Chapter 13: Phantom Lord Attacks

Previously...

At this, everyone returned to their daily activities, as if nothing happened. The only evidence that seemed to stay from the switcheroo was that the guild members were more cheerful than normal, and perhaps the spell that Ramza now had in his asernal. It was a good day, despite everything that had happened.

Currently...

The team of Happy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy and Ramza were walking back from their successful mission. Natsu and Gray bickered like normal, whereas Erza tried to prevent them from getting physical. Lucy and Ramza trailed behind a bit, with the latter reading his Sacred Script tome.

"Hey guys?" Lucy called out, and all heads turned to her.

"Yeah?" Natsu asked.

"When I took the job, I was more of thinking that this would be a solo mission, you know?" She held up the request paper, which only gave them a measly reward of 500 jewel. That, and she'll still have to divide it equally among them, leaving her with only a hundred jewel.

"So I was wondering, why'd you guys come along?" Lucy questioned.

Natsu grinned at her. "Isn't it obvious? We're Fairy Tail's strongest team! So we gotta stick together!"

"Aye!" Happy lifted his paw.

"Don't you forget it." Gray smiled.

Erza nodded in agreement. Ramza gave her a thumbs up, despite not looking at her since he was so focused on his book.

Lucy's heart warmed up as she cuddled her Celestial Spirit, Plue, to her chest. "Yeah we are!"

"No job's too tough!" Natsu declared, "Not for me, Happy, Erza, Ramza and ol' droopy drawers here!"

"Don't call me that..." Gray muttered.

"We are quite a capable bunch." Erza said.

"True that!" Happy piped in.

Ramza looked up from his book. "Uh, I think that we're forgetting-"

"Me! You forgot about me!" Lucy screeched.

"Yeah. Her." Ramza pointed at the blonde.

"Ah, lighten up!" Natsu grinned, "I'm just messin' with ya, Loopy!"

Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, I don't appreciate it and that's not my name!"

Ramza and the others laughed at her protest. Lucy eventually gave in and laughed as well. They walked a bit more back to the guild, when they heard the townsmen whisper among themselves.

"Hey, aren't those Fairy Tail wizards?" One of them said.

"I guess they don't know..." Another whispered.

"I feel so bad for them..." One more said sadly.

Gray noticed and asked, "Why's everyone staring at us?"

Ramza scanned the townsmen's' faces. "It's like their looking at us-"

"With pity." Erza finished, sounding suspicious.

She then looked to where the guild was, but it wasn't in it's ordinary shape. It seemed to have something jutting out from it. Erza gasped.

"Why does the guild look so... Bizarre?" Erza wondered, worry filling her voice.

"I've a bad feeling about this..." Ramza gestured for them to go. "Come on, let's see what's going on."

They then quickly made their way back to the Fairy Tail guild and as they may have seen, it's not what it was before. Large pillars of steel have penetrated the building and poked out of large gaping holes. Many parts of the guild were smashed to bits by the iron rods, and the sign of 'Fairy Tail' in the front was now only 'F ry T l'.

"What..." Ramza had no words. He was shocked at what had happened to the guild.

"No way..." Gray whispered.

"What happened to it?" Erza demanded.

"No... I don't understand..." Lucy put her hands to her mouth.

"Our guild... Someone did this to our Guild!" Natsu's face was so contorted in anger that veins had begun to pop up on his forehead.

"But, who would do such a thing?" Erza wondered, face scrunching up just thinking about it.

"It was Phantom." Ramza looked behind him to see the white-haired waitress, Mirajane. She gripped her hand tightly in anger.

"Are you serious?" Gray questioned.

Natsu's face was one of pure rage. "You mean, Phantom did this?"

"We couldn't do anything..." Mirajane forced out her words. "They got us cut..."

She then led them to the basement of the guild, which seemed unscathed by the attack. Many of the usual guild members that hung out at the guild hall now littered the basement, sitting on barrels that were makeshift chairs. They hung their heads dejectedly, creating a heavy atmosphere. The team walked though them, including the team Shadow Gear.

"I know we weren't on best terms with those Phantom Lord jerks, but come on!" Jet complained.

"Wanna teach them a lesson?" Droy suggested.

"Back off you guys, don't you think that we're in enough trouble already?" Levy calmed them down.

Ramza sent a patient smile at Levy, but she didn't see him. Lucy seemed troubled to witness her friend in such a state.

"Yo! What's up, kids?" Master Makarov greeted. His face was flushed red and he held a mug of booze in his hands.

"Uh, hi." Lucy greeted awkwardly.

"I'm sorry we weren't here sooner." Erza apologized.

"What the heck are y'all just doing sitting around down here!?" Natsu put his fist forward.

Makarov ignored him. "How'd the job go, Lucy? You finished the job like a good girl?" The guild master asked, slurred.

"Uh, yeah. I guess so..." Lucy answered uncomfortably.

"Master, do you understand the gravity of this situation?" Erza asked intensely.

"The guild hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu growled.

"Not to worry, you don't need to get yourselves worked up. It's not the end of the world, or anything." The master took a deep swig of his booze.

"What...?" Gray held back the anger in his voice.

"Just goes to show how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord guild truly are." Makarov put down his drink. "They struck when no one was here. Is that something worth bragging about?"

"Nobody was here?" Erza asked.

"It happened when everybody had left for the night." Mirajane explained sadly.

"At least nobody was hurt, right?" Ramza tried to be cheerful, but it died when nobody caught on his positivity.

"Bah! We shouldn't have to worry about people who don't even had the guts to face us head on. Just forget about those fools!" Makarov said in his drunken stupor.

Natsu immediately smashed the nearest table. "Ain't gonna happen, gramps! We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"

"I'm not talking about this any longer." That was the nail in the coffin. "We'll take job requests down here 'till the upstairs is repaired."

Natsu opened his mouth to protest. "We shouldn't be worrying about job reque-"

"NATSU!" The guild master snarled at him, "That's enough out of you!"

Makarov then raised his hand to strike, but it wasn't the dragon slayer he was aiming for. He used his magic to extend his arm length, and spanked the bottom of Lucy instead.

Lucy raised an exasperated eyebrow. "And you spanked me because?"

"Master! Keep your hands to yourself!" Mirajane scolded.

"Hehe..." The master just laughed giddily and jumped off the chair that he was sitting on and walked away.

"Where are you going, old man?" Natsu demanded.

"Ah, keep your dress on. Just gonna take a leak." The master then proceeded towards the bathroom.

Natsu looked down at the ground, face curled in confusion. "I don't understand why he's like this."

"Listen: this is just as hard on him as it is for you." Mirajane said, looking aside. "He's mad, but conflict between the guilds is strictly forbidden by the council."

"It's not fair! Those Phantom creeps started it!" Natsu whined.

"I know, but just doesn't matter." Mirajane said heavily.

"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it." Erza said, making her point clear.

At this, her team looked down at the ground, accepting this statement. Even Natsu reluctantly grit his teeth and nodded his approval.

"What's happening to the world I know?" Ramza whispered, low enough so that no one could hear.

................................

When the sun had settled down and the moon rose into the sky, the guild members left Fairy Tail and went home in groups. Ramza had already seen Erza, Gray and Natsu go home, and there were only a few of them left in the guild's basement.

Chugging the last of his coffee, Ramza stood up from the bar that was brought down and paid for his drink. He waved goodbye at Mirajane, who was packing up the bar for the night. She returned the goodbye back, and Ramza proceeded to exit the guild.

The night wind whipped at him at his sides, so he pulled his black leather coat closer to himself. Not that it was needed; he was warm enough. A weird feeling tugged at him from his insides, making him uncomfortable. He adjusted his coat again to quell the feeling, dismissing it as probably some sort of coffee hangover.

"Coffee hangover?" Ramza wondered aloud, "Is that even a thing?"

"With you, that's probably possible." A voice deadpanned.

Ramza turned around to see Lucy, walking alongside her Celestial Spirit, Plue. She dangerously walked along the edge of the stone path, with the small threat of falling into the river. He hasn't noticed, but he'd already reached the river that was quite close to his home, as well as Lucy's. They were neighbors, after all.

"Walking home?" Ramza asked.

"Yeah." Lucy replied, "I should've invited you to walk home with me, huh?"

"Maybe..." Ramza pondered on her offer, "Since we live so close to each other, I guess."

"Nice." Lucy sent a grin at him, but her face quickly turned to one of worry. "I'm still anxious about what happened earlier..."

Ramza quickly caught on. "You mean the Phantom Lord guild attacking Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah." Lucy looked up at the sky, her face thoughtful. "I never knew that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them."

"Same here." Ramza glanced down at the water as he walked.

"Honestly, I thought about joining them before I met up with Natsu." Lucy said with a hint of amusement.

"You what?" Ramza sent her an incredulous look.

"They have a reputation for being almost as crazy as Fairy Tail." Lucy said with a chuckle.

Plue hummed his agreement as he bounced around with his squishy feet.

Ramza whistled. "Dang, they must be some guild."

"But I love our guild and I don't regret my decision at all." Lucy said cheerfully.

"You got that right." Ramza agreed.

"Oh, we're at my house." Lucy said. "How about you come in for some tea before you go home?"

Ramza nodded. "Sure."

She opened her door to reveal the rest of their team in her house. Gray sat down on one of her chairs, while Erza sipped on a cup of tea. Happy and Natsu were stuffing their faces full of food, wiping out the entire menu on the table.

"What a very nice house you have, Lucy." Erza said, while sipping from her cup elegantly.

"You gotta stop showing up without asking first!" In her shouting, she had thrown her bag at Natsu's face. "Why're you here!?"

Erza refilled her cup. "Since the guild been attacked, we can assume that there are Phantom Lord members in town."

"They've probably found out where the members of Fairy Tail live by now." Gray said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Lucy turned white. "W-where we live?"

"They said it'll be safer if we holed up together. Y'know, strength in numbers." Gray shrugged.

"I guess she's right." Lucy grumbled.

"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail's having a slumber party!" Happy piped up.

"After all, you're a beautiful young girl. I wasn't comfortable with you sleeping here with they boys." Erza said slyly. "I felt that I could relax if I were here as well."

"Snaf thame vo delax!" Natsu said as he snarfed up all the food.

"So it's already decided to do it at my house?" Lucy said exasperatedly.

"Yeah." Ramza poked his head through the door. "Why don't you all hang out at my place? It's much bigger and stuff."

Lucy stared at him. "Way to show off, Ramza."

He raised his hands in defense. "Hey, just offering. Also, I'm guessing that you don't have more than one room. There's going to be a problem with that, you know?"

"Yeah..." Lucy admitted. "So let's go over to your house, then?"

"Oh, wow..." Erza had opened one of Lucy's drawers and peered into it. "I can't believe you'd actually wear something like this, Lucy!"

She then tried to pull out something from the drawers, but Lucy rushed over to her and put Erza's hand down.

"You don't need to bring that out, Erza!" Lucy pleaded, still forcing Erza's hand down.

"Bring what out?" Natsu raised an eyebrow and walked over, curious.

Lucy yelped and kicked him in the face. Natsu stumbled backwards and crashed into the table as Lucy quickly closed her drawers and pulled Erza away from it.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled, rubbing his hurt cheek. "What was that for?"

"Nothing!" Lucy insistently replied.

"This is the second time this has happened." Natsu grumbled.

Soon enough, the group made their way to Ramza's house. The huge oaken doors opened to reveal a large open living room, with white lanterns lining the walls. The brown coffee table in the middle was surrounded by a plush sofa and two leather chairs. The floor, ceiling and pillars were made of dark wood, coated in a thin layer of varnish, and were in contrast to the light-colored walls.

To the right was a small library, with an unlit fireplace against the wall. Books lined the shelves, and some of them were even scattered along the floor. To the left was the kitchen, and not much could be said about it. It looked just like any kitchen that anyone had. Straight ahead though, were a set of stairs and two doors.

"Those are spare rooms. They're relatively big, so two of you could easily fit in them." Ramza pointed straight towards the doors. "They have bathrooms in them, so you guys don't have to worry about that."

None of them replied. Ramza looked at them, "What's wrong?"

Lucy gawked at him. "House? More like a freaking mansion!"

"Indeed." Erza agreed. "I did not expect that you would have a home as extravagant as this..."

"Dude! You should have told us!" Natsu yelled, but it was more of excitement than anger. "I get dibs on that room!"

"Hmph." Gray tried to look unimpressed, but the smile on his face was unmistakeable. "Yeah, you should have told us."

"Do you have food in here?" Happy tugged at Ramza's coat. "I'm hungry!"

Ramza frowned. "Didn't you and Natsu just eat?"

"I'm hungry!"

"Fine." Ramza sighed. "Why don't you all get cozy in your rooms while I cook up something for us? I think I still have some food left over."

"Alright!" Natsu pumped his fist in the air.

In no time, the team had settled down in their respective rooms that Ramza had given them. Lucy and Erza took one room, while Natsu, Gray and Happy took the other. They placed down their things and made themselves comfortable. After a short time, they made their way to the center of the living room, where Ramza had placed down a covered metal tray.

He uncovered it to reveal a mouthwatering meal of beef steak. It was complimented by gravy and a small plate of various vegetables. There were also some side dishes, such as mashed potato, rice, and others. Ramza served it to his friends with a cup of sweet tea, and they all dug in. He, too, ate.

"Whooo!" Natsu whooped, "You can cook, Ramza!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed, inhaling the food in one bite.

"This steak tastes great." Gray said as he bit into it, "I also like the other stuff as well."

"This is truly delectable." Erza complimented, "You certainly have a talent for this."

"Yeah, this is really good!" Lucy said, a satisfied smile on her face. "How'd you learn how to cook this?"

"The steak?" Ramza swallowed his food. "Oh, I learned it from my maid. My dad wasn't at home all the time, and there was nothing much to do. So, I asked my maid to teach me."

"Awesome!" Natsu grinned at him. "She must be pretty great, judging from this stuff!"

He gnawed into the steak again, savouring its every taste. In time, everyone had finished with their food, and held their stomachs in filled content. However, an unpleasant scent breezed through the air.

"Urgh!" Ramza covered his nose with his shirt, which was underneath his coat. "What's that smell?"

"Natsu. Gray." Erza glared at the two of them. "I do not tolerate you two smelling like wet dogs. Go and take a bath!"

"But we're full..." Gray protested.

Erza then held the two of them close to her. "C'mon boys, do we have to take a bath together like we did when we were kids?" She whispered in their ears.

Natsu and Gray visibly blushed at her suggestion. Ramza, however, simply spit out his drink.

"Like when you were kids!?" Ramza exclaimed.

"What kind of relationship do you two have!?" Lucy shrieked.

"They're the strongest team!" Happy said.

"More like the strangest team!" Lucy countered.

In time, all of them got to bathe. Gray and Natsu chose not to stray from their first fashion choice. Lucy, however, had changed to a more comfortable T-shirt and loose pants. Erza wore cross and heart patterned pajamas. Ramza simply wore a shirt and some shorts, although he carried his coat on his back.

They all regrouped at the coffee table, where Lucy was seen writing on pieces of paper. When she wasn't looking, Gray snatched them up and began to read. When Lucy noticed, she grabbed them back fiercely.

"Hey!" She scowled at Gray.

"You can't take it out of my hands without telling me what happens next!" Gray protested.

"Yes, I can." Lucy said, glaring at him.

"Mmm?" Erza opened her palm.

"No! You're not getting it either!" Lucy refused.

"How about me?" Ramza asked.

"Maybe," Lucy pondered on the idea, "But most likely after Levy, since she was the one I promised to show it first to."

"Thanks." Ramza smiled at her, then turned to Erza. "By the way, do you have any idea why Phantom Lord would attack us like that?"

"I'm afraid not." Erza looked back at him intensely. "We've had our fair share of scuffles in the past, but nothing on this sort of magnitude before."

Natsu scowled. "If gramps wasn't so scared of them, we could wipe out those punks once and for all!"

"C'mon, you know that the master isn't afraid of them, Natsu." Gray said, "You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the ten wizard saints."

"No way..." Ramza seemed to have lost his breath. "He's one of them?"

"Yes." Erza confirmed.

"Huh?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What's the deal of these ten wizards saints anyway?"

"The magic council gives that title only to the ten most powerful wizards on the continent." Ramza answered.

Lucy gasped. "Really?"

"Phantom Lord's master Jose is a wizard saint too." Happy said.

Natsu's hand slammed on the table. "He is afraid! He's afraid that Phantom Lord has more members than we can handle!"

"Uh, Natsu? Can you please take it easy on my table?" Ramza requested in a meek voice.

"That is not true and you know it." Gray retaliated, "It's just like what master and Mira said before. The consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here!"

"But I don't understand why?" Lucy put a hand to her chin. "Are they really that strong?"

"They ain't got nothing on us." Natsu said confidently. "We can take those clowns!"

Erza's opinion differed from his. "No. If we were to engage them in battle, neither guild would survive. Their strength equals ours."

"Phantom's guild master Jose is also one of the wizard saints." Erza continued, "Which means that he is on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-class known as the element four."

"However, their biggest threat may be Black Steel Gajeel." Erza said ominously, "I believe that he's the most likely behind the guild's destruction. He's known as the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"What?" Lucy stood up. "He's a dragon slayer too? I thought Natsu was the only one!"

"Tsk." Natsu glowered at the floor.

"Then that means he eats iron?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"Out of all the thinks you could ask about," Ramza sent a funny look at her, "That's what you ask?"

Lucy turned red. "Hey! That's the first thing that came to my head!"

"I think that's enough for now." Erza stood up from her chair. "We should go to bed."

"Yeah, I think so too." Natsu yawned.

"Time to get some shut eye." Gray looked determined to sleep.

After a short 'good night' to each other, the team went to their respective rooms. Ramza took the one room at the second floor: the master bedroom. He plopped into his bed and drew his blanket over himself, but he just couldn't shake off that bad feeling he had earlier. Nonetheless, he fell asleep, preparing for the next day.

.............................

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