33"Dialogue"
"Thoughts"
Magic
The rest of the train ride, and by extension most of the day, went by in a relatively uneventful blur - for Natsu, at least. After the short conversation about why Mira wanted to go to Magnolia so badly, Natsu wasn't able to keep his motion sickness at bay for much longer - resulting in him trying, and failing, to desperately fall asleep; that being the only way he can really mitigate the effects of his motion sickness, for more than a few minutes. Despite his best efforts however, the pink-haired man found himself unable to sleep - his mind stuck in the numerous questions clawing around his brain. "Why is Carla back? Where is Wendy and Chelia? What does this King dude want? Matter of fact.. WHO even IS King? What does he hope to accomplish by doing all of this?" Natsu was jostled out of his stupor, as the train began to slow down, coming to a stop. Instantly, as soon as his ears heard the sound of the train doors opening, and a voice announcing their arrival to Hargeon - Natsu was gone, scrambling out of the train in a truly impressive, almost superhuman, feat of speed.
"OH SWEET LAND HOW I'VE MISSED YOU!" Natsu exclaimed, tears of joy comically weeping from his face, as he stepped down onto the stone pavement.
In the dragonslayer's haste and excitement, he unknowingly managed to block the exit door, resulting in many of tired and annoyed passengers simply walking over the dragonslayer - with many people walking on his back, as they made their way off the train to do their own respective business. Amongst this wave of people came Ultear and Mira, each with their own varying expressions. Ultear looked on amusedly at Natsu, watching with a giggle as the poor man shakily brought himself up off of the floor, with his clothes sufficiently covered in dirt and dust from the walking passengers. Mira on the other hand, with an unconscious Carla still in her hands, just stared agape at Natsu - finding his behavior (prior to being walked all over) an odd mixture of cute and embarrassing. Though as the white-haired woman looked at Natsu getting up defeatedly, she couldn't help but let out another rambunctious laugh - taking just as much amusement in him being used like a stepping stone, as she did when he was experiencing his motion sickness.
"Heh- bwahaha! You're such a dweeb!" Mira taunted playfully, as she saw Natsu get up. Not wasting anymore time, she herself finally fully disembarked from the train - stepping towards and then past Natsu, as she examined their surroundings.
Natsu gave a look of defeat at Mira's teasing insult, resulting in the dragonslayer crossing his arms, and huffing childishly, as he buried his face into his scarf, a little. "Ulteaaaar- Mira's being meaaaan!" The pink-haired man pouted, turning to look towards Ultear, his eyes shining playfully and expectantly.
Ultear simply rolled her eyes at this, though her face bore an amused expression. Stepping off the train as well, she'd walk up next to Natsu, shaking her head with a 'tisking' sound, as she did. "What? The great Natsu unable to prevent himself being teased?" Ultear giggled, as she jumped in on teasing Natsu.
Natsu's face portrayed a look of mock betrayal, as he stared at Ultear for a few silent seconds… before breaking out into a fit of laughter, which was soon joined by both Ultear and Mira. While people walked throughout the open-air train station, they couldn't help but to give the three laughing mages peculiar glances. While some idolized Mira and Ultear, having recognized them at first glance - others looked downright confused, at the trip laughing together at some sort of inside joke none of them understood. Though many of those looks quickly turned bitter with jealousy, mostly from the men, as it was apparent just how close the pink-haired man actually was with two of the most beautiful woman of Fiore.
After the three mages had a chance to settle down their laughter, they'd begin to walk through the busy streets of Hargeon - with Natsu taking the lead, having the most experience with the city, in comparison to Mira and Ultear.
"Woah, this place is beautiful." Mira said, as she walked alongside Natsu and Mira, examining the harbor - which was much larger than Gracia's own harbor. "I always forget how small Gracia is." Mira muttered absentmindedly, as she looked around.
Ultear chuckled a little, before nodding her head. "Mhm. Gracia is quite small… the smallest major city in Fiore, to be precise. Though I suppose that's what helps keep it's charm!" As Ultear said that, she couldn't help but to catch notice of a nearby hotel, with Rune Knights stationed outside the door. "That's the fifth building I've seen with Rune Knights.." She mused.
"Because of Magnolia, if I had to wager." Natsu responded, as he looked over his shoulder towards Ultear. "They're probably on high alert, because of the state of panic. I'm surprised there's this many people still traveling to Hargeon, honestly." As Natsu said that, the trio of mages turned a corner on the street they were walking - Natsu immediately noticing a large, seemingly hastily put-together, medical tent - just outside of Hargeon's primary hospital.
"Woah- look at all those people!" Mira exclaimed, as she took in the sight as well. Throughout the entirety of the tent, as well as a hefty section of area surrounding the hospital and medical tent, there was what could only be described as a massive crowd of people, all varying in appearance, with the exception of the general look of unease and exhaustion that haunted all their faces - along with each person having some form of visible injury.
"they must be refugees from Magnolia." Ultear said, a frown on her face.
Mira shared Ultear's feelings, frowning at the sight as well. "How far is Magnolia from here?" The Take-Over mage asked, her question being directed at no one in particular. That was when she noticed a quick flash of golden light come from Natsu, who was then staring at a worn-journal, one that Mira has never seen before. Though before she could ask Natsu about it, the book vanished from his hands in another burst of golden light, and he spoke up.
"It's about three hours from here - a bit faster, if we move at a brisk pace." He paused, looking towards the sky, his eyes squinting as he tried to judge time. "If we leave now.. we'll probably only have to travel through the night for an hour or so." Natsu said, before looking at Mira and Ultear. "Any objections?" He asked, with a smile.
Ultear shook her head no - even though a small frown was on her face. "And to think, I was hoping to get a cute date in Hargeon before we left." The black-haired woman sulked ruefully. Though her eyes glanced over to the side, where she saw Mira staring intently at the medical tent. "Oh well. It's for the best. A date would be too hard with Mira here, anyways." Ultear looked towards Natsu once again, before smiling. "Oh well! When I win the cooking competition in a month, I bet Natsu will fall for me regardless~!" Ultear thought, before she giggled, earning her a perplexed look from Natsu, that she simply waved off - literally.
Mira would also shake her head, though with a much more serious look on her face - as if she was stuck in deliberation or contemplation. Seeing the victims of the siege on Magnolia first-hand filled Mira with a sense of anger, at the travesty wrecked upon the poor people. Though the sight that really destroyed Mira, was that of a little girl, crying into their mother's chest, asking when Dad will be back; only to be met with quiet sobs from the mother, and a tight embrace… "Hey, Natsu." Mira said, her voice monotone, completely different than her usually boisterous attitude.
"Yeah, Mira?" Natsu responded, looking towards the white-haired woman. Upon looking at the woman, Natsu's eyes immediately squinted, before a small smirk spread across his face. "Man.. Mira's pumped up. Sheer overwhelming intensity.. it's radiating off of her like a bad stench." Natsu thought to himself, as he felt his body tense up a little, as if it was preparing itself for a fight.
"Whoever did this to all these innocent people… we're going to make them pay, right?" She asked, as she felt a hot liquid sliding down her palm, and dripping onto the streets; previously unaware that her hand was bleeding, from the force behind her clenched fist.
Noticing the blood, Ultear's frown came right back - as she made her way next to Mira. She pulled some bandaging out of a satchel she had with her, as she tentatively cared for the white-haired mages now bleeding hand. Even Ultear had to admit, however, that Mira's intensity was even affecting her, as she took subtle and careful movements while bandaging her friend and subordinate.
Natsu eyed Mira intently at this point, before nodding his head. "Yeah, Mira. But.. calm down, okay? We'll need to keep calm and collected. Save all that pent up anger for when we're fighting, Kay?" Natsu said, a smile on his face.
Mira, after hearing Natsu's words and feeling Ultear bandage her hand - suddenly blinked rapidly, as if coming out of some form of daze, before looking away, her face flushed with embarrassment. "Y-yeah.. sorry bout that. Didn't mean to.. well, you know." Mira said, as she let Ultear bandage her hand up, gratefully.
"Don't worry, Mira. It's completely understandable." Ultear responded, with a kind and comforting tone, as she finished up with the quick patchwork job. She'd stand up fully, before looking over towards Natsu. "So, shall we get going?" She asked, with a smile.
Natsu nodded his head, as he looked around the street for a minute. "If I remember correctly, it should be… yep, this way! Alright, let's get going!" Natsu exclaimed, oddly cheerfully, as he started making his way towards the general direction of Magnolia, walking through the bustling streets with his two comrades. As the trio of mages made their way through the city, the air was thick with tension - as they took in more and more sights of victims from the Magnolia attack. Though they eventually found themselves to the outskirts of Hargeon, the trio was stopped by a patrol of Rune Knights.
"Halt!" The Rune Knight who seemed to be in charge said, as Natsu, Ultear, and Mira came close to him. "All routes to Magnolia are currently being blocked off, due to the recent attack. We'd suggest you to turn around now." The man spoke, his voice firm.
"I'll handle this." Ultear muttered, only to get a nod from Mira, and a casual shrug of indifference from Natsu. Making her way the few extra steps towards the Rune Knights, Ultear would put on an amicable smile, as she greeted them. "Hello. I'm aware the state of travel between Hargeon and Magnolia, with the recent attack. However, we're on our way to provide support for Fairy Tail." With that being said, Ultear reached into her Kimono, before pulling out a piece of paper, and handing it to the Rune Knight. "Here's the documentation. As you'll see, I'm the guild master of Mermaid Heel, and this is official directions from the King of Fiore himself." Ultear said, only somewhat lying through her teeth as she did.
The man took the paper into hand, scrutinizing the missive intensely, before turning towards his men behind him, and giving a soft nod. As a result, the rest of the Knights parted ways, breaking up the miniature blockade, as the Captain handed the documentation back. "Alright, everything seems to be official. Be safe out there." He said, before also moving to the side.
With a nod, and a beckon of her two companions, Uktear began to make her way forwards, walking past the regimen of Rune Knights as she did. While Natsu followed behind Ultear, he gave her a quizzical look for a moment, though he tried his best to hide any suspicion he had from the Knights. "Official documentation from the King?" Natsu thought skeptically, though he kept his thoughts to himself - for now. Though as they continued their journey, and got well enough away from Hargeon for any Rune Knights to hear - Natsu would finally ask what's on his mind. "Ultear.. that was official, right?" He asked, his tone holding a bit of skepticism. As he asked his question, he noticed Ultear's body stiffening a little - a telltale sign. "You… was that a forgery!?" He asked, his eyes widening noticeably.
On Mira's end, her head shot back and forth between Natsu and Ultear, her own eyes bulging a little bit, as the implicit hit her. "Uhhh.. Natsu, I'm sure it was perfectly legit and reasonable!" Mira exclaimed brightly, though she herself was doubting her own answer, a little. "Right Ultear?" She asked for reassurance, with a shaky smile, that seemed to only grow shakier by the second without an answer.
Still walking ahead of Natsu and Mira, Ultear would suddenly stop in her tracks, rather abruptly. Then, with a shaky look over her shoulder, she gave the two mages an embarrassed smile, as she scratched her cheek a little. "Well… I'm just not going to answer. So you can have plausible deniability, and all that." Ultear responded, with a sheepish giggle.
At her response, Mira's eyes seemed to bulge out even further - as she grabbed at her own hair, like a lunatic. "Ultear! What are you thinking!? Do you know how much trouble we could've got in for that!?" She asked, in a semi-shout, as she tried to fully comprehend and absorb the information she just acquired.
Natsu, for his part, was remaining completely silent. His face seemed stoic and impartial, which both soothed Ultear's nerves, and made them worse. Though during Mira's tirade, Natsu would suddenly throw his head back, barking out laughter like a madman. Natsu was laughing so much so, that he had to actually double over to keep himself stable, the sounds of his jovial amusement echoing throughout the landscape around them.
This, in turn, caused Mira to quit her tirade - as she turned to look towards Natsu, with confusion and a hint of worry. "Umm.. Natsu? Are you okay?" Mira asked, slightly worried for her friend. "Don't tell me he's gone mad…" She thought to herself, as she stared at the pink-haired slayer.
"Hahaha! Haha.. haha. Yeah, yeah I'm good." Natsu finally managed to get out, as he finished laughing. Taking a few steps forward, he walked past Mira, ruffling her hair a bit as he did, earning him a startled sound and protest from the Take-Over mage. "Sorry, just thought that was great. Exactly something my dumbass would do. I'd just probably get caught, hah!" Natsu responded, a toothy grin on his lips as he then walked past the startled, and now slightly blushing, Ultear. "Don't ever change, 'Tear." Natsu remarked jovially, as he began to lead the two on the rest of their journey to Magnolia.
For her part, Mira was simply confused by the whole interaction that had just occurred. "So.. first Ultear LIES about being on an official mission by the King of Fiore, but then shows an illegal forgery of official documentation? Then Natsu's response is… is to laugh like a madman, and tell her never to change?" Mira stared at Natsu and Ultear, her eyes barring an incredibly perplexed expression, before she just let out a sigh, and shook her head; her left thumb and pointer finger massaging the bridge of her nose. "Since when was I the sensible one?" Mira thought to herself. Despite this, however, she couldn't help but feel a smile creeping up her lips, as she relished in the company of the two other mages - one in particular.
Ultear's reaction to Natsu's behavior was much more… different, than Mira's, for lack of better words. She was just as confused as her fellow female mage, but her confusion ended as soon as Natsu addressed her, having been replaced with a completely separate feeling - one she's growing all too used to, when it comes to being around the pink-haired man. "Hey Mira?" Ultear asked, without turning around to look at the white-haired girl, instead focusing her attention on Natsu's retreating figure, as he seemed to be lost in his own world - jovially whispering some random tune.
"Yeah Ultear?" Mira responded, as she walked over to her guildmaster. She found herself stopping dead in her tracks, however, as she stood by Ultear's side - her eyes widening, for what welt like the tenth time that day, as she saw her masters face - red like Erza's hair.
"Am I not as attractive as I used to be?" Ultear asked, almost absentmindedly - without taking her eyes off Natsu's back, or losing her blush.
"Umm.. of course you are? Honestly, I'd go as far as to say you've only grown more attractive as you've aged-" Mira started, only to wince as she received a piercing gaze from her master, probably due to insinuating that Ultear was way older than she actually is. With that particular gaze over with, Mira continued speaking. "But - um, well, you're probably the second most beautiful girl in Mermaid Heel - behind me, of course." Mira finished, with a voice that seemed to lack any form of ego or arrogance - as if she were simply stating a hard fact.
Ultear shook her head a little, at how Mira ended her little pep talk - but otherwise agreed with what her comrade said. "Then why is it." Ultear stopped speaking for a moment, as she crossed her arms under her chest. "That no matter how provocative or flirtatious I am with Natsu, he doesn't so much as bat an eye? He gets embarrassed, sure, but that's it!" Ultear huffed, with a little pout. "Meanwhile, he calls me a silly little nickname, and suddenly my heart feels like it wants to explode and dance and sing with joy all at once!?" Ultear whisper-screamed, so Natsu wouldn't outright hear her - but that was the only form of holding back she could manage, as she instinctively reached up and gripped onto the side of her head with her hands, tugging at her hair in frustration.
Mira listened with awe and surprise as Ultear outright admitted how she felt in regards to Natsu, so casually. "WHAT!? I knew she liked him, but not that she liked him that much…!? And why is she telling me!? She's well aware about my feelings for him… wait.. HOW DOES SHE EVEN KNOW THAT?!" Mira's train of thought was a complete train wreck at this point, jumping from one strain of thought to another, like an acrobat. Though she was pulled out of her stunned silence by Ultear, who began to speak once again.
"Honestly, it's so infuriating..! The more he resists my charms, the more annoyed and obsessed I become! I wonder if he has a type? I'm pretty sure Sorcerer Weekly said that Gothic fashion is becoming more and more popular… hey, Mira - You're Goth! Got any tips so I can seduce Natsu~?" Ultear asked, after rambling on for a while.
"Wh- huh- Goth? Tips? Wait.. why would I help you!?" Mira stuttered and stammered, before finally locking into the conversation properly. "Besides, I don't know if that's exactly his preferred type - it's not like he's been checking me out, or anything." Mira said, as she began to walk forwards again, Natsu having gotten a decent bit ahead of them.
As Ultear heard those words, she couldn't help but notice the sense of longing that Miras voice had, almost as if she was upset by not having any effect on the dragonslayer, in some romantic capacity. With a smirk spreading across her face, she'd quickly catch up with Mira, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and pulling her close. "Say, Mira… why don't we exchange notes~?" Ultear asked.
Mira was surprised by the sudden proximity between her and Ultear, but that feeling was quickly overshadowed by a sense of doom, as she stared into the predatory gaze that Ultear was giving her. "Uhhh… sure..?" Mira finally answered, uncertainly.
Magnolia, sunset.
Gajeel found himself inside of a white tent, stationed right outside of the Fairy Tail guildhall. He was wincing in pain, as a certain blue-haired lady was tending to a fresh cut on his right shoulder.
"Really Gajeel, you've got to be more careful.." the woman muttered softly, with a concerned tone.
"..." Gajeel himself just remained silent, as he looked away, fighting back the urge to wince again, as the girl continued cleaning his wound. Despite his best efforts, he felt his eyes drawn to the short lady - as he tried to sneak a peek of her, out of the corner of his eyes; something he often found himself doing, not that Gajeel would ever admit to it. As he took a side eyed glance at the woman, he couldn't help but appreciate her petite stature, and her slender frame. The most obvious characteristic of the woman was her short stature, being smaller than the average person. Next was her blue shoulder-length hair, which was much more wild and wavy than when Gajeel had first met the lady - a change he appreciated greatly. Her bangs had also grown out a bit, now being about eyebrow length. Her face was also framed by more locks of blue hair that dropped downwards, though the rest of her hair was mostly kept back and out of her face, due to an orange bandana she wore; said bandana matching her orange dress, which was modest, but revealing just enough to show off her Fairy Tail guild Mark, which resided on her left scapula. Though as Gajeel was staring at her, he'd be caught by surprise as the woman's brown eyes suddenly looked upwards, making direct eye-contact with his own piercing red gaze.
"You know Gajeel, it's not nice to give the one treating your wound the silent treatment." She remarked, with a playful smile on her face, as she stood up from her crouched position.
"...Tch. Sorry, Levy." Gajeel muttered, so quietly it would've been near impossible to overhear - though the girl now identified as Levy would've been able to hear it perfectly well enough.
"Don't worry about it, Gajeel. I forgive you." Levy smiled warmly to the iron dragonslayer, before turning around towards the entrance of the tent - watching as the sun got lower and lower, her smile soon faltering and turning to a frown. "We should get outside.. it's about to be nightfall." Levy said softly, as she apprehensively exited the tent.
Following not far behind the mage was Gajeel, who also exited into the outside world. Looking around, he saw the sight of hundreds of tents that he had grown so used to, as he could overhear the sounds of fearful citizens all around him, and particularly from the guildhall - were most non-mages were gathered. While the number of people in Magnolia had reduced considerably, thanks to efforts by lesser combat focused Fairy Tail mages escorting refugees to neighboring towns and cities, there was still quite a few civilians - which made each night harder to handle.
"I'm going to head into the guild hall to keep everyone calm, now. Stay safe Gajeel, okay?" Levy said, before making her way towards the guildhall.
Gajeel nodded his head, staring at Levy's retreating figure, before sighing and making his way towards the center of the hastily put-together campsite. With the sun just barely having set, Gajeel could already hear the sound of howling and cackling coming from outside the massive wooden wall that stretched and surrounded the impromptu campsite, wondering just how blood of a night tonight would be.
"Hanging in there, big guy?" Came a masculine voice, to the left of Gajeel.
Turning towards the sound of the voice, Gajeel saw a raven-haired man, wearing a pair of black cargo pants, with no shirt - which left his well-toned chest on full-display. He wore a silver chain around his neck, which dipped down and was adorned by a pendant, which looked to be a sword of some kind. His guild mark, which was a dark blue, was situated on his right pectoral, as he casually approached the iron dragonslayer, with a hand in his pocket. Despite the man's seeming aloofness, it was obvious just how tired and stressed he was - bags being present under his eyes, just like they were under Gajeel's, and every other combat mage Fairy Tail had.
Next to him was another person, a blonde-haired woman. Her hair, while long enough to reach her waist, was tied up into a side ponytail, by a blue ribbon, on the right side of her head. She wore a a pair of brown boots that went up towards her thighs before ending. She had a short white skirt, which was fastened by a brown belt. On said belt was a whip, with a heart-shaped end to it, as well as a set of golden and silver keys, which jingled with each step she took. She wore a royal blue front-sided vest, which had a white outline and zipper, and was held shut by half a dozen or so golden buttons, across the middle, though the top left little to the imagination, with most of her back exposed. On her right hand was a white frilly bracelet, and her left was covered in a black sleeve that ended just past her elbows.
Gajeel regarded the two approaching mages, before sighing. "Makarov did say I need to get along better with people.." Gajeel thought to himself, before finally responding. "Gray. Lucy." He said, his voice gruff and hard. "I'm fine. What about you two?" Gajeel asked, his small talk very clearly being forced.
Gray snickered at Gajeel's difficulty to hold conversation with the two of them, but otherwise made no note of if. "I'll be better once these damn Gnolls are cleared out." Gray finally said, as he turned his head towards the sound of the howling, his body rigid and tense.
The woman next to him, Lucy, nodded her head rapidly in agreement. "Sheesh, you're telling me. I've had more than enough fighting, these last few days." Lucy added, as her right hand absentmindedly fiddled with one of her golden keys, as if ready to react at a moment's notice.
Gajeel also looked out towards the sound of the howling Gnolls, his enhanced dragonslayer senses only adding to what he heard. "Do we have any news about Laxus or Gildarts?" He finally asked, with what almost sounded like hope in his voice - something that, a week ago, many would've thought impossible to hear in the gruff voice of the iron dragonslayer.
At his question, he received two nonverbal responses. While gray tsked in annoyance, and looked away from Gajeel - Lucy brought her right hand, which had her pink Fairy Tail guild mark on the back of, to her chest; as a sad, nearing sorrowful, expression filled her face. Gajeel didn't need a verbal response, having spent so long in the company of dark mages, before becoming a spy for Makarov - with the addition of his heightened senses, he was fairly skilled when it came to reading people… but even a child could tell that Gray and Lucy were not about to deliver happy news.
"Master Makarov has heard back from.." Lucy started off, before her eyes darted over towards Gray, as if silently begging for him to finish the conversation.
Noticing Lucy's nonverbal que, Gray let out an exasperated sigh, his head hanging low for a few seconds, before looking back up towards Gajeel. "Tch. Gramps was… vague, about where Gildarts was - but the impression was that he isn't even in Fiore." Gray stopped for a moment, before letting out another breathy sigh, and continuing. "Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe are still a week out, as well." Gray finally finished.
Gajeel felt his fist clenching tighter and tighter, with each passing second. "It figures Gildarts wouldn't be available… and I figured Laxus and them would be a while.. But a week!? Just how far do they go for personal training!?" Gajeel thought to himself, his frustration growing - before he managed to calm himself down, and school his emotions. "A week, huh?" Gajeel finally verbally responded, his voice being gruff, and almost dejected. "Shouldn't be too hard to hold out until then, right?" He finally said, unknowingly challenging the gods of Irony with his rhetorical question.
Gray let out a small bark of laughter, though it was obvious there was no amusement in his tone. By now, the sun has fully set - resulting in the encampment only being lit up by floating orbs of magical light, which moved around the surroundings slowly. "The wall probably won't last much longer, and we're bringing less and less people back each day… Gramps will probably have us stop going out, all together." Gray said, though it was obvious he didn't like the idea one bit.
Lucy seemed to look horrified at the prospect, as her right hand moved up to cover her mouth, as she stifled the sudden gasp that threatened to spill out. "Gray..! Master would never give up on the people of Magnolia..!" Lucy rebuked, though even to herself, her words felt hollow in her own throat.
"Gray's right." Gajeel replied, as he looked back towards the circular wall surrounding their encampment and guildhall - with a much more inquisitive stare. For a structure that was put together incredibly hastily, it has endured quite a beating from Gnolls and the likes - but it was only a matter of time before it fell, unless they did something - anything. "We need to reinforce the wall. Rescuing people is no good, if the wall manages to fall to the Gnolls." Gajeel reasoned, though no matter how tough he appeared, or how little he seemed to care for anyone but himself - the thought of fully abandoning whoever hadn't been saved by now, did stab deep into his stomach with guilt.
An air of gloom settled around the three mages - gloom that seemed to dwarf the darkness that was already around everyone, during the bleak times. Though Gray quickly shook his head, trying to clear his own thoughts, before putting on the best reassuring smile he could.
"That's an issue that'll come later.. for now, we just need to be ready. Alzack and Bisca are keeping watch on top of the wall right now - and they have better eyes than even you, Gajeel." Gray said, hoping it would help ease the tension a little - to which it did.
"Yeah.. yeah! Gray's right.. let's just focus on morale." Lucy chirped, a bright and cheery smile on her face - even if it was a bit forced. She pumped her fists a bit, as if determined, before turning away from the two men, and instead towards the guildhall. "I'm going to head to the guild, and help Lisanna and Levy to keep the mood up.. my strength is better served back there, than on the front lines, after all." Lucy said, with a seemingly cheerful attitude, before it swapped to a little more dejected near the end of her sentence - though if either Gray or Gajeel noticed, they didn't say a thing.
"Right.. I'm going to go check in on Elfman." Gray said, as he started to make his way out of the trio, and to his own destination - leaving Gajeel alone, once again, as they split up.
Looking up to the sky, Gajeel would begin to run through his mind, as he thought on his own in the peace and quiet (or what was considered peace and quiet, as howling and cackling abominations chittered all around the walls) of the encampment. "Lasting a week will be rough… if food will ever last that long, with how many of us there are." At that thought, Gajeel's stomach growled, as the dragonslayer was distinctly reminded of how little he's been eating. "At least there's only Gnolls left. All the other amalgamations have seemed to have been taken out, already. That makes things easier." Gajeel thought, with the tiniest trace of a smile. While his first challenge to the gods of Irony went unanswered - his second one wouldn't.
Almost as soon as Gajeel thought that, the sound of rumbling began to echo throughout the encampment and city, much to the surprise of everyone around. With most citizens having retreated to the guild hall, and those not able to fit inside (which was a lot, but thankfully less due to the efforts of evacuations during the day) crowded in tents around the guildhall, anyone capable of proper magic and self defense found themselves tensing up, as they wondered what caused the rumbling sounds. The dire sounds only grew louder and louder with each passing moment, continuing in a steady and rhythmic pattern - until the first signs of trouble were spotted by Bisca, on the wall.
"Holy… Alzack, do you see that..?" Bisca asked her partner, with the help of telepathy from another mage.
Alzack, despite being a good distance away from Bisca and where she was positioned, nodded his head yes, despite the gesture not at all being visible. "Yeah.. what is it?" He asked trepidatiously through the telepathy link they shared.
"I don't know, but it's getting closer." Bisca responded, as her eyes grew wider with alarm, by the second.
"It" as Bisca and Alzack referred to it, was nothing. The truth of the matter, the two mages didn't actually see any form of living, or nonliving, creature - what they saw, instead, was the rhythmic destruction of house after house, as "it" came closer and closer, despite being completely unobservable. One after another, buildings were crushed and turned to smoke screens of dust and debris, as they were collapsing due to the force of might… something. Whatever that something was, was only about a minutes away, if it kept its current pace, from making contact with the wall set up as a safety net - which led to issues.
"Warren! It's Bisca! Alert everyone to be on alert.. something is coming!" Bisca ordered Warren telepathically, which he quickly responded to.
"On it! Mages of Fairy Tail and citizens of Magnolia! A creature or unknown size, shape, or any other physical characteristics is rapidly approaching. Whatever it is, it's cloaked to prevent us from seeing it - all mages, high alert!" Warren broadcasted to every mage and citizen he could, a feat that exhausted the telepath considerably.
Gajeel's eyes widened in alarm at the message, as he and many others began to mentally prepare themselves for what was to come. Gajeel already knew people would die, and for that, he felt immense guilt for not being strong - even before anything happened. Though despite that, he had confidence they'd make it out of.. well, whatever was coming their way. Surely it's nothing they haven't handled before, right? That was the third, and final, challenge Gajeel issued to the gods of Irony, that day.
As thoat thought ran through Gajeel's mind, the thudding and rumbling momentarily stopped - before resuming, as a section of the wall (the cardinal direction he was closest to, just his luck!) began to shake violently. Then, after a few seconds, another violent shake - as something slammed it's body against the wall, as if trying to bring the wall down.
"Fuck." Gajeel said, just in time to watch as a portion of the wall crumbled under the weight of… well, whatever it was that he couldn't see - resulting in a large cloud of dust shooting into the air, obscuring most everyone from seeing anything. Though through the dust cloud, Gajeel could make out a hazy shimmering, as something slowly appeared behind the dust - an outline of something he didn't quite understand. With the dust settling, he was able to finally make out the creature that burst through the wall, though truthfully - he would have preferred he never saw it.
In front of the newly formed hole, was a wreathing mass of white, slightly opaque, bubbling flesh - tha had lumps moving up and down throughout the postulating flesh, as if something was burrowing inside the skin. What's more, was the long serpentine neck that extended from the body, almost reminding Gajeel of a hydras neck, despite the mythical beasts having died off long before even the dragons. Though the similarities grew further, as a second, third, fourth.. no, fifth neck appeared, stretching well over the height of the all, as the faces leered down into the encampment. "Oh fuck." Gajeel finally was able to say something, as he felt his body shake in fear, a feeling that he wasn't used to - but wasn't surprised by. The heads of the creature, whatever it was, were not draconic or reptilian like a normal hydra would've been - but instead, they looked like faces. The white grotesque skin molded into shapes that shouldn't have made sense, as the eye sockets both seemed to bulge outwards and sink in, all at once. Though Gajeel noticed the black holes, the lack of eyes in its sockets, as well as the thick black veins that spiderwebbed out from said empty eye sockets - veins he could clearly make out from all the ways away from the creature he was. The last thing he noticed about the creature's physical appearance was it's mouth - which twisted and morphed into a grotesque, joyfully happy grin; along with the set of perfectly pristine, enlarged human teeth, as the mouth opened, and the teeth parted. Expecting some form of roar, Gajeel braced himself - only to be surprised once again as the creature didn't roar, but instead began to sing.
Before he knew it, swarms of Gnolls were flooding into the opening in the wall, swarming the encampment with a blood-crazed frenzy, as all hell broke loose.