Chapter Eight - The Phantom Lords Defeated

Juvia Lockser walked through the streets of Magnolia at a deliberate pace. Her gaze roamed little, passing over people one by one. She was to find Lucy Heartfilia, and take her to the Guildmaster. This was her task, for which she was accompanied by Sol. She would accomplish it, that was not in doubt in her mind. She was a woman who did what was asked of her, after all.

She heard in the distance a single word, carried to her like a droplet of water. "Lucy!" She began to stride towards the source of the sound with an increased pace, but it remained a speedy walk rather than a run. If she truly had needed to rush, she wouldn't have run even then, but would instead rely on her magic to reach her destination.

As she arrived, she saw that - if the girl was Lucy Heartfilia - then the Guildmaster's plan had failed. Not only was the girl present, but there were no less than five others there. She did not recognize any of them. "Please, tell me your name," she said to the blonde girl, the drizzle that accompanied her now raining down on the crowd.

"Uh... why don't you introduce yourself, first?" The blonde replied, giving her a stare.

Juvia paused for a moment, trying to decide on what to say, exactly. Then one of the men of the group moved to place himself between Juvia and the girl who was presumably Lucy. "She's Juvia Lockser, one of the Element 4, and an S-Class mage." She was recognized, but that fact was unimportant to her in the moment.

No, what was important to her was the sudden rush of feelings. She lived a dour life with little joy. Her heart was now pounding in her chest, and she could feel the heat beginning to burn at her cheeks. It was if a switch had been flipped within her, feelings long smothered ignited suddenly, purely for the man in front of her, with his handsome body, his startling sunglasses, and his choice of wardrobe (far less than normal, revealing so much skin, somehow more wondrously wicked than if he had been completely naked) but she delighted in it in that moment. Her eyes hungrily devoured him, then her sense and reason came to the forefront once more. This was far too much, too fast!

She turned swiftly away from him, the burning in her cheeks positively incandescent with heat. She was certain she was lighting up the entire alley. "My apologies. Consider this your victory." She could not fight against a man who produced such fiery feelings within her. Her wild emotions were too intense, too strong to manage to fight on behalf of her guild, whatever loyalty she may have felt to it.

Her hand went to her chest, where her heart pounded as if it were a galloping horse, a thousand thunderous noises filling her ears. Thump thump. No. She could not bear to simply let things go like this. She spun around. She wanted to make this man, this handsome, wondrous, beguiling man, who had stolen her heart so swiftly and so completely, hers. She had dated before, tried and played at romance, more out of social obligation than any true desire; this was the first time such passion filled her. She raised one hand towards him, and without hesitation, spoke: "Water Lock." The man she loved now was suspended in a bubble of water as tall as two men.

Ah! She could hardly believe she had just done that, what if he was inj- the bubble of water simply vanished as if it had never been, the man who had set the kindling of her heart aflame with merely his visage was standing before her.

He had simply undone her magic?! She had never seen anyone break her Water Lock in all her years using the technique. Even Aria could not manage it, once he had been trapped. He stood there for a long few seconds, stepping away from his group, towards her. His focus was entirely on her, and the group he came with began to move backwards, further away. That was a vague, unimportant detail to her, though, who was completely lost staring at this perfect specimen of a man.

Sol emerged from the ground, but she didn't care. Her focus was entirely on the man before her. She waited for him to make the first move, to attack her - but he didn't. He stood there, his breathing level, his eyes focused on hers. They seemed to plunge into her deepest, darkest depths, to find whatever desires even she hardly knew she had. He stepped towards her, one step, then two. Soon he stood directly in front of her, and she stared up at him, hardly able to even breathe, though she could feel the faint tickle of his breath against her bare skin.

"Isn't the rain beautiful?" He said. She felt her heart somersault in her chest - everyone had always complained of her rain that accompanied her, but he, he! He said it was beautiful! - and she hardly had time to think before he grasped her by the cheek, and stole her first kiss with a passion she could only have dreamed of. All the blood rushed to her head, and she promptly passed out.

* * *

To speak earnest and true, I was rather surprised when Juvia simply collapsed before me, practically melting into a puddle on the ground, a stupid smile on her face that stretched nearly from ear to ear, a red glow to her cheeks. I had expected her to be flustered, since I was well aware from the original canon that she was at heart an innocent virgin, not an indecent one. The sort to blush and wilt when put under pressure. That was why I had restrained myself and merely kissed her, rather than steal her bra. I had even included that romantic line about liking the rain, which I thought was just the thing to make her heart erupt in joyous love.

It seemed to be all too much for the poor dear, by the look of her now. I gave her leg the gentlest of kicks, and found she had completely departed the land of the conscious. I could only hope she was having dreams as happy as her smile suggested.

"Non non non. This is unacceptable," came a voice with an intense and overwrought French accent, and I turned to see precisely the man who I had expected when I heard it: Sol, one of the other members of the Element 4, a cruel man by any accounting, one destined for cowardice and defeat, not a redemption arc. I moved my fist to strike him in the face with all the force I could muster, uncaring even if I broke my hand; when he tried to unnaturally twist his body away, I simply reverted its position until it was back in the path of my fist, and there was no time left to dodge a second time.

He was, in a fight where his opponent could land such a mighty blow, quite weak. With the help of my comrades in arms - including Lucy calling forth Sagitarrius to rain down blows upon Sol as he tried to escape - it was not difficult to see him utterly crushed.

Once he was crushed, Lucy spoke. "Aha!" She shouted, pointing directly at Konata. Everyone simply stared at her, befuddled by her actions. "I just remembered, I got this other new golden key, at Galuna Island! Where's your precognition now, Konata! You're a phony, a definite phony!"

"No... noooo," Konata said, as Lucy began to sadistically tug at her cheeks. "I just forgot about Sagitarrius..."

"You just forgot about Sagitarrius? You forgot about one of the twelve Golden Keys in the world? I don't think so! Now tell me your tricks!"

Jet, Droy, and Levy all gingerly backed away from the fight, unsure what else to do, or even what they were fighting about. "Help, Lee..." Konata's hand limply clawed in my direction.

I did the simplest, most straightforward thing I could do to get Lucy to stop bullying Konata: stealing her bra. It still took several seconds for her to notice its absence and stop bullying Konata.

* * *

Erza had desperately searched for Lee since the moment that they had been forced to retreat from the Phantom Lords' guild hall. Being driven back was unexpected - even more was the state that the Master was now in. His magic had been completely drained by some insidious trick on the part of the Phantom Lords.

Part of her, also, couldn't help but notice she had seen only two members of the Element 4. The other two must surely have been doing something, and she increasingly worried it was capturing Lee, given how difficult he was proving to find, and the fact that his magic, while incredibly valuable and useful, did not mean he could not be captured or incapacitated.

Her concerns vanished into the aether - and something warm and pleasant bloomed in her breast - when she saw Lee coming back to the Guild Hall, accompanied by Lucy, Levy, Konata, Jet, and Droy, and carrying a young woman in blue clothing. She was glad to see them all well. She had hardly even taken notice of their absence when they had set out to fight the Phantom Lords, but it had been an unavoidable realization when the Master had returned, injured from a duel with one of the Element 4. When she saw that they were dragging after them a man in a suit, and recognized the woman in Lee's arms as the S-Class wizard Juvia Lockser... she felt even more terrible that she had allowed herself to lose track of Lee.

There was something she had to attend to first, however. "The Master has been injured one of the Element 4's magic - can you fix him, Lee?"

"That is entirely within my abilities." He hadn't even needed to be told what injuries the Master had suffered... Lee was truly a talented wizard. "Please, carry Juvia - and do be gentle," he said, simply offloading one of the Element 4 into her arms as if she was a sleeping child. Erza held the girl in the style one would typically reserve for a bride. "Where is he?"

"This way," she said, taking him to where they had the Master resting.

The girl in her arms faintly mumbled in her sleep, her voice serene and sweet. "Ah, my love... you stole my first kiss... ah..." She wriggled gently in Erza's arms, her lips occasionally pressing against Erza's armor. Erza diligently ignored Juvia's words, though part of her suddenly wondered... when Juvia said "my love," did she mean Lee?

Whatever the case, soon enough they stood before the Master's unconscious body. Lee raised his hands, and she could feel the pressure as his magic took effect, spinning back time for the Master's body for several painfully long seconds, before at last Makarov woke up with a fierce expression, his magic returned to him.

"Those bastards! Let's go get them!" The Master declared.

"If you truly wish to," Erza began, shifting Juvia's sleeping form in her arms as she had begun to absently trail kisses up towards Erza's neck. Whoever it was that had excited Juvia's emotions, it was definitely not her, so she did her best to not let the sleeping girl accidentally kiss her. "But we were already defeated once by them - perhaps we should consider our plans more carefully before we thrust ourselves into battle again?"

"...yes, you're right, Erza," the Master said, glancing at Erza and then doing a double take as he saw Juvia kissing at her armor. "What the devil did you do to Juvia Lockser? And how can I do it myself?"

"It was Lee who did it - she is currently asleep."

"Please, let me carry her once more," Lee said, suddenly directly in front of her. "I would hate for her feelings to be misdirected," he explained. Erza gently placed the other girl in Lee's arms, feeling the faint flush as she handed another woman over to him so that she could kiss the man she loved, but she restrained her feelings. Lee was right - it would be wrong to let Juvia sleepily kiss her, if she truly meant to kiss Lee.

The Master eyed up Juvia as her lips absently brushed against Lee's bicep, even beginning to nibble on his arm, and Erza felt a heat bloom in her cheeks as she watched another woman doing that sort of thing with the man she loved. She was more accustomed to it thanks to the various things she, Lee, and Konata had done together, but -

There was a thunderous sound from outside, so heavy it made her whole body shake in the building. "What was that?" Makarov asked, rising to his feet.

"I don't know," Erza told him, quickly heading out of the Guild's infirmary to see...

It was the Phantom Lord Guild Hall. It was walking on gargantuan legs, like some gigantic spider. She stared up at it, temporarily awed - then she saw some type of cannon emerging from it. She realized it was planning to destroy the Guild Hall, and all her guildmates in the area, and rushed forward, Requipping to adamantine armor, doing her best to put herself between the cannon and the guild in what limited time she had available. "Everyone, get down!" She yelled as she moved forward as swiftly as her legs would take her, unsure if she could manage to get there in time, or even survive.

She leapt into the air, meeting the blast as it flew forwards towards the Guild. The titanic force of it rammed into her body, sending her backwards, shattering her armor, her whole body going end over end. She would have to trust the rest of the Guild to do the rest, because-

She was suddenly restored to full health, her armor back in action. Oh. Yes. Of course. Lee could simply heal her. "Erza and your Master are defeated," intoned the uproarously loud megaphone attached to the Guild Hall. "You have no aces lef-" the voice cut itself off as it saw Erza rushing forward towards it, and she could feel the shift in the air as Makarov suddenly increased in size vastly, rushing forward as well. "What the-"

* * *

After Erza and Makarov finished defeating the Phantom Lord Guild, we had a brief reprieve. Juvia awoke and promptly surrendered. Gray and Ur returned from the all expenses paid vacation that I had sent them on. Gray, understandably, was upset that he had missed everything.

"Those Phantom Lord bastards! If I had been here..." He raised one trembling fist to the air, his head ducked low, a scowl on his features. "I would have showed them what happens when you mess with Fairy Tail."

"Yeah, but you weren't here!" Natsu said, getting up in Gray's face. "In fact, it's real suspicious that you just happened to miss out. Maybe you're a chicken and ran off!" He poked Gray's chest at that point.

"I'm not a chicken, I just wasn't here! I could have taken down the Phantom Lord Guild all by myself, in fact!" Gray got up in Natsu's face, until they were practically nose to nose.

"I do not believe you could have," Erza said, interrupting the pair before they could come to blows, placing one hand on either of their shoulders and making them instantly freeze up. "Makarov and I shouldered much of the burden of this battle. I am sure you would not have been useless, but there were many foes to overcome. This is why we are part of a guild - so that those who would see us harmed must face our combined might."

"Y-yeah. You're right, Erza," Gray said, most of the color having drained from his face.

"And Natsu, it isn't Gray's fault that he took a break for personal matters. The matter with the Phantom Lord Guild resolved in the span of a single day. It was impossible for him to predict it would happen while he was on vacation. Besides which, it was Lee who actually purchased the vacation for him."

Natsu turned to look at me, his gaze suspicious.

"I simply wished to make up for stealing Ur's panties!" I declared, without the slightest bit of hesitation or suspicion. "How was I to know that the Phantom Lords would attack us while Gray was away?"

"Oh yeah! How's Ur doing? You should get her to join Fairy Tail," Natsu said. "She can be part of our team!"

"Our team?" Gray demanded. "Last time we fought together, it was because you sucker punched me and kidnapped me to Galuna Island! Besides, it's not like Ur would want to work with you."

"Hmm?" The voice was female, and all of us turned to look at her. It was Ur. "I was actually thinking of joining your guild... little Gray here," she said, absently wrapping herself around Gray as she spoke in a manner that was more maternal than sexy, and carried just the hint of a threat to noogie him if he stepped out of line, "can't stop talking about all of you. It's clear he values this guild a lot."

"I am happy to hear that," Erza said, in a way that left it unclear if she meant she was happy to hear Gray loved the guild, or that Ur was thinking of joining it. "Joining our guild is simple and straightforward. I can guide you through the process."

"Sure," Ur said, disentangling herself from Gray. "But - that boy, Lee, he is a member, yes?"

"He certainly is," Erza said, obliviously. She pointed my way immediately and without hesitation.

"Oh. I had something I wanted to talk to him about. Excuse me a moment." She sat down next to me, and I resisted the urge to try to steal her panties as she slipped into place. "Thank you for saving my life, Lee," she said, her voice suddenly serious and sincere, rather than playful as it had been up to that point. "I thought I would never get to see Gray and Lyon grow up. Now I do." There was a near-warble to her voice, emotions thick. "And..." She reached into her jacket pocket, producing something. "If you really want my panties so bad, you can have a pair nicer than that. I have worn these, and I didn't wash them since," she told me, as she placed a set of lacy white lingerie panties in my hand. They had just the slightest bit of give, that of a pair of panties purchased, worn once, and never washed. A moment later, she was up and speaking to Erza again.

It was the first time a woman had given me her underwear for safekeeping of her own volition. A truly emotional moment.

Naturally, it was then that the Rune Knights arrived to interrogate everyone. I did manage to prevent them from taking the panties from me.