everyone ready to move out?"
"Yes!" Wendy nodded. "I'm going wherever Cynthia ends up going! I want to save her as soon as possible!" Wendy's goal was only driven forward by that odd sensation she felt earlier. Those two were more connected than the surface revealed.
"But we have no idea where she's going to show up..." Alex kept a calm and rational point of view. She knew how Wendy felt, but going blindly wasn't going to help.
"Ah...I know..." Wendy let out a small breath.
"Don't worry. We're going to get her back." Alex placed a reassuring hand on Wendy's shoulder. "I know it's hard when it feels like she's right within your grasp. But you have to approach this with a cool head, Wendy. If you go in blindly again, you might get hurt a second time."
Alex was right and Wendy knew it. It helped her calm down from rushing ahead. "You're right, you're right..."
"We're not letting those demons get the jump on us anymore." Gray grit his teeth. Just looking at the damage done to Magnolia got his blood boiling and he was going to make sure that Tartarus' paid for what they did.
"What about Sparky and the others?" Cana questioned. "How are we going to help them…?"
"I just need a sample of blood from the demon that created the Magic Barrier Particles." Porlyuisca said while emerging from the infirmary. "If I can get that, then I will be able to create cure for them."
"Sounds simple enough." Gajeel grinned. "Just another excuse to beat the shit out of those demons, I like it."
Levy spoke up even as everyone was getting pumped up to fight. "I was thinking…if the Council was in danger…doesn't that mean the former members like Yajima-san are also in danger? Shouldn't we do something about them, too…?"
"You're right, Levy." Makarov was already on top of things.
Mavis sat herself on the bar, looking to each and every one of her Fairies. "Sixth and I have already devised a plan for everyone to cover as much space as possible without being exposed to a surprise demon attack. Everyone, our counterattack begins now!"
While everyone was getting hype, Erza pulled Jet over to the side and handed him a letter. "Jet, I have a very important request for you. I need you to take this letter somewhere important; it will inform them of our current situation. I believe their assistance will be crucial in fending off this attack if it will grow as grave as I fear it."
Seeing to whom the letter was addressed to, Jet's eyes widened. "O-Okay…! I'll be there and back in a flash!" With that, Jet zoomed out of the guild at full speed.
Alex then walked over to the side, opening up her lacrima device. The first thing she did was call Gaia. "C'mon, pick up...pick up..."
Gaia did appear on the other side of the screen. "Oh! Hey, Alex. How are things in Fiore?"
"BAD." Alex immediately said, causing Gaia's eyes to widen. "Tartarus is moving again, but this time it's really serious!"
"Serious? How so?" Gaia was listening.
"They're plotting something big. 'I'm not sure what their game is, but they're going after Fiore's Magic Council." Alex explained. "They've already dealt it a heavy blow, but it's not stopping there either. They're trying to hunt down the Wizard Saints and all the Council members too! Whatever they're doing might even effect Bosco..."
"I see..." Gaia nodded slowly.
Magnus appeared on the screen, overhearing the conversation. "So they're making their move. My Foresight about Fiore...I see a large number of pillars with faces on them. I can't quite make out what it means. But those might be what Tartarus is after."
"Pillars with faces?" Alex furrowed her brows. "I feel like I've seen those in Bosco before as well. But...why would they..."
.
.
Zalen was freaking out at the ruined guild he LITERALLY just rebuilt a few days prior. It was a mess, and knowing how much of a neat freak Zalen was… "I….I just built this?! And it's already in ruins?! WHY!?" Comical tears began falling from the building mage's eyes like a never ending waterfall of sadness. Truly, he was at such a loss for words.
"Did you see who attacked us…?" Saraya asked while looking at the others. "I saw a face I did not recognize…and the other…"
"That was undoubtedly Selene…." Luke turned his hand into a fist and punched a piece of rubble, anger written all over his face.
"After we spent all that time looking for her…?" Draco looked at Luke, not exactly as big a fan of this situation like everyone else. "What the hell happened to her while she was gone?"
"Whatever it was…" Roxanne crossed her arms over her chest, letting out an annoyed huff. "Might just have to beat it out of her, just to be safe."
"I'm not really a fan of having one conversation with her and later she tries to kill me…" Tyson remarked. "What, did I say something to offend her?"
"Doesn't matter." Reve stated. "She turned on us. She's no longer a member of White Eclipse, she's an enemy."
"Oi…" Heather placed her hand on Reve's shoulder. He was tense as all hell, given the situation. "You saw her too, didn't you? Taya?"
"I thought she was dead…" Luke scowled. "I saw it happen…"
"...I have an idea..." Heather looked to the side.
"What do you mean?" Luke looked to Heather. "Come to think of it...we still don't know how you..."
"That's not important right now." Heather replied while shaking her head. "If she's like that, it's probably because she was taken to Hell's Core in Tartarus. When you're in that tube, you have no control over how you come out."
"And how do you know that?" Reve tilted his head.
"..." Heather clenched her hand into a fist. To admit that's how she was brought back was...hard to admit.
"Is everyone okay…!?" Aira and Jaxon finally returned to the guild, only to see it in ruin. The tension from Heather's question faded as the two of them returned.
"I've…had better days…" Micaiah was leaning against what was left of a support beam, a hand brought to her chest breathing heavily with a red face. Vanya was supporting her; even though the woman was blind she could clearly sense something was wrong with Micaiah.
"Micaiah-chan…take it easy…" Vanya said. "Your heart rate is off the charts…"
"How many enemies do you guys have…?" Shinji scoffed. "It's like this place gets destroyed every other day…"
"Ease up…" said Yuji.
"…." Sophie didn't say anything. Instead she just looked off in the distance with her usual blank stare.
Mary then chimed in, clapping her hands loudly to get everyone's attention. "If you can move, get moving. Other guilds are going to be attacked and the demons are going to keep attacking. We can discuss the specifics later. Kuro, I want you to…"
Kuro nodded, already knowing what Mary was going to tell him to do. "I know. I'm on it, Mary."
"A dark time is coming…" Leon commented. "I will not forgive anyone who harms my friends…but I promise to put my best foot forward in saving those tainted by darkness."
"Don't bother with Taya." Reve said while requipping a pistol. "Leave her to me. Because the second I see her again…I'm going to shoot her on sight."
.
.
In Hell's Core, Lamy was tending to those who returned: Franmalth and Tempesta. She was only slightly annoyed considering how they were when they left. "Geez…what happened to you two in the short time you were gone?! Both of you were in body bags, huh? Fwahaha! Also, Tempesta, this needs to stop happening. Did you blow yourself up again…?"
"Those humans! They avoided my cost!" Franmalth was very bitter about his defeat at the hands of the Raijinshu. All of those souls he consumed just stolen by Bickslow aggravated him to no end, and that was saying something considering he wore that smarmy smile 24/7.
"Everything was done for the sake of the mission….humans…have died…." That was all Tempesta was going to be able to say. Because once he was reborn, he would have no recollection of anything prior to his revival.
"That's it." Lamy started with an annoyed huff. "This time I'm going to turn you into a hunk when you emerge. Of course your new look will never compare to that of Jackal-kun, but it will give me something to look at while he's away!" Lamy was already on board with her own idea and she started to wiggle in place with a content smile. She then glanced over at Minerva in the tube, arms crossed while she tapped her foot. "You're still not ready just yet…but you just might be the most hideous butterfly I've ever created!"
.
Elsewhere within Tartarus, Jellal was thrown before Marde's feet in the throne room, magic sealing stone cuffed around his wrists to prevent him from trying anything funny. Arcturus grinned while holding up Angel, who was still unconscious. "Here you go, boss. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat."
"Wait…" Jellal was practically begging for Angel to be spared. "Do not bring any harm to her…she did nothing wrong. Just…tell me what it is you want and leave her out of this."
Hearing Jellal's plea, Marde merely smirked. "As I thought…humans are so fragile with their 'bonds'. It's sickening sweet…and easily exploitable. Arc, you will hold on your feast of that human female. For she will be the bargaining chip to make Jellal do whatever it is we please."
Hearing that, Arc frowned but he understood. "As long as I get to finish her off later, you won't hear any complaints from me."
"But of course." Marde replied, crossing one leg over the other. Arc dropped Angel and just walked off; meanwhile, Marde returned his gaze to the sneering Jellal. "Preparations are not complete quite yet. You will sit comfortably while we wait. But while we wait, I'd love for you to tell me a story. The story that is the Face project."
.
.
News of what was happening in Fiore spread throughout the rest of Ishgar as usual; how it happened was still unknown since the situation was still contained within the country. Ashnard was prepared to grill the royalty of Fiore once again for their incompetence. As such, a screen appeared in the throne room and Ashnard appeared on it, shaking his head with a smarmy grin. "I grow tired of reminding you of your ineptitude…" He was going to continue, however the one on the throne wasn't whom he was expecting.
Emeraude was sitting in Toma's throne, one leg crossed over the other while her head rested against her fist. "Oh, King Ashnard. It's been quite some time." The woman spoke while kicking her leg softly, smiling towards the tyrant. "What has your attention this time? You've been causing my little Hisui so much stress lately hounding her over every little thing." Hisui was sitting next to Emeraude in her own seat, just glaring at Ashnard.
"Now what are you doing in that seat?" Ashnard questioned. "It doesn't suit you. What of the situation in Fiore? I have Intel that once again, that country's danger could spell the end for Ishgar and even Earthland. I grow tired of having to remind this country that…"
The emerald haired woman giggled before shifting her legs, leaning back in the seat with a growing smile. "Everything is already under control. The guilds are acting on their own accord, and I've already begun rallying the Royal Guard to aid in the efforts of fighting these demons, and protecting the citizens. I think I could be a better ruler of this place than Toma, don't you think Hisui dear?"
"Mhm…" Hisui gave a firm nod of agreement. "Emeraude is always acting quickly for our best interests. Some of her ideas even my father hasn't thought of."
"What the…" Ashnard quirked his brow at Hisui's words. Something wasn't right here….but in the end it literally was not his problem, at least not yet, despite that he was curious as to how Emeraude ended up sitting on another country's throne so comfortably. "Very well….I'll be eager to see how your leadership pans out."
"Another thing." Emeraude added. "Protos Heis is without a doubt in this area…and from the reports of that Lambda Virus you've been so eager about…the results will be quite interesting." Before Ashnard could say anything else, Emeraude cut the connection, purple painted lips pursing together before she giggled. "Having an entire country underneath your heel….It's good to be Queen."
.
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Next Time: An Explosive Confrontation!