3rd POV
With Makarov's status unknown, Gildarts no longer on the Island, and Cooper preoccupied with Zeref, the Black Wizard, the remaining eighteen Fairy Tail members were forced to deal with Grimoire Heart's ambush without their three strongest mages.
The first mages to encounter Grimoire Heart mages were the duo, Gajeel and Levy; having successfully cleared the first trail, they had been looking for Mavis's grave when they saw the signal flare Cooper had sent out. Now, after having recently witnessed Grimoire Heart invading Tenrou Island, they were running towards the dock to meet up with the others.
"Why are we returning to the ship?" Furrowing his brows, he jogged behind Levy, who was leading them. "Because that's a location everyone knows; it makes sense to regroup there." "Yeah, but wouldn't that only apply for smart people?" Tilting his head slightly, Gajeel looked at Levy, who opened her mouth, only to reluctantly nod while sighing.
However, while running, Gajeel suddenly stopped, clenching his fist while looking behind him into the distance. "Why'd you stop running?" Levy, confused, turned and glanced at Gajeel, her breath uneven. "I can't sense Gramp's Magic power." At his words, Levy widened her eyes, yet she was unable to respond as Gajeel suddenly lunged at her.
Grabbing her by the waist, he yanked her back while raising his arm, which transformed into an iron pole, blocking a sword from a dog-human dressed in a samurai outfit. Knocking the dog-human samurai away, Gajeel punched upwards, his iron-pole of an arm extending rapidly, slamming into a flying chicken-human, who barely managed to cross his arms, blocking the attack.
"Y-You okay, Gajeel?" Gulping slightly, Levy quickly stood up, standing beside Gajeel while eyeing their two attackers, Gajeel's iron-pole retracting and returning to his normal arm. "Tch, looks like we'll be late to the ship." Nodding, Gajeel glared at their two opponents, a faint smile making its way onto his face.
___
___
Further away, near a corner of the Island, the duo, Mest and Wendy, were surrounded by numerous dark mages. Though, surprisingly, the ones to come and help them weren't any of the sixteen other mages, but Lily and Carla, both of whom had flown from Magnolia to Tenrou Island.
"Eh, what are you two doing here?" Having just released a sky dragon's roar, Wendy first looked at Carla before glancing at Lily, who was in his natural form, beating up dark mages with nothing but his fists. "We were suspicious of your partner, Mest." Speaking softly to Wendy, Carla narrowed her eyes at Mest, who had just sent two enemies flying through the air.
"Hmph, well, I suppose we can discuss that later; we've got bigger things to deal with." Suspiciously eyeing Mest, Carla shook her head while Wendy waved her hand, creating a sharp gust of wind that slammed into several mages, leaving deep, bloody gashes across their chests.
While the trio fought off the numerous mages with relative ease, Mest was suddenly ambushed by several tree roots; rolling across the ground, he pushed off the ground, flipping and landing on his feet while looking around. "Who is it?"
As he looked for the one who had attacked him, Wendy and Lily were also attacked by tree roots, forcing them into a corner with their backs against each other. "Watch out. Whoever's attacking us isn't fodder." Snorting, Lily raised his fists, carefully eyeing his surroundings.
"You're welcome. I cleaned up a few flies." Appearing horizontally from a tree, a dark-skinned man in a green, gladiator-like outfit, observed the four mages just as several ships in the distance exploded, causing Mest to widen his eyes before gritting his teeth. "Bastard!"
Lunging at the man, Lily did the same, receiving various enhancements from Wendy; the two went and confronted the man. Mest teleports to his side, punching him, but he easily catches his fist before kicking him away.
"Who are you!?" Lily roars as he swings his fists, and the man dodges or blocks, then returns the gesture, the two entering a fistfight, though only one of them seems somewhat laid-back. "Azuma. One of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
Dodging another of Lily's punches, Azuma slams his fist into Lily's gust, forcing him several feet back, only for Mest and Wendy to appear behind him, Wendy moments away from unleashing a powerful roar; however, before she's able to, fire suddenly erupts from the ground, forcing the duo back.
"Boring." Shooting disappointed looks at the three mages, Azuma approaches a tree, stepping into it before vanishing, just in time to. "Fire Dragons roar!" As a massive column of fire erupted, plowing through the remaining dark mages, Happy came flying to them. "Hey, you guys okay?"
Dusting themselves off, they all nodded. "Yeah." "Yes, we're good." "Yo, guys, who were they?" Natsu, having finished the remaining dark mages, approaches everyone while waving his hand. "Grimoire Heart mages." "Oh, alright then, c'mon, Happy, we've got to go find Gramps!" "Aye, aye!"
Like a storm, Natsu and Happy arrived, caused destruction, and promptly left.
___
___
Nearby the front of the Island, two duos, Cana and Lucy, and Gray and Loke, were walking together, heading to the ship, a plan they quickly came up with as they were a group of relatively smart mages, or merely mages who used their brains rather than their muscles first.
However, shortly after leaving the forest, they had been ambushed by a small army of dark mages, though for competent mages like them, it wasn't anything they couldn't handle with a bit of time. It was those who came afterwards that gave them trouble.
"Ugh, dammit!" Grunting in pain and cursing, Gray tried to use his ice-make magic, only for a goat-human to swiftly appear in front of him, kicking his stomach, sending him tumbling across the ground, on the sandy shore of the beach.
Loke, who had tried to take advantage from behind, was too slow, no, rather, it was their enemy who was simply too fast; like a blur of speed, the goat-human vanished from his spot, appearing behind Loke, kicking his back, sending him flying into Gray.
Lucy and Cana weren't faring any better; whenever Lucy tried to summon a celestial spirit, she'd be attacked, her unable to summon a helper, and Cana's card magic would be interrupted.
"Dammit bastard, who the hell are you!?" Angry at the trial having been interrupted, Cana grabbed a handful of sand and threw it, trying to block the goat-human's vision while using her cards, only to be kicked in the side, tumbling across the sand towards Lucy.
"You can call me Caprico, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory." Straightening his tie, Caprico glanced at Cana, who looked angry enough to bite his head off and chew it for lunch.
"Caprico? Huh, no wonder." Loke, rubbing his stomach, stood up, eyeing Caprico with a frown, causing the other's to look at him while Gray prepared to attack once more. "Gray, stop, save your magic power." "Huh, what are you talking about?"
"I'm not surprised you wouldn't know, but he's using Human Subordination Magic; its main ability is to turn humans into slavesones. Surboridantes, if you put it nicely. But it can also be used to weaken humans." Dusting himself off, Loke eyed Caprico, who raised an eyebrow, surprised at Loke's knowledge, while Gray clicked his tongue.
"Tsk, so what, he's like humans' natural enemy?" "Wouldn't say that, he just has an advantage, I mean, this shit wouldn't work on big bro or Gildarts." "Yeah, but we're not Big bro or Gildarts." As Lucy glanced at Loke, Caprico suddenly vanished from his spot, lunging at Cana, who had tried attacking.
However, he was stopped by Loke, who grabbed his ankle. "Yeah, but this stuff doesn't work on non-humans." Flashing a confident, if slightly charming smile, Loke removed his glasses, causing his appearance to change.
His casual wear transformed into a clean, black suit with a red tie while he slicked his hair back, turning it wild as he donned his glasses once more. "Loke the Lion, Leader of the Zodiac's." Clenching his fist, causing it to be enveloped in light, he punched Caprico, forcing him back.
"I'll take care of Caprico, as the leader, it's my duty. You guys should go and find the other Kin of Purgatory." Winking at Cana and Lucy, Gray faintly smirked, lowering his hands while walking away. "Alright then, you can handle him." Gray helped Cana and Lucy stand, though as they began walking, Lucy glanced back at Loke.
"You better not lose, Loke! As your master, I command you to win!" As Lucy shouted at Loke, she gave him a final hard look before catching up with Gray and Cana, who had already walked off.
"Heh, here that? My master commanded my win. I couldn't possibly disappoint her." Rolling his sleeves, Loke grinned, meeting Caprico's indifferent expression before lunging forward, his fists coated in light while Caprico dashed, using his immense speed.