Off the coast of Carluhm.
Aboard a luxury sailboat borrowed from the resort hotel, Hope lounged on a deck-chair, sipping a cold drink Mirajane had mixed—life was good.
On a small side table Happy fiddled with two spell cards. Peering at the tiny figures inside, he chirped, "Aye! Natsu really isn't getting motion-sick!"
"Damn blue cat—stop shaking us!"
A rough voice barked from one card: Gajeel, dizzy from Happy's rattling. In the other card Natsu, rattled just as hard, was seeing stars.
Hope had copied—almost instantly—an ability from Shū, sealing Natsu and Gajeel into blank cards to spare them the usual Dragon-Slaying side-effects.
Sure enough, once inside the card-space they hadn't shown a single sign of motion-sickness even though the ship had long since left the bay.
"No fair!"
Natsu protested, "How come Erza gets treated with your Attachment Spell while we're stuck in these cards?"
"Hope, you favor pretty girls over friends!"
Hope blinked at the flailing Natsu-card in Happy's paws. "Me, favor pretty girls?"
Natsu folded his arms. "Exactly!"
Hope pointed at himself. "And I ditch friends?"
Natsu nodded firmly. "That's right!"
Watching this, Gajeel—'Iron Dragon' though he was—quietly decided Natsu was the true king of reckless heads; he wanted no part of this.
Didn't Natsu know how petty Hope could be? Sure enough, Hope plucked the Natsu-card from Happy and, grinning, used Maker Magic to add four tiny wheels.
Natsu dropped to his knees. "Lord Hope, your humble servant misspoke—be magnanimous and treat me like Happy!"
Happy: Am I really that useless…? Hope nodded. "Natsu, I preferred your cocky look—kindly resume it."
Thinking he'd been forgiven, Natsu instantly straightened with swagger.
"Huh? You actually did it?"
Hope flicked the little card-car; it skidded across the deck and smacked into Cana's boot.
Cana glanced down, startled by the half-dead Natsu inside, and quickly dispelled the seal to free him.
Cana, too, had mastered the card-storage trick in minutes—she was a natural genius.
Shū, the technique's inventor, was still sulking in a corner after two morale-crushing demonstrations.
The rolling deck made Natsu even queasier. "C-Cana… maybe put me back in the card…"
"No need—we're almost there."
Erza helped him up. "If you can't take it, I'll cure you my way."
Natsu insisted he was fine; Erza's 'cure' meant being punched unconscious—no thanks.
Cana re-sealed him anyway, lured by the thousand-jewel fee he offered. Moments later the Tower of Paradise loomed ahead.
Dozens of armored, spear-wielding sentries paced outside the hundred-metre tower; lookouts watched from the ramparts.
They'd already been spotted.
With guards massing on the shore, Levy—gentle despite the guild's fearsome power—asked nervously, "There're so many… are we charging straight in?"
Hope strode to the prow, remembering a certain 'dock-the-boat' meme, and hammed it up: "Who do you think we are? Bring her alongside!"
Everyone ignored his sudden theatrics; Hope deflated in awkward silence.
To keep magic-less Mirajane safe they stopped twenty metres out, Gray freezing a broad Ice-Make path across the sea.
Leaving Mira and Levy on board, the rest strode over the ice toward the waiting soldiers.
"Halt! Who are you people?"
Erza stepped forward, scarlet hair whipping in the sea-wind: "We're Fairy Tail Mages. Stand aside—our quarrel is with Jellal alone!"
"F-Fairy Tail!"
"The guild that wrecks everything!"
The line wavered; some men already backing away.
Hope chuckled to Makarov, "Seems our reputation precedes us."
Makarov grimaced. "Don't kill them—they're only ordinary soldiers."
"Got it!"
Released by Cana, Natsu barreled in first, fists blazing; Gray raced beside him, ever rivalrous.
"Fire Dragon's—!"
"Ice-Make—!"
The ice-and-fire vanguard carved through the guards; foes flew or dropped asleep before the rest of the guild even joined the fray.
----------------------------------
I've already uploaded over 70 new chapters on Patreon!
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead, feel free to check it out.
Your support truly means a lot to me!
patreon.com/Kazenova223
Thank you so much for being here!
And if you're having fun with the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone for me!