A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I know it has been a while since I uploaded a new chapter, and for that I am sorry. Life is a bit hectic. My job is demanding and I have to take care of my house, so the little time that I have for myself is devoted to writing my story (which is not enough time). I know that I said that I might upload more than one chapter for Christmas, but things got in the way and my lovely editor has tech problems. I hope it will not take me long to upload for you guys, since I also start school again on the 7th. I think things will work out.

Anyway, this chapter introduces a couple of new, but important people. This chapter is warming you guys up to meeting the new characters, so much is not explained about them yet, but keep reading because they are very important people with a purpose. I normally don't like writing A/N's in the actual story, but there are a few in there, so for people who hate the A/N's in the story, I'm sorry. Anyway guys, thanks so much for the favs and reviews...it wasn't 50 but I'm just happy that I got anything at all. You guys ROCK! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me.

Normal POV:

Cinder Oaks

Natsu and Lisanna have traveled to Cinder Oaks, the forest that borders Cinder Village. It has been a long and disappointing journey for the two. Each town they went to was Lucy less, and the more Natsu hoped and prayed that Lucy was in the next town they would have to visit, the more frustrated he became when she was no were to be found.

Lisanna was saddened that Lucy was not found yet. She figured that Lucy couldn't have had a huge leap in front of them from when they found out she was gone, so why was it taking so long to find her? Unless she rode the train nonstop to a predestination, she shouldn't have gotten far. And the more frustrated Natsu got, the more Lisanna wanted to find Lucy. Seeing Natsu this way always broke her heart, especially when he is so determined.

They walked in the dark forest, being led by a lantern and by the barely bright moonlight. They both were extremely exhausted, having traveled for more than ten hours by train and foot, and if they didn't stop to rest, they were gonna fall apart.

Lisanna stopped walking when she reached a small pond and decided that she needed to rinse her face off. She went to the pond and bent over to look at her reflection in the water. She looked a mess, and it was due to lack of rest. She scooped the water in her hands and splashed the refreshing coolness on her face. The water felt so good on her skin and it actually calmed her a bit. When she was finished, she decided to take a seat on a plushy spot of grass on the ground. Maybe if we rest, Natsu would calm down and we'd be better suited to find Lucy, Lisanna thought as she sprawled out on the grass.

Natsu noticed that Lisanna's scent wasn't next to him and he turned around to find her lying on the ground. He was frustrated and didn't understand why she was relaxing while they needed to find Lucy. Every second counted. If they wasted time, Lucy could move further and further away from them, so they needed to pick up the paste. He walked over to Lisanna and saw that she had her eyes closed. She's sleeping? At a time like this? he thought. He moved to wake her, but when he looked closer at her, he noticed that her clothes were disheveled and she looked exhausted. He looked down at himself and he didn't look much better. He scratched the back of his head and sighed. Maybe a little rest wouldn't kill us, but not too long. He walked to the tree near where Lisanna slept and sat on the grass below it. He leaned his back against the tree and closed his eyes. It didn't take him too long to fall into a much-needed sleep.

As Natsu slept, he dreamt about Lucy. He dreamt about all the good times they had together, not only on the team, but just hanging out together. And then his dream shifted to one particular moment him and Lucy had in her bedroom before they went to Edolas were Lisanna was:

Natsu was sitting on Lucy's bed, waiting for her to get out of the shower. Happy was with Wendy and Carle at the guild, so he was bored just sitting there with no one to talk to. He got off of her bed and started to look around her room. He searched in her bookcase for something he could read (that he would enjoy) and that's when he stumbled upon her journal. I didn't know Lucy kept a diary. Let's have a look! he thought. He flipped through the pages and most of the contents didn't grab his attention. He kept flipping the pages until he came across a page that only had one line written on it: 'What is your ideal life partner?'

Natsu didn't know why that one line raised his curiosity, especially since he passed a load of other, more interesting stuff in this book. He didn't understand why this question was so important to him, but all he knew was it was. For some reason, seeing this in Lucy's journal made him want to know the answer to the question. If it was written in anyone else's journal, he would be curious to know their answer to it, but not as much as he needed to know Lucy's.

He heard Lucy finishing up in the bathroom, so he put her journal back where he found it and returned to the bed. When Lucy got out of the bathroom, she brought a fresh scent of vanilla and warm sunshine that Natsu always liked smelling on her. She went to her desk, ignoring Natsu as she always did, and continued to write her novel. Natsu watched her every move, not understanding the need to do so, and he couldn't help but smile at the little things she did subconsciously, like shaking her foot when she's antsy, or the way she would sigh when she was stuck in her writing, or the way she would lick her beautifully plump lips when… Why am I thinking about Lucy's lips that way? But now that it was in his head, he had to admit that her lips were plump and beautiful. They looked like lips that were meant for long passionate kisses, and Mavis knows why, Natsu wanted to know how it would feel to kiss those delicious looking lips.

Thinking about that got Natsu to remember the question from Lucy's journal. Without thinking it through, Natsu upped and blurted out his thoughts. "Say, Luce. What would be our ideal life partner?"

Lucy abruptly stopped her writing and stared at Natsu. At first her face was shocked at his question, but then she sighed, closed her book and put her pen down. She turned her chair to face Natsu and her face was scolding. "You've been reading my journal, haven't you?" she asked with venom in her voice.

Natsu flinched and looked away while scratching his chin. "No, I−"

"Don't bother denying it, Natsu! Or else why would you ask me a question that came directly from it, huh?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and pouted. "I got bored waiting for you, so I found it. I didn't read all that other boring stuff though, so you don't have to worry."

"Boring? Now my life, my personal life I should add, is boring?"

Lucy was fuming and Natsu needed to calm her down before she threw him out and he would never find out the answer to his question. "Not boring," he started, "just not interesting." He tried to smile, but it didn't work.

"That's it Natsu. Get out!" Lucy got up from her chair to grab a pillow to throw at Natsu. To his surprise, the pillow hit him pretty hard in the face. When he picked the pillow up, a book fell out of it, which explained why his face was in pain. "Get out, Natsu! You're so mean. What kind of person would snoop through someone else's personal life and then call it boring? It would only be you. Leave!"

Lucy then started to attack Natsu on her bed with a series of punches and smacks (they didn't really hurt him, but they were super annoying). When she attempted to grab him and throw him out of her window, Natsu grabbed her wrists and pinned her down on her bed. "Stop, Luce. No need to hit me further."

"Well, you weren't leaving fast enough for me, which started to piss me off," she said through clenched teeth.

She was breathing heavy from her small workout assaulting Natsu, and his eyes noticed how her chest made quick up and down strokes with her breathing. Her face was flushed and she had an angry pout on her face. For some unknown reason, Natsu enjoyed seeing Lucy out of breath and steamy. Something possessive inside of him wanted to kiss her pout away, but before he could do anything, Lucy kneed him in his groin. "AAHH!" he screamed while falling from her bed to her floor. He cupped his family jewels in his hands while staring at her with tears in his eyes. "Luce…why?" he squealed.

Lucy jumped on top of Natsu, straddling his waist, which caused him more pain. She held his wrists to the floor and glared at him. "Don't think you're so tough, holding me down like that just because you're stronger than me. I have strength in other ways, which is why you're in so much pain right now," she said.

She glared down at Natsu and he stared back at her. Although he was in pain, his body couldn't help but react to Lucy straddling him. And by the surprised face she gave him, he knew that she could feel it too. One minute his waist was warmed by Lucy's, and the next, she was climbing off of him, leaving him to quickly stand and turn from her to hide his erection.

Lucy turned away from him out of embarrassment, but then she blushed. She couldn't believe that she was able to get Natsu excited. She sighed and then walked back over to her desk. She sat in the chair and faced Natsu, who still had his back to her. "Natsu," she called calmly.

Natsu stiffened at the sound of her voice (in more places than one). He couldn't understand why his body was reacting the way it was and he was too embarrassed to turn and face Lucy. He didn't even know what to say to her. He didn't move for a while, but then she called his name again. He calmed himself down, and then finally his erection lessened. He still had one, but it would be less noticeable to Lucy, so he slowly turned his face, thinking that when he faced her, she would be disgusted with him. But when he did, she looked calm, and he could see a small hint of a blush on her cheeks. He didn't know what to make of this, but he wasn't going to ask her why she looked fine after knowing that he got an erection from playing around with her. Still speechless, he waited for Lucy to do the talking.

Lucy saw that Natsu looked embarrassed and she couldn't help but blush even more. She got the chance to see two sides of Natsu in the matter of minutes that most people wouldn't normally see. Lucy didn't voice what it did to her body because it would make the atmosphere tenser. Instead, she broke the silence lingering over their heads. "Um…before I decide to tell you or not, I just want to ask you a question first," she said.

Natsu was confused. What does she want to ask me? Then he became tense. I hope she doesn't want to ask me about what happened just now! If that's it, then I'll just leave, he thought to himself, preparing to take off if Lucy decided to ask about his excitement. "What is it?"

"Why do you care what I look for in a man?"

Natsu was puzzled, but then remembered how this whole crazy ordeal started. That's right. I wanted to know about Lucy's life partner. Natsu was relieved that that was Lucy's question and relaxed himself. He sat on her bed and scratched his head. Why did he care what Lucy looked for in a man? He couldn't answer her question, but something in him needed to know. And he knew that he wouldn't feel right unless she told him, but he couldn't tell that to Lucy. He scratched the back of his head and said, "Just curious, Luce."

Lucy was a bit disappointed with his answer, which he could see on her face. She looked at him for a moment and then sighed. "Fine, whatever. I'll tell you since you're so curious."

Natsu straightened and focused on Lucy. "Really?"

"Yeah, why not?" she replied. Her gaze traveled from Natsu to the ceiling and then she said, "There are many normal qualities that make a good life partner, like being kind, smart, romantic, whatever. But I guess those would be boring, especially after being at Fairy Tail. I don't think normal is in my vocabulary anymore."

Natsu just kept looking at Lucy. What is she talking about? Although he was a bit confused, he let her finish.

She turned her head to face him and continued. "Although normal would be a nice change for me, it wouldn't make me happy. So, I guess I'm looking for a person who makes me laugh, who knows what to do when I feel sad, who would never leave me feeling lonely, who would protect me no matter what. He doesn't have to be smart or charming or even the best looking guy. And he doesn't have to be a gentleman all the time. Once he makes me happy just being himself and, above all else, love me for who I am, I think that is what I am looking for."

Lucy and Natsu stared at each other for a long time, and all Natsu could think was, can I be all those things that Lucy is looking for? But wait, why do I want to be?

Lucy closed her eyes and sighed softly. She stood from her chair and walked over to Natsu. She sat on her bed and then took one of Natsu's hands into her own. Natsu was a little shocked at her sudden action, but then she looked him in the eyes and his heart melted. The look she gave him was that of hope, and he couldn't understand why. She held his hand in hers firmly and then said, "I don't think that's so much to ask for, right Natsu?"

But then, darkness clouded his precious memory and Natsu was woken out of his slumber. He opened his eyes and was surrounded by the pitch black forest. He straightened himself from the tree and looked over to where Lisanna was sleeping, but the grass was empty. Instantly he rose from the ground and looked around the forest. "Lisanna? Where are you?" but nothing was replied. Natsu started to panic and tried to sniff her scent out. His eyes widened in terror, as her scent was nowhere to be found, which had to be impossible. "Lisanna!" he called out again, but still nothing.

He started to frantically search through the trees, but he couldn't see anything in this darkness, which was also strange because it seemed like the forest got darker than when they first stopped. Natsu didn't know where to go, but he wasn't going to give up. He kept running, anxiously trying to find Lisanna.

"Don't worry, she's in a good place."

Natsu abruptly stopped his movements. His eyes widened at the sudden voice that he heard. It was a male's voice that he has never heard before [A/N: picture Itachi's voice from Naruto…the Japanese voice]. He looked up and all around him, but he couldn't see anyone. "Who's there…and where is Lisanna?" he asked menacingly.

"Like I said, she's in a good−"

"Where. Is. She?" Natsu said again, with malice in his voice. His fists were flamed and he was ready to kick some ass. He still couldn't see who was talking and he didn't know where the guy was, but if he hurt Lisanna, he would never forgive him. And since he knew that he would never forget what this guy sounded like, he would search until the end of Earthland to find him.

The voice chuckled, which irritated Natsu. "So protective, but unnecessary. She's where she needs to be, which is where you should be. This path that you are taking is one that you are not ready for yet."

Natsu got even more frustrated. He couldn't understand what the man was talking about and he still needed to find Lisanna. "This path? I don't know what you mean, but you better tell me where Lisanna is or I'll−"

"You'll what, Natsu? Chase after what you can't see to find her even if you don't know where that may be? So you would abandon your search for Lucy?"

Natsu's eyes widened. His flames exhausted and he stared into the open forest with shock. Lucy…how does he know about Lucy? Natsu didn't know what was going on, and he couldn't help but be surprised at the words that the man spoke. "How…how do you know about that?" he asked.

"There's not much that I don't know, Natsu. For instance, that was a rather peculiar memory you were dreaming just now."

The shock on Natsu's face just grew, and he looked around in the forest to search for what he couldn't see. How in the hell did he know about my dream? "Who and what are you? How did you know about that?" Natsu was shaken. This unseen man knew things that he shouldn't, and Natsu didn't realize it at first, but it frightened him.

"Natsu, who and what I am will not matter. What does matter is you not continuing your journey to find Lucy."

Natus snapped out of it with the mere mention of Lucy's name. He looked into the empty space in front of him and became serious. "Why must I give up on finding Lucy? She's my nakama, and I'll be damned if I give up on her. I have to find Lucy because…"

"Because what, Natsu?"

Natsu just stared, unable to figure out what to say next.

"Because you love her? More than a nakama? Is that why, Natsu?" the man asked.

Natsu just stood there frozen. The man's words clicked in his head, and it hit him that he did love Lucy. Why? Why didn't I see that before? Why did he know it before I did? But deep down, Natsu always knew that Lucy was precious to him. He didn't understand why, but he was concerned about her more than anyone in the guild. He always wanted to make sure that she was smiling, because he loved that smile of hers. When she was sad, or felt lonely, he always tried to keep her company or do something nice for her to cheer her up. When she started to go on solo missions after Lisanna came back, he always worried about her and was so relieved when she came back unscathed. When his team decided to put Lisanna in Lucy's place, he didn't want to do it, but he didn't want to hurt Lisanna's feelings, but he felt horrible knowing that he hurt Lucy's. All of this was because I loved her?

"Then what of Lisanna?"

Natsu blinked. Lisanna? For a second, he forgot that she was missing too. He closed his eyes then asked, "Where is she?"

"She's safe. I'm on your side, believe it or not."

"How are you on my side, when you're telling me to forget Lucy? When you wouldn't tell me where Lisanna is?" His irritation flared again. "I don't even know who you are, so don't say that you're on my side."

There was silence for a moment, and then the trees started to sway, allowing the leaves to dance in the wind. Natsu was puzzled, and then his eyes started to drift. He tried desperately to fight to keep them up, but it didn't work out. "No…why? Stop it!"

"Natsu, when you awaken, you'll be where you need to be."

"…but Luce is…"

"Lucy is in good hands. If you continue on this path Natsu…"

Natsu was struggling to hear the man's words. His consciousness was slowly fading, but he had to hear what he was saying. "Luce…"

"She will die."

The darkness engulfed Natsu before those words registered. He lost consciousness without knowing anything. Luce.

Senka Grove

Meanwhile, in the town of Senka Grove, Erza and Gray are seen at the Rough Bykerz Guild, which is a moderately dark guild, where Erza has cremated all of the members except for the so called leader. His name is Zenki, and he looked like a goth biker with spiked red hair, dark black makeup, and dressed in leather, spikes and chains. He was the know it all when it came to dark guilds, so if they needed information, most likely he was the perfect person to get it from. Erza held him up by the collar of his shirt and gave him her famous death glare. If he wasn't quivering before, he was definitely doing it now. "We need help finding someone, and we think you might be the person to give us answers," she said.

"I…I'll tell you anything you need to know, just please don't hurt me. I'm delicate," Zenki pleaded.

"Do you know of a guild who is targeting celestial mages?" Gray asked. He was standing on a pile of men he wiped out, and his expression sent chills down Zenki's spine.

"Celestial mages? I'm not sure, but I did hear that this one celestial mage was needed for some big plan of this one guild."

Erza tightened her hold on Zenki's collar and braced him, rather roughly, against a pillar in the middle of the guild. She glared in his eyes and asked, "And who is this mage?"

Zenki started sweating profusely and gulped loudly. "I…I don't know the chick's name. All I know is that she's the most important part of the plan and they needed her magical power."

"What else do you know?" Gray asked.

"Th…th…that's it," Zenki stuttered.

"Think harder," Erza said, staring at him with her death glare.

Zenki nodded like crazy and then shut his eyes tight to think. He popped them open and said, "Wait. There was something else."

Gray walked over to where Erza held Zenki up and looked into the man's face. "What is it?"

"They need her power, but they need her child's power more."

This confused both Gray and Erza. "What the hell do you mean her child's power?" Gray asked.

"I don't know. That's all I know, I swear."

"And what's the name of this guild?" Erza asked him, her hold on him getting tighter.

Zenki's frightened face lit up, as if he was going to tell them their answer, but before he could, he passed out.

"Damn it, Erza. Your hold was too tight," Gray fumed.

"No. This wasn't me. I made sure he had enough space in his airways to talk." Erza let go of Zenki and he slid to the floor.

"I guess I'll take the credit for this one then, Titania."

Gray and Erza turned to the voice that they heard and found a man standing by the door. He was tall and lean, with long golden hair that went down to his back in a ponytail. He was wearing a white vest, showing his abs, black pants and black combat boots. On his hands were black gloves and he wore a white headband. He stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He was a sight to see, but in the current situation, Erza nor Gray cared about looks. "Who are you," Erza asked the man.

He straightened himself and then opened his eyes. His cloudy grey eyes pierced Erza's, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. She gasped for air and fell to her knees. "Erza!" Gray called out as he went to her side to aid her. She was breathing heavy and she started to sweat. Gray didn't know what was going on, but he had a feeling that this mysterious man was doing this to her. He looked at the man. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"She's trying to fight to stay awake. I've never had a problem stealing someone's consciousness before. This is exactly what I expected from the Titania."

"What… are… you… talking… about?" Erza said with each breath.

"And you can speak…very impressive." The man was surprised, even though his voice was calm. "I'm trying to put you to sleep and I don't have time to waste with you fighting it, so please, give up your consciousness, and spare me from reverting to violence."

Erza and Gray looked at the man. He looked as calm as ever, like nothing fazed him, but they had no idea why he was here or what he wanted. "Why do you want Erza to sleep? That doesn't make any sense."

"Gray Fullbuster. It's not just Erza Scarlet that will sleep. You will as well."

Gray's eyes widened. "Why? What are you after?"

"It's not what I'm after, but rather a means to stop you from going for what you're after."

Gray stared at the man in confusion. What does he mean by that? Erza's cough grabbed his attention. He held her in his arms as she fought to breath. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she was going to lose consciousness any second. He looked at the man and asked, "What the hell do you mean? Why are you trying to hurt me and Erza?"

"Not hurt, just disorient you from your path. The path to Miss Lucy Heartfilia."

Gray was stunned. "How did you know about−"

"All you need to know is that if you continue on this path, Miss Heartfilia will die."

Gray's eyes widened in terror. Die? "Wh…what do you mean die?"

"I've already said too much. It seems like the Titania has finally fell asleep."

Gray looked down and sure enough, Erza was knocked out. He started to sweat and looked back at the man. The man raised his right hand and then snapped his fingers. Gray's vision was blurry, and then he was knocked.

[A/N: This man is not the man from the woods who dealt with Natsu.]

(*****)

"Rex."

The golden haired man turned around and faced someone. "If I knew you were behind me, I would have put on more of a show."

"You always do unnecessary things when a task is so simple."

"I know, but it was nice seeing the shock in their eyes, especially Erza Scarlet. I never had trouble stealing consciousness before her. She really intrigues me. I would love to one day test her full strength with mine."

"Do not forget why we are here, Rex. We are not to cause harm to Fairy Tail."

Rex sighed. "You always take away my thunder don't you?"

"And you always love stepping out of bounds, don't you? Remember why we are here, or do you want things to become catastrophic?"

Rex closed his eyes and turned back to the fallen bodies of Gray and Erza. "I guess we should take them back now," he said.

"Yes. I already took care of the other two."

"Good. And what about Miss Heartfilia?"

The man behind Rex was silent for a moment, and then said, "Soon."

"Alright. Let's go."

A/N: The second man who Rex was talking to was the man who was in the woods with Natsu. His name was not introduced yet, so stay tuned. R&R!