Chapter 81
War
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic"
Flashback
Location / Date / Time Skip
As Mavis finished her tale, she hung her head in shame. "A magic born from my sins… I never thought it would drag all of you into this mess…"
"Falling in love isn't a sin." Lisanna declared, catching Mavis by surprise. "No one blames you for any of this."
"She's right." Mirajane added next to her sister. "It's just a coincidence that all this bad stuff happened to you."
"If you weren't here, we wouldn't have Fairy Tail at all." Lucy spoke up. "Which means none of us would have ever met you."
"You being here is what connects us all." Gray said as Mavis started tearing up.
"We want to protect the guild you built, so we'll fight." Wendy spoke up. Mavis wiped the tears from her eyes as Juvia started crying.
"Mavis has to fight the person she once loved…" She mumbled though her crying, scaring Gray.
"That was a long time ago." The spirit said. "He's a threat to mankind now. We have to defeat him."
"But even if we did do something about all of Alveraz, Zeref's immortal, isn't he?" Nicholas asked. "How are we supposed to beat him, then?"
"Leave it to me!" Natsu shouted as he jumped on a table. "I'll take down Zeref! I've been developing this technique in secret anyway!"
"Tell us more about this secret weapon of yours." Erza requested.
"It's a secret." Natsu chuckled. "That's why it's a secret plan." Instantly, Gray, Nicholas and Gajeel were attacking him in frustration over his remark.
"I don't really know what's under there." Wendy spoke up. "But knowing him, I bet it's something super special.
"Lisanna, do you know what he's talking about?" Elfman asked his sister.
"Yeah, but he kinda swore me to secrecy. Happy too." She chuckled back.
"All I can say is that it's a one time only thing." Natsu declared, flexing his covered arm. "With this, I'll be able to take down Zeref, once and for all!"
"He makes a pretty convincing argument." Bickslow chuckled.
"And his confidence is somewhat contagious for us anyway." Freed added.
"Amazing how one man can raise this much morale, isn't it?" Evergreen asked.
"I have several strategies of my own, but I'll leave it to Natsu for now." Mavis declared.
"Master…" Lucy spoke up, catching Makarov's attention. "Tell us everything you know about we're going up against."
"Of course, I will tell you all that I know." The old man replied.
In a cave far away from any form of civilization, a broken man laid against the rock. "My arm is aching…" He mumbled, blue marks covering his body. "The same one arm that flame dragon stole…" Standing up, he let wild blue hair flow down his back. "The Dragon King Festival will soon begin… That's where I'll take everything back."
His body glowed and shifted, transforming into a massive black dragon. "The absolute, and the one befitting of the title, the king of dragons, I, Acnologia!"
Lucy sat in her apartment, writing at her desk. A scared look covered her face as she stared at the notebook in front of her. "Heh, you sure got a way with words." She froze in fear as she felt a shadow grow over her, the smell of booze wafting over her.
"Get out of my room!" Lucy turned and kicked the chair at Cana, who calmly caught it, spun it around, and sat down in it.
"Still a kicker, ain't ya, Luce?" The tanned girl chuckled.
"So you've finished evacuating people already…" Lucy mumbled.
"Yep, so let's chill out, girl!" Cana declared, holding up bottles of booze.
"I don't think drinking right now is a good idea." The blonde said. "Tomorrow we have a war to fight, and I'm not the least bit excited for it."
"Me either…" The card user replied. "This is a fight where we've got to do whatever it takes to win… It's scary."
Lucy let out a sigh and closed her journal. "Alright, maybe just one game."
"How about some strip poker?" Cana joked, angering the blonde.
In a bathhouse in the city, Wendy and Carla sat in the tub. "So Crime Sorcière will be helping us out?" The small girl asked.
"Since it's Zeref we're up against, I'd say theres a very good chance of that." Erza declared from across the tub.
"That makes me feel better." Wendy cheered.
"Though they did destroy Caith Shelter…" Carla mumbled in annoyance.
"Do you remember when I first invited you two join us in Fairy Tail?" The older woman asked, making the two nod. 'Which means I'm the one responsible for dragging them into this…' She stood up and turned around to leave the tub. 'That just means I have to keep them safe.'
A force from behind caught her by surprise as Wendy hugged her. "This time, I'll protect you."
Erza smiled before hugging back. "You've become such a fine wizard, the pride of our guild."
Outside of town, Natsu, Happy, and Lisanna were sat in the hut from childhood. "Hard to believe that this is were we first started our relationship." She said, Happy munching on a fish in her lap.
"Yeah…" Natsu mumbled in embarrassment. "That was… something."
"Even now you're so shy about this stuff." Lisanna chuckled.
"A-I-shut it!" He huffed, crossing his arms. "That isn't why I wanted us to come here. Remember that thing I mentioned about a month ago?"
Lisanna stopped laughing and turned to him. "Are you… are you serious?"
"I am, Lisanna." He replied. "But do you want this? Because I won't force you if-"
Lisanna pecked him on the check, making him blush. "I've been ready for a long time." Natsu nodded and leaned over, biting down on her shoulder.
On a cliff looking over the lake, Nicholas rested in preperation for the fight. "I knew we'd find you here." He looked behind to see Brianna and Slate walking over, a bottle of water in hand. "You know we don't need a nightwatcher, right?"
"I can't sleep." He replied, taking the bottle. "Just thinking about what everything… Do you remember when we started traveling together?"
"Yeah, who would have thought we'd end up here?" She chuckled. "Guess you never know what the future holds."
"So what happens after this?" Slate asked, sitting next to the Slayer.
"I think it would be nice to… just relax." Nicholas answered. "No big threats, no running for our lives, just… enjoy life."
"That sounds nice…" Brianna added, wrapping herself around his neck. "Any room for me in that life?"
"Always…" He replied, welcoming her grip.
Fairy Tail Guildhall
"Warren, how's the scanner looking?" Makarov asked the telepath.
"They're no sign of them in Fiore, yet…" He replied.
"Things would be a lot easier of we could pinpoint exactly which direction they will be coming from." Makarov mumbled.
"We could always place a diversion in the north and station our main forces in the south…" Mavis said, appearing from behind. "I've just finished checking up on everyone… they aren't the least bit worried about our situation. They've become so strong…"
"So that's how you see them…" The living master replied. "To me, it seems like they're barely pulling through the uneasiness they're all feeling…"
"They're stronger than you give them credit for." Mavis declared.
A bell started ringing through out the town as a massive series of dot appeared on the screen. "Why didn't it detect anything!? They're so close!" Warren shouted.
"Everyone, get ready!" Mavis roared. "Ring the bell! The enemy is above us! We have about fifty large ships above of us!"
"Oh, yeah! Time for you to return to ashes, Fairy Tail!" Ajeel shouted from the lead ship. "It's party time! Fire!" A barrage of magic shot rained down on the city, only for a magic shield to suddenly appear and block the hits. "Huh… anti-magic barriers, huh?"
"First! Freed is strong, but he won't be able to hold off all of them!" Makarov shouted.
"How did we not think they could come from the west?" Macao complained.
"What do we do now!?" Wakaba asked.
"No, it's exactly as I've calculated…" Mavis mumbled, stunning the two old men. "In fact, it's quite a pleasant surprised that the enemy's sent a smaller fleet than expected for the preemptive strike. Warren, let everyone know we're moving to plan D! Team Flying Dragon and Osprey, commence attack!"
"This is Team Osprey, we're at the Eastern Forest. The enemy is too far…" Bisca reported.
"You can do this, Bisca…" Mavis comforted her.
Ajeel laughed as he stared down at the city, a smile on his face. "Fire! Blow them all up! Let's see how long you can hold up!"
"Sir, something's coming at us!" The Sand user looked down to see four blurs flying through the barrage and crashed into a ship, creating an explosion. "We've lost number 4!"
"Enter Team Flying Dragons!" Natsu declared before he and the other Dragon Slayers split up, destroying more ships. A counter fire shot back and forced them to dodge. "Nice one, Happy!"
"We can't get any closer with this barrage!" Pantherlily shouted.
"Bisca, we could really use a hand now!" Slate reported.
"Coming up." She reported before a massive beam of magic shot up. Ajeel held out his hand and a storm of sand dispersed the shot, the scattered magic destroying even more ships.
"How could anyone scatter a Jupiter cannon like that…" Pantherlily mumbled in surprise.
"Guess we gotta do this the old-fashioned way…" Gajeel declared. "Take me to the commander ship!" The exceeds followed the order and he, Natsu, and Wendy landed on the ship.
"Look at the mess you've made…" Ajeel started, only go slack jaw at the sick trio. "What the hell? Why would you-"
"It's called a distraction, dumbass!" A force crashed his gut and sent him flying into the cabin. "Get the other three out of here! This punk is mine!" Nicholas shouted.
"Aye!" Happy replied before they pulled the motion sick trio off the ship. Troops charged him and Nicholas pulled his arms back before launching them forward. They transformed into stone pillars before smaller ones shot off, crashing into the soldiers.
Ajeel pulled himself out of the rubble and stared at his down troops as the pillars retracted. "Who the hell are you…"
Nicholas lowered his hands as they transformed into a warhammer and a morning star. "I'm the guy that is gonna kick your ass." He declared.
"A lot of the ships are starting to land." Wendy declared as she looked at the ground. "We need to take them out now."
"I guess we just gotta leave this for Nicholas." Gajeel huffed. "It's on a ship anyway."
"We just have to trust him." Slate added. "He can handle this skinny bastard."
Fairy Tail Guildhall
Mavis and Makarov looked up at the map projection in front of them. "Defeating one of the twelve will be nearly impossible, even for a warrior like Nicholas…" Makarov mumbled.
"Yet I have faith in him…" Mavis replied.
"If we can drive back their vanguard, it'll be a shot in the arm for morale!" Warren shouted. "And since we cut the enemy's forces in half, Freed can handle what's left."
"Next shot I take, I'll make sure it reaches." Bisca added through his telepathy.
Western Cliffs
"Charge! Wipe Magnolia off the map!" The army roared before racing towards the city. Four blurs of light charged the invaders before crashing into them, the Dragon Slayers ready to fight.
"Thanks for landing on the ground!" Natsu shouted as he ignited his limbs and started swinging. "Fire Dragon Talon!" Swinging his flaming leg, he launched fighters back and sent a fiery wave forward. A large member swatted the attack aside as the two glared at each other before they charged at each other.
Above them, Nicholas launched his Morningstar at the Desert Prince. "You think that lame attack is gonna hit me?" Ajeel chuckled as he let the spiked ball fly through his sandy body. The chain went taunt as Nicholas was pulled in, swinging his hammer at his head only to find the attack to go straight through Ajeel.
"Is there anyone stronger than you in your guild?" Ajeel taunted as he reformed, blasting him back with said. "Though I have to say, you're great warming up material!"
"You're starting to piss me off!" Nicholas shouted, swinging his hammer at him. Jumping over the blade with ease, sand started swirling him. "The hell is this?"
"I can't waste anymore time…" Ajeel chuckled as he landed. "Well, enjoy turning into dust…"
Guildhall
Warren looked at the map in shock as he turned to Mavis. "There's a hole in Freed's barrier!"
"It couldn't be… the enemy has nullification magic?" The spirit questioned before turning to city. "They're coming through the streets! Everyone, prepare for battle!" Her words echoed through out the guild members as they charged to the breach.
"There's another one in town!" Warren shouted, shocking the two masters. "N… no way… there's another 300 ships coming at us from the north, and judging from the magic, at least three of them on board… That's not all, we've got an army of similar size coming from the south, along with another three… And the east... a giant army of at least three million people with another 3… There's no where left for us to go…"
'No matter how you look at it, there's no winning this…' Mavis thought in shame,
Lucy stood alone in her apartment and picked up Aquarius' broken key, holding it to her chest. 'Aquarius, please… lend me your strength…' The sound of water running water caught her attention as she turned to the bathroom. Marching over, she pushed the door open and found Brandish sitting naked in the tub.
"Looks like this was your place after all…" The Spriggain declared, scaring Lucy. "I don't know why, but you've been running through my mind since we meet…"
Yeah, skipped a lot of stuff, because honestly, it didn't really add to the story. Not much left to say, so see you all next time.