Hot and Cold

False Predictions

~*****~

"The Oracion Seis..." Macao sighs once we arrive back at the guild hall. "I was hoping I'd never hear that name again."

"I reckon that's why ol' Makarov was summoned by the Ten Wizard Saints?" Wakaba hummed.

Erza hummed. "Our guild was responsible for their members' arrests following the Nirvana incident. And now it appears that they've escaped from prison."

"While we were asleep for those seven years, they got a lot stronger," Gray mentioned.

"We were so utterly hopeless against them this last time." Carla sighs.

"I couldn't do a single thing to help! I'm too weak!" Romeo complains.

"Sorry... I'm the one to blame for all of this." Michelle whimpered.

"Please don't be so hard on yourself, Michelle... Don't you remember what Natsu said before? My dad dumped all this crazy stuff on us and expected us to figure it out without any explanation." Lucy explains.

"Do you even know how your father managed to get himself involved in all this business with the Infinity Clock in the first place?" Wendy asked.

"No clue... unfortunately," Lucy sighed.

"That mystery can be solved at a later time," Erza states. "Our highest priority at the moment is to locate the members of the Oracion Seis... And from there, recover the Infinity Clock."

"Well, then let's get movin'!" Natsu barked. "All we gotta do is start lookin' everywhere we can think of and we're bound to run into them eventually, right?"

I sighed before pinching at his face. "That's a crazy plan," I mention. "Sorry, but we're not doing that. We need a solid plan of action before we do anything."

"Since when did you think rationally?!" Natsu snapped at me.

I push my finger in my ear and sigh. "Think about it, if we went running around like a bunch of headless chickens, we'd be caught unaware and beaten again. We need a strategy!"

Natsu started scrubbing at his hair violently. "You sound just like that stupid Gray!" Natsu barked.

"What'd you call me, flame for brains?!" Gray suddenly got in his face, starting a fight for no reason at all. Well, I guess getting called stupid is a good reason for a fight.

I sigh loudly and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Goodness, everyone's on edge today," Ballad stammered.

"Well, how do you expect them to feel?" Carla asked irritably. "We don't know what to do."

"And we're still missing some key players." Erza commented.

"Yeah, Gildarts and Laki haven't come back from their mission yet. Not to mention Marko and Cooper left yesterday on a job." Max hummed.

"At times like these... We need strength from every single person in this guild." Erza sighs.

I turn my gaze to the door as it shoves open. "Yo! What's going on?! The Thunder Legion has returned victorious!" Bixlow cheered.

"Of course, it really wasn't such a struggle for a team as good as ours. These jobs can be such an easy payday sometimes, it's almost criminal," Evergreen boasts.

"Excuse me... but is there a problem here?" Freed asks as he steps inwards.

I snort loudly. "Yeah, big time problem," I sigh before we go into explanation about everything.

"Okay," Bixlow hummed after we finished. "So, something called the Infinity Clock is counting down to the end of the world? I swear, we leave for a couple of days and things go downhill fast!"