Drakaina (Harry Potter x Fairy Tail)

This Means War

Haley couldn't believe her ears.

"You say Lucy's been arrested by the Royal Army?" Erza asked.

"And she's accused of being an accomplice to some time travel plan?" Haley added disbelievingly. Only us in Fairy Tail.

Apparently, when Natsu shoved Gajeel into that cart, the latter had ended up in an underground cave full of dragon skeletons. He'd shown Natsu and Wendy as fellow Dragon Slayers, plus Lucy and Gray, and Wendy had used her new spell to talk to a dragon ghost. The ghost had told them about Acnologia, the only dragon still known to exist, and that it had once been a human man. A corrupted Dragon Slayer.

Then a knight had shown up with Yukino. Haley was happy to hear Yukino was doing okay (she'd been worried about the ex-Tiger), but this Eclipse Plan was worrying to hear about. Going back in time to defeat Zeref and Acnologia?

Time magic was an incredibly obscure and complex branch of magic. With that in mind, Haley wasn't really surprised that the Defense Minister had taken drastic measures to shut the plan down. But why arrest Lucy and Yukino along with the knight?

Natsu being Natsu, he had tried to fight the guards who arrested Lucy, but the gate drained his magic. But what the guys were told after being kicked out was disturbing...

"So what's the deal?" Laxus asked, arms crossed. "If we don't win the Grand Magic Games, we won't get Lucy back?"

"I don't trust that guy," Gray scowled.

"Who cares about that?!" Natsu screamed. "I gotta go rescue her right now!!!"

Again, Natsu being Natsu. After he'd woken up, he immediately tried to run to the palace to save Lucy. The Scarlet sisters had stopped him and tied him to a pillar in the bar to keep him still until they came up with a plan. Wendy tried to calm him down while Erza and Haley ignored him, looking to their master.

"If we're up against the kingdom, no half-baked plan will succeed. I don't believe they'll mistreat one of their own citizens either," Makarov said thoughtfully. "Until their gate plan is canceled, we'll have to think of her as a hostage."

"But this doesn't make sense," Gajeel pointed out. "We found out this government secret - and they just let us go. What's that about?"

"I see the logic in releasing people who could later be witnesses in Arcadios' trial," Pantherlily suggested.

"Even if they might leak classified information?" Carla asked skeptically.

They continued to debate what they should do and the possible reasons behind their friend's arrest. Natsu quickly got fed up.

He screamed and snapped the ropes.

"Quit the chatter and let's go rescue her!"

"We should've used sealstone," Haley sighed. Erza grimly nodded in agreement.

Master Makarov clobbered Natsu with a giant hand when he tried to run off.

"Calm down!" he ordered. "With a member of our family at risk, this is no time for games. I assume you all feel the same?"

Several determined looks were all the response he needed.

"I know we like to charge in without a plan, but that's not a good idea against the kingdom. However..." Makarov's eyes hardened. "We will not keep silent about this. Not Fairy Tail!"

The guild began to talk tactics. Haley leaned back and listened, but the wheels in her mind were turning.

The Eclipse Gate Natsu and the others learned about was supposed to be a physical doorway into time. Arcadios' plan was to go back 400 years and defeat the Black Wizard Zeref - who created the Eclipse Gate and, more infamously, several demons - before he became immortal. Haley remembered Erza telling her that Zeref had apparently been on Tenrou Island the day everyone disappeared.