The measure of a man what he does with power.
-Plato
Member of Fairy Tail paired up into groups and each went to look for former members of the wizard council in order to protect them from Tartaros while also getting information as to why they were being targeted.
Asami, Gray, and Haru were one group. They were on their way to protect Master Hogg.
"We're almost there." Gray said, holding the reigns of the animal.
Asami who had her arms wrapped around his waist to keep herself from falling off while Haru was flying beside them. "I hope we get there in time." She muttered. She wore her usual outfit that consisted of her long red sleeved blouse and black skirt that was paired with black thigh high boots. Over her blouse was her black cape.
Suddenly the animal they are riding stops abruptly and crouches down as if in fear of something. "Easy! What's the matter?" Gray asked the animal that whined in protest.
"What happened?" Haru asked floating above them as he looked at the animal and back at them.
Asami furrowed her brows and glanced up ahead to where the town was. "I think it's afraid."
"Who knows what's waiting for us." Gray muttered looking up ahead as well, not liking the feeling he was getting.
"Well it's definitely not good." Haru said in between the couple and snuggled into Asami's stomach feeling suddenly afraid.
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"You found Master Hogg?" Makarov asked them once they connected the communication lacrima to the one back at the guild hall.
"We did but, Tartaros found him first." Gray said, his tone filled with remorse and disappointment that they hadn't made it time.
"Just how late were we? Has the culprit left?"
"Late and yes." Asami clenched her fists tightly as her stomach churned from seeing what the town had looked like when they walked through it. "The culprit left but not without destroying the town on their way out." Haru came back after flying around town to make sure if anyone was still there and shook his head, disappointing them.
Makarov gasped at the sight of the town. "Such horrific destruction."
Asami, Gray, and Haru watched as they switched to team Shadowgear who was with Gajeel and Pantherlily to see if they had any luck. But, just like them, they were too late. However, the person who killed the councilwoman that Gajeel's group was supposed to protect, left the town unharmed.
They were awaiting Lisanna and Elfman to communicate with them, including Natsu's group.
Suddenly, Lucy's face popped up on the lacrima screen. "Hey! It's working!" The blonde exclaimed in relief, although her clothes were tattered. "Hey, gramps! Can you hear me?!"
"Lucy?! What happened?!" Makarov questioned, take note that her appearance seemed like she was in a fight.
"I'd have contacted you sooner if I could." She said. "But, we ran into trouble on the mission."
"Have you located Michello?"
"Yeah! He's safe and sound."
Everyone sighed in relief to know that at least one group was able to save one of the council members.
"But, we can't say the same for Natsu though." She muttered, holding the communication lacrima to show them Natsu who was lying on the ground with a disheveled appearance like the rest of his group, however he was the only one who look the worst out of them.
"I'm the champ." Natsu said weakly while holding up a peace sign.
"He beat a member of Tartaros all by himself!" Wendy added, praising the older dragon slayer.
"Victory!" He choked out.
"And he's proud of it." The blunette chuckled.
"The town looks like a hurricane's been through it." Carla muttered.
"You can say the same about my hair too." Happy said referring to the afro he was sporting.
"We need to know everything that you were able to find out from Michello." Makarov said cutting into their idle conversation.
"About that..." Lucy trailed, and held the lacrima communication so they could see the state which the former councilman was in.
"They seek the white legacy." Michello murmured, his eyes wide with panic as he trembled in fear. "Use F.A.C.E. Believe me, I know nothing. I swear. I don't know anything I'm telling you!"
"What is this F.A.C.E?"
"It's a weapon." He replied. "The most powerful weapon that the council has. Probably the strongest ever made."
Instantly the worry and apprehension was felt among the members. They had already dealt with the Etherion cannon and that itself was troublesome. But hearing there was something more powerful filled them with dread.
"What was it for?" Natsu questioned the short man. "Something like that sounds too strong to use."
"I'm sure they thought they needed one last ace in the hole. Power breeds paranoia from what I've seen." Carla stated, placing her paws on her hips. "Now I for one would love to hear more."
"The council possesses many such weapons. Each subject to its own rules based on it's potential from its use. One example is the etherion cannon." He paused. "Etherion is a hyper magical artillery piece, capable of dropping it ordinates at any target in the continent. It has power enough to turn an entire nation into a smoking crater with a single blast. Thus, it cannot be fired without the approval of the nine council members and the input of ten security codes, each possessed by different senior official."
"Wait a sec, all of those council members are dead now!" Jet said.
Droy stiffened. "Then the council can't activate etherion till they get new leaders."
Pantherlily crossed his arms over his chest and frowned, "They may have killed current members to shut it down and retirees to keep it down."
"What exactly does this F.A.C.E of yours do?" Makarov asked Michello who in turn shut his eyes in fear and said nothing. The guildmaster slammed his hands on the table in anger and frustration. "I understand that this is a secret! But no one is left to make use of this knowledge but us!" He snapped.
"F.A.C.E is an anti magic pulse bomb. This device can clear our continent of any trace of magic." He revealed.
Everyone stiffened at the news.
"A weapon that can erase all magic?!" Gajeel exclaimed, breaking the silence.
"That's horrible!!" Jet and Droy cried out in unison.
Cana frowned. "That would give magic deficiency syndrome to every wizard alive."
"It gets even worse." Lucy said gaining their attention. "The demon that Natsu fought, told us that Tartaros members use curses instead of magic."
"So F.A.C.E's activation would wipe out every guild but theirs. Every wizard that stands against them would find themselves helpless and in agony." Pantherlily said.
"What a deplorable weapon, your council has made." Makarov said, anger and disgust in his tone.
Natsu walked up to Michello and grabbed him by the collar and gave him a threatening look. "You tell me where it is right now! That thing should not have existed in the first place."
"I-I really don't know. Please forgive me." Michello choked out. "From what I've heard it was sealed away by three former council members that did this by means of Body link magic. I have no idea who those members are. Only the former chairman can tell you that."
"So what the heck is body link magic?" Happy asked.
"It's the kind that Brain used to keep Zero sealed away." Wendy explained.
"If us beating the Oracion Seis broke the seals that bound Zero then them killing those council members..." Gray glanced over at his wife.
Asami nodded. "If Tartaros kills those council members that sealed away F.A.C.E then the spell will be broken." She said and clenched her fists. "There haven't been any signs of interrogations which means they must already have a location for F.A.C.E."
"So all they've gotta do is knock off a few more council members and then they can eliminate all magic? Screw that!" Gajeel spat.
"We need to get those three protected as fast as we can." Makarov said. "You said that the former chairman can tell us who they are, yes?"
"Yes. I'm all but certain." Michello said still trembling in fear.
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Gray kept his gaze up ahead as he, Asami and Haru rode back on the animal to go back to the guild. Haru was snuggled in between them asleep.
"We're almost back to the guild. Then I'm heading to one of those new addresses." He paused. "You're coming?"
"Yeah." She said quietly tightening her grip on his waist. "I can't get the image of what happened back at the city out of my head." No one had survived the attacker on the city and it made her feel worse since they hadn't made it in time to save them. "I just have this feeling like things are about to get a lot worse."
Gray felt the same way after seeing the city. He gently placed his hand over her own and laced their fingers together. "We'll be fine." He said softly and hoped that she would feel better. "We'll win this war like we've won all the others. Count on it."
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The groups all made it back to the guild and gathered together. "It's not good news. We went after Natsu to the former Chairman's house."
"But he was already gone by the time we got there and so were Happy, Erza, and Mira." Lucy continued for Carla. "On top of that the house was completely destroyed."
"I did try to track them down but my sense of smell wasn't strong enough." Wendy said feeling guilty.
"You don't think that they caught, do ya?" Gray asked while Asami glanced at her sister in concern.
"I wish we could hit Tartaros back but we don't know where to look for them." Levy said.
"Gajeel? Asami? Shouldn't you guys go back to the chairman's place? Maybe you two can sniff out where the group was taken." Pantherlily said looking at the older dragon slayers.
Asami shook her head. "If Wendy, wasn't able to track it, then neither could we." She said sharing a look with Gajeel who pat Wendy on the head.
"I feel so useless." Wendy muttered.
"Also it's been awhile." Gajeel added. "Natsu smells but you don't smell that much."
"We haven't heard anything from Elfman and Lisanna for while now either." Cana said crossing her arms under her large chest.
"Those wretched demons. There has to be a way to track their base of operations somehow." Makarov said.
"Me and Natsu found it!" Everyone looked up hearing the familiar voice that belonged to Happy who had a disheveled appearance. "There base! I know where it is!"
"Happy?!" Lucy cried out in surprise to see him. Happy dropped down on the table as his wings gave out.
Happy jumped up and started flailing his paws around as he spoke in a fast speed."Erza and Mira got captured because the former chairman guy he's a traitor and me and Natsu we tracked his scent to their base but Natsu he-he"
Carla grabbed both his cheeks and gave him blank look. "You have to calm down.
"Aye." He said and explained the situation.
"Inconceivable!" Makarov exclaimed once Happy finished telling them what happened. "The former chairman of the magic council joined Tartaros?!"
"How could they have taken Erza and Mira?!"
"Who knows!"
"There's one more thing...." Happy trailed as he glanced over at Gray who gave him curious look. Happy stiffened and decided it was best to keep what he heard to himself. "Nevermind." Gray wondered what the blue cat wanted to say since it seemed that it had to do with him from the look Happy was giving him. "But they got Natsu. I watched him get caught. He was right in front of me. I know I should have tried to save him but I didn't. I ran." Tears spilled from his eyes and he tried to wipe them away.
"Look you did the only thing you could do." Pantherlily said gently. "Now just dry your tears and tell us where he is."
"Their base is on this weird blocky island." Happy answered. "And it floats around in the sky."
"It's moving?!"
"It makes it impossible for you to know where it is."
Levy walked up to Happy. "We don't have to know the exact location, if you can remember how you got here then maybe we could figure it out."
Happy blinked. "Right so I was flying to the left but it was right on my 9 o'clock heading for noon so I-" Haru who had walked up Happy to comfort him gave him the same deadpan look that Pantherlily had. Happy paused in words and slammed a paw to his other paw. "Wait a sec. I think I heard one of their soldiers mention Boscoe."
"Are you sure?" Haru gave him a disbelieving look.
"Then their base must be somewhere around the eastern border!"
"I can narrow it down from there! No problem!" Levy said feeling suddenly determined. "I'll try as hard as I can to narrow Tartaros' route. I promise I won't let you guys down!"
"Alright!" They all cheered.
"Everyone else prepare for the fight of your lives!"
Not even a moment later the front door to the guild opened, revealing Elfman.
"Hey, Elfman! Wait...where's Lisanna?" Droy asked taking note of the missing short white haired change mage.
"Hey man? You and Lisanna get split up?" Gray asked next when Elman walked in not saying anything.
"We were worried when we didn't hear from you guys." Asami said as she stood next to Gray.
"Lisanna is gone. Captured by Tartaros."
Everyone stiffened hearing his words.
Happy whimpered. "No way!"
"They have her too?!" Lucy said in shock.
"They got to Master Yuri first. They were waiting. I failed. I don't know what else I could have done." Elfman said guilty as he looked down.
"Don't worry. We'll get her back." Gray reassured him.
"Elfman. We're already planning an assault on Tartaros' base."
"Lisanna is one of the toughest girls I know. She'll be okay till then." Juvia said.
"Yeah." Elfman muttered.
"Stop trying to comfort him! What kind of man would let these monsters take his sister away?" Cana said.
"Cana!" Wendy and Asami snapped at her. "Stop!"
"I-I tried to help her but..."
The brunette scoffed. "But what?! They outran you?! Like I'll buy that! You transform into animals! Hey! Get back here, coward!" She snapped seeing him walking away.
"That's enough, Cana!" Gray said harshly. "Layoff!"
"No. I deserve it. Forgive me. I just need to get some rest." Elfman said.
"Jeez, Cana. What's the matter with you?!" Asami gave her friend a chiding look who in turn had the decency to look guilty.
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Cana feeling a bit guilty left to go talk to Elfman while the rest awaited Levy to figure out where Tartaros was.
"Based on everything that Happy told me. I've done it!" The petite blunette announced.
"That's awesome, Levy!" Lucy praised her friend.
"So, where are they?"
Levy pointed up. "Above us."
"What?"
"They're right over us."
"Are you certain?"
"What the heck are you talking about, kid?"
"I know how it sounds!" She huffed. "But when Happy escaped they were near the eastern border heading west. Unless they changed directions, they should be pretty on top of Magnolia right now."
Everyone felt a sense of hope knowing they had a location on Tartaros and their friends who were captured.
"Guess they thought they could come to us." Gajeel muttered.
"We'll have Natsu back in no time." Lucy said looking at Happy.
"Aye!"
"Get ready!" Makarov announced.
Everyone let out shouts of agreements when all of a sudden there was a bright white blinding light.
And then a loud explosion.