"See, this is why I hate traveling with you, Erza; you always bring a whole bunch of freaking luggage; why can't you buy, like, I don't know, some magical pouch artifact? It would make things so much easier." Sitting atop Erza's wagon full of luggage, which mainly consisted of her many armors and weapons, she pulled the wagon out of Onibus station while Lucy, Happy, and Gray walked beside her. "Wait, didn't you actually buy her one, big bro? It was for her 16th birthday, right?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked up at me while I snapped my fingers, nodding in agreement. "Tsk, you're right; I did get you one, Erza; what did you do with it?"
Leaping off the mountain of luggage, I landed beside Erza, who refused to face me and looked the other way, causing me to growl as I narrowed my eyes before pushing my face closer. "Erza." "A-Alright, I-I lost it, big bro… Sorry." Said Erza softly as she hung her head down, while I lightly nodded. "Oh, you lost it?" Gently patting Erza's shoulder with a soft smile, she raised her head while sighing in relief at my understanding of her predicament, though I didn't understand. Before she could react, I wrapped my arm around her neck and dug my knuckles into her head, causing her to hiss in pain. "Oh, so you just lost it!? That thing cost me ten million jewels!" "Ouch! B-Big bro, stop! It hurts!" "You know what else hurts!? Losing ten million jewels!"
Falling to the ground, Erza and I rolled around while I continued to dig my knuckles into her head. "Is it just me, or is something missing?" Asked, Happy with a tilt of his head while sitting on Gray's shoulder. "Yeah, you're right, something is missing; it's way too peaceful." Said Gray as he nodded in agreement before looking at Erza and I, while I wrapped my legs around her arms, stopping her from moving so much. "NATSU!" Stated Happy and Gray almost simultaneously, causing Erza and I to stop as we lifted our heads and looked at the two, only for the train's horn to sound out as it left the station.
"Well, there is going to be one awkward conversation for you, Erza; you're in charge." Leaping off the ground, Erza quickly stood up and fixed her hair while eyeing me before grunting. "C'mon, let's go get Natsu." Said Erza as she approached her mountain of luggage before suddenly unzipping it in half, revealing a magic four-wheeler, causing my expression to twitch. "Get on." Declared Erza as she hooked her wagon to the back of the vehicle before sitting in the front and equipping the SE plug. "Gray, why the hell–" "She says it's not about the destination, but the journey, big bro." Said Gray with a shrug of his shoulders as he and Lucy, who was holding Plue, entered the vehicle while I rubbed my face and deeply sighed before sitting on the roof, prompting Erza to drive.
'I've got one SPECIAL family.' As much as Erza having a magic four-wheeler hidden inside her mountain of luggage confused me, I didn't have much to judge, as I also didn't do things like a normal person would. With Erza driving, we quickly caught up with the train leaving Onibus Station, and while approaching the exact car we had been previously staying in, a large eruption of fire broke through the ceiling. "Welp, Natsu doesn't seem happy." Said Gray lightly while leaning out of the vehicle's window, and just as he finished speaking, Natsu busted through the window, nearly hitting me, though I caught him before he could knock me off the roof of the vehicle.
"Ah, so much-ugh, n-not again." Said Natsu with a sigh of relief, only for him to grab his stomach and groan while I held him off to the side by his clothes. "Gray, take this fool." Dropping Natsu into Gray's arms, who then took him into the car, and with much difficulty, Natsu began to explain what had occurred within the train. "A flute? What did it look like?" Asked Lucy. "U-Ugh, i-it was brown, a-and had a skull on the end of it w-with three eyes." His description caused me to frown slightly as I was somewhat confident I'd heard a flute looking exactly like that when destroying a Dark Guild.
"Eh, skull and three eyes? It must be Lullaby!" Said Lucy while I snapped my fingers. 'Lullaby, I knew I'd heard that somewhere before.' Although it wasn't my first time hearing about it, I had very little knowledge other than it being some kind of powerful magical item, so I leaned my head over the vehicle and looked inside, gazing at Lucy since it seemed like she knew more than me. "What's it about?" "It's capable of producing an enchanted, genocidal song that sucks out the souls of anyone who hears its tune! I've never seen it in action, but the stories I'd heard were terrifying!" Remarked Lucy in slight fear, causing me to furrow my brows while folding my arms.
"So, what should we do, 'Leader'?" Glancing at Erza, I let her lead the group, and although her back faced me, I was confident she rolled her eyes. "We'll head directly to the Dark Guild; if the person Natsu fought against was carrying Lullaby, then he must be a part of Eisenwald, and we can't allow them to play that flute." Stated Erza solemnly while the vehicle sped up, causing me to lightly nod as I would never oppose attacking a dark guild.
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Makarov's POV
"Haah, the only interesting thing about this is the thirty-minute recess every six hours." Gazing out the window, I heaved a deep sigh of pure boredom before downing a cup of alcohol, anything to help me get through the rest of the day. However, suddenly, a bird flew into my room while carrying a note, causing me to tilt my head as if the bird belonged to a member of Fairy Tail. 'Please don't be something terrible.'
Standing up with a grunt, I approached the balcony and grabbed the paper before opening it up, revealing a hologram of Mira. "Master, I figured I should let you know, but Erza, big bro, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy have temporarily teamed up… Be ready to receive backlash from the Magic Council." Once Mira's hologram finished speaking, it dissipated while my eyes were wide as could be. "Fuck me."
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It took a few hours, but thanks to Erza's driving, we arrived at Oshibana station and were forced to stop when we noticed the extensive damage done to it. "Well, the person Natsu faced was on the train." Speaking just loud enough for everyone to hear, I leaped off the vehicle and soared through the sky before arriving at the station's entrance, only to see piles of dead knights littering the ground.
"Oh my, s-so many corpses." Muttered Lucy in fear and disgust as she covered her mouth, though given our profession, everyone else was accustomed to death, yet that didn't mean they were indifferent to the corpses. "Tch, bastards!" "Tsk, I'm right behind you, Natsu." Said Gray and Natsu as the two angrily entered the destroyed station while Erza, Lucy, and I took up the rear.
Killing the knights seemed pointless to me; they held no magical capabilities and were only slightly stronger than your average civilian; even the weakest mage could take down a group of ten knights without much trouble. "What pointless killing." Shaking my head with a sigh, I let Erza go ahead while I slowed down for Lucy, who was having a bit of trouble, though the fact that she wasn't on her knees vomiting meant she'd at least seen a corpse or two before.
"S-Sorry, I-I've just never seen so many deaths." "You're fine." Patting Lucy's head, I waited a few moments before she took a deep breath and powered through strewn corpses all around us, though the insides of the destroyed station weren't any better. "A-Are all dark guilds this ruthless, big bro?" "Heh, you're new to this, but this is considered relatively tame; some dark guilds will wipe out small villages, some operate human trafficking, some conduct gruesome experiments, and others kidnap people to use as sacrifices for forbidden magic… These knights may be dead, but their end was at least swift." My words seemed to frighten Lucy a bit, only for her gaze to suddenly harden as she bowed toward me, causing me to tilt my head.
"Thank you, big bro. Because of you targeting dark guilds, you've saved countless lives from terrible fates, so thank you." Said Lucy gratefully as she offered a lovely smile, causing me to scoff before shaking my head. "That wasn't why I targeted dark guilds, Lucy, but that's a conversation for another time… the fight is starting."
Kicking a broken wall to the ground, leading to an open lobby, where Erza was facing over a hundred mages, while Natsu and Gray were nowhere to be seen. "C'mon, let's go help." Grabbing Lucy by the back of her collar, causing her eyes to widen, I tossed her towards the battle while she screamed along the way before summoning Taurus.