Winter's POV

Alright. You've ben with me for a while, seen my ups and downs, how shitty my life could be, just how reckless I became in death-defying situations. It was impressive, huh?

Yeah, well, I think my current situation takes the cake for most asinine, most ridiculous thing I'd had happen to me as of yet. And that feeling only intensified when I was awoken by a lovely steel-toed boot rocketing into my gut, knocking me against the wall, cracking my back with a sickening thud and driving every ounce of air from my aching lungs.

Damn, Gajeel, always taking things too far...

I lay there, (pitifully) pulling myself into a semi-sitting position, chest heaving, head pounding, as Gajeel delivered some little speech, boasting about how he always completed a job and how he knew exactly how much force to use to ensure his prey wasn't killed before capture.

Yeah, cause he totally struck me as the kinda guy who would - as he's slamming an iron rod into my skull - calculate the exact amount of force that would only knock me out without causing my brain to implode from the impact or anything. That was Gajeel the Iron Dragon Slayer for you.

And, oh look! The sarcasm was back with a vengeance.

Groggy as I was, I only vaguely recognized that Jose had stepped up to a microphone, probably the very same that connected to the speakers through which all of Magnolia could hear him. 

"All of your Fairy Tail members out there," he began in an annoyingly grandiose fashion, "we have succeeded in capturing Lucy Heartfilia! Our first objective has been achieved."

I wanted to laugh because they most certainly didn't have Lucy Heartfilia - they were stuck with her stubborn bitch of a sister. But I found everything decidedly less humorous when someone (Jose or Gajeel, probably) tangled their grimy hand in my hair and yanked like that wanted me to go completely and irreversibly bald.

Predictably, I shrieked like a goddamn banshee.

There was also a slew of curse words that tore from my lips, which were being broadcast  throughout Magnolia, loud and clear to anyone who bothered listening. I felt kinda guilty about that part. There were children out there!

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Third Person POV

The crowd of Fairies could only gape up at the monstrous guild that towered before them as the scream rippled through the static-charged air, deafening in the unfamiliar silence that had blanketed the usually uproarious guild.

But that wasn't Lucy.

While many of the gathered mages hadn't been in the company of the Heartfilia twins long, they knew enough to recognize the distinctive voices of the two. And that was the wrong Heartfilia screaming over the load speaker.

"Winter...!" Mira gasped, her eyes hazy with the beginnings of fierce tears, her hands pressed over her ears as though she could block out the agonized wailing of her young guild mate. She knew Winter to be reckless from Levy and Loke's complaints after jobs, but for her to do this... To take her sister's place, knowing she may never be in the company of Fairy Tail's members again... 

Reckless and stupid it was, but dishonorable it was not.

"Shit!"

She swung round half-heartedly as Loke jogged to a stop beside her, a still lifeless Lucy in his arms. His body was rigid, holding tight to a fury that sparked off him with vicious intensity, burning in his usually amorous eyes like a raging wildfire. "That idiot! When I got there, she was already..." His arms went taut with repressed rage, unconsciously crushing Lucy to his chest. "I couldn't..." He trailed off, abruptly wrenching his head away from the scene, though Mira didn't miss the shame that doused the growing embers in his hooded eyes.

"I'm sure you all heard that," Jose went on when as the shrieking died down. "We have but a single objective remaining."

Suddenly, the shades surged to life, converging on the unprepared mages with unprecedented strength, tripled from what they had experienced before the lull in action. The ghost warriors seemed to swell in numbers, more and more of them appearing from thin air, adding to the already decimating fray. 

Fairies fought tooth and nail to hold their ground; but it was all in vain, as the shades continued forward, coating the ground around them in a veil of crimson that swamped over everything, obliterating hopes and silencing frantic shouts.

"To slaughter the lot of you, disgusting brats."

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Winter's POV

"I... will... destroy you...!" I snarled between coughs, clutching my still throbbing stomach. Gajeel really did a number on me, goddammit.

I was blatantly ignored. Expected, but still rude.

"Keep an eye on Lucy for me," Jose ordered as she swept past, his outrageous cloak trailing behind him.

"Hm?"

"A few insects seem to have invaded our guild. I shall let them know that they will be seeing no more miracles. I will deal with them all myself." He disappeared after that, going to deal with all the Fairies that had had the audacity to walk around in his honorable guild as though they owned the place.

Following orders, Gajeel crushed his hand around my wrist and began the (sarcastically) arduous task of dragging me into the depths of his beloved guild. Honestly, my head was spinning so much I don't remember the journey all too well. Just the sharp pain that wedged itself into my stomach every time Gajeel jerked me to a stop unnecessarily.

I do, however, vividly remember the knife that nearly impaled my rather sensitive face after he'd strung me up by my wrists like a discarded puppet.

It was humiliating.

My eye twitched; an annoying vein pulsated on my forehead. "Watch it, ya iron-ass bastard!" I growled, craning my head away from the iron blade that had buried itself up to the hilt in the wall just beside me.

"Huh, you're more lively than I thought you'd be," he grunted, casually swinging his latest knife around his tan finger. "Master said the intel he got made you seem reall girly, a whiny little bitch who cried at every little thing."

"I don't wanna hear that from someone who's more pierced than I am!" I sneered, rattling my chains for emphasis.

"Piercings?" His upper lip curled back in a somewhat amused smirk as he awaited my answer.

"Have you ever looked in a mirror?" I whistled in a whoa man, oblivious much? sort of way that I don't think got my point across at all. "Those studs look damn expensive! Do you spend as much time and effort on your nails? Ohh, how about that hair of yours? Takes forever to comb out all those tangles, huh?" I nodded amiably, my lips curved in an agreeable smile. "Yeah, man, I know what you're going through. What kinda shampoo do you--"

The next knife he chose to throw cut a nasty lil' slit into my cheek and put a notch in the tip of my ear. Not to mention the blonde wisps of hair that fell disgracefully to the floor. I should shut up or he probably woundn't hesitate to rend my head from my shoulders, if the murderous leer he was giving me was anything to go by. Out of common sense (what a shocker), my head dropped, my gaze lingering on my worn-out shoes, bearing the marks of my many mad dashes through the streets of Magnolia.

But a part of me I couldn't quite squish into submission had me rasie my head, eyes flicking upwards, so that I met Gajeel's gaze. He cocked a brow, his arms taut across his chest, inviting me to hurry it up and get to the goddamn point before he punched me in the jugular.

For example. 

"How weak do you think Fairy Tail is, anyway?"

"You're all trash," he jeered. My brow crept closer to my ruffled hairline, disappearing beneath the screen of bangs. Well someone was candid. "Crappy little bugs waiting to have your wings plucked."

"Hilarious. You're so freaking funny, you know that? I'd been cracking up laughing if I didn't think one of my ribs was broken - thanks for that, by the way. Anyway. Fairy Tail? Trash?" My lips curled into a mocking smirk that was just begging to get slapped off my face. "Once again, I'll direct you to a mirror, Mr. Scrap Metal for Brains." 

I needed to work on my insults. Like, goddamn that was bad. 

I wasn't at all surprised when he threw his arm forward, sending yet another knife careening towards me - though I was at a loss as to what I was supossed to do about it, seeing as how my arms were pinned to the wall and I couldn't very well dodge.

Lucky me (ha, that was new), the wall above me exploded.

No. Seriously. It exploded, showering us with jagged bits of debris and filling the air with the almighty roar of a Dragon Slayer in action.

He also caught the knife in his teeth, inexplicably. I wasn't complaining, but... wow. Impressive.

Natsu came crashing down, engulfed in fluorescent flames that singed the air fifteen feet away, leaping and tumbling from his body like a living creature, fanning out on either side of him like molten wings poised for flight. He radiated danger, a warning to anyone thinking of pissing him off in the next few seconds, but was that going to deter the Great Tin-Man? 

Of course not. Where would be the fun in that?

The two went at each other, with Natsu's first demonic blow launching Gajeel back clear across the room, giving me a moment to breathe a little easier as I felt a frantic tugging at the iron cuffs sealing my wrist to the wall.

"Didn't think we'd leave you here, did ya, Lucy?" Happy teased, winking adorably. I stuck my tongue out at him, finding no better response.

I hadn't thought that far ahead, honestly. I wanted Lucy safe; that was my first and only priority, so anything after that was left in the hands of dearest Fate, who seemed to detest me, which tells you how bleak my immediate future seemed if it ever even crossed my mind.

I wasn't bothering to pay attention to Natsu's fight; what was the point? I couldn't help, not against a goddamn Dragon Slayer, not if I couldn't beat Natsu. And since he beat me, I was relying on him to clean up my mess, and I very much disliked the fact, but there was nothing I could do about it. So I let him be and did what I could to help without attracting unwanted attention to myself.

Happy wasn't getting anyway with the restraints, so I took the liberty of creating twin FIREs in both hands, flexing my strained wrists so that the heat reached the melt-able iron. Happy leapt back in surprise, hovering close by with his angelic wings popped out. He pouted. "Couldn't you have done this sooner?" he whined.

"No," I snapped, a little ticked off by the accusation; if I'd been able to do something before now, I sure as hell woulda done it! "Not with Gajeel around. He'd have me back in irons two seconds after my toes touched the ground. He's strong, Happy, maybe not that bright or clever, but strong as hell. You saw what he did to Levy's team, and from what I heard he did some damage when Fairy Tail attacked Phantom Lord. I wouldn't have stood a chance."

"Oh.." Happy landed on my shoulder, his tail wrapped conveniently around my neck, as I dropped, pressing my feet flat to the floor in God knew how long. My toes had fallen asleep, so it took a fair bit of coordination (something you all know I lacked at crucial times) to keep myself upright. 

I was drawn from my melancholic wrist-rubbing (iron is not kind to tender flesh, people) when Happy cried out for Natsu, who I saw tumbling through the air, barely saving himself from slamming face-first into the opposite wall by grabbing onto a chunk of stone he flashed past.

He was back on his feet in an instant, stalking forward, hands aflame with writhing tongues of fire that danced wickedly in the glaring light of midday that flooded through the hole he'd made. He cast me a brief glance, most of his attention averted to the hulking Dragon Slayer cracking his knuckles.

"Get outta here, Winter. Leave this guy to me!"

I wanted to slap him. I really just want to whip my hand across his face. For God's sake, Happy remembered that I was doubling as Lucy right now; was it that hard to keep straight? And while I thought of Gajeel as somewhat lacking in the intelligence department (he was part of Phantom Lord, so I had to find someway to degrade him) he didn't miss that slip up.

"Winter? You mean that chick?" He flung another knife in my direction, which I sidestepped at the last moment, too shell-shocked to move at first. "So you're not Lucy, huh? Explains a lot." His lips pulled back into a smirk that would have knocked Candor's arrogant little look right outta the water. Forget curdling milk; this guy was aiming to murder the goddamn cow with that look. 

"Listen to him, get the hell out." While I stared uncomprehendingly, his smirk widened, eyes lighting up with the thrill of adrenaline coursing through his veins. "I'll just finish up here with Salamander, then come and find you again. It won't take long."

"Say that again when you're choking down a fistful a' flames, Metal-Brows!"

"This'll be fun," Gajeel grinned, now utterly ignoring me in favor of the nice an' shiny Natsu he now had to play with.

"Oh this won't end well..." Despite my anxious muttering, I patted Happy off my shoulder, instructed him to come and find me if anything happened to Natsu, then took off, darting through the first door I came across. At least being directionally-challenged wasn't a big issue here. It's not like a had a map or anything to go off of; just instinct, plain and simple. And that was how I liked it.

Actually, before I was half-way gone, I turned back, jogging in place. I caught Natsu's attention with a well-timed shout, then brought up and extra-large FIRE and dropped it at my feet. His eyes widened as he caught on, backing up from Gajeel's iron-clubbed swing. 

"Here's a little parting gift for ya! Don't waste it!"

And then I was off. 

Gray and Candor are on this thing, I remembered as I was ducking under some rubble hanging from the ceiling (most likely caused by our resident hot-head), slinking through the corridors. I've gotta find them... They're both injured! A sharp wince reminded me that I wasn't doing all that hot either. The possibly fractured rib; the staccato drumbeat still thumping through my skull. I was a mess. But what kind of mage would I be if a little something like internal bleeding stop me?

A sane one, I'd guess.

But, oh well, sanity wasn't an option anymore. Not with my friends' (and my own) lives on the line. Plus my guild's repuation was at stake! I'd do anything to keep us from looking like the losers in this war, even if it meant taking down Phantom with a damn sharpened stick.

Like Natsu would say (and I loathe myself for even thinking of repeating this) it was time to get fired up!