Vivian's P. O. V:
A few more days have passed, and I'm currently at the Sabertooth guild, sitting beside my mate with his arm around my waist as we chat with each other. Just a few days ago, we'd gotten back from our recent mission.
I'd put on a sleeveless black shirt with a pink skirt and knee high boots.
I smile at what Rogue is saying as I lean my head on his shoulder, his arm tightening around me. Rogue gazes at me, a soft expression on his face. Erza had pulled me aside and told me of her encounter with Minerva in Sun Village. I'd offered to go tell Rogue and Sting.
I say to Rogue, "Hey, there's something I need to tell you and Sting."
He pauses in what he's saying, and looks at me with a serious expression. "Sure, Viv-chan." We get up and go over to Sting, sitting on the throne.
"What's up?" He asks.
"I have to tell you guys something—about what happened on my last job," I begin. "... it's about Minerva..." This immediately catches their attention.
"M' Lady?! You know where she is?!" Sting exclaims as he jumps to his feet. This gains everyone else's attention, and they murmur amongst themselves.
"Yeah," I say, looking down for a minute before meeting Sting's and Rogue's gazes. "... she needs help. I think Minerva is in trouble..."
At that moment, the lacrima in Sting's office starts ringing. Sting scowls in annoyance at the interruption and goes to answer it. A moment later, he returns with a serious expression on his face.
"Viv-chan?" Sting addresses. "There's a call for you from Master Makarov."
I furrow my brows at those words, "From Master? What could he want...?"
Shrugging, Sting replies, "Dunno. He didn't say. Just said to hurry up and get you. But he did say it was something urgent. He sounded extremely worried."
A concerned look settling on my own face, I gaze at Sting for a moment before glancing at Rogue. He gazes back at me with a serious expression before I make my way to Sting's office. When I get there, I sit in the chair behind the desk as I accept Master's call.
"Hello? Gramps?" I say, as his face showing in the lacrima.
"Thank goodness, Vivian!! Listen! You have to come back to the guild hall right away! Something's happened! While out on mission, the Thunder Legion were attacked! They're in the infirmary but they're in very bad shape—especially Laxus..." Master says, tone full of worry.
I gasp as my eyes jerk wide. "What?! Oh, no! Okay, I'm on my way right now!" I tell him.
"Thank you, Vivian! And, please, hurry!" Master says before disconnecting.
Clenching my fists, I glare as I jump to my feet and throw open the office door, racing for the door of the guild hall.
"Vivian?!" Rogue calls after me.
"Where are you going?! What happened?!" Sting yells.
I don't pause as I call back, glancing over my shoulder at the males, "Sorry, guys!! There's an emergency back at the guild! Gotta go!" I turn back around and return to the guild hall as fast as I could.
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When we arrived back at the guild hall, I immediately go to the infirmary and I throw open the door with a bang.
"What happened?!" I exclaim. I enter the room as the rest of my guild mates turn. Reaching the front of the crowd, I gasp when I see the state of the Thunder Legion, and Yajima-san. Their skin is pale and dark bags are under their eyes.
Master says in immense relief, "Thank goodness you're here!" Master demands Porlyusica desperately, "What happened to them?! Tell me you can fix it?!! They'll be okay, won't they?!!"
Porlyusica explains in a serious tone, "They've been heavily exposed to Bane Particles. I'll do what I can, but far smaller exposures than theirs have proven lethal in the past. Recovery is possible but not guaranteed. Or even likely. Laxus' case is many times worse than the rest. It's a miracle he's lasted this long."
I stare at Laxus, my eyes wavering as I'm unable to believe what he did. "Laxus-kun..."
"Ma... ster..." We all tense at the sound of Freed's voice. We whip our heads around to see him conscious and gazing back at us. Master walks over to the greenette.
"I'm here."
"Be proud, Sir," Says Freed. "Laxus saved the whole town. " Natsu and I go up to Master and Freed. "Mist... mist everywhere would've killed us all if he hadn't..."
Master says gently yet firmly, "You'll tell me later. You did well getting them back home. Now, get some rest."
Freed says, coughing slightly, "So much poison, and Laxus breathed all of it in, so it wouldn't reach the town."
Laxus-kun...
Freed asks, "The people... they're fine... aren't they...? They are safe...?"
I look at Master to see a shadow cast over his face. A solemn expression settles on my face. "Yeah..." Master lies.
"Then, it was worth it..." Freed says, tears welling up in his eyes, before leaking down his face.
We gaze at the Thunder Legion and Yajima-san with grim expressions. Tears begin to form in my eyes.
Natsu turns and take a couple of steps toward the door, only to stop behind Master. Natsu says through gritted teeth, his fists clenched, "Gramps... you know what this means, right?"
Veins were visibly popping out of Natsu's foreheads as he yells:
"THIS MEANS WAR!!"
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"THIS MEANS WAR!!! I'll bash every last one of those bastards!!" Natsu roars as he thrashes about on the floor. He had gone on a tantrum, destroying the tables and chairs, but is now currently being held down by Warren, Jet, Max and Nab. Droy is knocked out on the floor next to them, having been punched away by Natsu earlier.
"You don't wanna say that!" Warren tells him.
Jet says, "We all know what you're feeling!"
"Then you'd better let me go before I bash your heads in!!" Natsu yells threateningly.
Droy mumbles, "Wish you'd made that threat a bit sooner."
"They hurt our friends so we hurt them! Stop acting like it's complicated, and help me kick their butts!"
Gramps says, "I'd like nothing better, Natsu, but we don't have nearly enough information, yet."
"Their name is Tartaros. That's about the only thing we know about them, apart from the fact that they're targeting former council members," I say, trying to explain it to Natsu, as I stand beside Erza. "We don't know where they're located or what their motives are." The memory of Yajima and the Thunder Legion lying in the infirmary flash through my mind.
Natsu finally stops struggling and listens to me.
Warren tells Natsu, "Listen to Vivian-chan, Natsu! How do you expect us to attack them right now if we don't even know where their base is?!"
His eyes angry white triangles, the Dragneel shoots back, "I'll beat down some other dark guilds and make them tell us!!"
Nab questions, "Okay, and how are we going to be able to find these other dark guilds?!"
"You still need to calm down and help us make a plan," Jet scolds him.
Gray says, "Then all we've gotta do is hang out around some former council members and Tartaros will come to us."
"A good plan. Problem is, the addresses of all former council members are kept secret," Macao says, looking up from a newspaper.
Happy asks, "How come?"
Charlele explains, her arms crossed, "The Council's imprisoned quite a few people most of whom would like revenge." Lily nods his head in agreement.
"Looks like yet another dead end," Cana sighs.
"Actually, no, it's not," Loke says as he walks up to her.
"Why's that?"
"I don't know where every former council member lives, but I can point you to a few."
"Whoa! Really?!" Lucy exclaims in surprise and relief. She seems relieved that we could save a few of the former council members.
"How do you even find out that kind of thing?" Wendy asks.
Going over to Wendy, Loke leans down toward her, cupping his hand around his mouth, and starts whispering in her ear.
At Wendy's blush, Lucy mumbles, "Oh."
Now I'm kinda glad I wasn't able to hear that...
Wendy, too, was still stunned from what she'd just heard.
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Porlyusica explains as she stands beside Gramps in front of Fairy Tail, "Thanks to Loke's tramping around, we have the addresses of 4 retired council members. We need to send a team to each location. Our main objective is to protect these people from Tartaros. But our second goal is to find out everything these wizards know. About the nature of Tartaros, the whereabouts of other former council members, and why they might've been targeted. Should you find the thing that poisoned Laxus, know that we need a sample of its blood. I won't be able to make an antidote without it. This is no time to be brash, so avoid exposure at all costs."
Gramps says as he holds up a clenched fist, "Today, we go to war!!! Our foe is a pillar of the Baram Alliance! As strong as Grimoire Heart and the Oracion Seis. But they should've learned from their allies' mistakes, for by the time our work is done, the bloodied remnants of their guild will look back on this day and rue it!" Gramps thrusts his right fist forward. "For this is the day they made an enemy of Fairy Tail!! They've attacked our brethren. The pain they've caused is mine and yours. The blood they've spilled is our blood. Now it is time for the blood not shed to boil. For our pain to feed our burning rage." Gramps puts his hand over his heart as he adds, "Let us fight not for justice, but for the thunder in our souls! I MAKE THIS OATH UPON THE HONOUR OF OUR GUILD: FAIRY TAIL WILL DESTROY THIS FOE!!!"
Everyone yells in agreement, "YEAH!!!!"
We were all ready to take down the dark guild of Tartaros.