Lucy's POV
It's been a day since I met up with Ignia. I hate it when he shows up out of nowhere. Sometimes I can't believe he's Igneel's son with that arrogant personality of his. If I ever see his ugly face again it would be too soon. It was surprising to see Natsu afterwards though. I didn't notice he followed me all the way out into the forest but I'm glad he did. He cheered me up after dealing with that arrogant dragon brother of mine.
This morning I was woken up by a loud commotion down the road from my apartment. The sun was barely up over the horizon. It was early in the morning, so I wondered what was going on. I tiredly opened the window by my bed and poked my head out to see what the commotion was about. A small group of people were gathered around something beside the river down the road. By the sound of the people's reaction, something horrifying happened. From where I was, I couldn't see what they were looking at, so I decided to check it out.
I quickly threw on my usual outfit and wrapped my scaly scarf around my neck before rushing out of my apartment. When I got closer to the crowd, I heard what everyone was murmuring about. "A fisherman found them floating down the river early this morning" I heard one lady say to her friend. "How terrible. Someone should let Fairy Tail know" her friend replied.
When I heard her mention Fairy Tail, a bad feeling raised in my chest. I pushed through the crowd and found what everyone was starting at. Levy, Jet and Droy were lying unconscious on the cobblestone path next to the river. Luckily, they were all still breathing. Bruises covered their bodies, and they were all drenched in water. If Ignia had something to do with this, I swear I was going to hunt him down and kill him. My suspicions were squashed when I saw a black insignia painted on Levy's stomach. I recognised it immediately. It belonged to Phantom Lord.
"Lucy!" I heard my name called out and then I saw Happy flying over the crowd. The crowd parted behind him as Natsu walked through. Happy was shocked to see Levy, Jet and Droy's condition. Someone needed to tell Gramps and the guild about the situation. "Happy can you go get Gramps and tell him what happened?" I asked. "Aye" he replied and then flew away towards the guild. "Get Wendy as well!" I called out which I was sure he heard.
Next was to control the crowd. The guild won't be able to reach Levy, Jet and Droy with all these people standing around. I know they're curious and concerned but the guild can handle this. "Everyone, can I please ask you all to move on? Fairy Tail will deal with this" I announced but no one moved. "Can everyone please leave?" I asked again but no one was listening to me. Now I was starting to get frustrated. I was about to do something drastic but then Natsu surprised me by stepping in front of me. He glared and growled at the crowd which scared them. "Leave" he growled and immediately the crowd ran away. For once I was glad for Natsu's scary mannerism. "Thanks Natsu" I said and he replied, "you're welcome."
"Tell me what happened" Gramps asked calmly as he walked to us with Happy, Wendy and Carla behind him. I could tell he was angry under his calm exterior. "I overheard some people say they were found floating down the river early this morning and I also found this" I explained and then pointed to the Phantom Lord insignia on Levy's stomach.
Wendy gasped while Gramps broke his wooden staff under his grip. His calm exterior was replaced by a furious one. "I can take our guild hall being reduced to rubble, but I will not let them harm my children without getting revenge. We have no choice but to go to war" he said as his magic energy surged around him.
"Wait, did you say the guildhall was attacked?" I asked, wondering if I heard him correctly. While I was talking, Wendy ran to Levy and kneeled beside her, using her healing magic on her. "Yeah, someone attacked the guildhall" Happy confirmed. "It happened overnight while no one was around" Carla added. "We have no clue who had done it but now I know Phantom Lord is behind this" Gramps said, calming down a bit. "Today we will prepare for war and tomorrow we will storm Phantom Lord's guildhall" he added, leaving to prepare the guild.
The next morning, I was heading to the guild to join the war against Phantom Lord. I told Natsu and Happy yesterday to meet me at the guild instead of my apartment. Levy, Jet and Droy were moved to Magnolia's hospital. The guildhall was badly damaged but luckily it was still standing. Wendy was a huge help. She healed their bruises and injuries, but she said it'll still take them a day or two to wake up. I couldn't wait to kick some Phantom Lord butt. They better watch out because Fairy Tail is coming.
As I was walking down a quiet street, I accidentally bumped my shoulder into a guy's shoulder. "Oh sorry" I apologised. "No, I should be the one to apologise. It was my intention to bump into you" he replied with a smirk. "Huh?" I questioned as I took a few steps away from him. He purposely bumped into me?
The guy was a handsome man around my age and had blond wavy hair and sea-green eyes. He wore a waist-length navy blue with white-trimmings vest over his bare torso, long white pants, and black sandals. A blue Phantom Lord insignia peeked out of his vest on his left pec.
"You're from Phantom Lord" I stated as I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yep and I've been sent here to capture you sweetheart" he smirked and I glared back. "You're a part of the guild who hurt my friends" I growled. "Actually, hurting your friends and destroying your guildhall was all me" he replied. 'He did all that by himself?' I thought in surprise. "That's enough chit chat, I think" he said confidently as he raised his arm up, pointing his palm at me. I prepared myself for his attack. "Water Dragon Prison!" he chanted and then I was engulfed in a sphere of water.
"What the?!" I exclaimed which was gargled under the water. 'He's a Water Dragon Slayer?!' I thought in surprise. "My name is Kaito, the Water Dragon Slayer" he introduced himself proudly. I wasn't going to let him take me this easily. I focus all my magic energy to heat up my entire body. Within a few seconds, all the water around me turned into steam. He looked partly surprised while I smirked. "Gotta try harder than that, sweetheart" I retorted, throwing his earlier pet name back at him and lighting up my fists.