The sun had begin to set over the town of Clover as Natsu had stood overlooking the town. He knew that if Ultear had succeeded then the Eisenwald guild, or at least a few of its members, should be arriving shortly. Which he knew she would; no offense meant toward his guild members, but Ultear was in a different league entirely.
Then he began wondering where he stood in the guild's rankings of strength after the time spent with Ultear. It goes without saying that he had spent a good amount of time training along their journeys, but not being in the guild for a while has got him wondering how he'd fare in a fight against his fellow members. Obviously with his dragon force he could take down Mystogan, but that was the only time he's ever been able to channel that power; plus, how much was Mystogan holding back in that fight?
He knew he could still take care of business against Gray, although said ice mage had done a lot of his own training. His thoughts drifted toward Erza and Laxus, and eventually Gildarts, although even Natsu wasn't dumb enough to think he stood a chance against him yet. Now thirsty for a fight, he was somewhat glad when the white haired wind mage came into sight. 'So Ultear really did let him pass then, huh?'
The flying man lowered himself in front of the dragon slayer, using his magic to levitate above the ground. "One last fairy to take care of before our plan is put into action, eh?"
Natsu's only reaction to this statement was to ask him a question. "Are you with those Eisenwald punks?"
Erigor laughed. "Punks, you say? I'm surprised to hear that, coming from a fairy."
"Now now" Makarov walked through the woods and into the clearing, a stern look on his face "it would be wise of you to give up now. Turn tail and run like the coward you are and we'll avoid any trouble here."
"Why would I do that, now, when you all have come to me? I'll kill all of you and take back our rights and our freedom. Then, I'll rise to power and reform this twisted system that you legal guilds have formed."
"Not if I have anything to say about it" Natsu growled as the wind mage rose the flute to his lips.
...
"I thought that a mage from the Fairy Tail guild would have proved to be more of a challenge than that" Ultear said as she stared at the canyon that Gray had fallen into.
"You'd be sorely mistaken if you thought I was gonna be taken out by one of those dirty tricks" Gray's voice echoed through the canyon. Ultear perked up as she watched Fairy Tail's resident ice mage rise up from the depths of the canyon, wings made of ice protruding from his back as he rose from the depths.
"You're pretty clever. But" Ultear let her voice trail off as she swiped her arm as she invoked her arc of time magic, dispersing Gray's wings as he began to fall again, leaving him to clutch the remnants of the train tracks as he pulled himself up. "I still think I have the advantage here."
Gray stared at the woman in bewilderment as he realized she could dispell his magic. "I can see you use ice magic, but I've never seen a type able to rid other ice magic." Memories of his master flooded his memories as the woman resembled her uncannily. "Just who the hell are you?" Ultear only smirked at his confusion.
"Right now, all you need to know is that I've been sent here to stop you and your friends from making your way to Clover."
"So you're with Eisenwald, huh?" Gray asked. Ultear only shook her head as the encounter with the one they call Shinigami played through her head.
"Quite the contrary. I was actually sent here by your own guild master."
"Bullshit. Gramps would never sent someone to hurt his own guild members."
"I said I was sent here to stop you, not hurt you. However, that fact doesn't mean I can't have my own fun with this battle, Gray Fullbuster." She shot a wave of ice at him, which he easily dodged. Another shot of ice, this one in the form of thorns was sent his way, leaving a gash across his chest as he was unable to dodge.
"Ice Make: Lance!" He shouted from his maker stance as he shot his signature arrows at her. However, she forced the ice to sublimate before it could do any damage to her.
"It's no use, you know" Ultear laughed as she saw the man's frustration. "You'll never be able to hit me."
"Gray!" A voice shouted out from behind him. "What the hell is going on?" He turned to see the team that he had been working with standing on the other side of the tracks next to the magic four wheeler they had been riding in, along with one of the wizards they had been fighting against. He recognized him as the one who fought Cana; the one who could use dispelling magic.
"Looks like the fun is over then, with your friends being here and all" Ultear laughed again.
"Just what the hell are you trying to do?" Gray growled out his question toward the purple haired woman.
"Is she a member of Eisenwald too?" Erza asked from across the tracks. Kageyama quickly shot that assumption down.
"I've never seen her before in my life" he admitted.
'Me? In your pathetic guild? Yeah right.' Ultear laughed inwardly as she debated a way to convey her reasoning to the other members, biting her lip as she searched for an answer. "Like I already told him, I was sent by Makarov to stop you guys on this little mission of yours. He sent me after Mirajane from your guild sent him a message saying that you lot formed a team together." Gray was still wary of the woman though.
"So what, are you a master of a guild or something? Because it still seems highly suspicious that Gramps would just send some random ass mage out here to slow us down." Ultear couldn't help but smirk at Gray's hard glare. She knew the questions that were running through the man's mind at seeing her face; no doubt she resembled her mother, but those questions would be answered another day.
"I was actually accompanying one of the mages from your guild through Clover on our travels, but we ran into Makarov and after he caught wind of everything that was going on with your team, he sent us here to stop you. However, that stubborn bastard insisted on staying in Clover and beating the crap out of any Eisenwald members that came through." Ultear shook her head at Natsu's hot headed antics, wondering how everything was playing out over there with him.
Although the rest of the Fairy Tail mages seemed to accept it, Erza still had questions for the purple haired woman. "You said you were with a member of our guild. May I ask who you were traveling with?"
"The one you all refer to as Salamander" she said in a simple tone. All the Fairy mages jaws dropped as she simply walked toward the four wheeler, restoring the train tracks with her time magic in the process. "Now, could I bother you all for a ride back?"
...
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted as he swung his flame coated fist at the white haired man. Erigor jumped back and swung down with his scythe, creating a blade of wind that sliced at the pinkette. Natsu barely had time to dodge, and the wind sliced his arm, leaving a deep gash that let blood flow free from it.
"Stop interrupting you little Fairy" he growled as he fired several more blades of wind at him. This time, Natsu dodged them all and landed in a crouch on his feet. "This'll shut you up! Storm Bringer!" A giant wind tornado shot up around him and began to cut at his skin, causing Erigor to laugh. However, his mirth was short lived as his spell wore off and Natsu was left standing with virtually no damage. "How the hell?"
Natsu's entire body became coated in red scales, nullifying all the damage that he had taken. He shot a ball of fire at Erigor, who quickly pulled out his own defensive maneuver. Wind quickly surrounded his body as he employed his signature storm mail and deflected the ball of fire. "You might have scales, but I'll let you know that my storm mail has proven to be an impenetrable defense to fire mages, where my wind has been able to cut through solid steel. So don't think you have an advantage just yet."
Natsu's response was to charge at the man and repeatedly punch at the armor, which cut at the scales on his hands. The warm blood trickled from his hands and landed on the ground, causing Erigor to laugh. Flying up into the air on his wind, he summoned a purple magic circle that shot several compacted blades of wind. "Storm Shred!"
Natsu dodged them all and fired a roar at Erigor, which dispersed on contact with his storm mail. Natsu growled in frustration. "I told you, no fire wizard has ever been able to defeat me in this state" Erigor said with a confident smirk showing through the armor, infuriating Natsu even more.
"YOU'RE REALLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF YOU KNOW THAT!" Natsu enveloped his whole body in flames as he stared the man down, and to both of their shocks, Erigor's wind started to pull away from him.
"What the hell? No way! He's conjuring flames of emotion? That can't be! There's no way that they still exist!" Erigor's mouth was agape as his storm armor was nullified.
Meanwhile, Makarov watched on with a proud look in his eyes. "Using his fire to create a low pressure system and nullify his wind armor? You've grown up so much, Natsu. I'm proud of you" he said to himself.
Natsu's eyes turned red as he began to walk toward the Shinigami. "I know Gramps and the others can easily take care of themselves. But that doesn't mean that I'm just gonna sit by and let you try something like this. As a Fairy Tail wizard, I will protect the ones I love, no matter what the cost!"
"Quit your incessant rambling! Magic Wind Palm!" Streams of wind shot at Natsu, but he just used his flames to nullify the wind. He planted his feet firmly in the ground and shot off them like a rocket, firing his flame coated body into the dark wizard.
"FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!"
Erigor's body crashed through the air and landed hard against a tree, knocking him out and causing him to drop the Lullaby flute on the ground. Natsu looked back with his usual cheery expression on his face again, accepting the praise of the guild masters for 'taking care of the bad guys' and 'putting on a good show'. However, the glee of the situation was short lived as the flute started to glow.
...
Running along the railroad tracks at full speed, Erza steered the magic cart as the Fairy Tail wizards all raced to see their friend. "So you're telling me that Natsu is completely fine and that he's just been traveling with you the whole time?" Erza asked in disbelief.
Ultear flicked her hair back as she sat next to Lucy, slouching against the seat of the vehicle. "Yeah, we went on official council business to the Pergrande Kingdom and had a job in Seven along the way. We were going to split up over in Shinobu, but we decided to travel to Clover together before I made my way back to Era. Basically, Natsu would've been back by tonight anyway had all this not gone down." She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes, hoping to get a slight bit of rest after the events of the day, along with trying to avoid Gray's glare from across the carriage.
"Still can't believe Natsu was galavanting around Earthland with some floozy while we were all worried sick about him" Gray muttered.
"I'm sitting right here you know" Ultear snapped at him but still didn't open her eyes.
"Aww, Gray admitted he was worried about Natsu" Happy piped up from Lucy's lap. Everyone, even Ultear, started laughing at the feline's deduciton. Gray started to blush slightly out of embarrassment as all the girls were getting sentimental around him.
"Shut up Happy. I was referring to everyone else in the guild. I don't care about that flame-brained fuck. That much" he added on the last part in a whisper so none of the girls would hear him, wanting to avoid a gushing session as much as possible.
"I'm confused though" Lucy spoke up. "I thought everyone else said that Natsu left on some sort of dragon hunting quest?"
"That was me" Ultear stated before anyone else could answer her question, causing all the Fairy Tail mages to look at her in shock. "It's hard to communicate with members of magic guilds as a member of the council, so I sent a request to the guild that I knew he would take."
Now it was Erza's turn to question. "Wouldn't a simple note or a letter to the guild have been sufficient? Seriously, all of us were worried sick that maybe he had been injured or killed on a job." Erza never took her eyes off the path, but everyone could tell her facial expressions hardened. Ultear's expression could easily match Erza's though.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I had to check in with a whole guild if I wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend" she spat back at her. The tension in the cart was thick as no one wanted to be the one to challenge the two women.
"Just because he's your boyfriend doesn't mean he stopped being family to us. We have a right to worry about him."
"Family? You're all basically co-workers at best and you wanna claim he's basically a family member to you?" Ultear asked in disbelief.
"That's how we do things in our guild. Jeez, I figured Natsu would have at least rubbed off that on you" Erza argued.
"He spoke of it, but I have a hard time believing it."
"Hey" Cana spoke up, causing everyone to look at her. "How much longer do we have to go, cause I'm out of booze and I really don't wanna listen to you two argue while sober."
Erza let out a sigh at her guildmate's antics while Gray and Lucy just facepalmed. "We're coming into town now and, um, what the fuck is that?" Erza asked, causing everyone to look forward. The giant wooden demon reached into the night sky, towering over the city as its shrieks were heard.
"That's the true form of the demon Lullaby" Ultear said to the four other wizards and cat.
"What? That's that little creepy looking flute thing?" Lucy asked in a panic.
"Looks to be that way" Gray chuckled softly. "And here I thought we were done fighting for the day."
"You wouldn't have it any other way anyway" Cana joked with him.
"Is right now really an appropriate time to be joking around?" Lucy screamed.
"Hey Ultear, how did you two meet anyway?" Erza asked her. Ultear just shrugged at her question.
"You're all his friends, not mine. I have no right to reveal that information to you. If you all want to know, ask him."
'Jeez Natsu, just where the hell did you find her?' Erza asked herself.
"You know" Cana spoke up "if you're friends with Natsu, or dating, or whatever, it means he sees you as a family member, which means we all do. Like Erza said, that's how we do things in our guild."
"I'll keep that in mind" Ultear idly commented as she slumped back in her seat.
...
"I'm tired of watching all you puny little wizards playing around. It's time to take matters into my own hands" the demon shouted in its high pitched hoarse voice. Its voice reverberated through the town, causing everyone to clutch at their ears.
"Oh my, what an ungodly sound" Bob commented.
"Yes, this thing is quite annoying" Makarov agreed with the gender confused male.
"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" Natsu shouted, roaring a stream of fire at the giant demon, burning straight through the torso of his body.
The demon let out another shrill yell. "Why you little insect. I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!" Natsu furrowed his eyebrows in irritation.
"I've had enough of being called a bug in one day." Natsu jumped and ran up the demon's arm and punched it in the face before being swatted back down to the ground by the demon's hand.
"Just like a fly!" Natsu groggily stood back up after that hit and stared at the massive demon.
"Natsu" a female voice called from behind him. He turned to look at the source of the voice, only to see Erza, Gray, and Cana running toward him. "It's really you" Erza almost had tears in her eyes before they turned to a menacing glare. "Do you have any idea how worried we all were about you? I left on a mission for a whole month and you still weren't back! All of us were going crazy! Even Gray!"
"Hey, don't drag me into this. I told you I couldn't care less what he was doing" the now shirtless ice mage attempted to defend his pride. Natsu slightly hung his head, now realizing the effects his extended leave had on his guild.
"Natsu!" Happy cried, flying off of Lucy's head and onto Natsu's shoulder. "I didn't have anyone to catch yummy fish for me for the longest time. I'm withering away here!" That caused Natsu to smile.
"Hey little buddy. Don't worry, I'll catch you all the fish you want when we get back" he said with a reassuring smile, causing the cat to enter a fish induced fantasy coma.
"I honestly didn't care that much either" Cana admitted. "I mean, this is Natsu after all. Everyone knows he always ends up fine. Though I was surprised to find out where you actually went. Didn't think you had it in ya to elope with some random chick" she said with a teasing smirk.
"I'm not just some chick, you know. We didn't elope either. And once again, I'm right here" Ultear deadpanned from behind them, standing next to Lucy. Natsu looked to his guildmates, then to Ultear, then to the girl next to her, before he pointed at the blonde.
"Who the hell are you?" Natsu asked the unfamiliar face in what was probably a lot more harsh of a tone than what he meant.
"Umm, my name is Lucy and I just joined Fairy Tail. See" she held up her hand to show off her guild mark. Natsu stared at it for a moment before his face instantly perked up.
"Nice! Salmon, just like my hair! Well, it's nice to meet you Lucy, I'm Natsu!" He ran up to her and shook her hand to formally seal the introduction. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"
"Did he really just ignore all of us?" Gray seethed.
"Hey, Natsu?" Ultear asked once he was done shaking Lucy's hand.
"Oh hey babe. I take it the mission didn't go so well?" Natsu asked.
"Well they're all here, aren't they?" She asked in a sarcastic manner.
"Wait, so you were being serious?" Gray asked.
"Guys" Lucy said, but her voice fell on deaf ears.
"Of course I was" Ultear defended herself. "I told you your master didn't want you to come here."
"Then why did you try to kill me in our fight?" Gray screamed the question.
"Guys" Lucy voiced again.
"Wait, you two fought? I bet she kicked your ass ice princess" Natsu laughed.
"You wanna go flame brain?"
"Bring it you pervy popsicle!"
"Guys?" Lucy asked with a beat of sweat beginning to drip down her face.
"What?" They both screamed at her, causing her to shriek and point behind them, where they saw Lullaby beginning to bring its fist down and crush them all. Miraculously, they all jumped out of the way in time.
"This is no time for your reunions, introductions, and pointless bickering" the demon growled out in an impatient voice. "I've had it with you puny wizards" it shouted, causing Natsu to growl in anger. "And by the way, insect" it mocked, turning its attention toward Natsu "your hair is pink, not salmon!" Natsu snapped at that comment and raced up toward the demon, flaming kicks and punches flying through the air. The group watched on in amazement for a minute before Natsu shouted back at them.
"Hey! Are you guys gonna join the party or what?" Erza and Gray smiled at that and quickly jumped in, Erza using her Blumenblatt technique and Gray firing his ice lances at the demon. Natsu followed it up with a roar, enveloping the whole demon in flames.
"There's no way I'm missing out on this" Cana laughed to herself as she summoned three cards in front of her. "Jolt of Fate!" she commanded as a huge bolt of lightning shot through its head and touched down on the ground.
"Jeez, they're all so strong" Lucy muttered from next to Ultear.
"I still can't believe that they're taking on one of Zeref's demons" Kageyama spoke. 'Are all guild wizards this crazy?'
"Well, they're not really that strong" Ultear stated, causing Lucy to look at her dumbstruck. "But they do work well as a team. They'll be able to handle this no problem."
"Come on guys, everything you have!" Natsu's voice echoed through the night. Gray formed his Ice Impact Hammer and smashed it into the demon's left arm, while Cana shot an ice vortex into its right. Erza used her Heaven's Wheel technique again to deliver massive damage to the demon's torso and Happy carried Natsu into the air, dropping him above Lullaby.
"The flames in my right hand, the flames in my left hand, bring them together and you get" he clashed his hands above the demon "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!"
The bang reverberated through the whole town, pure magic energy from the four attacks sending shockwaves back and knocking all the bystanders off their feet. Of course those same shockwaves also destroyed half the town, but no one was really paying attention at that point. When the smoke cleared, Lullaby was shown to be still standing, but looked worse for wear.
"How dare you, you, guild wizards lay your hands on me! I'll show you the true meaning of terror and make you listen to my melody of death!" Onlookers covered their ears in preparation for the melody, but it never came. Only a sharp whistle escaped from the beast as all the cuts from the magic attacks destroyed its sound pipes. The demon had a look of confusion before it slowly began to crumble, withering away to nothingness.
"No way!" Lucy was astonished. The wizards and all the masters rejoiced at the scene as Lullaby crumbled and the flute that housed the demon cracked.
The four wizards cheered and high fived as they celebrated their victory. The rune knights came in and arrested Erigor and Kageyama, and all was well until one of them asked "So who's the one that destroyed the town hall?"
"Oh shit" Natsu muttered as all eyes turned toward the Fairy Tail wizards. "Run!" They all escaped from the town, members of the army hot on their tail, as Makarov paled at the sight. Imaginary repair bills piled up higher and higher at the sight of the ruined hall. Ultear walked up to Makarov and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I can fix this using my magic, you know" she said as she floated her lacrima orb in front of her, restoring the village to its previous state. Makarov was almost in tears as he realized that the woman had saved him thousands of jewels.
"Thank you for all your help today. You know, we could really use someone like you in our guild. If you ever decide that you're tired of the geezers at the council, you're more than welcome to come join Fairy Tail. It seems Natsu has taken a liking to you as well, and having you around might help ease some stress from his mind."
"I'll think about it. But for right now I'm going back to Era. I have work to do after all" she said after a minute, before she began to walk away.
"Well then, I'll leave you to your own devices. But you should probably say goodbye to Natsu at least."
"He seems a little preoccupied right now" she said with a nervous laugh. She pulled a pen and a piece of parchment out of her bag and scribbled a note down. "Give this to him when you get the chance." Makarov nodded and Ultear began her trip back to Era under the night sky, alone once again.
'First it's back to the council, then off to Galuna, then I'll have some time to meet up with Natsu again' she thought. 'Hopefully I won't have to deal with his 'family' again' the voice in her head thought in a bitter tone. 'I should probably report back to Hades as well. Fuck, this is gonna be a long week'.
...
A/N: Finally back, and with the longest chapter of this story so far. Guess that's why I haven't updated this in awhile?.. yeah, I guess it hasn't really been that long. I think? I hope.. Anyways, I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS ARC PRAISE THE LORD. Ugh, it feels like this just drug on forever. Anyway, you all know the drill, review, F&F! Keeps me motivated, you know? Which I desperately need because right now I have the ambition of a stoned turtle.
Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed!