N i n e t e e n

(Y/N)

"That was truly impressive, my Fairy Tail wizards." Master Jose cooed as he stood before us with a venomous grin.

I looked down at Erza who glared at him trough narrowed eyes, though I could see the pain and fear masked behind her anger. I held out my arm cautiously, guarding her from Jose in her vulnerable state.

"I knew this would be fun, but I never imagined you'd entertain me this much. You annihilated the Jupiter Cannon, disposed of my elite Element Four, and you even managed to bring my magic giant to its knees." Jose smirked as his ominous deep purple magic seeped out of his body and surrounded him as an aura.

"Master Jose." I greeted through gritted teeth.

I felt nauseous just being near Master Jose due to his cloud of evil energy looming over us all. I could tell Mira felt the same way as she covered her mouth with her hand and watched him through weepy eyes.

"Now then, you've been so kind as to entertain me, I simply must return the favor!" Jose decided cheerfully.

"Ready?" Elfman glanced at Gray out of the corner of his eye. Gray simply grunted in response.

"Ice Make: Saucer."

"Beast Arm: Iron Bull!"

And with that Gray and Elfman launched their attack.

"No!" Erza wailed.

"I'll return it in full!" Jose cackled as he lifted his hand. A wicked purple magic circle appeared and shadow ghosts sprung out of it and attacked Elfman and Gray. They were sent flying across the room and landed with a loud thud in the rubble.

"Elfman! Gray!" Mira cried out.

With a swipe of his arm, Jose created a line of explosions, which took out the boys along with Mirajane.

Erza began to shakily stand, leaning on her sword for support.

"No." I growled as I moved to stand in front of Erza. "It's my turn."

I could feel her eyes watching my back as I made my way over to Master Jose. He created a magic circle targeted on me as I sauntered towards him. A ray of dark magic shot from it but I weaved through it and began to run at him.

My fists became surrounded in dark blue and purple magic, with golden stars twinkling in it.

"Meteor Shower!" I yelled, punching the air in front of my violently. Magic spheres shot off my fists and launched towards Jose, who nimbly avoided each orb, barely.

I growled in frustration and attempted to close the gap between us. I made my way closer to him and soon was in a full on fistfight with him, however he continued to dodge until he grabbed my forearm. I gasped and tried to rip it from his grasp but he smirked and gripped tighter before throwing me back.

I flipped in the air and nimbly landed on my feet. I glowered at him as I scanned him up and down, trying to figure out a weakness I could exploit to defeat him, though he was obviously a very worthy opponent being one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

"Fascinating. You took a shot from Jupiter at full force, did you not? And yet you're still standing. How?" He looked me up and down with intrigued eyes.

"My friends have filled my heart with strength. I'll withstand anything to protect the ones I love." I explained, clenching my fists.

"Powerful, dauntless, and exquisitely beautiful. Destroying you will be a real treat!" Jose cackled.

Suddenly, the entire building trembled and Natsu's determined scream rang through the echoic walls.

"Oh my, what an unruly dragon you have." Jose noted.

I began to pant, just now realizing how much of a toll the Jupiter Cannon had taken on me.

"It seems you've underestimated Natsu." I smirked. "I'd even go as far as to say he's just as strong as I am, if not stronger."

"Don't be so modest, Miss (y/n). Your magic is just as spectacular as Salamander's. You're the first wizard able to last thing long with me in battle. Truth be told, we'd be more equally matched in power if you hadn't taken a direct hit from the Jupiter Cannon earlier today." He complimented dryly.

"You know what really irks me about Fairy Tail? The fact there's so many powerful wizards like yourself who decided to ally with Makarov." He smirked menacingly and held out his finger. Before I could react, he flicked his pointer finger towards me and a tiny yet powerful force of magic slammed into me and launched me backwards to collide with the back wall.

"Gah!" I yelped out in pain and shock.

"You want to know why I didn't finish off Makarov when I had the chance?" He questioned. He held out his palm and shot mini magic bullets out of his fingertips. They exploded around me and rose up dust, though I avoided them lithely and sprung out of the dust and bounced around him, dodging each magic bullet.

"I did it to instill despair. Imagine how he'll feel when he awakens to find his dear guildhall destroyed and his children dead and gone. He'll be grief-stricken, I'm sure. Once he's reduced to that miserable state I can destroy him. But he won't die that easily; I'll make sure he suffers. I'll torture him until he has no will left to him, and I'll leave him to wither and die." Jose's raspy voice concluded.

"You bastard!" I roared, launching towards him with my magic trailing behind me. Just as a swung my fist and made contact, he disappeared and reappeared a couple meters away.

How is he so fast?!

"For the longest time Phantom Lord was the number one guild in all of Fiore. We have the most powerful wizards with the strongest spells, more capital, more members than any other guild. However, recently Fairy Tail has begun to catch up and our position on top is at risk. Names like Erza, Laxus, (y/n), Mystogan became well known and stories of Salamander spread like wildfire across the land. Now Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail are considered equals, the top guilds representing the kingdom of Fiore." Jose explained. "I can't stand it. I refuse to be compared to such a feeble guild!"

"Shut up!" I bellowed, rapidly swinging my fists and launching my magic at him. "We're fighting for our lives just because you had a little fit of jealousy?!"

"Jealousy?" He laughed. "That's absurd. We simply want to prove who the dominant guild of Fiore is."

"All of this, for such a petty, stupid reason?" Again I launched myself at Jose, swinging my fists chaotically. He easily dodged each punch. I knew I was letting my temper get the best of me, but his narcissism was just so infuriating.

I let out frustrated grunts with each punch until he got bored and decided to act. He created a magic circle and his shadow ghosts lurked out of it, circling around me. I felt my body being lifted into the air and suddenly the ghost coiled around me and tightened their grip. The second they made contact with my skin I was electrocuted mercilessly.

"Ahhh!" I shrieked in pain.

"Let her go!" Erza demanded, running towards Jose as best she could. She has requipped into her black wing armor and wielded her black sword. She took a couple swings at Jose before being hit by him.

"I thought you agreed to stay out of this, Titania!" Jose sneered as his ghosts wrapped around her as well. With the flick of his wrist the electrocuted her until she fell unconscious.

"Erza!" I exclaimed, my eyes watering up at the sight of my best friend falling limp to the floor. "Though I've never been particularly fond of your guild," Jose continued, "My distaste for you fairies was not the cause of this war. We were hired by the patriarch of the Heartfilia Konzern to find his missing daughter."

"Lucy?" I murmured.

I never knew she was part of the Heartfilia family...

"One of the kingdom's richest socialites now a member of Fairy Tail? So Makarov's trying to buy his way to the top, isn't he?" Jose snarled, having his magic creatures electrocute me once more. I wailed in pain as the current ran through my veins.

"Now that you have unrestricted access to the Heartfilia fortune, it'd take no time for you lot to surpass us. That is, if we don't completely wipe you out first!" Jose bellowed.

Jose shocked me once again, but to his surprise I gritted my teeth and began to chuckle at his idiocy.

"It's laughable how obsessed you are over something as petty as your guild's ranking." I explained. "But, I'm even more amused about how mistaken you are about Lucy!"

"Do tell." He barked.

"She came to us as a runaway, she has no access to her family's fortune! She rents a little apartment for 70,000 Jewel a month, she works hard to make a living. She fights alongside us, she laughs with us, and she cries with us. She's no different than any other member of our guild. She triggered the war, you say?! She may be a Heartfilia, but just as flower don't get to choose where they bloom, children don't get to choose their parents. She's our family now! You know nothing about Lucy nor the tears she's shed!" I proclaimed emotionally.

"Well I will soon enough!" Jose grinned maliciously. "You think I'm going to just hand her over to her father without reaping a benefit of some sort? I'm going keep her as my own personal pet until I've bled him dry. I will have all the Heartfilia fortune at my fingertips!"

"You son of a bitch!" I insulted as he electrocuted me again, this time worse than the rest. I squirmed as I tried to escape the sensation of burning flesh.

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you," Jose reprimanded in a singsong voice. "You're only going to make it more painful!"

Jose conjured up two humungous ghosts. They floated right in front of me and opened their mouths. An inhuman screech came out and I felt them draining my magic energy.

"No! A-Ahh! Stop, p-please!" I pleaded in agony.

"You're not feeling very well, are you dear?" Jose mocked. "Well you better look pretty, my dear sunshine. You're going to make an appearance before your peers. They're sure to surrender after seeing their beloved (y/n) in such a pitiful state!"

"Y-You're a monster!" I snarled.

"I don't believe insulting me like that is going to help with your predicament, my love!"

Just as the pain became unbearable, thunder struck and a comforting white light surrounded me and easily overpowered the dark ghosts. It gently lowered me to the ground.

"This is..." I murmured to myself.

I looked at Jose to see him staring at something above me. I looked up to see Master Makarov in all his glory floating over me protectively.

"You have shed the blood of our children," Master started as he landed upon a mountain of rubble. "And that is unforgivable. They have been made to suffer because of the incompetence of their masters, their parents. We are both to blame, Jose. This war between us has gone on long enough. Let's end this here and now!" Master declared, back and better than ever.

"Master..." I whispered with a small smile. I felt myself begin to slip unconscious as my adrenaline levels fell since Master had returned to protect me. My body began to teeter and fall backwards, the cool air slipping through my fingertips. I accepted the tranquil darkness and my eyelids flutter shut.