~*****~

I taste the bitter motion sickness potion slip past my lips, and I lurch forward, gazing at the train tracks below the car. "Are you up?!" Erza shouts at me. "Natsu may need your help when we arrive--"

"I'm up--" I shout back and adjust the cuff higher on my arm. "Wait," I groan. "Aw, c'mon!" I shout loudly as we pull to a stop.

"Hey, you guys just missed seeing me beat Erigor!" Natsu chirped happily.

"Aye!" Happy agrees.

"Yeah, and I missed the damn fun!" I shout back at him before ripping off the cuff.

"I'm proud of you." Erza hums softly. I stumble off of the cart and offer a hand to Erza. "Thank you for your help today."

"You're the one hanging on a thread, I just loafed around the entire time." I comment dryly. "Man, I can't believe you didn't leave any of the fight for me."

Natsu laughs as I cross my arms over my chest. "There's always next time!" He mentions as he punches my shoulder.

"I just can't believe he had such a hard time with this guy." Gray hums.

"I never said that! I took care of him, didn't I?" Natsu snapped back.

"I was kinda worried for a while there," Happy hums.

Gray sighs. "Whatever. You look pretty stupid wearing a scarf when you're half naked." Gray comments.

"Like you have room to talk." Natsu retorts. He turns to me. "Hey, Aria, gimme your jacket."

"It's a bit small for you, my guy, but go for it." I laugh as I shrug it off. Natsu shunts on the smaller jacket and his arms need to stay upright as he glares at Gray.

Erza just chuckles. "Anyway, well done, Natsu. Thanks to you, all the Guild Masters will be safe now."

"Yeah, good job, buddy!" I chirp as I reach up to ruffle his hair. I immediately turn to Erza. "You think we could drop by the Guild Masters' conference? Y'know to tell them what happened and ask how we should properly dispose of the Lullaby Flute? I'm all for turning it into a block of ice, but that might expel from magic from it."

"Good thinking," Erza nods.

"Might as well since we're so close to Clover!" Happy chirps.

My throat hitches as I feel the hairs on my neck stand on end. I hit the rails quicker than I anticipated and hiss out in irritation as the metal scrapes into my hands and bared torso. "Kage!" Erza shouts. The Magic Mobile is soaring over head with Kage's shadow magic, the flute dangling precariously from one of the fists.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gray shouts.

"Lullaby's mine now!" Kage shouts as he soars. "Shouldn't have let your guard down, Flies!" He laughs wildly as he flies down the tracks, leaving us in one spot.

"That jerk!" Natsu shouts, his arms slamming down and ripping my jacket sleeves off.

"This is how he pays us back for saving his life?!" Lucy cried.

"After him!" Erza shouts.

~*****~

It seems we would've made it just in time, but before we could warn the Makarov, the Guild Master of the Blue Pegasus appeared and stopped us. "Oh, hey, Bob." I hum politely.

"Aria, you simply must join me for a drink later, we have so much to catch up on!" Bob chirped affectionately as he grasps my hands. "Honestly, I was heartbroken when I'd heard you quit the Blue Pegasus!"

"I was thirteen," I comment dryly. "I hated being in a guild."

"But look at you now, darling! All grown up and in Fiore's number one guild!" Bob preened and smothered my face with several kisses. "Now, you must tell me who these two adorable boys are!" I begin to chuckle as he hums happily and leans towards them. Let's just say, Gray and Natsu are rightfully scared.

"Who the heck is that guy?" Lucy asks shakily as Bob sets his sights on Gray and Natsu.

"Master Bob," Erza calls.

"Erza, honey, you have really filled out." Bob comments.

"You're telling me that weirdo's the master of the Blue Pegasus Guild?" Lucy asks.

I chuckle. "Yeah, he was my first and only guild master for a long time. I practically grew up in his house after my mom disappeared." I shrug. "But as time moves forward, so do we."

"You left without so much as a note. You even had your guild mark removed in our guild halls." Bob whined. "I poured my heart out to raise you..."

I chuckle and lean against one of the trees, peering down at Makarov just staring at Kage, waiting for him to play. In the end, everything is settled, the flute is no longer a threat.

"So, what should we do with it?" I ask curiously.

"How did you kids end up in Clover!" Makarov complained as we seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"Master Makarov, your words touched me so deeply that I was almost moved to tears!" Erza complimented with a firm slam to her breast plate. I felt bad for the old dude.

"Well, looks like we made it just in time to see Gramps talk his way out of another one." Gray hums.

"But the flute-- how do we destroy--"

There's a loud, sinister laugh coming from the flute now. "I've grown tired of you cowardly wizards and your antics!"

"Something came out!" Happy exclaimed as a large ring of magic appears over the large army approaching Clover.

"I can no longer hold back! I shall come forth and devour you myself!" The flute roared. The flute transforms into a giant wooden creature and towers over us. "I shall feast upon your pitiful souls!"

"It's so big!" Lucy shouts.

"Way to state the obvious!" Happy shouts back.

"What is that thing?!" Kage asks. "Erigor never said anything about a monster!"

"Kinda looks like one of those demon thingys from a book I saw when I raided a dark guild." I say with a hum, my head tilting.

"Why did the flute turn into a monster?!" Lucy asks wildly.

"That's what Lullaby's true form looks like in the flesh." Goldmine sighs. "It's forbidden black magic. Living magic-- Zeref's specialty."

"Living Magic?" Erza echoed.

"Who's Zeref?" Gray added. "Wasn't he some ancient wizard?"

"He was the worst wizard of them all." I shudder. "He was very powerful."

"Yes, but in my wildest dreams, I never thought his dark legacy would pop back up again." Bob sighs.

The giant flute tree leans towards us. "Now, then, which of these delectable souls shall I dine on first?"

"Delectable, huh?" Natsu says. "D'you think souls are really that tasty?!" He immediately follows up.

"How the hell should we know?" I ask irritably.

"Natsu, Gray, Aria-- get everyone to a safe place." Erza snaps.

"Quit barkin' orders!" Natsu complains.

"Yeah, you're not the boss of us!" Gray agrees.

"Just do it!" Erza snaps again.

"Aye!" Gray and Natsu say together and head off on their merry way.

"What makes you think I'm gonna leave this all to you?" I ask irritably. "You can scare the others into submission, but I've faced scarier shit than anything you can dish out, Erza. I'm sticking with you on this. That's what Fairy Tail preaches, isn't it? Friendship, or whatever?"

I can vaguely hear the army down below calling a retreat, but it's drowned out by Lullaby. "I have no need for those pathetic humans! I prefer the taste of a wizard's soul and I will consume all of yours!"

"Oh yeah?! I'd like to see you try!" Natsu shouts. "Bring it on, Big Guy!"

"Good luck~" I hear the cheers of the Guild Masters.

Lullaby rears his torso back before unleashing a large amount of magic to create such a massive sigil. "Ready?" Erza growls.

"Oh yeah--" The three of us chime.

I feel my internals begin to cool down as I prepare my strongest attack. My skin is covered in a very thin layer of ice and frost as I rear my fists back, slam them together before I slam them both down on the top of Lullaby's head. "Ice Dragon Double Slam!"

I hear a very loud crack before we land on the rock outcrops surrounding Lullaby. "You are making me angry!" It shouts as it tries to swipe us away from it. We continue to attack relentlessly. Lullaby attempts to use its spell, but the only thing that happens is a frail breeze that echoes through its body. "I don't understand! Why can't I play my melody of death?!"

I hear Lucy and Happy mock Lullaby. I can hardly hear through the pounding in my head. Steam hisses from my body as I launch towards Lullaby again.

Natsu ends it with a massive fire ball, scorching the entire beast and leaving nothing but the flimsy little flute. Frost billows from my exposed skin as I release the strain on my internals. I heave a sigh as Lucy runs towards us. "Great work guys!"

"It wasn't that hard," I comment dryly.

"Yeah, piece of cake." Gray nods.

"We wanna talk about you ripping my jacket up, Natsu?" I ask irritably as I poke at the burned and ripped jacket still hanging from his body.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry!" Natsu exclaimed as he began patting at a still smoldering spot on the shoulder.

The two of us flinch and turn around as we hear the crowd shout about us going overboard.

"The conference hall's been destroyed!" Lucy says.

"Aye! There's also a couple of mountain tops missing." Happy adds.

Makarov makes a strangled noise before slumping to the ground. I casually rub at my nose and shrug. "Wow, we sure did a number on it." I mention as I peer into the hole.

"I wonder when it did get destroyed?" Natsu chirped in response, laughing heartily. "Maybe it was that last move!"

"Please forgive us, Master!" I hear Erza shout.

I feel the ground surge as the crowd rears up on us. "You guys tryin' to catch somebody! I'll help you catch them!" Natsu cheers.

"You guys are the ones were after!" The crowd shouts.

I snort and lean against Natsu. "It was all Natsu's fault, I guarantee that! Take your irritation out on him!"

"You traitor!" Natsu shouts at me as I run from the guild masters.