Year X784 — Early Summer
Location: Magnolia Town → Fairy Tail Guild
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POV — Return
The guild doors burst open like they always did.
Noise. Heat. Familiar chaos.
Natsu was already yelling about food. Gray was already shirtless. Cana was already drinking. Someone—no one could tell who—had flipped a table for absolutely no reason.
Lucy blinked, then smiled despite herself.
This is home, she realized.
Ren stepped in behind Erza and Mira, dust of Galuna still clinging faintly to his coat. The moment he crossed the threshold, half the guild noticed.
"You're back!"
"Mission clear?"
"Oi Ren—did you break something big again?!"
"Only a curse," Ren replied mildly. "It won't complain."
That earned laughter.
Makarov sat at the bar, eyes sharp beneath his usual grin. He watched Ren a moment longer than the rest—quiet, measuring—then nodded once.
Good work.
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POV — Lucy
Lucy was mid-complaint about rent prices (again) when the floor lurched.
Not a tremor.
A hit.
The walls groaned.
Mugs shattered.
The entire guild hall tilted violently to the side.
"—WHAT THE HELL?!" Natsu shouted.
Erza's sword was in her hand instantly.
Ren moved before the second impact landed.
---
BOOM.
The west wall exploded inward.
Stone, wood, dust—Magnolia sunlight slicing through the smoke.
And standing beyond the wreckage—
Purple coats.
Iron insignia.
A magic pressure that felt sharp and cruel, pressing down on everyone at once.
Lucy swallowed. "That's not… friendly."
Mira's expression hardened. "Phantom Lord."
Ren's eyes narrowed. "So they chose today."
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POV — Phantom Lord Emissary
A tall mage stepped forward, boots crunching over broken beams.
"Fairy Tail," he sneered. "Our master sends his regards."
Makarov rose slowly from his seat.
The air shifted.
"You attack my home," the guild master said calmly, "and think you'll walk away?"
The Phantom mage laughed.
"Oh, we're not here to fight you."
His gaze slid—deliberate.
Straight to Lucy.
"We're here to collect what belongs to us."
Lucy froze.
Ren's presence snapped into place between her and the opening like an unsheathed blade.
"Say that again," Ren said quietly.
---
POV — Ren
The pressure told him everything.
This wasn't a raid.
It was a message.
A provocation.
A declaration of war.
He felt Erza at his side, Mira just behind, Juvia already bristling like a storm cloud ready to break.
"Leave," Ren said. Not loud. Not threatening.
Certain.
The Phantom mage smirked. "Soon. After we finish preparing the stage."
Then—smoke bombs. Magic flares.
They retreated, laughter echoing as they vanished into Magnolia's streets.
Silence followed.
Broken walls.
Rubble.
Anger simmering so thick it burned.
---
POV — Guild
Natsu slammed his fist into a pillar. "I'm gonna burn them."
Gray snarled. "They aimed for Lucy."
Juvia's eyes were dark. "Juvia will drown them."
Erza turned to Makarov. "Permission to strike?"
The old man looked around his ruined hall—at his children, furious and unhurt—and nodded once.
"This is no longer a dispute," he said. "It's war."
Ren exhaled slowly.
"Then we don't wait for the next hit," he said. "We end it."
Lucy looked up at him—fear still there, but steadied now by the certainty in his voice.
Outside, Magnolia was quiet.
Too quiet.
Phantom Lord had thrown the first punch.
Fairy Tail would answer.