Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 108 - An Invasion of Their Own

Hisui laid out a long sheet of paper over the ballroom's table. The rebels were gathered early in the morning all together in the room. The invasion was imminent. The only people not in the room were Levy and Richard, who were putting the finishing touches on their fusion of the Leaper and STAR. Levy promised Hisui it'd be ready, and Hisui was going to hold her to it.

Erza helped her map things out. While they were only able to find crude tourist maps of Vistarion, they wanted to focus more on their battle formation.

"Getting this right is going to be more important than simply getting through the city," Erza said. "If what you told me about the Wizard Saints is true, and how their attack on the city failed, Vistarion isn't a fully defended city. What matters most is how we hit them."

The two worked from the early morning to get their plan right, taking it through several iterations before landing on one that both sent the strongest message and was prepared for any surprises. Erza, it seemed, was glowing during their meeting. Hisui didn't feel like pointing it out.

They were eventually joined by Carla in her new human form. She came with a warning, something that she saw thanks to her Precognition:

Scores of soldiers, more powerful than any guarding the palace, in combat with Erza and Jellal. And the two of them seemed to be in deep trouble.

"And," Carla said. "I couldn't get a clear view, but someone waited in the palace. A powerful woman, holding back for some reason."

That left one to three options in the Empire: Brandish, Dimaria, or Irene. None of which was all that appealing. With Tayaka on hand, they could have a way of countering Dimaria's time freezing abilities. They'd have to get the jump on Brandish. But Irene?m

Well, Hisui figured if it were Irene up in the palace waiting for them, she'd be more than willing to wait and fight whoever she had to. Probably Erza, or any of the Dragon Slayers.

"So," Hisui said to the gathered crowd, "let's get started."

"Did you make this?" Natsu asked as he peered at the battle formation.

"No," Hisui said. "Erza drew it out. I helped."

"Oh. I can tell."

Erza glowered at Natsu. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The handwriting is just terrible," Gajeel said. "Can't make anything out."

"The drawings are fine, though," Lisanna said. "Look, Natsu, that's you in the back."

"No, that's Mirajane," Erza said. "Look, you can see because she has her long hair."

"I thought that was fire," Mirajane said. "I do have fire."

"Natsu is in the second level of the vanguard, look!"

"That's me?" Natsu asked. "I look like Happy."

"Well," Erza said as she rested her hands on her hips, "I didn't want to exclude Happy from the map, and it was too dark to draw a little Exceed on your shoulder, so I drew the Dragon Slayers with their Exceeds."

"Which means that that's Lily?" Wendy asked.

"No, that's Gray next to Natsu."

"Why is Gray next to me?" Natsu asked.

"I'd love to get to that, if you'd let me describe the plan," Hisui said.

"Is that a W in the middle?" Lucy asked. "I think it is. It looks like...wait, I'm looking at it upside down."

"It's an M, for Meredy," Hisui said. "She'll be in the center because—"

"And that's a J? For Jellal?" Meredy asked.