Chapter 17: Master Makarov Swoops In

Previously...

"On that account," Everyone's eyes turned to Ramza's, "I'm not feeling too good. Wake me up later."

And with those last words, he passed out.

Currently...

Ramza's dream was nothing short of weird. Well, I guess one could say it was more odd than weird. He saw that the sky was dark, and it was raining. Winds roared in his ear like small tornadoes. Ramza looked down and saw the ground cracked like an eggshell.

"Earthquake?" Ramza wondered.

Suddenly, the earth below him collapsed and fell into a shadow filled ravine. He fell in it as well, but not before a flash of lightning crossed his eyes.

Ramza clutched his chest as he jolted awake, the feeling of falling fresh in his heart.

"Oh, you're up."

He blinked his eyes awake to see Gray standing over him. "Gray?"

"Mira and Elfman are here too." Gray pointed over his shoulder. "They patched you up and carried you when you passed out a while back."

"A while back?" Ramza looked up to the sky, wondering. His eyes widened in realization. "Oh, right! What happened?"

"We split up, and we encountered the some of the Element Four." Elfman crossed his arms. "I fought Sol, the Earth Elemental. Gray here beat Juvia, the Water Elemental."

"Wait, you carried me when you fought?" Ramza's eyebrows furrowed.

Elfman snorted. "I put you aside so that you were out of harm's way. You were seriously into sleeping."

"Ehehe..." Ramza looked beside him and saw a blue haired girl grinning widely. She was laid down on the ground, and her eyes were shut.

Ramza frowned. "Woah, who's this? And why does she have that creepy grin on her face?"

"That's Juvia." Gray answered, then looked down at the water mage with a scrutinizing face. "And she's having a nice dream?"

"Uh, sweet dreams then?" Ramza greeted Juvia awkwardly. She didn't respond. It seems that's she's completely stuck in dreamland. "Anyway, thanks for bandaging me up, guys."

"You were seriously hurt." Mirajane looked at him worriedly. "That slice on your chest isn't going to heal anytime soon..."

Ramza looked down at himself, and saw a twinge of red poking out from his bandages. Ramza waved her off. "I'll be fine. So, that's three of the Element Four down?"

Elfman nodded. "Mira's just figured it out. The energy of the Element Four are what's powering the giant."

"We can do this!" Mira said, determined. "Right, you guys?"

The three males nodded in unison.

"So," Ramza piped up, "How exactly do we defeat the last guy?"

"He's Aria of the Great Sky, and he'll be the toughest to beat." Mirajane said gravely. "He's the strongest of the Element Four, and he's also the one who drained the master of his energy, making him powerless."

"Dang, he's that strong?" Ramza wondered aloud.

"One more thing," Mirajane said, "He has special eyes."

"His eyes?" Gray asked.

"Yes. Evidently, Aria keeps his eyes covered in bandages. He does this to suppress his overwhelming magical power."

"So, it's all in his eyes?" Elfman said.

"That's right." Mirajane confirmed, "So when we find him, we have to beat him before he opens them. Because if that happens, we don't stand a chance at victory."

Elfman and Gray looked at each other gravely. Ramza gripped his sword anxiously. Suddenly, the large magical circle that the Phantom Lord giant was casting glowed blindingly bright. It hummed and crackled with magical energy.

"The Abyss Break!" Mirajane gasped. "I thought we had more time!"

Elfman grabbed her hand and pulled her along as he ran towards the inside of the giant. "C'mon! We've got to find Natsu and take out Aria!"

Gray followed them, with Ramza behind him. The wind mage's eyebrows furrowed. "Is it okay to leave Juvia out there?"

Gray looked back at him. "She'll be fine! She's one of the Element Four."

"I hope you're right..." Ramza said worriedly.

They continued to run inside the giant, but suddenly the ground began to shake. Ramza had to find a pillar to regain his balance, but the others simply wobbled a bit and stood their ground.

"Now what?" Elfman grunted.

"Natsu must've beaten the last one!" Gray realized.

"Yes! We did it!" Mirajane cheered, "We stopped the Abyss Break spell from being cast!"

"'Cause we're awesome!" Elfman whooped.

"You know it!" Gray grinned at him.

"All the members of the Element Four have been defeated!" Mirajane celebrated.

"Yeah but," Ramza shuffled from side to side, "I've a feeling that this still isn't over."

As if on cue, a pleasant ring echoed around the Phantom Lord giant. Ramza and company looked around in confusion as a familiar voice rang through.

"Listen you pathetic Fairy Tail worms," The voice drawled, "Listen carefully because I'll only say this once."

Another voice rang out, it was the sound of a girl screaming.

"Lucy?" Ramza's eyes widened.

"Oh no!" Mirajane said.

The voice of master Jose continued, "We have captured your precious Lucy Heartfillia, which means our first order of business is out of the way. That leaves us with just one more thing, my favorite part: wiping all of you miserable brats right off the face of the earth."

"Tsk!" Gray clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Forget him, look!" Ramza pointed ahead to a certain redhead in armor slumped against the wall.

"Erza?" Gray said, "You okay?"

Elfman looked around. "Looks like something big went down."

Erza looked at them weakly. "It's you..."

"You shouldn't be here! You're injured!" Gray exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're not really looking too good..." Mirajane added worriedly.

"Uh, guys?" Ramza pointed towards another body on the floor. "Who's this?"

"That's Aria!" Mirajane gasped.

"You got shot by that cannon and still fought this guy?" Elfman's mouth opened in awe.

"What the heck were you thinking?" Gray scolded.

"Wait Erza, did you beat him on your own?" Ramza's eyes goggled.

Erza smiled feebly. "I must admit, I never wanted anyone to see me in such a wretched state. I guess I still have a lot to learn."

Suddenly, Gray's face turned serious. "What the?"

"What is it?" Mirajane asked with the same seriousness.

"You guys feel it too?" Ramza said nervously.

"I sense death!" Erza said, faltering.

"I don't like this feeling." Gray said.

"I'm super manly and it gives me chills..." Elfman admitted.

"Whatever it is, it's pure evil!" Mirajane said gravely.

The sound of a clap of hands came from behind them. They turned around to see a creepy looking man with the badge symbolizing him as one of the wizard saints on his chest clapping his hands slowly. He smiled at them as if he were smiling at his next meal.

"Bravo. You're all quite keen. Very impressive, Fairy Tail Wizards." The man chuckled darkly. "I knew this would be fun, but never in my wildest dreams I would have thought it would be this entertaining. You annihilated the Jupiter cannon, disposed of my elite Element Four, you even managed to bring my magic giant to its knees."

Erza scowled at him. "Master Jose."

"This creep?" Elfman shouted.

"He's Phantom's master?" Gray exclaimed.

Ramza clutched his sword tighter. "I feel uneasy just being near him.."

"Thank you. You've been so kind to entertain me, I simply must return the favor." Master Jose declared with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Hmph." Gray and Elfman moved in front of their friends defensively. Ramza put a finger to the air, ready to cast any spell.

"I'll return it in full." Maste Jose drawled.

Gray put his hands together for a spell. "Ice Make: Saucer!"

Elfman's arm was bathed in a magic circle. "Iron Bull!"

They then jumped at Master Jose, intent on attacking him. Ramza was about to follow up with a Sacred Script spell, but Erza's shout stopped him from writing any runes.

"No! Don't!" Erza yelled.

It was too late. Dark violet shades emerged from Jose and hit Gray and Elfman. They pelted down on them like bullets shot from a gun, and the two were knocked aside to the wall, creating clouds of dust.

"Elfman! Gray!" Mirajane shouted their names.

Erza tried to stand up, but she was shaking head to toe. Master Jose scoffed at her pathetic excuse of a defense and a magic circle appeared on his hands.

"Dammit!" Ramza wrote a rune on the air and slammed it forcefully with his palm. "Bramn!"

A translucent barrier appeared to protect him and his friends just moments before the ground erupted in a crimson flare. The shield held for a moment before it shattered, blowing Ramza and company aside. Erza recovered quickly and drew her sword, charging at Jose. The guild master simply thrust out his hand and a storm of darkness flew at the redhead.

Erza expertly dodged the incoming missiles and jumped in the air, requipping to an armor that had black wings on the back like a leathery cape. She slashed at Jose with her sword but the guild master grabbed her by the wrist and threw her. Erza's feet met stone and jumped back, landing with a graceful flip.

"Fascinating." Master Jose eyeballed Erza. "You took a shot from Jupiter at full force, did you not? And yet you're still here, standing."

Erza brandished her sword at him. "Only because my friends have filled my heart with strength. I will withstand any physical pain, to protect the ones that I love!"

"Powerful, courageous, and exquisitely beautiful." Master Jose drawled, "Destroying you will bring me unbelievable pleasure!"

Suddenly the ground shook again but this time, debris started to fall from the ceiling. Master Jose just chuckled.

"What an unruly dragon you have." He said.

Erza breathed heavily. "He may be unruly, but he's an extremely powerful wizard."

She pointed her sword at him. "In fact, he's just as strong as I am if not stronger."

Jose smiled at her creepily. "There's no need to be so modest, Titania Erza. Your magic is just as spectacular as Salamander's. You're the first wizard to last this long against me in battle. Truth be told, we'd be more equally in match in power if you hadn't taken a direct hit from the Jupiter cannon earlier."

"You know what really irks me about Fairy Tail?" Jose drawled, "The fact that there are so many powerful wizards like you who are aligned with Makarov."

He flicked his finger at Erza, and a strong gust of wind pushed the requip mage towards the wall. She let out a gasp of pain as she slammed hard against the stone.

"Since you can't be tempted into Phantom, there's only one way to change that." Jose held his hand forwards, fingertips glowing with magical energy. He then shot another blast of wind at Erza, but she dodged it by hovering above the air by her Black Wing armor.

Jose fired again, but Erza was nimble enough to evade the incoming projectiles. He fired off more shots, creating dust clouds wherever the shots landed.

Jose grinned sadistically. "Imagine what Makarov will feel if he awakens to find his dear guild all destroyed and his children dead and gone. He'd be lost, completely consumed by sorrow. Once he's reduced to that miserable state, I can swoop in and kill him. But first, I'll make him suffer. I'll torture him until he has no choice but to wither and die!"

Erza slashed at him, but Jose simply teleported away.

"For as long as I can remember, Phantom Lord has always been at the top." Jose drawled, "We got the strongest wizards with the strongest spells! We also have more capital and more members than any guild! However, Fairy Tail has begun to catch up recently and our position as leader is in jeopardy. The names Erza, Laxus and Mystogan became widely known, and Salamander has spread across the land like wildfire."

"Now Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord are considered equals: the top two guilds representing this kingdom." Jose scoffed. "The thought alone disgusts me. I refuse to be acquainted with a feeble guild!"

"Silence!" Erza flew at him, sword flashing. He teleported away, just like last time.

Erza snarled at him. "We're fighting for our lives, just because you had a fit of jealousy?"

"Jealousy? That's absurd." Jose waved the idea away. "We simply wanted to prove to the kingdom that we are the dominant guild."

"How could you? And for such a petty reason!" Erza flew at him again, swinging her sword, but she just couldn't hit him. Jose sidestepped and dodged every strike the redhead had with her sword.

Finally, Jose knocked out the sword out of Erza's hands with a few specters of magic. Those specters then wrap around her in coils, and zap her with red lightning. Erza screams out in pain, trying to free herself from her binds.

"While I've never been particularly fond of your guild," Jose said, "My distaste for you is not what triggered this war. We were hired by the patriarch of the Heartfillia family to find his missing daughter."

"Lucy!" Erza gasped in pain as the specters squeezed her with electricity.

"The child of one of the kingdom's wealthiest is now in Fairy Tail. So Makarov is trying to buy his way to the top, isn't he?" Jose cast another magic circle, entrapping Erza in more pain.

"Now that your guild has unparalleled access to the Heartfillia family fortune, it's only a matter of time before that happens. That is, if we don't completely wipe you out first!" The electricity that was bound on Erza grew larger, inflicting the requip mage with more hurt than necessary.

Jose took delight in this, but his sadism disappeared when Erza was grinning from ear to ear. "It's laughable how concerned you are about something as silly as your guild's ranking! But, I'm even more amused at how incredibly misinformed you are about Lucy!"

Jose was startled. "What?"

"She came to us as a runaway! She doesn't have access to her family's fortune!" Erza revealed, "She rents a place for 70,000 jewel a month. She works hard to make a living! She fights alongside us, she laughs with us and she cries with us! She's no different from any other member of our guild!"

"And she's why we're at war!" Erza shouted at Jose, "She may be the daughter of the Heartfillia family, but just as flowers don't get to choose where they bloom, children don't get to choose their parents! You don't know anything about Lucy or the tears that she has shed!"

Jose scowled at her. "I'll find out soon enough. I'm not going to give her over to her father without getting a benefit of some sort. I'll make her my prisoner until her father meets my demands! I'm going to bleed the Heartfillia family of their fortune and their precious money making businesses!"

"You...!" Erza tried again to free herself, but the shade binds surrounding her coiled even tighter.

"I wouldn't keep struggling like that if I were you." Jose drawled, "It's going to be more painful!"

He then summoned two shades of a violent purple, and began to drain Erza for whatever was left of her. The redhead's soul was visibly being pulled apart from her body, putting her in excruciating pain. She let out a scream as Jose continued to rip her soul away.

"Not feeling very well, are you dear?" Jose mockingly said. "You're going to have to buck up because it's almost time! I want you to make a show before your peers! Once they see their beloved Erza in such a pitiful state, they're sure to surrender!"

"Y-you're a despicable man!" Erza shouted.

"Now now, insulting me like that isn't going to help your situation." Jose mockingly chided.

Suddenly, before anyone could act otherwise, the sound of a crack of lightning cut through the air. A beam of golden light shrouded Erza, healing all of her wounds and letting her free from the dark shackles. Her armor reformed, and she hovered down to the ground.

"...How?" Erza asked, wondering what happened.

Master Jose glared at something up in the sky. It was Master Makarov, levitating down with a bright glow, looking like a deity going down to earth. His arms were crossed, and his face unreadable. He radiated a non-visible air of authority.

"You have shed the blood of our children." Makarov said calmly, a slight tremor in his voice. "And that is unforgivable. They have been made to suffer because of the incompetence of their parents. We are both to blame, Jose. This war between us has gone on long enough. Let's end this, here and now!"

Erza shed a tear looking at Makarov. "Master..."

Jose simply grinned maniacally at the other guild master. "If we fight, it could cause a catastrophe." Dark energy made the rocks around him begin to hover.

Makarov lit up his finger, making it glow an intense gold. "In order to save my guild, I will gladly take that risk!"

Gray shuffled on the ground, injured from Jose's spell. "What's this light? For some reason, it reminds me of the master..."

Ramza and Elfman came to as well, though still dazed. Jose took this opportunity and shot a blot of magic energy at them. Their eyes widened as it got closer, but a bright yellow magic circle blocked it. Makarov jumped down in front of them, glowing with golden energy.

"You kids need to get out while you still can!" Master Makarov shouted at them.

"Master Makarov!" Ramza realized.

"Gramps!" Gray exclaimed.

"No! We'll stay with you!" Elfman refused.

"No, we'll have to do as he says!" Erza countered.

Jose shot another bolt of dark energy, but Makarov summoned a magic circle to negate the attack. The whole place shook as the two forces clashed.

"Let's go." Erza said.

"But Erza!" Gray interjected.

"Can you stand, sis?" Elfman reached out a hand to Mirajane.

Jose smiled sadistically. "Well, now that you're here, I have no interest in those children of yours. I'll exterminate those pests after I finish you off!"

Erza motioned for them to leave. "If we stay here, we'll only get in his way. He can handle this. He'll be okay."

"If you say so, Erza." Ramza said reluctantly.

Elfman held his sister at the waist as they dropped down from one of the holes created by Jose. Erza and Gray followed, landing gracefully on the ground. Ramza jumped down last, creating a small cushion of wind to soften his fall.

Not long after they landed back on solid ground, a loud shout echoed around them.

"I invoke, Fairy Law." Master Makarov boomed.

A gargantuan magic circle of light appeared overhead, but one characteristic of it made it different from the other magic circles. The logo of the guild Fairy Tail was emblazoned in the center of it like a glowing sun.

Ramza furrowed his eyebrows. "What-"

Then, a glow of bright yellow light expanded from the place that Ramza and company had just jumped off from, bathing everything in a holy-like glow. The shades that Jose had summoned a while ago suddenly dissipated, dissolving in the light. They let out an ethereal wail as they vanished into thin air.

"What-" Ramza resumed his question, "What is this?"

"This is Fairy Law." Erza answered, looking at the bright spectacle with awe. "A spell that vanquishes darkness with a sacred light. It only affects those who the caster sees as their enemy. Incredible, isn't it?"

Ramza's mouth opened in a small 'o' as he gazed upon Master Makarov's spell. "Yeah, it sure is."

"It's one of the most legendary spells in existence." Erza said proudly.

Soon after, the light died down and everything returned to how they were before. Master Makarov climbed atop the gigantic behemoth that is the mobile Phantom Lord giant, and waved down at his children.

When they saw their master, all the Fairy Tail members exploded in cheer and applause.

"Fairy Tail is victorious!" Makarov declared, "But I had very little to do with it. This victory is yours, my children!"

As the rest of Fairy Tail whooped their victory, Ramza chuckled.

"We couldn't have done it without you, master." He smiled.

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

Hey! Thanks for reading to the end of this chapter! Apologies for taking so long.

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