Winter's POV

The second I realized we weren't immediately going to bite it, I ordered Gray to pick up the slack outside. He protested, of course, saying it wasn't fair to leave me along when the guild was under attack (seriously, what else could be going on out there?); I just smirked and gestured at Candor, useless lump that he was at the moment.

"Who said I'll be alone?" 

And because he couldn't effectively argue against me, he complied and rushed outside to help with whatever the hell was going on.

It was silent now.

Not a sound seeped in from the battle. And whether that was because I was deaf and numb to it all, or because there's been a pause in the melee, I didn't know. And that killed me. But I couldn't leave Candor, not just to go and satiate my growing curiosity. Who would protect the brat if I left?

"It's not as though... I need protection... especially not... from a worthless toy like you."

I spun around, a smile pulling roughly at my lips, to see Candor struggling to prop himself up on his elbows. Sweat beaded his brow, trickled down the sides of his face, gathered at his chin and dripped monotonously down onto his collarbone and chest. His skin had gone a few shades lighter with the strain of movement.

"You shouldn't be up," I chastised as I dropped to my knees at his side again, playfully shoving him back into his pillow (fluffed up by the extraordinary Mira). He scowled, swiping the cool cloth from his forehead; it splattered to the ground a few feet away, the sound ever-so-prominent in the quiet room. 

"I think I should be the judge of my own health." And, to prove his point, he hissed in agony as he attempted to swing his legs to the ground. 

"Uh huh. Yeah, totally. You're fine." I poked his forehead lightly, and it was more than enough to send him toppling onto the bed again. I sighed, placing a hand at my hip, the other pushing against my forehead in exasperation. This kid... "Listen, I think Phantom Lord is back."

His painful trembling stilled; his eyes, always so narrow and stoic, widened, a flare of emotion pooling in the neon green. He turned his head, locked eyes with me. I barely kept myself from flinching at the intensity of his gaze. "That French bastard... he'll be here, won't he?"

I hesitated. Not because I doubted that mage would have come with Phantom, but because I wondered whether or not Candor should know about it. But he could see it, see the conviction I held, and he sighed, his fingers curling into his bedspread like claws sliding into tender flesh. His fury was palpable, electrifying the air around us. 

"He's here," he breathed, "I can feel his vile, repugnant magic from this very spot. And I'm going to kill him."

That was where I drew the line.

I grabbed a fistful of Candor's collar, dragging him up to my height. We were in this situation a lot, I noticed, and I doubted it would change anytime soon. We were similar, to the point where we acted like the same ends of two different magnets, always repelling one another. If we ever found common ground, I'd keel over from the shock. "You listen here, brat," I growled, tangling my free hand in his hair, forcing his head back so that our eyes met, "I told you: Fairies don't kill. Besides," I went on, nonchalantly dropping him on his ass as I stepped away, moving towards the door, "you can't get out of this room. You've seen your leg right?"

"That just means I'll need another pair of legs to do my bidding."

My eyes narrowed to slits. "You wouldn't."

"Of course I wouldn't. Don't be absurd, I'm not about to risk my standing in this guild for your sake." He smirked, that good ol' Candor smirk I wanted to smack off his face. "What I'm doing is asking you - politely - for help."

"Eh?"

"....Please?" he bit out from between clenched teeth

Whoa, he must be serious about this, to even consider asking for help... I shook my head, freeing myself of muddling thoughts. He wasn't getting me to agree. He was hurt, needed rest, and running (hobbling) out into the middle of the war wasn't gonna do any good for a little wounded brat like him. So I sighed, flicked the hair from my eyes, and prepared to tell him just that.

"Lawn-head, you're gonna just have to sit this one out, whether you like it or not, so just--"

He gave me puppy-dog eyes.

Legitimate eyes that resemble a whining prepubescent canine.

His lower lip trembled.

His eyes glistened with the makings of guttural tears.

And I caved.

"You are so goddamn manipulative," I snarled as he carefully maneuvered himself onto my back, arms hooked around my neck, knees hugging a bit too tight at my waist (my bet is that he was trying to crack a few ribs so that we could be in mutual discomfort). "You had  me - just for a second - believing you're some innocent kid who needs my help."

"I resent being called a child," he muttered, his mouth eerily close to my ear (I was mildly concerned he might try to bite my ear; seemed like something he'd do to piss me off). "And also, you knew I was manipulative, and yet you still fell for the trap, which, might I add, was rather obvious. I wasn't actually expecting you to turn tail and comply."

"I hate you."

"Noted. Now move, trusted steed."

"You call me trusted steed one more time and I'll--"

"What? Beat me within a inch of my life? You would do such a terrible thing to a child?"

"Your arrogance is showing again."

"As well as my genius."

"As well as your... You know what? There's a war. I'm not gonna play this game."

"Good. You'd lose, surely."

"Surely you'd..." I let out a quiet, vexed breath. "Never mind. Let's just go."

_____________________

Ok. I'll be frank. I had no idea what the hell was parked in front of my guild. 

It was big, huge. Mechanical. Resembled a building a bit (actually, I'm pretty sure it was a building on spider legs). Had a big ol' gun attached to the front, pointed at my guild, my friends, my sister.

Needless to say, I was in the mood for some destruction.

"Winter! Gray said you were.... Why is Candor here?"

I huffed out an irritated sigh, nudging my chin at the brat still clinging to my back. "Long story, not worth telling."

"In actuality, she discovered that her intelligence is inferior to mine, and is therefore feeling insignificant at the moment."

"Ignore him," I advised Loke, fighting back the scowl that kept twitching at my lips. "Just take him for now." Before he could protest (because he was obviously going to) I slipped Candor off my back and shoved him into Loke's chest, forcing the orange-haired mage to lock his arms around the injured kid lest he let him fall to the ground in a rumbled heap. "I'm gonna go find Luce." And with that, I took off, uncaring as to whether Loke was shouting after me or not (he was, just saying).

It didn't take long at all to find Lucy, though I was a little late in getting to her. What I found, if you're curious, was an unconscious Lucy being hauled off in a horse-and-buggy by Reedus with Mira standing guard in the alley, her face a mask of pure determination and impenetrable steel. 

I liked the look. Nice change of pace.

"Mira!" I skidded to a stop, digging my heels into the cobblestones so that I didn't face-plant from the sudden lack of momentum. "What's up? Where's Reedus taking Luce?"

"A safe house, Winter, one where we hope Phantom won't be able to reach her," she told me, gesturing back to where the carriage was disappearing from sight. "And you should really be with her, but I thought you would stay in the guild with Candor so I didn't--"

I held up my hand, the universal sign for shut up, I've got this. "No worries. They don't want Winter anyway." At her perplexed pout, I added, "Daddy just wants Lucy. I'm in the clear, technically. I've never been anything special to him, just an extra mouth to feed, an extra cry to be silenced by the maids in the middle of the night." I forced a happy-go-lucky smile, because I had to. Or else Mira would've seen the very undignified image of one Miss Winter Heartfilia leaking a few tears in the middle of a warzone. "And it's cliche, I know, for me to feel all bad and shit about my daddy not loving me enough, so I'm not gonna bore you with my issues. Just tell me how to get to the safe house, because there is no way I'm letting them take Lucy."

Mira blinked. Blinked again. Then she nodded, curt and decisive, and quickly explained the oddly complex route to me. But, just as I was about to head out, she caught me by the wrist, spun me back around, and told me just what was going on, seeing as how I'd neglected to ask. 

We had less than fifteen minutes until the canon fired, taking out Fairy Tail and all of its fantastic wizards in the process.

Erza (the magnificent, badass Titania) was outta commission for taking the blow meant to dissolve the guild.

Natsu was running around trying to beat the living hell out of Jupiter, with Happy as his only real backup.

And the rest of the guild was facing something called shades, ghost warriors conjured up by Jose, that were, according to Mira, very tricky to get rid of.

Listening to her, my fists clenched to tightly, my knuckles bled into a barren white, a stark contrast to the glistening crimson that welled up from the crescent marks dug into my palms. 

Phantom Lord was going to pay. One way or the other, there would be recompense, and Fairy Tail would have the last laugh. I'd give my life to make it happen, and to keep Lucy out of harm's way. Finally, it was my time to shine (an action which I did rather begrudgingly, because, as stated before, I like being behind the scenes a bit more).

God. Just God. I really hated being cliche, but apparently, that was all I was good for.

Ugh.

"Alright, thanks Mira, I appreciate the recap." I put up a convincing smile that just oozed reassurance as I was turning away, my feet already propelling me down the street. "Just leave it to me! Lucy'll be fine, promise!"

"Wait, Winter, I'm coming with you!"

"Eh?"

I turned back around (marginally annoyed I couldn't just be on my way) and saw me. Well, not me me. Or Lucy Lucy, for that matter. But damn was it a good fake. I'd forgotten about Mira's transformation abilities. The only time I'd seen it was when she surprised me by disguising herself as Loke and attempting to ask me out on a date, an attempt that was ruined by the real Loke walking in, turning a very unflattering red, and frantically dragging me out of the guild before promptly disappearing for the rest of the day.

Yeah... That happened.

Anyway, back to the action.

"Uh, ok?" Mira's mouth quirked into a subtle smile and she hurried past me, snatching my hand as she went and pullling me along with a burst of speed so unexpected I nearly got whiplash.

_________________________________

Candor's POV

"You realize," I growled, throwing out a hand to halt the shade making a pitiful attempt at a sneak attack just behind us; I captured its nonexistent consciousness easily enough and simply crushed it, the way I might destroy one's delicate mind, "the situation's gotten much worse after that flame-eating lizard destroyed the cannon?"

"I can see that, thanks, Candor," Loke hissed, tightening the hold he held on my legs.

What I was referring to, unfortunately, was the rather ostentatious mechanical giant that had once previously been the residence of Phantom Lord. After having its main artillery decimated, it made the transformation into what Jose (the disturbed aberration) dubbed the "Super Mage Giant Phantom MK. II".

I disliked the name. Too long, too bothersome. But that was irrelevant, considering it didn't appear to need a catchy name in order to obliterate the guild. 

Our guild, Winter would have chided me. Our guild indeed. I was neither a friend nor enemy to Fairy Tail, but I suppose that isn't really the attitude of one trying to save said guild, along with its many quirky members. Winter and her sister included, as well as the flirty mage I was currently using as my horse substitute. 

I found it amusing, to say the least, that less than two weeks ago, I was trying to kill that irritating blonde. Now I was immersed in her guild's troubles, fighting in a war I didn't belong in. 

And she called me manipulative.

I rendered a few more shades incapable of action as Loke darted around the battlefield, dodging what enemies I couldn't handle, as he was left a little useless without free use of his hands, before I stiffened, a bolt of electricity tickling the nerves dotting my chest, shivering through me. Magic. Strong magic, to be precise. Coming from...

"Ah, this could be bad..." I murmured, staring at the suddenly active Super Mage, whose blocky fingers were now tracing magical symbols into the very air in front of it, forming a circle, a seal, if I wasn't mistaken, with intricate designs and disheartening magical script along the edges.

"Abyss Break..." Loke breathed, catching sight of it as well (something the majority of Fairies had managed to do in the last few seconds). "Such a huge seal...! This is bad!!" - redundant - "The dark blast will destroy everything all the way to Caldia Cathedral!"

"Bad, then," I reiterated.

The muscle ticking in his jaw was confirmation I didn't particularly need.

"Alright, well, in light of recent circumstances, I'm going to ask a favor of you, Loke."

"And what would that be?"

"Get me to that one." I pointed bluntly at the shirtless mage racing through the streets, a giant white-haired man at his side, making his way towards the towering behemoth threatening his beloved guild.

"Gray?" Loke raised a brow, looking over his shoulder at me questioningly. "Why...?"

"I need better transportation."