205Alright, it's been a long time since I started this story and I'm back (13 Oct. 24) to redo it and fix up my mistakes and my grievances with the story. Chief among which, as pointed out in a recent review, was how I so amateurishly handled the surprise attack on Team Natsu in Chapter 2. Bare in mind, I had only just started writing and was very unrefined and was in a hurry to work towards a planned collab with thehappy. So, in my eagerness, I rushed it and didn't give it proper thought. This story is now going to be set after the 100YR story now that we roughly know a timeframe for that manga/anime, providing they don't time skip it. As such, things like Lucy's hybrid dresses will start to show up, she would also have Aquarius' key again. Yes, this takes out a plot point in one of the following chapters but I'll just write that out of existence anyway when I get to it.
The story now starts in X795, putting Erza at 23, Natsu and Gray at 22, Lucy at 21, and Wendy at 16. This also alters Wendy's section in a later chapter but I'll just bump that up by a year too. Since this is an Alternate Universe to the cannon story, some cannon relationships are different to their cannon ones. I.e. Jellal-Erza being rockier due to Jellal still regretting what he did and Gajeel-Levy not having a kid with each other.
My current way of writing dialogue is as follows:
"This denotes talking in person."
"This is talking over a phone or other device."
'This is voiced thoughts of the individual.'
'This is the voice of someone inside an individual's mind.'
Linebreaks are hard cuts.
0=0=0=0 are soft cuts.
To reiterate; yes, I know this story has issues, that's why I'm fixing it. Please have patience because it took me two months to rewrite 29 chapters for The Fallen Dragon, so it takes time to do this. Granted, these chapters are generally shorter than those in The Fallen Dragon.
Near the border Fiore/Bosco border – June X795 – 4:30PM
"We must be getting close…" Erza murmured as she slowed down and fell in behind Lucy. She reached into the beautiful blonde's bag and took out two maps, one was a Fiorian map while the other showed the location of an old ruin that they had been contracted to investigate and recover a magical item from. The redhead was in the latest model of her Heart Kreuz armour, consisting of two gauntlets and elbow guards, a single pauldron on her right arm with her left side unarmoured to proudly display her blue guild mark, a breastplate and armour plating covering parts of her blue skirt, black knee-high boots and a sword on her hip. While the design was familiar, the material was an alloy created by Gajeel and proved to be lightweight and tough. "Hm. Yes, not that far. But still about an hour out."
"Really?" Lucy complained loudly as she looked over her shoulder at her friend and pouted. The busty woman was wearing a pink Heart Kreuz shirt and a short white skirt with black thigh-high thin heeled boots. Her pouch for her celestial keys on one side and her whip on the other. "My ankles are killing me!"
"Well, you're not exactly wearing the right shoes for walking long distances, Lucy." Replied a raven-haired guy, his voice muffled as he was shedding his shirt, causing Lucy to grumble at him. His nearly removed shirt was a form-fitting navy blue accompanied by black pants with a belt and black combat boots.
"I was hoping we could grab an SE-car and drive out there…"
"Would you like to borrow my spare boots, Lucy?" Erza offered as she drew level with the blonde and requiped a pair of sturdy-looking boots in a hand which she held out to the woman but Lucy politely refused with a wave of her hand and a gentle smile.
"No, no. I'm good Erza, but thank you for the offer." Lucy turned to Natsu who was talking to a petite blunette walking beside him. She sped up and pouted cutely at the man. "Natsu, could you carry me so I can give my feet a rest?"
"All right." Natsu chuckled quietly and he removed his backpack, letting the bubbly woman leap onto his back. He jolted forward slightly but quickly righted himself and secured the woman with a hand under her arse. Before they had left for the job, Lucy had taken him shopping and helped pick out a new outfit for him; he was wearing a form-fitting black muscle shirt tucked into maroon pants and black boots, with a red coat that had gold trimming and golden flames on the sleeves rising from the cuffs. His scarf was neatly packed away inside his bag and instead he wore a small golden amulet that housed a Lacrima crystal which shone with the brilliant flames of his late father, the last few scraps of power that he could save and store before it had been burnt away in his fight against his brother. Now that the woman was settled on his back, he turned to Wendy and continued their conversation, "Anyway, how's the training going? Are those tips that I gave you working?"
"I think it's going well; I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger. What do think, Carla?" Wendy asked the white-haired Exceed nestled between her growing bust and her arms. Carla glanced up at her and gave her a small but proud smile.
"You have gotten much better, Wendy, but don't get too ahead or yourself; you still have some ways to go to reach your potential."
Her words caused the blue-haired girl to smile even more as she continued to talk to Natsu. While this is happening, the seventh and final member of the group was flying beside them and was poking fun at Lucy while prodding her arm with a paw. "If you weren't so heavy, Lucy, then maybe your ankles wouldn't hurt."
Lucy turned her head to the blue exceed and swatted at him like he was a fly, angry at his insult and for interrupting her enjoyment of Natsu's natural warmth. "Shut it Happy! You annoying cat!"
She kept trying to bat him away, but he just flew just outside of her reach while snicking each time. In an effort to appeal to Carla, the blue cat had started to wear some clothes instead of baring all of his feline glory, He was adorned with a simple blue hoodie with white sleeves and a small green Fairy Tail emblem on the front, blue pants that had white cuffs, and his green bag still on his back. He had also asked the Exceed to train him in Transformation magic, both to spend more time with Carla and to be more useful for their team, and become more appealing to the female Exceed.
Erza put the maps back into Lucy's bag and glanced around at their surroundings, finally noticing that Gray had taken his shirt off and was about to discard it. "Gray, put your shirt back on before you lose it." She demanded sternly, letting out a soft sigh and shaking her head in disbelief which made her long scarlet hair sway back and forth behind her. "I can't help but wonder just how much that habit of yours has cost you in clothing over the years."
"Uh, yeah… You probably don't want to know." Gray replied as he quickly put his shirt back on and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Probably where most of his money goes to, you know?" Natsu chimed in with a wide toothy grin. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's more hard-up than Lucy."
"Oi butt out of it flame brain." Retorted Gray sharply. "So how much further do we have to travel Erza?"
"Not much longer, we should be heading off into the woods soon." Erza answered. "But remember what the last few towns and villages have told us; there is Boscan Guild sneaking across the border and terrorising the area. If we come across them, we should eliminate them."
"If they're in the area, then we need to be careful." Natsu added. "We all know how fucked up Bosco is. They're as bad as the unregistered guilds."
Lucy tightened her arms around the neck, the memory of almost being kidnapped and becoming a sex slave in Bosco coming to the forefront of her mind. It had been years since it had happened but the thought was still horrifying. A warm hand came to rest on her arms and gently rubbed it, Natsu turning his head to look back at her, a silent question in his eyes. She smiled and whispered, "I'm fine, just remembering when we met."
"Right, but I'll always be here if you need me."
"Thank you."
Erza sighed as she led the way off the path and into a narrow track leading through the bush. "We've dealt with people like this before and have always come out on top. But since we don't know much about them, we should still be cautious of our surroundings. Natsu, I want you in front. Lucy, I know your feet are probably still sore but you'll have to walk from here on out."
"Got it." Natsu lowered the blonde to her feet and put his bag back on his back as he moved to the front. "Wendy, move to the back and keep alert."
"Right."
"I need you two to keep your eyes, ears, and noses out for anyone nearby." Erza looked from Natsu in front of her to Wendy behind her. "Warn us if you sense any threats nearby, no matter how small."
As they neared the edge of a clearing, Natsu gestured for the team to crouch down as he knelt behind a bush. In the centre was an old ruin. He sniffed the air as his eyes skimmed the grass and shrubbery. "Erza, is this the place?"
Erza reached into Lucy's bag and checked the maps, quietly replying, "Yeah. This is it. Smell something?"
"People have been through here recently; their scents still linger in the air and I can see trails in the grass." The pinkette pointed out where the grass had been bent over and the ground muddied by a number of boots. He used the silence to attune his ears to their surroundings, hearing the sound of a distant heartbeat and faint breathing coming from the tree canopy to their two-o'clock. "Scouts; in the distance. Probably keeping an eye on the place."
"Are they saying anything?" Erza whispered as she moved to the man's shoulder and looked down his arm to where he was pointing at the trees.
"No. I don't think we've been spotted yet. A miracle since we've got hair that stands out in this environment."
"Don't jinx it." Lucy muttered and she ducked her head lower, trying to keep her lustrous blonde hair out of sight.
"I can smell more on the wind but they're further out." Wendy chimed in. "There are voices on the wind too. Sounds like a Boscan dialect."
"It's way too open." Gray observed as he shifted his gaze over to the ruins. "We should wait for nightfall."
"I agree." Erza nodded slowly and she pulled back from the bush. "Let's back-track a little then get off this trail. We'll walk for a bit and make camp where the trees are dense."
"It's supposed to be moonless tonight." Lucy quietly spoke up as they moved away from the clearing. "We should be able to sneak in once it's dark enough."
The made their way into the overgrowth and set-up camp in a tight cluster of trees. They set up their tents and gathered around in the centre of their small circle. Erza grabbed the map they were given for the job and laid it out between them and grabbed a pencil, putting a circle over their rough location. "All right, we're here. Natsu, Wendy, mark the rough locations of where you heard and saw the enemy."
"Four in the trees here." Natsu took the pencil and placed X's over where he picked up the sound of the Boscans and then handed the pencil to Wendy who drew a circle around the area she picked up on the larger group.
"I can't give a solid answer on their numbers as everything was getting muddled together but they're one to two kilometres away."
"So, about thirty plus minutes in this terrain…" Erza murmured. "Depending on the ruins, it could take longer than that to find the artefact that our client is after."
"Why didn't they just send in a Treasure Hunter Guild?" Gray grumbled as he sat back against a tree and looked up at the tree canopy. "They specialise in pilfering ruins like this."
"Because of the rumours of Bosco mages in the area. They're probably after the artefact too." Erza replied, sparing the man a quick glance before turning her attention back to the map. "They're crude and cruel, and don't play by the same rules that we do in Fiore. Since they're here before us, expect trouble. We should rest our feet and try and get a little bit of sleep so we're fresh for the potential fight. We'll do a rotating watch, I'll go first, then Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Gray, and back to me. One hour each."
"Right." Natsu pushed up onto his feet and stretched out his limbs. "Since I've got second watch, I'm going to have a look around and see if I can find any more of these bastards."
"Just as long as you don't pick a fight with them, that's fine."
"I'll be back in an hour." Natsu nodded and grabbed the map and pencil, pocketing them before climbing the nearest tree. Once he was in the canopy, he leapt from one thick branch to the next, slowly making his way back to the clearing.
Now that he was higher up, he could see the tracks through the long grass a lot easier and he took out the map, drawing dashed lines along the routes that the hostile mages had taken. There was no rhyme or reasoning to their paths that he could see aside from a common path back toward their camp. Moving further around the clearing, he found the cluster of scouts sitting on low branches. The four men had binoculars hanging from their necks so it was lucky that they hadn't been spotted and decided to wait until it got darker. He rubbed out the X's on the map and placed them on the exact positions before moving on once more. There were a few more that had moved into position since they had arrived and he silently marked them on the map as he made a ring around the clearing and made his way back to camp.
Erza was sat on a small camping stool at the edge of their camp, silently reading a smutty novel when Natsu dropped from the tree in front of her, causing her to look up. "Right on time, what did you find?"
"More scouts have arrived since we backed away. They likely know we're here but don't know where exactly. They probably don't even know who exactly either, given that they're from Bosco. I've marked their current locations and their tracks in the clearing on the map." Natsu replied as he handed the map and pencil back to the woman for her to analyse. "They had binoculars too, so it was a good call not to move out into the open. They'd have spotted us instantly."
"You didn't push toward their camp?"
"It would've been too noisy if I did, and I wouldn't have made it back for my watch."
"Alright. You can take over. I'll go and see if I can make sense of their movements." Erza rose from her stool and headed for her tent, but before she could disappear inside, Natsu spoke up.
"Hey, Erza. When you get the chance, could you teach me Requip? I know I wouldn't be as quick and skilled as you in it, since you can dance through a battlefield like a warrior angel complete with bladed wings, but it would still come in handy in both my personal life and when we're on jobs."
Erza blushed a little at the man's wording but she looked over her shoulder with a happy smile. "Sure, I'd be happy to teach you. But let's leave it for when we're done here. All right?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Enjoy your rest." Natsu nodded and he took a seat on the vacated stool, sighing quietly. The forest was quiet save for the sound of birds, crickets, frogs, and the gentle breaths of his friends. It seemed like the hostile mages were more concerned with keeping watch over the ruins than finding them. The whole thing reeked of a trap but they had to tough it out and complete their job contract. Once his time was up, he rose from his seat and made his way to Lucy's tent. He found the beautiful blonde splayed out atop her sleeping back, her shirt pushed up to just under her substantial breasts from moving around in her sleep, baring her midriff. Natsu took a moment to admire his gorgeous best friend before kneeling down and placing his hand over her toned stomach, giving her a gentle shake as he quietly said, "Luce, wake up, it's time for your shift."
"Mm, a few more minutes Natsu." Lucy murmured and she rolled onto her side, taking the man's arm with her and hugging it between her breasts.
As much as he enjoyed the softness of her tits, Natsu gently removed his arm and placed his hand on her hip, shaking her a little more vigorously. "Luce, if you don't wake up, I won't be held responsible for what I do to wake you."
"Okay, okay." Lucy yawned softly as she slowly sat up and smiled at the man. "Don't let happy hear that, you'll give him ideas."
"He's asleep in my tent, so it'll be fine." Natsu chuckled quietly. "It's your turn to keep watch."
"Would you mind keeping me company?" Lucy asked quietly as she moved past the man and stepped outside, stretching out her body and pulling her shirt back down. "It's fine if you want to sleep."
"Eh, I can but I'm going to be using you as a pillow." Natsu remarked as he stood up beside the beautiful blonde. He followed her back to the edge of the camp but instead of taking a seat on the stool, Lucy sat on the grass with her legs folded to one side.
"That's fine, I don't mind." Lucy replied warmly and she patted her thighs, offering them up.
Natsu laid down beside her and rested his head on her soft thighs, flashing the woman a quick grin before closing his eyes and letting himself relax while Lucy ran her fingers through his hair. He was shaded from the evening sun peaking through the canopy by the blonde's ample bust, allowing him to drift off to sleep, supported by a vanilla-scented cloud.
Something felt off, Natsu could smell things burning and when he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a vast field filled with a raging fire. But the flames weren't the brilliant orange that he was used to or the red of his Fire Dragon King mode, these were a nefarious maroon and radiated a dark power. He turned on the spot, taking in the carnage and calling out to his friends but there was no reply, only the sound of crackling fire. That was, until a faint chuckling echoed through the fire from behind him.
"Who's out there?" He called out as he whipped around to the source of the sound but all he saw was fire yet the chuckling grew louder. Natsu started walking to the sound and they began to grow even louder and progressed into a maniacal laughter as a shadowy figure rose out of the fire at his approach. "Who, or what, are you?"
"You really are stupid if you can't figure out that one for yourself…" The shadow solidified into a male outline and opened its eyes, revealing demonic red irises as glowing maroon ember markings appeared on his arms, torso and neck. "Come on, Kiddo, we've known each other for most of our life. Just think back a few years, I'm sure you'll recognise the feeling of his power, of the sight that surrounds us." The shadow raised his arms, gesturing to the fields of intense fire around them. However, he became slightly aggravated at Natsu's continued ignorance, so he cut to the chase. "Look, I'm here like this because I can tell something big is going to happen soon. Those bastards are planning something and shit is going to hit the fan and make a fucking mess of the place if you aren't careful. I know you're strong, but I don't think you'll be able to face this alone, you'll need my help."
The figure stepped forward out of the ethereal shadows, revealing a tanned complexion, pink hair, the same scars as the man opposite him. The only difference between the two men were the blood-red eyes and markings that glowed with demonic power. "You need to trust me."
Natsu awoke with a start, his eyes shooting wide open. Dim light streamed in and his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he was in a pink tent and he could feel Lucy snuggled up to his side. He glanced at her and started to relax, stealing a quick hug from the sleeping woman to calm his nerves before leaving the tent. He needed to find Gray; he needed his advice.
At the sound of rustling, Gray looked over at the source. Noticing the pinkette approaching, he quietly asked, "What's up ash for brains?"
"I need to talk, Gray." Natsu replied softly, running a pale hand down his face as he sat down next to Gray.
"Being serious huh?" At his friend's nod Gray continued. "So, what is it you need to talk about?"
"END" Natsu replied. His gaze was glued to his hands. "I had a weird dream that everything was on fire… The short of it is that he warned me about something coming, that these bastards probably have something dangerous up their sleeves that would mean I need his power. His true strength… my true strength."
Gray watched the unusually pale man with a worried expression and a shocked glimmer in his eyes. "Look, I'm no Cana and I don't have a tarot card deck on me, but I think I know a bad sign when I see one. And that sounds completely foreboding."
"I know what you mean. When I scouted around, I couldn't see, hear, or smell anything that could warrant that kind of reaction. And even now, I can't pick up on anything nearby. In the distance, yeah, but not near our camp."
"I don't know man, but hopefully it was just a bad dream and nothing more." Gray said as he stretched out his arms and legs to regain feeling in them.
"I'm not sure, it felt too real you know?" Natsu stated as he turned to look at his friend. "What if it was END? You saw what happened during the war, in fact, you fought me when I lost control…"
"Yeah, I did." Gray sighed quietly. "But we both had lost something then and weren't thinking straight, not to mention that Invel fucker from Alvarez turned me against you."
"He told you I was Zeref's brother as well as END, right?" Seeing Gray nod, he continued, "It's not really your fault, you promised your dad that you'd kill END not knowing it was me. And after losing Juvia, you were blinded by rage. I was the same with Lucy, but I was angry at my brother for causing all this."
"If you could change the way things ended, what would you do?" Gray asked as he turned to face Natsu.
"I'd find a way to remove both Mavis and Zeref's curses, so they can live a normal life, but I think that's a bit farfetched…" Natsu murmured quietly. "But then at least they'd have a real chance to be together, I'd also get to be with the brother that I never really knew I had until it was too late. Yeah, they reincarnated and all but if I could've helped them, I would have. If I had known sooner, like back on Tenrou, I would've been able to do something."
"Good intentions, but do you think he deserved a better outcome?"
"Yes, not only did he give me a second chance at life, but he taught Mavis and the other founders magic. He made it possible for them to form Fairy Tail, to give us all a home. I know he had done bad things, but is Fairy Tail not about giving people second chances? We did that with Laxus, Gajeel, Jellal and Crime Sorcière. Some of them did some pretty heinous things too."
"I can see where you're coming from." Gray sighed and nodded slowly. He took out his Lacrima Phone and checked the time. "We should wake the others, it's about time to make our move."
"I'll take care of Lucy and Erza; you can get Wendy and the Exceeds." Natsu rose to his feet and slipped into Lucy's tent as the raven-haired man passed by behind him. He gently shook the woman awake and jerked his head toward the entrance flap before leaving and waking Erza. Once they were all gathered in a circle at the centre of their camp, he spoke up, "Now should be a good time to move. It's dark enough that we should be fine crossing that clearing but let's stay low just to be sure. …And, I should probably tell you something. While I was sleeping, I had a dream where END appeared before me with a warning. Basically, we need to be careful, we might be walking into a bigger trap than what we expect."
"Do you think it's the truth?" Erza asked cautiously.
"The fact that it happened means that I've noticed something subconsciously but haven't consciously picked up on it. Something that could get me or those I care about killed. It's enough to put me on edge about these ruins, so we should at least exercise some caution."
"All right, we'll proceed with caution then." Erza nodded slowly and she gestured for the man to lead with the wave of her hand. "Let's go."
Natsu moved through the forest, leading the way back to the trail while keeping his sharp senses trained on their surroundings. He could hear the scouts in the distance, their voices carried by the cold and dense night air. As he reached the clearing, he knelt down behind a bush and took in the landscape, his sharp eyes scanning the tree line. "I see light in the distance, through the trees. Hear voices too. I think they've shifted positions from when I came by earlier, though not by much."
"How many?" Erza looked at the man next to her before turning her attention back to the dark ruins ahead of them.
"Before there were five sites, each with four people… now there are six or seven sites… and I think eight per site, give or take. Makes sense though, they would want to beef up their watch to try and catch people moving past them." Natsu glanced at Erza then pointed to the long grass. "If we go on our hands and knees, we should be covered enough that they wouldn't see movement in the darkness. We'll need to be careful in the ruins itself though and find the entrance to the underground section as quick as we can."
"Right, let's keep it to single file so we don't make noticeable tracks. Gray, move up behind Natsu, we'll be behind you. Happy, Carla, lie down on Wendy's back and don't use Aera, I don't want to risk them picking up on our magical signatures."
"Aye Sir."
Getting down onto his hands and knees, Natsu pushed forward, slipping into the long grass and leading the way to the ruins. He kept his ears trained on the scouts, listening for any signs that they had spotted them. Progress was slow and a little painful but they persisted until they reached the ruined structure and slipped behind the half-destroyed walls.
"Anything?" Erza asked quietly as she moved up to the dragon slayer's side.
"Just idle chatter." Natsu peaked around a wall and looked at the tree line, his eyes narrowing at the dancing lights in the distance. "They've got little campfires going, so they're probably eating and not watching the ruins. If we find the entrance now, we should be able to slip in without any trouble."
"Then we'll spread out." Erza turned to the rest of their team. "Lucy and Happy will go with Natsu, Wendy and Carla will come with Gray and I. That way we'll have a means of quiet communication by relaying information between Natsu and Wendy."
"Let's go, Happy." Lucy smiled softly at the blue cat as she gently took him off of Wendy's shoulder and held him in her arms as she wandered over to Natsu. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah." Natsu followed the blonde as the team split in two. His gaze skimmed across the rubble strewn floor, searching for scrapes or concealed levers and buttons but every now and then, as his eyes drifted past Lucy, his gaze lingered on her figure and the sway of her hips as she walked.
"You're staring at me again, Natsu." Lucy remarked quietly as she looked over her shoulder with a playful smile. "Focus on the job, not my arse."
"It's hard, Luce." Natsu chuckled quietly.
"I'm sure you are, considering you like to ogle me more and more the older we've gotten. Though, I do enjoy the attention." Lucy reached out and gently placed a finger under Natsu's chin, lifting his head to look her in the eyes.
"If you two keep flirting, I will say it." Happy looked up at Lucy then over to his adoptive father.
"I'll just do it back to you next time you're with Carla." The blonde shot back light-heartedly as she smiled down at the cat.
Natsu chuckled quietly and moved past the blonde so she wouldn't distract him and he kept scanning his eyes over the area, searching thoroughly for either the entrance or a means of opening it. The ruin used to be a sizable mausoleum with a catacomb underneath it, so the most likely location for the entrance would be in the centre or toward the back. It seemed that the other group had a similar idea as they came in from the opposite wing at the same time.
"Any luck?" Erza asked quietly.
"Not yet. I figured it would probably be over here though."
Wendy split off from the group, following a scent she picked up on the wind. As she approached the source, she stumbled as her foot fell further than she expected it to. Looking down, she saw a pair of metal doors covered in a thick layer of dust and rocks. She started to clear it and smiled; she had found it. The blunette glanced over her shoulder and hissed quietly, "Natsu, over here."
Natsu's attention snapped to the teen and he waved for the rest of the team to follow him as he jogged over to Wendy. He helped the girl move debris from the doors and bush away the dust and sniffed the air, remarking, "Smells like death down there. This is the place."
"Given that this place is likely hundreds of years old, those hinges are going to be stiff and rusty." Gray murmured as he knelt down beside Wendy and narrowed his eyes, trying to see the condition of the metal in the darkness. "If we had Gajeel with us, he could just bite through it but we're going to have to do this the hard way. Especially if we're trying not to give ourselves away by using magic."
Natsu placed his hands on the two hinges of the left door and began circulating his magic within him, raising the temperature of his hands until the metal glowed brightly then he eased the door open and repeated it for the right door. "That shouldn't have been a large enough signature for them to pick up on."
"It reeks of death down there…" Wendy murmured as the scent became more intense now that the doors were open. "Maybe we aren't the only ones to go down here in recent years?"
"I'll go first." Natsu said as he took the lead once again, descending the stone stairs into the catacombs. As he passed by a wall-mounted torch, he took it from the holder and clicked his fingers over the top, sending a flurry of embers down onto the torch and igniting it, lighting the way for the rest of the team.
"I don't like it down here." Wendy murmured as she moved closer to Natsu. She could feel her hair stand on end and goosebumps rise on her skin. "Yeah, something feels off."
"My instincts are screaming at me too." Natsu agreed, nodding slowly as he held the torch out further, illuminating the path ahead of him. "Fall in behind me, step in my footprints. We don't know if this place is boobytrapped."
"Heh, he said booby." Happy giggled quietly, earning a disapproving glare from Carla.
"This isn't the time for immaturity, Happy." The white cat chided the blue one from Wendy's shoulder. "Focus on looking for pressure pads or tripwire. Our eyes are better than theirs so it's the least we can do."
"I smell poison in the walls." Natsu remarked and he raised the torch higher, illuminating vents at the tops and bottoms of the walls as well as holes around thigh, stomach, and shoulder height. "And those holes look like spike traps. Try not to get skewered, they're probably laced with poison too."
"There are a lot of skeletons around." Lucy muttered while glancing around. Some had broken bones and others looked completely crushed by something big and heavy. "It reminds me of the caverns under Mercurius."
"Probably got a lung-full of that poison, or skewered as Pinkie put it." Gray murmured as he leaned over to inspect one of the crushed skeletons. "Do you think it would be too cliché to think this was done by a boulder trap?"
"I wouldn't be surprised, Frosty." Natsu shot back, glancing over his shoulder. "Just one more thing that we need to be cautious of…"
They entered the main crypt chamber which had a plinth not far from the foot of a stone casket, which had a gold figure stood atop it. Other artefacts were sat their one plinths or shelves around the room and there were chests along the walls. The tomb must have belonged to someone socially powerful and wealthy.
"Damn thing looks like a fertility statue." Natsu muttered as he leaned down and inspected the buxom statue. It may have been small, standing at fifteen-centimetres-tall but it was immaculately crafted and had incredibly fine details like nipples, labia, and perfectly defined lines where the body curves flowed into each other. There even seemed to be pubic hair lightly etched into the crotch of the figure. "Is this what it, what that chick wanted us to find?"
"Looks about right…" Erza murmured and she reached between her breastplate and her undershirt, pulling out a drawing. She held it up to the side of the statue and looked at the pinkette. "Looks identical. Seems like the one."
As she reached out to grab the figure, Natsu grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait, we don't know if it'll be trapped. The plinth looks odd so I think it we should play it safe."
"Yes. You're right." Erza stepped back and stuffed the drawing back under her armour. "Sorry, I was getting ahead of myself."
"Nah, it's fine. I want to get out of here too before those bastards above us notice something is up." Natsu murmured and he ripped a flag from the wall and grabbed some gold coins. He hoped the makeshift bag weighed enough to stop the plinth from triggering the traps.
"Shall I?" Erza asked as she held out a hand.
"Well, since women are supposed to have better fine movement than men, sure." Natsu dropped the bag into the redhead's hand and watched as she juggled it to test the weight. "Don't fondle it too much, that fabric is old."
"All right, let's do this." Erza murmured and she slowly leaned down over the plinth. She grasped the idol and slowly moved it to the side as she moved the bag in then slowly transferred the weight from one item to the other. Once the figure was safely in her hand, she straightened up and let out a shaky breath. "Phew, I think it worked."
As Natsu opened his mouth to praise the woman, a clink echoed from the bag. One of the coins had shifted and the momentary change in weight was enough to trigger the pressure plate. A click echoed from within the plinth and the raised plate that the idol had sat on sank down. "Ah fuck."
As the mages backed away from the plinth, a rumble shook the catacombs. A surge of magic drew their attention to the ceiling above the pedestal as a large magic circle became active and glowed a bright light-blue. A portal opened and a large boulder fell through it, crushing the plinth and starting to roll forward.
"Fucking Run!" Natsu shouted and he pushed the redhead toward the entrance of the room as a stone door began to lower slowly and start to cut off their exit.
Since the rumbles would've alerted the scouts above them anyway, Erza used Requip to store the statue and keep it safe as she started to sprint to the front of the group. They slipped under the door and kept running, hoping it would stop the boulder but it crashed through the door like it was made of paper mâché. Not only did it do nothing to slow the gigantic rock down, the damn thing sped up. The redhead requiped her adamantine shields and threw one back. "Natsu, slow it down!"
"If I get squished because of this, I'm fucking haunting you for the rest of your life!" Natsu grabbed the shield and turned, slamming it into the ground and bracing himself against it.
"Won't be haunting me for long if we don't get out of here!" Erza shouted back and she used the other half of her shield to ram through the spikes thrusting out from the walls as a mist slipped through the vents and filled the catacombs with a hazy fog.
Another click echoed through the ruins and Lucy's attention snapped down as she felt her foot sink a little. She let out a soft squeak as darts began to shoot from the walls, "Oops…"
Before the darts could hit them, Gray clicked his fingers, snap freezing the walls and ceiling with his devil-slaying ice. As the temperature plummeted, he called out, "There, no more darts or spears!"
"I think you're still forgetting about something." Natsu growled loudly as the boulder grinded against the shield, sending sparks scattering across the floor between metal and stone. The boulder must have been magically enhanced too since it weighed way too much for its appearance and it was pushing Natsu back, leaving a gouge in the stone floor from the adamantine shield. "I can use a hand here! The second I pull back to punch it is the second it'll turn the lot of us into red paste!"
"Coming!" Lucy turned on the ball of her foot and started sprinting back toward Natsu. She activated her Taurus Star Dress and dug her foot into the stone as she delivered a powerful kick straight into the boulder. The large rock stuttered before shattering in a shower of stone back down the hallway.
Natsu lurched forward from the sudden loss of pressure and he let out a long whistle and looked up at the leg that hovered over his shoulder then down toward Lucy's hips and slowly up her torso until he reached her face. "You know, I think that makes up for setting off the darts."
"You can thank me later." Lucy pulled back her leg and slipped a hand under Natsu's arm, pulling him upright and back down the hallway.
"All right, let's get out of here." Erza reached out and took the adamantine half-shield from Natsu and stored both halves. "Lead the way, Natsu."
Natsu shot to the front of the group, leading the charge through the dense mist filling the catacomb. His vision began to swim but he continued sprinting toward the exit, pushing through the nausea.
As they neared the stairway, the mist thinned and fresh air filled their lungs but it did little to ease the effects of the poison. The mages staggered to the surface and fell to their knees, breathing deeply to force the cold night air into their lungs and clear out the poisonous mist.
"I'm feeling woozy…" Lucy murmured as she sat up on her knees, panting softly. Her Star Dress stuttered and shattered in a shower of golden light, causing her to look down in shock. "Uhh… I didn't dispel that."
"Shit." Erza cursed, glancing back at the blonde while trying to activate Requip but her magic wouldn't respond. It felt like sludge inside her.
"See! What did I tell you all?!" A man laughed loudly as he strode into the ruins, accompanied by two dozen men and women, each with weapons or spells charged and ready to fire. "I told you they'd get that idol for us, and by the look of it, they probably cleared out all the traps too. It's Payday!"
"Who the hell are you?" Erza grunted as she drew her sword and pushed herself to her unsteady feet.
"Akira Gravehart." The man replied, speaking with a thick, growly Boscan drawl. "We're from Obsidian Tomb. You probably haven't heard of us since you Fiorian mages have your heads shoved so far up your arses that you can see daylight. We're here for the treasure in this mausoleum, and you've got one particular high-ticket item on you. Hand it over."
"Heh, unfortunately, you've locked it within Erza's Requip." Natsu grinned as he forced himself to his feet and bared his fangs like a wild animal. "Nice little party trick you've got here, what is it?"
"Well, since we'll have to kill you to open that vault, there's no harm in telling you." Akira snarled menacingly as he stabbed his claymore into the stone and leaned against it, putting his weight on the weapon. "A specialised rune barrier that projects a dome with magic suppression properties. It's specially keyed to allow us to fight at full strength but anyone not bearing our guild mark will be forbidden from using any form of magic. Good luck finding the anchor mages. Here's a hint; there are more than just one. And don't bother running, there are more of us outside."
"Poisoned, nauseous, no magic… hell of a handicap." Natsu's grin grew as END's words echoed in his mind. "Sounds like we've got one hell of a party on our hands."
"No holding back." Erza ordered as she gripped her longsword with both hands and lowered into a fighting stance. "No screwing about, killing blows from the get-go."
"Aye." The Fairy Tail mages called out in unison, each one preparing to fight.
All right. Yeah. This is a hell of a lot better than what I originally came up with years ago. It flows a lot better, looks a lot better, the general content seems like it is better. The chapter went from 4.7k words to 7.4k words so there is an increase in what is here even though I did cut some small sections from the original version. I am really, really happy with how it turned out and it has made me eager to go through these chapters and bring them up to this standard.
Thank you for reading this chapter, whether you've come back to check it out or are starting new, I hope you have enjoyed it and please keep an eye out for when a chapter goes from (Under Rewrite) to (R) as that's when I've uploaded the new version of the chapter. There's more info in my profile but of course, be ware of spoilers for this story and my others. Speaking of, if you are interested in reading more of what I've done, check out The Agency or The Fallen Dragon.
Bare in mind, there may be small continuity issues between original and rewritten chapters, please just bear with it.
Again, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter, I'll see you in the next one or the next rewritten chapter.