Lucy

The Lacrima

"You can see that I have learned a lot while I was away!" shouted Porla, confident that he would be winning this battle. "I really didn't even need that girl as a lacrima! I just did it to piss you and your Guild off!"

"You will NOT touch ANY of my children EVER AGAIN!" shouted Makarov, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated all his energy on the spell.

"Master!" gasped Erza as she appeared outside the Guild doors. Once Porla had started the spell, all the shade mages had disappeared from within the hall, since he needed all his magic focused in on this one attack.

Several of the other mages joined her.

"We have to help him!" shouted Erza. She requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. Mira joined her in her Satan Soul's form. Gajeel, Natsu, Levy, Juvia, Gray....as well as all the other mages who had been fighting the shade warriors in the hall.

Watching Makarov struggle, the light and dark spells seeming to be evenly matched, the Guild members focused their waning magic power and attacked Porla with all their might.

"He's grown so much stronger!" Juvia shouted to Gajeel, who grunted in agreement.

Slowly the light started to push the dark back until there was a loud explosion that threw everyone back.

"Did we get him?" groaned Wendy, sitting up and rubbing her head.

Everyone else started to sit up, rubbing wounds, dusting debris off of them. Makarov, now back at his normal size, looked through the dust and debris to see what was left of Porla.

Porla slowly sat up and his eyes met Makarov. He was weak and looked defeated, but for some reason, he began to laugh. It started out slow and was racked with coughs, but slowly grew stronger and louder. It was almost hysterical laughter, Makarov thought, trying to figure out what Porla thought was so funny.

"You fools!" he shouted, getting to his feet. He waved his hand and several of his shade warriors appeared, a large lacrima between them. "You have used up all your magic," he said, "and all for what? I have won!"

Lisanna and Elfman appeared at the doorway, looking battered and bruised. "No!" shouted Elfman, seeing the lacrima in Porla's possession.

"So long, Fairy Tail! But don't miss me too much - I'll be back!!" Porla shouted before lapsing into a coughing fit. He waved his hand and his shade warriors, the lacrima, and Porla disappeared.

"Lucy!!" Natsu gasped, running towards Porla, reaching him just as he disappeared.

Makarov looked at Lisanna and Elfman. "WELL?" he demanded.

"She's safe," Lisanna said, Elfman nodding in agreement.

"Natsu!" shouted Erza, grabbing the mage's attention. "He's gone!"

Makarov put his hand on Natsu's shoulder. "She's safe, son. That was a decoy," he told him softly.

"Gramps?" Natsu asked, turning around and facing him.

"She'll be fine as soon as we can get her out of that thing. Come on," he said, turning around and heading into the Guild Hall. "He'll be back once he realizes that the one he has is a fake."

Gajeel grunted. "I'm not sure if we have enough magic between us..." he began.

"But we have to try!" Wendy declared. "Maybe if we all do it together...." She looked at the master for confirmation.

"I need all the dragon slayers downstairs. You too, Elfman," Makarov ordered. "Erza, set a guard up."

"Yes, Master," Erza replied, and started giving orders to the uninjured mages.

As they reached the basement, Makarov turned to the dragon slayers. "I wish Laxus was here to help, but you three will most likely be able to free Lucy, even if you're not at your strongest. Gajeel, what exactly did you do in Edolas?"

Gajeel shrugged. "I used my iron dragon roar and that seemed to do the job."

Makarov led them into the secret room. "Elfman, bring her out. I don't want the kids to destroy my library!"

Elfman hefted the lacrima and brought it out of the library to the recreational part of the basement.

"Try not to mess up the pool tables," Elfman told them. "I just learned how to play!" He chuckled, then went back upstairs to help the others.

Wendy cautiously put her hand on the lacrima. "She's okay," she told the others. "Still sleeping, judging from her heartbeat."

"Let's do this," Natsu said, speaking for the first time.

"Fire dragon roar!"

"Sky dragon roar!"

"Iron dragon roar!"

They focused what little magic they had left after the battle on the lacrima. All three stopped, breathless, looking at the lacrima.

"No," Wendy whispered, seeing it was still intact.