Chương 360: Introductions

The night after Alex made Lucy his newest 'Pawn' everyone slumbered peacefully in the hours before dawn broke, as Zenith slowly drifted towards their destination. That was one of the best things about Alex's favorite mode of transportation, since it was his contracted familiar, it's power, size, and speed were determined on himself and his own strength, making it a superior vessel compared to almost any others in the sky or sea. This, combined with the second magic compass that Hajime had installed next to the helm, helped them to continue their journey even through the night as Zenith happily steered herself towards their destination.

However, there was something going on with her that even Alex wasn't aware of.

"Teeheeheehee!" A small figure giggled as they ran too and fro along the ship's deck, fixing various things or putting them back into place with a wide smile on their face. The slight pitter patter of their feet was the only noise in the otherwise silent night, as they ran around performing various tasks.

Soon the figure appeared back at the helm to look at the compass, frowning slightly when they saw that it was pointing slightly to the right instead of straight ahead. A slight adjustment to the helm though, and they were back on course as they slowly drifted towards Tenrou Island.

Satisfied, the figure then slowly made its way into the interior of the ship as they silently crept towards the main bedroom. Inside was Alex, naked and fast asleep alongside several naked women after a rough night of fun, all with looks of contentment on their faces. The figure smiled mischievously as they tiptoed silently up to Alex, and lightly brushed aside a lock of his hair before gently kissing his brow.

"Sleep well, my master..." She said affectionately before sneaking away just as quietly. For the next couple hours she snuck around tidying various things up, or putting some things in a different spot that she just felt more comfortable having it there instead. Occasionally she'd return to the helm and make sure they weren't drifting off course before resuming her activities under the nearly full moon.

It wasn't until the horizon started to light up that the figure entered the crows nest and peeked through the telescope to see what lay ahead. Though she didn't see anything at first, the figure then noticed a shape coming into focus on the horizon that seemed to be shaped almost like an hourglass. Her mischievous smile from earlier returning, she then picked up a small hammer that was also in the crows nest while turning her gaze towards the small bell near her head.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNG!!!

The sound of metal ringing loudly rang out across the the entire ship, making Alex and several of the girls jump up in alarm.

"What was that?!" Shizuku asked despite still being half asleep, while Alex immediately examined their surroundings through his 'Domain' only to find that everyone was still in bed, both in his room and the one next door, and that there was no one else present on the ship. Without a single word, Alex then used Spatial magic to teleport directly to the top of the crows nest where the bell was still humming slightly after being struck.

"What is going on?" Alex muttered to himself when he saw that there was no one around, making him wonder who could have struck the bell that he couldn't even detect, and why. Just on a hunch, Alex then peered through the telescope and was surprised to find that it was set exactly on an hourglass shape in the distance, which was unmistakably their destination.

"Did you find anything?" Rias called up as she and the rest of the girls exited the cabins to help find the source of the loud noise, in various states of undress. Alex nodded slightly as he looked away from the telescope, and said,

"It was the bell up here but I still don't know who rang it, there is some good news though." At his words the girls stopped looking around and glanced up at Alex curiously, before he continued, "I see Tenrou Island, we'll be there within the next couple of hours!"

***

Meanwhile on the island itself, at the top of the massive tree that dominated the middle of the island and the sky above it, a lone figure stood watch for invaders. He had relatively short cut black hair and his most notable features was the the magic rifle sitting next to him, and the woolen poncho he wore. He was none other than the sharp shooter of Fairy Tail, Alzack, and he was the one on the lookout's night shift.

"All quiet tonight too..." He muttered to himself as the horizon started to brighten, signaling the end of his shift in about another hour. He was contemplating wether or not he would go straight to sleep or stay up to spend time with his daughter, when the sound of flapping wings drew his attention to the side. A glance in their direction showed him Panther Lily, a pure black exceed in his combat form, along with his wife and daughter in his arms.

"Good morning daddy!" The little girl with dark green hair and a cowgirl hat, Asuka, called out as she landed and ran towards him, making Alzack smile widely before saying,

"Good morning Asuka, did you sleep well last night?" The little girl nodded energetically as she then went on to detail how exactly her night was, while Alzack glanced at his wife, Biska, in amusement.

She was dressed in a short skirt that had a leather belt with two revolvers hanging from it, a leather vest that was little more than a bikini, boots and a cowgirl hat similar to her daughter's. Sharing in her husband's amusement, Biska turned to Panther Lily and asked while holding up the picnic basket she had brought with her,

"Thank you for the lift Lily, would you like to stay and eat breakfast with us?" Panther Lily, who was no longer in his six foot tall muscular combat form, and was instead in his usual small and cuddly feline form, answered politely while shaking his head,

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to intrude on your family time." Biska however shook her own head and stated,

"You aren't intruding if I invited you, and besides, I made some extra for you anyways." Sighing in exasperation, despite the smile on his face, Lily said,

"Very well, I could use something to eat after my morning training anyways, thank you." Together the three people and the black cat sat down and munched on the breakfast Biska brought, while Alzack occasionally looked around through the telescope used for the lookouts. It was right when he was preparing for his replacement to arrive that Asuka picked up the telescope to look through it as well, before suddenly asking,

"What's that daddy?" Alzack turned to look at what his daughter had sighted, believing that she had just seen something in the island or maybe a pod of whales, but he froze when he saw that the telescope was pointed in the sky.

"Let me see that...." He said tensely as Asuka obediently handed over the telescope.

"Alzack? What is it?" Biska asked worriedly when she noticed her husband's tense state, before he froze when he saw what was approaching them on the horizon. It hadn't been there when he checked just a few minutes prior, but now he could make out the shape of a great ship on the horizon sailing through sky directly at them.

Without a single word, Alzack immediately grabbed his nearby rifle and pointed it directly at the approaching ship before loading a certain round that he had been given previously.

KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!

After he pulled the trigger there was a conclusion of sound accompanied by a giant shower of red sparks, lighting up the morning sky with the color of blood. There was a beat of silence after the shot was fired where those that were already up, and those that had still been asleep a moment prior, looked up at the glowing red sky.

"ATTAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, prompting everyone around them into action as they continued,

"ATTACK! EVERYBODY GET INTO POSITIONS AND PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

There was no argument from any of those around them, no hesitation, everyone jumped to perform their duties. The noncombatants, such as the wives and children of various guild members, were directed to the Fairy Tail building where an underground bunker had been made for them to hide in. Meanwhile the guild masters made their appearance as they marched solemnly in the direction that the signal pointed, the same direction as the mainland.

"It appears our time to fight has finally come..." Said one of them, a heavy set and elderly bald man wearing a purple dress complete with makeup and even a pair of wings attached to his back, the guild master of Blue Pegasus, Bob. The shortest amongst them, another elderly man with graying hair on his head and face that stood only a few feet tall, nodded and stated,

"Indeed, now it's just a question of who exactly our opponent is." As if to immediately respond to his words, Alzack suddenly fell from the sky as Panther Lily dropped him before turning around to retrieve Asuka and Biska.

"Master!" Alzack stated respectfully the second he landed, to which the guild master of Fairy Tail, Markarov, asked,

"What did you see Alzack?"

"A solitary ship sailing through the sky. I couldn't make out any distinguishing features, but it's headed straight here and no one that I'm aware of has the resources to be able to send a flying ship to us." Markarov nodded in agreement, the only remaining 'allies' they had being the royal family residing in the Capitol city of the kingdom of Fiore, who didn't have the capability to properly fight back against the Dark Emperor's forces, save preventing the collapse of their own walls.

"Lyon, Gray, Jura, start preparing the defenses!" The older woman of the group barked out in a commanding tone, Ooba Babasaama, guild master of Lamia Scale. At her command a trio of individuals leapt out and began charging towards the beach that would be their battle ground.

""ICE MAKE-"" Two of the figures shouted while simultaneously removing their clothing in sync until they were just in their boxers, before placing their hands against the ground and continuing, ""TOWERS!!!""

A stream of ice surged from the point where their hands contacted the ground, before growing into a pair of mighty towers standing at nearly fifty feet in height.

"Not bad Lyon, but you could stand to improve the quality and strength of your structures a bit." The dark haired figure said with an undisguised smirk, prompting the white haired figure to respond,

"I specialize with creations based on living beings, what's your excuse you second rate molder?" A tick mark appeared on Gray's forehead when he heard that, before he snarled,

"Who're you calling second rate you punk?!" This time Lyon appeared annoyed as he spat back while butting his head against Gray's,

"Who's the punk? To me you're still nothing but a snot nosed brat!" The two put their hands together as they prepared to cast more magic, but suddenly both of their heads were hit by a new figure who then stated,

"What do you two think you're doing?! Learn from Jura and properly help set up defenses!" Lyon and Gray both rubbed the lumps on their heads while looking over to see the aforementioned Jura using his earth magic to create earthen walls and even more towers almost instantly.

They both then glanced back at the person who hit them, her metallic breastplate gleaming in the rising sun as her scarlet hair rustled slightly in the wind. It would have been a beautiful image, if she hadn't been glaring daggers at them due to their never ending rivalry. The knight, Erza Scarlet, continued glaring at them until, seemingly enraged at how neither of them moved at that instant, she shouted,

"GET GOING YOU SLACKERS!"

""YES MA'AM!!"" The duo cried out as they fearfully ran away, neither one wanting to risk earning the S-class mage's wrath. As the minutes slowly and painstakingly crept by the defenses were applied one by one.

After Gray, Lyon, and Jura created several walls and towers made of earth and ice, another member of Fairy Tail, a regal looking young man with green hair named Freed Justine, used his mastery over letter magic to fortify the impromptu defenses while also creating several traps on the outside of the walls for the attackers to trigger. Each trap was governed by a series of 'rules' that were decided by Freed, which would entrap those caught within until they completed what was required to leave, even if that condition was killing one another or to take their own life.

With the defenses erected and traps laid, the various members of their mages guilds got into their positions to help defend what little they had left. It was at this moment that Panther Lily returned with Biska and Asuka, right as one of the guild members, Macao, was arguing with his young son,

"Romeo, you need to join the others in the bunker!"

"No father!" Romeo shouted with passion in his voice. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail too, I want to fight with the rest of you!" Macao groaned in frustration as he tried to find a way to reason with his son, when Biska suddenly said,

"Romeo! Please take Asuka with you to the shelter!" Without giving him time to argue Biska handed her daughter over to the young boy, to which he tried to say,

"But I want to stay and-"

"ROMEO!" Biska interrupted as she grabbed him by the shoulders, and continued, "If the rest of us fall you will be the only one standing between those that can't defend themselves, and the enemy! Please, please go Romeo!" Romeos eyes widened at her words as he looked down at Asuka, who looked as if she might start crying at any moment with everything going on around them.

"Fine..." He muttered before hurrying off to the shelter, making Macao sigh in relief before nodding his thanks to Biska. She then nodded briefly to him in return, before the duo set out to join the front lines.

One by one the members of the guilds capable of fighting arrived at the makeshift walls and towers, and prepared for the impending attack.

"Finally!" Natsu proclaimed as he made his way to front of the line. "Time to roast some assholes!" A harsh laughter met his declaration, as nearby a man with piercings all over his body and long dark hair asked,

"Shall we make it a competition Salamander?! Let's see who can kick the most ass, and the loser is the winners slave for a day!" Natsu's brow twitched at Gajeel's provocation, before a nasty smirk appeared on his face and he declared,

"All right then, but don't complain when you have to be my slave for a day!"

"I think you're a bit mistaken on who'll be the slave Salamander!"

The two then butted head threateningly as they started telling the other all of the terrible things they'd make him do as their slave. Meanwhile, nearby, a man with spiky white hair that towered over the majority of those nearby was headed towards the very front of the defensive line, while dragging two others behind him.

"How can you two ever be real men if you don't go to the front of the line?!" The man, Elfman Strauss, demanded, to which the two he was dragging, Jet and Droy, sobbed,

""We're not real men! Please let us go!!!"" Elfman snorted and declared,

"Never!!! I'll make real men out of you, no matter what!"

""Please, noooooooooooo!!!""

Here and there other discussions were taking place as everyone prepared for the coming fight, while Erza approached Markarov and said, "Master, the preparations are nearly complete and the enemy is close enough that we can confirm the presence of only one ship." Markarov nodded grimly at the news, before directing his attention to Alzack in the highest tower they had erected.

"I can't make out too many details yet, or see who's on board, but I can see that the main sail has the design of great red dragon on it!" Markarov glanced at the rest of the guild master, Ooba of Lamia Scale, Bob of Blue Pegasus, Sting of Sabertooth, and Kagura of Mermaid Heel, who was standing in after losing their own guild master in the last battle before fleeing to Tenrou. All of them shook their head to the unasked question, none of them had heard of that symbol before, meaning that the newcomer was almost assuredly an enemy.

"Now we just need to know how exactly they managed to find us...."Markarov muttered to himself, as the only way to find Tenrou Island was to have someone bearing the mark of Fairy Tail with you, which was one of the biggest reasons why they had been safe there until now.

At that moment a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air that caused an air of awe to descend upon the guild masters. Though she was fairly youthful in appearance, she carried about her an air of dignity, wisdom, and knowledge, making you feel as if she had completely seen through you the second she laid eyes on you. The figure, who's wavy blond hair reached clear down to her bare feet, wore pinkish-white robes, and had wing-like ornaments in her hair was none other than Mavis Vermillion, the founder and first guild master of Fairy Tail.

"A member of Fairy Tail is on that ship..." She muttered silently, yet her words were heard by everyone around her. Immediately a certain celestial spirit mage's image entered everyone's mind, causing several expressions of anger to form as Natsu snarled,

"If they've so much as laid a single hand on Lucy, I'll rip them to pieces!" As he spoke Natsu's hands caught on fire, prompting everyone to back away from him cautiously before Erza smacked the top of his head and stated,

"Calm down! We still don't know what exactly is going on, or where Lucy is, so it's useless to get ourselves worked up before they even get here." Though none genuinely believed that Lucy wasn't on that ship, the people around them nodded in agreement in order to keep Natsu from rampaging too much before the fight actually began.

The truth was that even Erza herself was angered by the mere idea of Lucy being captured, yet she herself was trying to maintain her composure as one of the S-class mage's present. Sharing this line of thought was Markarov and the other guild masters, especially with the rumors regarding what one of the generals was capable of.

The minutes that passed as everyone watched the flying ship approach seemed to take an eternity, as the features of the ship slowly came into view. With the tension increasing with each passing second, it was a miracle that no one attacked before Alzack suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

Those who had been preparing to launch their magic for a preemptive strike paused at the shout, while Markarov asked, "What do you see Alzack?" The magic sniper was silent for several seconds as if he was confirming what exactly he was seeing, before hesitantly saying,

"It's Lucy! She seems to be waving us down!" A ripple of surprised voices went through the crowd at his words, as if Lucy wasn't a captive then that must mean those she was with were allies, right?

It was as this seed of doubt was planted in the minds of those gathered, that Lucy's voice finally drifted to them, "WAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!! DOOOOOOOOOOON'T ATTAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Her words made everyone hesitate for a moment, as the ship descended to the beach in front of them and Lucy surprisingly leapt off of it to the sand below.

"LUCY!" Erza cried out, as Lucy was no where near as physically able as most of them. However, as she quickly approached the beach, Lucy slowed down to little more than a graceful hover as she lightly landed on her feet. She then raced forward as the ship behind her finished landing in the surf, past each of the gathered guild members and even Natsu and happy, who she completely ignore, straight to the guild masters, where she immediately declared,

"Master, I've returned from the mainland with grave news, and some new allies!" Markarov's eyes widened in surprise as whispers surrounded them at Lucy's news. Their attention then tuned back towards the ship as several beautiful figures appeared from it, elegantly floating down from it similarly to the way Lucy had until they lightly landed on the beach.

At their appearance yet more whispers filled the surroundings, as every one that had appeared were all in ordinarily beautiful women, while the vast majority of the men couldn't help but gulp as their gazes were drawn to Rias, Kuroka, and Grayfia's chests in particular. They then quickly looked away awkwardly as the girls glanced directly at those who had inadvertently been staring, before the final figure leapt from the side of the ship.

Unlike the women before him though the sole man didn't float down gently, instead he crashed into the beach with enough force that he created a small creator, while simultaneously causing the entire area to shudder from his use of Gravity magic on himself. As he stood tall though everyone gulped at his towering presence and imposing demeanor, while he then strode forward as the women fell in either at his sides or behind him. They had only gone a few steps though, when Freed's eyes widened in realization as he called out,

"Watch out! There's a trap there!" Too late the newcomer stepped onto the hidden trap and activated it, causing a line of runes beneath his feet to come to life as they then trapped him within a confined square.

"Please wait a moment, I will free you immediately!" Freed cried out as he hurried to erase the trap, which was designed to trap those within until they took their own life. The stranger smirked though, and, before Freed could take more than a single step, raised his hand and slammed it into the invisible wall that had sprung to life around him, shattering it instantly.

Freed and those around him could only gape at the raw power the stranger possessed, as not even the guild master Markarov could break through his traps, however the stranger merely smirked as he continued unperturbed. When he went to pass Freed though, he stopped and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder before saying,

"Not a bad trap, if you got a bit creative with the conditions though then even I would probably have a hard time breaking out of it." The green haired man could only gape in shock at how easily his trap was destroyed, and couldn't bring himself to answer the stranger's words. Shrugging, the stranger silently continued on his way escorted by the veritable herd of women until he stood directly in front of Markarov and the rest of the guild masters.

"Master," Lucy suddenly said as she casually slid up to the stranger's side, grabbing his arm in an affectionate manner that wasn't missed by anyone. "This is Alex, who is also known as the Dragon Emperor. He saved me from Black Collar when I was captured and about to be taken to the Dark Emperor, and says that he's here to defeat him and the four generals!"

A wave of hushed murmurs went through the crowd at her declaration, while Markarov's eyes widened in shock, even as Alex held out his hand to drastically shorter man, and said,

"It's a genuine honor to meet you Markarov, guild master of Fairy Tail."