Hey everyone... sorry for the long wait on this one too.
But, me and Timeless are gonna do our best to keep them more punctual from now on, we swear.
Anyway, hope you're all ready, because we're entering canon now.
"So….remind me again what you said was the lead to finding Igneel here?" Marcus asked Natsu with wry amusement. Oh sure he knew the lead Natsu had, and felt more than a little bad about keeping the secret from him...but the fact remained this was just not the time to reveal that little truth about the Dragons. So until the time came he'd have to play the part of not knowing as much as he actually did.
Natsu groaned a bit as currently he looked almost dead. The cause: Debilitating motion sickness that was the ultimate weakness of all Dragon Slayers.
He was VERY glad he didn't have that issue despite being quite similar to the Dragon Slayers.
"I'll, uh… field this one." Happy spoke up, looking at Natsu with some nervous worry "He heard that there was a 'Salamander' spotted in Hargeon Port. So, naturally, we wanted to see if it was Igneel. We also figured that since you have a dragon sealed up inside you, maybe it could tell you something, like if we're getting close to him."
'Oh I can tell where Igneel is alright. I can smell him from here.' Wizardragon spoke in his mind, able to sniff out Igneel from his hiding place, sealed inside of Natsu.
'I figured you could.' Marcus mentally shot back, before adopting a deadpan look "You two DO realise that a fire dragon wouldn't be able to just walk around town like this and NOT kick up a massive stir, right? Besides, last I checked, Salamander is the nickname that people give to Natsu."
The two paused at that, and Marcus could imagine a loading screen in their brains...no idea which was faster...before they proved to be at the same speed as… "Eeeeh?!" both of them gasped, having apparently made some kind of connection.
"Are you saying this is a bust?" Natsu managed to groan, before covering his mouth as another wave of nausea hit him.
"I didn't know there was another 'Salamander' other than Natsu!" Happy gasped.
"To answer that, A) Almost definitely sorry, and B) That or someone PRETENDING to be Natsu," Marcus snorted.
"Guess we came all this way for-ugh…-nothing," Natsu groaned.
"Eh, we might as well enjoy the town while we're here. Not like we aren't allowed to," Marcus shrugged. "Besides, if this guy is pretending to be you… might as well kick his ass, right?"
Natsu chuckled at that, before returning to groaning as the train lurched again.
"This is going to be a LONG day." Marcus muttered as the train continued on.
Eventually they reached their destination…and Marcus made sure to drag Natsu out BEFORE the train started moving again. "I know vehicles make you sick, but at least wait till you're outside before you say you need to rest," Marcus said dryly. "If I hadn't dragged you out you'd be in for a ride to the next station."
"Yeah...thanks man," Natsu groaned, before shakily getting on his own feet.
"We're here in Hargeon Port now!" Happy said in his usual cheerful tone. "So what do we do now?"
"We can keep looking for 'Salamander'," Marcus chuckled. "If he wants to pretend he's a Fairy Tail Wizard, let's see if he can at least stack up."
Natsu grinned "And if he doesn't, we just send him flying."
"As long as you avoid breaking the whole town." Marcus chided him.
"Easier said than done with Natsu." Happy laughed.
"Hey!" Natsu called in annoyance.
"My advice, don't go all out from the start," Marcus deadpanned. "That's how we avoid demolishing everything."
Natsu just grumbled as they went into the city.
"So, wonder how long it'll take for us to find this 'Salamander'," Marcus mused.
"Why do you say that?" Happy asked.
"The guy is using Natsu's title. The only reason anyone would do that is to get attention for whatever reason. He'll probably be flaunting it like crazy," Marcus explained.
"Huh… so guess we just gotta listen to rumors then." Natsu figured, earning a nod from Marcus, before the two continued to walk through town.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town…
We find a young woman with blonde hair that reached her shoulder blades, a few strands of it tied into a side ponytail with a blue ribbon, wearing a white shirt that had blue highlights, along with a blue skirt, a ring of keys hanging off a belt on the skirt, along with a whip, pouting as she walked. Her name was Lucy Heartfillia.
"Who does that old man think he is? My looks are worth a LOT more than just 1000 jewels." she grumbled under her breath, before sighing, holding up a silver key in her hand, smiling a bit "Ah well, at least I got it, so something good came out of me losing 19 000 jewels." she said, gripping the key "Now… all I need is a way to join THAT guild."
It was at that point that she heard a commotion, as a crowd seemed to be gathering in a square down below the area she was walking at. "What's going on?" she blinked in confusion...until some young women around her age passing by were talking about how they heard a strong and famous Wizard called 'Salamander' was in town. "Salamander?" she blinked, feeling like she'd heard that name before...until it clicked. "The one they say can use fire magic you can't buy at a store?" she realized, her expression brightening, as not only was the Wizard in question famous, he was also known as being a member of the very Guild she was aiming to join. If she could talk to him, even get in his good favor, she'd be a step closer to joining. With that in mind, she quickly made her way to the square, though what awaited her was...a bit different than what she expected.
An older man with dark blue hair who just seemed to be… grandstanding… for all the women around… and why was her chest feeling tight just from looking at him?
Before she could question this further however…
"About time we found you." a voice cut through the crowd, which parted to reveal two men she didn't recognize… and a blue cat?
"Hm? Is there something I can help you with?" Salamander said with a charming smile, which made the girls around him swoon more, though Lucy felt the tightness in her chest vanish for a bit, enough so she could focus again...and quickly realized why when she noticed the ring on his right hand. As for the two men…
"Sure, you can stop using that name, Mr. Phony," the older of the two men said with a smirk.
Right as he said that, pretty much all of the crowd tried to rush him to give him a piece of their mind, only for chains to burst from the ground and wrap around all the women, tying them up "And this is why fangirls are just annoying." the man sighed.
"You mean the kind that you said are just screeching banshees that don't listen to reason?" the pink haired one asked with a chuckle. The women didn't take kindly to that it seems, but the first of the men just ignored them.
"How uncouth!" The supposed Salamander gasped dramatically. "What kind of men treat women so roughly!"
"I don't believe in letting women hit me when the only thing I've done is said the truth, namely you are most definitely NOT Salamander," the first man said with a smirk.
"And who are you to make such a claim?" the supposed Salamander said with a frown.
"We're from Fairy Tail of course!" the blue cat spoke, yes spoke, in a very cheerful tone.
"That and you're not Salamander. HE is," the first man added, pointing to the pink haired man.
THAT made everyone stop short, and the blue haired man's face became ashen as he realised he was had.
"In fact… yeah, I recognize you. You were kicked out of the Titan Nose Guild, you're that guy… ah, right Bora the Prominence." the first man said with a grin, and the now revealed Bora actually paled further, while all the women suddenly seemed to snap out of their fury. "Natsu. Get him." was the last thing the man said before switching the rings on his fingers without even looking.
"Gladly." Natsu grinned, before lunging for Bora… and because of basic human decency, the following slaughter is censored, because the human body does NOT bend like that.
Lucy was staring in morbid curiosity, before wincing and cringing at some hits that Bora was taking, ending it by covering her face "Oh god that is just wrong."
"Eh, I've seen worse," the man with the rings said as he casted a barrier of water around the fight...the reason became clear as it made sure any fire that was going wild was fizzled out before it could hit any of the buildings nearby...though not much could be done about the pavement that now had an imprint of Bora's face. "So...want to call the guards so they can...uh...save Bora from Natsu?"
"...we probably should…" Lucy said dryly.
Later found the now group of four in a restaurant, with Natsu and Happy… pigging out.
Marcus and Lucy both stared dryly at the sight, as even though the glasses wearing mage had a large plate, he wasn't eating as wildly as those two.
Lucy meanwhile, tried to leaf through her issue of Sorcerer Weekly while trying to ignore the… HUGE lack of table manners, while also thinking about what led to the current moment.
After Natsu… turned Bora into a censored mess, the guards arrived and managed to make him stop, though rather than arrest Natsu, with Lucy's testimony, they instead arrested Bora due to illegal use of Charm Magic, AKA, banned magic.
After that, Lucy wanted to repay them for helping with freeing her from the effects of the Charm Magic, so she offered to buy them lunch… Marcus shot that down, on account of the fact her wallet would NOT be able to fill Natsu's black hole of a stomach.
Needless to say Lucy was VERY grateful that Marcus had been adamant about her not needing to pay for them, seeing as if she had agreed...she'd be broke for sure.
Sighing, she turned back to her magazine, turning the page, reaching the spread by Mirajane of Fairy Tail.
She didn't notice Marcus leaning over and looking at the pages in interest, his face a bit red.
Turning the page, she saw it was an interview with one of the newer members of Fairy Tail on their experience so far there. Their name was Marcus Rings, which reminded her of a previous issue which apparently interviewed his brother William, who was both a new mage, and a cook for the Guild. The interview also ended with talking about Marcus opening a jewelry making business, and then it showed a… picture… of… him…
Slowly, Lucy looked from the picture… to Marcus sitting right next to her… then back to the picture… and back to Marcus… and this continued for several seconds until it finally hit her, though the words seemed to have a hard time coming out. So Marcus decided to be a troll and mess with her a bit.
"Hi, Marcus Rings here, and yeah, we're both Fairy Tail mages," he said cheekily.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO SOONER?!" Lucy freaked out a bit.
"You didn't ask." Marcus said plainly, and Lucy's head met the table with a loud groan at that. "So...since you're so interested, I'm guessing you're looking to join the Guild?" he asked a little knowingly.
Lucy quickly perked back up at that, looking at him pleadingly "PLEASE!"
Marcus smiled "Well, you'll just have to ask the Master when we get back then. Getting in is just as easy as asking honestly."
Lucy blinked at that one. "You're...kidding right?" she checked.
"Nope. There's literally no entry requirements to Fairy Tail beyond asking. As long as you don't do anything that'll get you expelled, you're gold," Marcus shrugged.
Lucy looked extremely hopeful at that.
Getting back to Magnolia wasn't too hard of a thing to do...save the usual problem that came with travelling with a Dragon Slayer.
"Is...he okay?" Lucy asked a little worriedly at how Natsu looked like he was ready to keel over.
"Don't mind him. He's ALWAYS like that when he gets on a vehicle. ANY vehicle," Marcus sighed, as they watched Happy fanning Natsu with the window open.
"That...seems really cumbersome," Lucy sweat dropped.
"More for him than anyone he's travelling with," Marcus sighed. "But yeah, word of advice, if you ever find yourself working with him a lot, be ready to drag him out of vehicles on a regular basis."
"Thanks for the tip," Lucy said dryly. Eventually they reached Magnolia and after some dragging, Natsu was back on his feet no worse for wear.
"Alright! Let's go!" Natsu shouted as he started running towards the Guild Hall, with the others giving him a dry look before they quickly made to catch up with him.
"Is he always like this?" Lucy asked with an annoyed sigh as they jogged after him.
"You mean an idiot? As far as I can tell yeah." Marcus deadpanned.
"Natsu isn't… the brightest guy." Happy admitted with a sweatdrop as he flew ahead.
Eventually they reached the Guild Hall and Natsu announced their return...the normal way. "We're back!" he shouted, kicking the door open.
He was greeted to some cheers… before he kicked someone's face in, saying their information was shit… and then the usual brawl started.
"Uh… what?" Lucy asked blankly.
"Eh, don't mind them, this is normal." Marcus said, guiding her to the bar, where the rest of his team was, William standing behind it and polishing a few glasses.
"So… that lead was obviously a bust." his brother said when they got close.
"Yeah, kind of a given. Though we did arrest Bora the Prominence." Marcus shrugged.
"I think I heard of him." Saito mused "He was in… Titan's Nose, right?"
"Yeahp, got kicked out for being a jackass from what I assume." Marcus nodded "We caught him on charges of using banned magic. He's gonna be spending some time in a cell now."
"And the port you were at?" Louise asked with a sigh.
"Relax, I made sure to keep the damage to a minimum. That's what the water barrier was for. Too bad I couldn't save the pavement though," Marcus chuckled.
"You're all certainly...calm about all this…" Lucy sweat dropped as behind them a real brawl was going on.
"Eh...you get used to it," Saito shrugged helplessly.
"Much to my chagrin honestly…" Louise groaned. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to seeing Mages act so uncouthly, but even she'd started to get used to the warm insanity that was Fairy Tail.
"Anyway…" Marcus trailed off, looking around, before spotting who he was looking for "Hey, Mira! We brought a newbie!"
Lucy blinked, before turning her head to see who he was talking to… and started freaking out because it was THE Mirajane.
That feeling turned to panic as Mirajane was suddenly knocked away, ending up under Elfman who had in turn been knocked their way in the brawl.
And then she suddenly felt a cold chill run down her spine… turning her head mechanically to see Marcus glaring at the ongoing brawl "Alright, that's it you idiots." he said, and scanned one of his rings, before aiming his hand as his seal appeared in front of him… and what could only be described as a storm of chains burst out, grabbing everyone just as they were about to start using their magic.
"Thank you for that Marcus." a voice said, catching Lucy's attention, making her turn around to see a short old man standing on the bar, looking exasperated.
"No problem Master. I could tell it was getting out of hand." Marcus sighed, before he went to help Mira and Elfman to their feet, while going with Mira to the kitchen to grab her an icepack in case she lost her balance after that hard hit to the head.
"Now then… as for you lot." Makarov said with an annoyed sigh to the rest of the guild, right as the chains disappeared, with him bringing out a stack of papers "I've been getting more and more complaints from the council, and frankly, it's getting annoying. Them constantly reminding us that we need to rein it all in, and to that I say…" Makarov paused here, and Lucy expected him to berate the guild further… how wrong she was "To hell with them!" he said, as he made the papers catch on fire and threw them to Natsu, who caught them out of the air with his mouth as he started devouring them.
"Magic isn't something you should just restrain like that, bottle up inside you. It's meant to be free, to be used. That's because while magic is wild, it's born of willpower and reason, and, as we all recently learned, of hope. It's not just some miraculous ability, it's a power born of your spirit, and of that of nature, honed to form something you can wield. So, you can't get BETTER at using your magic, if you keep thinking about those watching down on you." Makarov finished with a grin. "THAT'S what it means to be a Fairy Tail Wizard!" he said, throwing his hand up in Fairy Tail's signature handsign, the rest of the guild imitating him with a cheer. Even Louise who was usually composed and tried to maintain her poise as a noble couldn't help but throw her hand up with the rest with a smile on her face.
Lucy herself couldn't stop the big grin she had. This was it. THIS was the Guild she'd always looked up to and wanted to join. It was why when after the cheers had ended, she couldn't contain her excitement as she was accepted into the Guild without any issues whatsoever.
"Told ya you could get in without any issues," Marcus said with a chuckle.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail. A den of insanity, but the biggest tightest family you'll ever have," William chuckled, before placing a Sundae on the counter and pushed it forward. "On the house."
"He likes to do that for new members when they join," Saito snorted.
"Nothing wrong with being nice to the newbies," William said in amusement. "Either way, welcome to Fairy Tail. If you need any pointers feel free to ask us."
"Especially if it involves how to NOT demolish a city," Louise added dryly.
"Ah...I'm guessing you're part of this 'Team Gateway' that's been getting well known lately?" Lucy guessed with a sweat drop as she took a bite of the Sundae...and her eyes brightened in delight at the flavor as she started digging in.
"That's us, the only Team in Fairy Tail that isn't chronically accident prone," Marcus snorted.
"I...can imagine how that would help…" Lucy sweat dropped as behind her she noticed that the guild had calmed down more or less and everyone was back to having fun...after apparently cleaning up the hall surprisingly quickly...more or less. The setting seemed actually...normal at that point. At the same time some of the Guild Members had settled to looking over the Request Board for possible work...until there was a bit of a commotion.
"But Dad said he'd be back in three days, and it's already been a week! Can't you send someone to check if he's okay?!" Romeo pleaded to Makarov. Apparently a week ago Macao had gone on a Request, saying he'd be back in three days...and it was now more than twice that long, and Romeo was understandably getting very worried. However...
"He'll be fine," Makarov said after downing the beer he had. "Just sit tight and wait at home. He'll return when he does."
"I know that, but still, it's been a lot longer than he promised! Mom and I are getting worried!" Romeo protested.
Makarov hummed "Hmm… that job was at Mt. Hakobe if I recall…"
"It's not too far! Just go out and look for him!" Romeo pleaded.
"Your old man is a wizard! And there ain't a wizard in this guild who can't take care of himself!" Makarov said harshly.
Romeo seemed to hit his limit at that, and threw a punch at Makarov, who was prepared to just tilt his head back… except somebody pushed him forward right into the punch, resulting in him getting bruised on his face and Romeo running away angrily.
Makarov grumbled at that, before looking behind him to see William whistling innocently, just cleaning a mug. The only thing that image needed was a halo over his head...which Marcus had apparently decided to give him using the Bind Ring while he had his Water Ring, making a ring of water over his brother's head.
Makarov shot them a look that seemed equal parts annoyed and equal parts amused at the overused joke. That was cut short though when the sound of slamming was heard as Natsu had apparently decided he felt like punching the Request Board much to the ire of several people...not that he paid them any mind as he soon walked out of the Guild Hall.
"...he's going after Romeo and then he'll go after Macao, isn't he?" Saito asked rhetorically.
"Oh most definitely," Louise nodded, though she had a wry smile. "Still, that is one of his good points. He's loyal to a fault."
"...think we should go along just in case?" Saito added.
"Oh definitely, I think you two should go with him," Marcus agreed.
"Huh? Why only the two of us?" Louise blinked.
"Because one, William and I have some things to do, and two, it doesn't hurt for you two to get some experience working with other members of the Guild," Marcus sighed. "Besides, I know Saito wants to help too, and you'd probably want to do the same not just to help Macao...but to make sure Natsu doesn't do something stupid...like case an avalanche somehow."
"...fair point," both Louise and Saito conceded, before they soon went to make their preparations. Couldn't go unprepared after all. Especially when Natsu was involved.
XXXX
"So uh...why are you guys tagging along?" Natsu asked...in his usual half dead tone whenever he was on transportation...like the carriage they were all riding in. Aside from him and Happy, Saito and Louise had tagged along and more surprisingly, Lucy as well.
"We're worried about Macao too and we wanted to help Romeo," Saito said simply.
"That and we wanted to try to do damage control. I'd rather NOT find out what kind of trouble you'll manage to cause on a mountain thank you very much," Louise added in a dry tone.
"Yeah… if what I kept hearing is true, I wouldn't be surprised if you caused an avalanche or a mudslide or something." Lucy said with a nervous laugh. Though she didn't mention she also came after Mirajane told her an abridged version of Natsu's story… which included the unbelievable fact he was raised by a dragon and was trying to find him after said dragon disappeared one day.
Natsu grumbled at that, before groaning again.
"By the way, Lucy… why didn't you dress warmer?" Saito asked the blonde.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lucy asked, before she noticed Louise had her heavy cloak wrapped tightly around her, and Saito was wearing a heavy parka over a wool shirt and some snow boots.
"Mt. Hakobe is constantly stuck in snow no matter the time of year." Louise said… and Lucy's eyes widened at that, before she opened the carriage doors just a crack… and had to close them back up, her teeth chattering.
"...I hope you got a way to keep yourself warm, cause none of us packed extra beyond the essentials," Saito deadpanned...while Natsu all but jumped out of the carriage, his motion sickness all but healing instantly, Happy right behind him.
Lucy visibly deflated at this point, a clear expression of 'this is gonna suck' on her face. Still to her credit, she didn't turn around. Thankfully between Louise casting 'Erif' and Saito taking out some of the fire element weapons he had, they were able to keep it SOMEWHAT bearable for Lucy as they walked up the mountain...but the snow and wind chill was NOT helping at all.
"If only there were a way for you to get out of this storm while still walking with us," Louise frowned as she and Saito had to hold on to their equipment when a rather strong gust of wind blew...and made Lucy shiver worse.
"Wait, get out of the storm while still moving?" Lucy blinked, before she seemed to get an idea and took out one of her keys. "I can just use these!"
"Uh… what are those?" Saito asked.
Lucy stopped at that "You… don't know what Celestial Spirits Keys are?"
"What's a Celestial Spirit?" Saito asked.
Louise wanted to ask the same thing… but she didn't want to appear to be an ignorant country bumpkin, so she just let Saito be the mouthpiece.
"Celestial Spirits are beings from another world that have wide and varied powers, and they tend to be associated with the stars in the sky, thus where their name comes from. There are two categories of keys: The Golden Zodiac Keys, of which only 12 exist, one for each Zodiac, and the Silver Keys, of which more than one can exist per key. Each Celestial Spirit has lots of different powers... But right now I just need a certain one." Lucy said, grabbing a silver key with a clock on it "Open, Gate of the Clock!" she said as she held the key in the air and twisted it, and they all heard a chime sound out, before light flashed… and then they found her huddled up inside what looked like a grandfather clock with limbs and a face.
"The heck is this?" Natsu said after a moment.
Lucy seemed to say something...but they couldn't hear her...to which the clock started talking. "I'll stay inside Horologium for now, she says," he parroted.
"...well, that's one way to stay out of the cold I guess," Saito blinked.
"She asks, what kind of job did Macao come to do?" Horologium parroted again, managing to keep pace with them even though he was a clock.
"It was a mission to cull Vulcans. They're monsters that live on this mountain," Natsu said impatiently. "Now let's hurry and find him."
Lucy looked...less than happy at that one. "I want to go back to the Guild, she says," Horologium repeated.
"I say go right ahead," Natsu said, going ahead, Happy following after him with an 'Aye!'.
Louise and Saito on the other hand… "You came all the way here without even knowing that?!" they said incredulously.
A short while later had Natsu calling out Macao's name...in the middle of a snow storm. "I don't think Macao can hear us in this storm...which makes me REALLY hope he's inside a cave somewhere…" Saito said, using one of his swords as a means to help keep his footing in the wind, while Louise was...holding on to Horologium. Turns out he made a good rock to hang on to.
"Well we gotta keep trying anyway," Natsu said as he continued calling...though it seemed he managed to attract SOMETHING, he tensed and turned towards a higher cliff...right in time for him and Saito to avoid something big coming down and nearly crushing them, Saito rolling back with Louise stopping him before he rolled too far.
"What was that?!" Louise gasped, as the cloud of snow that had been kicked up dissipated to reveal what looked like a strange giant monkey of sorts.
"... Is that a Vulcan? Never actually seen one." Saito asked.
"Aye sir!" Happy responded.
Then the Vulcan started sniffing the air… and noticed Lucy and Louise, and practically zipped towards them "Human woman!" he shouted in glee… and with a perverted look on his face, as Lucy silently screamed inside Horologium.
Louise… reacted. "Ffo ckuf!" she shouted quickly… and the Vulcan was blown back instantly.
Saito blinked several times "Did… did you just say Fuck off?"
"I panicked and said the first thing that came to mind." Louise said in defense.
"Well it sure worked," Saito said...before the Vulcan was back and grabbed Horologium on the way. "...but not well enough," he blinked as the Vulcan ran away with Horologium, Lucy still inside.
"Don't just stand there, hurry up and save me, she yells furiously," Horologium said, not seeming particularly worried, as it wasn't long before the Vulcan had gained some distance from them.
"...come back here with our comrade, you perverted monkey!" Saito shouted as they gave chase.
Chasing after the Vulcan brought them to near the top of Mt. Hakobe, to a rather large ice cave. Thankfully it seemed the Vulcan had stopped running...good thing too as Horologium suddenly vanished when they saw their targets from a distance. Naturally Natsu was the first to act. "Hey monkey! Where's Macao?!" Natsu roared as he ran forward.
"...he completely forgot about Lucy there, didn't he?" Saito said dryly.
"He probably did yes," Louise facepalmed. "And he clearly doesn't notice the ice."
Right as she said that Natsu slipped on the icy floor and slid right past the Vulcan and Lucy. Fortunately they were ready to pick up the slack. "Ereh emoc!" Louise shouted, pulling Lucy towards them and away from the Vulcan.
"Thank you!" Lucy said gratefully as she hugged the pinkette.
"Yes, yes, now can we please take care of this monkey?" Louise grumbled.
"I'm all for it." Saito said, readying his flame sword, while Lucy went for her keys, grabbing one shaped like an axe.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull!" she shouted, and in response… a minotaur with cow printed fur appeared, wearing a pair of shorts, very little other clothing, and wielding a huge axe.
"Ok… this guy is totally Taurus." Saito said with a sheepish chuckle.
Taurus grinned as he glanced at Saito "Got it in one kid! Guessing you're a friend of Miss Lucy and we're fighting the monkey then?"
"Yeahp, and the idiot with pink hair is on our side, but he crashed into the wall." Saito said, gesturing to Natsu, who was prying himself out of the wall with Happy's help. "For now, let's focus on beating the monkey down THEN we'll see if he knows where Macao is or not," Saito frowned, his fire sword at the ready, the runes on the back of his hand glowing before he surged forward, seemingly able to control his movements perfectly even with the ice, and soon got close to the surprised Vulcan and lashed out with his sword, forcing it to jump back.
"Don't forget about me!" Taurus said as he swung his axe, sending a shockwave through the ground which hit the evading Vulcan, pushing him back, but he quickly got back to his feet and was now glaring at them, looking ready to fight, both Saito and Taurus tense, ready for whatever the Vulcan would throw at them. However…
"Where's Macao?!" Natsu roared, as having gotten unstuck, he surged forward at the surprised Vulcan and delivered a...probably bone breaking...smash to the face, sending the Vulcan slamming into a wall so hard it ended up upside down...but also completely knocking it out.
"...I think you got it," Lucy sweat dropped.
"Though I don't think you can interrogate it if it's unconscious," Louise added dryly.
Saito and Taurus both looked disappointed at having their epic fight cancelled like that, before Taurus just sighed and dismissed himself, while Saito went up to the Vulcan with Natsu "So… what should we do then?" he mused.
Before Natsu could answer, the Vulcan started glowing… and turned into Macao.
"Wait, what?!" Lucy shouted in shock.
"Oh yeah!" Happy said, striking one paw with the other in the universal sign of 'I just remembered something important but am playing it off' "Vulcans can use Take Over Magic and possess a person."
"...if it took over Macao, then it's a damn good thing we came," Saito gasped.
"And from the looks of it he put up one heck of a fight before he got taken over," Natsu added, examining Macao.
"Worry about those details later. For now, let's treat those wounds," Louise said, pulling out a first aid kit.
Thankfully Macao was okay, and save for his bruised pride, he would be fine. Even then, as they pointed out, while he HAD been Taken Over, it was only after he was softened up from fighting through 19 Vulcans by himself, with the last one getting lucky. Hardly something to sneeze at. With that in mind, the group made the return journey and brought Macao back to his home, much to Romeo's relief as he had been waiting for them.
"We did a good deed today," Saito smiled at seeing the reunion.
"We definitely did," Louise agreed, while to the side Lucy was just smiling, feeling like she really had made a good choice in joining Fairy Tail.
And so it begins!
We're finally entering the domain of canon events.
We got a decent amount of work ahead of us now.
Hope you're ready for it all!