Everything goes quiet between us, the only sound is the train moving down the track. The whole team stare at me, jaws dropped and eyes wide. Lucy is the first to break the silence.

"You've gotta be kidding, right?"

"Erza doesn't have a sister!" Natsu cries.

"Not that we've ever heard of," Gray adds, "Are you sure, Asuna?"

"I could be wrong about the person, it might not be the same Erza but I do have a sister and apparently that's her name."

"What do you mean when you say 'apparently'?" Lucy asks.

"All I know is what my late parents told me," I'm suddenly worried about my credibility, "They never hid the fact I was adopted but they also never told me anything about my past. When they died, they left a letter telling me everything. Where I came from, how I came to be their daughter and as much information as they had on my biological family. Cliché, I know."

"And Erza's name was mentioned," Lucy guesses.

"Yeah," I pause, "Did your Erza come to the guild as an orphan?"

Gray and Natsu both nod and say, "Yes."

"Did she tell you where she came from?"

"She didn't open up for a long time but more recently we got the whole story," Gray replies. I tense in my seat, "I don't know if she'd be comfortable with us telling a...," he quiets as I grab his hands. They're so cold.

"Please, tell me. I have to know."

His dark eyes express his reluctance as they stare into mine.

"I don't see any harm in telling her," Natsu shrugs.

"How about this, I'll tell you what the letter said and you can confirm or deny the information in relation to... your friend," I can't say her name again.

"Ok, I can do that," Gray nods, squeezing my slowly numbing fingers.

"If Juvia was here, she'd freak out if she saw another girl holding Gray's hands," Lucy murmurs.

"My parents said I originally came from a village that was attacked by soldiers, followers of a corrupt cult who stole all the children and murdered everyone else including my real parents."

Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Gray exchange uneasy glances but Wendy and Carla appear to be wrapped up in my story. Maybe they aren't clued up like the others.

"If all the children were taken, how comes you weren't caught?" Lucy asks.

"I was found under a collapsed housing structure. To be honest, it's nothing short of a miracle I survived because according to the rescue team, physically I came out with nothing more than a bump on my head. But it turned out there were some significant side effects from that bump and I lost pretty much everything."

"You don't remember any of it?" Gray asks, "I mean, you can't be much younger than Erza, surely you'd recall something."

"My memory is still fuzzy to this day," I shake my head, "I couldn't even remember who I was when I came to my adoptive parents. All I can remember is seeing that burning house falling down around me and people screaming outside. The only reason I know my real name is because there was another survivor; Kagura. Apparently we were playmates and my sister, Erza, was best friends with her older brother."

"Was there anything else?" Lucy quizzes, "Like who her brother was, what your last name is or your birthday, maybe even something about your real parents?"

"No," I whisper. I hang my head low and release my grip on Gray's hands, covering my face to hide the tears welling up, "She must have been taken to a new family before they could get anything else from her. I have no idea who my real parents were. I... I can't even remember what they look like."

"Hey, don't cry," Lucy moves to perch on the small space next to me and puts a soothing hand around my shoulders.

"Is that all the letter said?" Gray bends his neck to look under my fringe.

"No," I sniff and shake my head, "There was one more thing. It said there was a surge of people who were originally thought to be lost or dead that suddenly showed up again later in that same year, claiming they'd escaped from horrible slavery. A few of them turned out to be children from villages that had suffered the same fate as mine so my parents attempted to find my sister but nothing ever came of it. I guess that's why they never mentioned her before. They didn't want to get my hopes up."

"Did it say where they escaped from?" Lucy urges me.

"I don't think naming the place will make a difference," Natsu says, "It's pretty obvious that her story matches up. I mean, come on, destroyed village, stolen children forced into slavery and escaped orphans. Do you really think any other Erza is gunna have that story?"

"For once, he's right," Carla chimes in, "I don't know the story in detail but if it's such a good match, it's highly unlikely we're talking about two different people."

"What do you mean 'for once'?!" Natsu growls.

"Shut it, flame brain, we're being serious here," Gray snaps, "Carla's right. Your story does match up."

My eyes flick from Gray to Natsu, then from Natsu to Lucy and from Lucy to the floor. Could it be? Could I have finally found my sister? It's been so long since I tried to look for her.

After meeting Kirito, I stopped searching because I'd found someone I was happy with and in turn they were happy with me. Then Yui came along. The little girl who needed me, needed us, because she had been thrown into the same unfortunate boat as me: no memories and no one to go to. And like my adoptive parents had done for me, we provided her with a family. So what started as a lone journey with a singular goal, turned into an adventure with endless possibilities. I hadn't needed to find her but here I am, sitting on a train, clueless I was surrounded by her best friends.

"Is there something wrong? You look upset. Aren't you happy about this?" Wendy asks.

"I don't actually know how I feel right now," I admit, "There's so much going through my head. I think I am happy but I'm more surprised than anything else, shocked even. This is the last thing I would have expected to happen and it's a bit much."

"There's just one thing that's bothering me," Lucy says, "If Erza has a sister, why wouldn't she have mentioned it to us?"

"Think about it, Erza hasn't said much about any of her biological family full stop. Her last name isn't real and she doesn't appear to know what the original one was," Gray says thoughtfully, "Maybe she lost her memories of you too but through some sort of trauma."

"Or she thinks I'm dead," I say.

"I think the best plan of action is to try and cast aside your current state of mind for the time being," Carla says matter-of-factly, "We can't do anything about this until we get back and dwelling on it might well cause you to lose focus and risk getting hurt on this mission."

"Could you be any more insensitive?" Gray frowns.

"No," I say, "She's right. Until I meet her face-to-face, there's nothing I can do. Focus is key for my magic to work and if I lose that, I'm useless."

XXXXXXXXXX

"It's been so long since I last went on a job, I'm kinda nervous," I say as we stroll from the station to the village, my earlier emotional state is tucked away. I'm good at that: hiding negative feelings. I do it so often for Yui, it's almost second nature now.

"What was the last job you did?" Lucy asks.

"A re-enactment of a duel between knights for a festival," I reply.

"That sounds like fun!" Wendy exclaims.

"Yeah, it was," I smile, remembering how Yui had cheered for both Kirito and I on the side-lines while the crowd egged us on. That was a good day.

"Hey, look, we're here," Lucy says, pointing down the hill to a group of houses surrounded by fields full of crops and farm animals.

As we near the village, I notice that some of the houses are in disrepair. Huge holes, big enough to fit a wagon through, are in the walls.

"Oh man, it looks like something big went on a rampage through here," Gray says.

"This is so exciting!" Natsu grins.

"Natsu!" Lucy scolds, "There's nothing exciting about this! Can't you see what's happened to these poor villagers? Their homes have been destroyed!"

"Hey!" a voice calls out. In the distance we can see a man running over to us.

"That must be our greeting party," I say.

When he reaches us, the man is completely out of breath and barely able to string a sentence together through his panting, "You guys... you must be... the wizards... from Fairy... Tail."

"You got it," Lucy nods.

"Well... thank goodness... not a... a moment too soon."

The man explains the situation to us as we walk down to the village. He tells us that a few weeks ago, a huge, horned demon made its home in the mountain caves nearby and started terrorising the village, stealing their livestock, smashing through houses and trampling their crops. They aren't close to any big towns or cities so they have to rely on themselves to live: growing their own vegetables, raising their own animals and building their own homes. Rebuilding isn't a problem but if food were to become scarce, they'd suffer great losses.

"That's terrible," Wendy says.

"Yes," the man nods, "We hoped the creature would move on but it appears to have settled in permanently. That's why we requested help."

"Don't worry, we're Fairy Tail's strongest team, we'll take this monster down!" Natsu grins, "Just point us in the right direction!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Do you think maybe it's just a really big Vulcan? I don't really like the idea of fighting a demon," Wendy frets as we walk along the overgrown path to the mountain where we were told the creature lives.

"I've never heard of a Vulcan that looks the way he described this 'demon' to be," I say thoughtfully, trying to remember all the different types I've come across, "I don't know why you're worrying though. After everything you told me about your magic, this should be a breeze. Besides, you have all of us with you."

"It doesn't matter what it is, demon or not, it's our job to take it down," Gray says determinedly.

"Yeah! I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaims, punching his palm.

Just as the man told us we would, we find an enormous opening on the side of the mountain leading into a cave of unmeasurable depth. Low growls can be heard from inside.

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," I say, trying to alleviate the tension in my stomach.

"Come on, guys!" Natsu cries, rushing into the darkness.

"Shouldn't we make a plan first?" I ask.

The only answer I'm met with is a united chuckle from the team. Obviously this is another common occurrence along with the unwanted demolition services. We take off after him with only the sound of his footfalls to follow in the darkness. I grab a thick branch of dead wood as I take the rear.

When we finally catch up to him, he's standing still, sniffing the air, "It's close."

"Here, light this," I offer him the end of the branch which he holds a flaming hand to.

From the moment it's lit, we find out just how close we are to our target. No more than thirty feet away from us and standing at least eight foot tall is a creature with a long snout filled with a set of razor-sharp teeth. Two curved horns jut out from the sides of its head. Its upper body looks just like a muscular human male but its lower-half is covered in fur and resembles something akin to a goat or sheep with large, split hooves.

"Whoa, that thing really is a demon!" Lucy squeals.

"It's huge!" Happy exclaims.

"The bigger they are, the more fun they are to beat up," Natsu cracks his knuckles.

"Pretty sure that's not the saying," Gray says.

"Shut up, snowflake."

"Don't tell me to shut up, smoke for brains!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lucy snaps.

"Yes ma'am!" they say shakily in unison. She must deal out some pretty bad punishment if they fall in line that easily.

The creature approaches us, its footsteps causing the ground to shake. The boys waste no time. Gray smashes his fist into his palm, commanding ice-made lances. Spears of ice fly through the air, reflecting the dancing flames of Natsu's fire that spills from his mouth in a powerful roar. I watch in awe. I've never seen magic like this in action before. With Wendy acting as their healer, the boys are able to keep up with the creature. Even with its heavy fists delivering blows to their bodies, they regain composure with ease, coming back at it with a flaming punch to the gut and an ice-made… cannon… right. But it's not long before the continuous use of her magic starts to take its toll and she drops to her knees.

"You must rest, child," Carla insists.

"But they need me," she says.

"Don't be ridiculous, you'll be no use to them if you carry on like this," the white cat folds her arms, "I forbid you to use any more magic until you recover some of your energy."

"I'm sure they'll be fine for a little while," I reassure her.

As if the world solely wants to prove me wrong, both Natsu and Gray come barrelling towards us, smashing into the cave walls either side of me and Lucy.

"This guy is tougher than he looks," Natsu groans, trying to pull himself out of the rock.

My time to shine.

"Don't worry guys, I've got you covered," I rush forward, drawing my rapier. I need to aim for a weak spot, no messing about with limbs. I leap into the air, planning to dive down at an angle into its midsection instead of attacking head-on. I bring the blade over my head.

"Asuna, watch out!" Gray yells.

I'm too slow on my downward strike and the creature swings it's arm, knocking my rapier and causing me to spin sideways. I cry out as its other arm slams into my gut, sending me careering back. I hit the floor and roll across the dirt.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?!" Lucy cries, rushing to my side.

"I... I think so," I slowly push myself up onto my hands and knees. Damn, that hurt.

Lucy ducks her head under my arm and helps lift me to my feet. I wince as I straighten my body. Natsu and Gray have already jumped back into action. Gray swings an ice-made hammer, striking the side of the creatures head. It shatters as it makes contact with its horns, spraying us with ice shards that are quickly melted as Natsu's fire swirls around the cave, passing us in a whoosh of hot air. The creature lets out an almighty bellow and with it a blast of something similar to a wind magic attack is released. Both boys are taken off their feet and fly back towards us to create brand new craters in the wall.

"I just remembered something," I step away from Lucy and pick my rapier again, holding it level with my eyes and aiming it at my target.

"Asuna, wait, you're hurt!" Lucy says.

I ignore her, "Wendy, I know you're tired but do you reckon you could use one of your sky dragon attacks?"

"I can probably manage that," she nods.

"Great," I smirk, "I'm gunna run straight for this demon and when I jump, I want you to aim it directly at me, ok?"

"Why do you want me to send the attack your way?"

"Just trust me."

I focus, taking a deep breath. Ready. I charge towards the creature, ignoring my complaining stomach muscles, and jump as high as I can.

"Sky dragon ROOOAAAAAR!"

I feel a huge gust of hair behind me, rocketing me forward at an almost scary speed.

"Requip," I shout, "Gleam Eye Sword!"

My iron rapier glows as it alters shape, turning into a large, metallic blue broadsword with a diagonally cut end. I swing it forcefully in a horizontal arc so that I spin, angling to the right. As I get within reach I thrust my arm out, slicing the creature's side as I pass it, narrowly missing the grasp of its sharp-clawed fingers. I keep my footing as I hit the ground.

"Alright!" Natsu cheers.

I feel a rush of confidence and something else, something I haven't felt in a long time. Excitement. But it's not just any excitement. It's the kind I used to get when I was part of a fight that thrilled me with a challenge. This isn't just fending off Vulcans and wild animals, this is a creature I not only need to defeat but want to. And defeat it, I shall.

"Requip! Iron Rapier!" switching back to my normal sword, I take advantage of having the creatures back to me as its howls of pain resound through the cave. I sprint forward and leap into the air again, pulling my elbow back, sword held straight, "Quadruple pain!"

The blade glows, drawing in magic energy from my body and releasing it in four, rapid, pin-point thrusts between the creature's shoulder blades. It turns on its heels, trying to swing for me again, but this time I'm prepared. I land my foot on its back, using it like a springboard and somersault out of its reach.

"That was awesome, Asuna!" Gray calls, "But leave some for us, would ya?"

"Be my guest," I pant, thankful for their eagerness. I'm exhausted already. Clearly out of practice. I slide my sword back into its sheath and jog over to Lucy, Wendy and the exceeds. Yep, I asked again. I couldn't stand not knowing the proper name for their species.

"You did great," Wendy smiles.

"Yes, very well done," Carla agrees.

"Wait 'til you see Kirito," I mutter to myself. Watching the boys fight, I notice an extra member. A tall man wearing a black suit with golden-orange hair that sticks up in tufts, two of which resemble cat-like ears. I point and look at Lucy, "Was he always there?"

"Nope, he's one of my celestial spirits," she replies.

"I didn't see you call a spirit. I'm sad I missed it."

"Oh, I didn't call him. Loke just likes to turn up of his own accord."

"Loke? Never heard of that constellation."

"He's actually Leo but that's a long story."

"Wow, so that's the leader of the zodiac. Kirito will be psyched to meet him."

"I'm sure he will... until Loke starts shamelessly flirting with you and then Kirito will probably just wanna punch him."

"Does Natsu want to punch him with he flirts with you?" I smirk.

"Natsu wants to punch everyone," Carla chimes in, ruining my fun.

"FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu holds his hands high above his head, a giant fireball forming around them that he throws down with enormous force. Wow. That's one hot attack.

"REGULUS IMPACT!" I squint as Leo's fist shines like the sun and smashes the creature on the chin. That's one extremely bright attack.

"ICE MAKE LANCE!" Gray is not someone you want to put ice in your drink.

"This is quite a show," I smile.

"Yeah but I think the curtains are about to come down on it!" Lucy points to the cave ceiling where the rocks are starting to shake.

"Guys, stop!" Wendy calls out, "The ceilings gunna fall down and crush us if you keep doing that!"

"What did you say?" Gray shouts back.

His question is answered when a chunk of rock falls and smashes on the ground, missing him by an inch.

"Time to go. I'll see you later Lucy, you can introduce me to your cute friend next time," Leo winks at the two of us before disappearing in a flash of sparkling light.

More rocks fall to the ground, threatening to flatten us. Lucy, Wendy and I all scream and hold onto each other, with Carla and Happy squished between us.

"Natsu! Gray! Can you leave the demon alone already?!" Lucy yells behind her as we start to run, "We're gunna be trapped!"

"But I'm not done with him yet!" Natsu argues.

"Come on, flame brain," Gray grabs the back of his collar and yanks the dragon slayer along as they follow us.

We make a break for the entrance with the creature hot on our trail, it's heavy footfalls causing the cave to shake even more and the ceiling to collapse at a fast rate.

"Ice make floor!" Gray aims his attack at the ground and creates a pathway of ice.

I wish I'd worn better shoes. My legs come out from underneath me and I slide across the ice on my backside at top speed. I'm quickly followed by Natsu, who grabs Lucy for support, only succeeding in dragging her down with him. The ground shakes with the force of an earthquake. I twist round, trying not to touch any bare skin on the ice, and catch a glimpse of a wall of rocks behind us. The whole ceiling has come down on the creature, either trapping or killing it. Mission accomplished.

Cold air hits me as I'm launched off the end of the ice floor and out the cave entrance. I scream as I fly through the air and land in a bush. I struggle to pull myself out, flailing like a fish out of water. I'm the first to escape the foliage.

"Ouch," Lucy grumbles, appearing from the leaves, rubbing her head.

"I hate slides. I think I'm gunna be sick," Natsu's voice mumbles from somewhere... underneath...

"Lucy, are you sitting on Natsu?"

Her eyes widen and she jumps up.

"Could you at least lose some weight before you use me as a soft landing?" he groans. He completely deserve the slap that follows.

I help retrieve the other team members from the bushes, having to pull Happy by his tail to get him unstuck and go on a hunt for his tiny backpack. It's not long before we're making our way back down to the village.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I can't thank you all enough. You've saved our village."

"No problem, old man, we had a blast!" Natsu grins.

"You had a blast, we just have a headache," Lucy scoffs.

"Please, take this," the man hands us our reward money.

"Thank you," I say, giving a small bow.

"If you ever need any more demons to be taken care of, don't hesitate to contact Fairy Tail again," Gray smiles.

XXXXXXXXXX

I lean my head against the window of the train carriage. The movements rock my head gently back and forth. Wendy is leaning against me, asleep, with Carla reading on her lap and Gray is slumped next to the two of us, eyes closed, arms folded and for some reason is only in his pants. Once again, Natsu's hair is being lightly stroked as he lays his head on Lucy's lap with Happy sleeping on his back. Fighting that creature has drained us. Luckily Magnolia is the last station so if we sleep now, we won't miss our stop.

I can't wait to see Yui. I have so much to tell her about the demon and the epic battle and... Erza. My stomach twists. Between the chaos of the mission and the exhaustion, she'd completely slipped my mind. Do I tell Yui about her? Do I wait until I've spoken to Erza first?

"Erza should be back by the time we reach the guildhall tomorrow," Lucy yawns, unlikely to have read my mind but perhaps saw what Kirito likes to call my 'over-thinking face', "Everything will be fine."

I smile as my eyes slowly close.