I'm back! Sorry for the long wait but work kept me busy! But here you go!

-:-

Chapter 5: The nature of the enemy

"Yo! We're back!" Natsu shouted his usual greeting as they entered the guild and walked over to the bar where Mirajane was chatting with her sister Lisanna and the others of Team Natsu.

"Welcome back you tw- three?" Mira asked as she noticed the little cat in Lucy's arms.

"May we ask who this is?" Mira asked Lucy as she eyed the Exceed curious.

"This is Stella." Lucy smiled. "She was my only friend when I lived with Ithildin but we were separated when my memories were changed. When I arrived home earlier, a box was placed at the door with a card on it. I noticed the writing of Ithildin and as I opened the box and saw Stella, all those memories came back."

Mirajane smiled and leaned over the bar to hug Lucy and Stellar. "That's wonderful! I'm happy for both of you. Getting someone back who was lost for a long time, I know how you feel, Lucy." she said with a smile towards Lisanna. "And I'm sure Stella wants to join the guild, too?" she asked the cat.

"Aye! Of course I want to join the guild!"

She hopped out of Lucy's arms and followed Mira so she could get her guild insignia. The others started chatting with each other about the departure to Crocus later this day.

"Ughh. I'm still exhausted from this damn Second Origin." Gray said with a sigh.

"Hah! You're just to weak, popsicle!" Natsu said despite not being in a better state.

"Wanna go, flame brain?"

"Come here, droopy eyes!"

"Squinty eyes!"

"NATSU! GRAY! Are you two fighting?" Erza asked from her place at the bar where she was currently eating her favourite cake.

"O-Of course not!" both exclaimed simultaneously. "We're best friends as always!"

"Aye!"

"That's good. I'm glad you two get along with each other so well." the Titania said before she focused her attention on the cake again.

"Happy #2 again..." Lucy sweatdropped.

They laughed happily when Mira returned with Stella.

"Lucy! Lucy!" the cat cried as she ran over to her friend. "I got my guild insignia!"

"That's wonderful, Stella!" the blonde said as she picked her friend up. "Where do you have it?"

"On my back. It's the only place where it fits."

Lucy just smiled at her friend when the doors opened again and Wendy. Levy and Gajeel walked in, together with the other three Exceeds. They noticed Team Natsu standing at the bar and walked over to them.

"Lu-chan!" Levy cried out. "Have you finished the new part of your story yet?"

"Gomen, Levy-chan. I didn't write anything the last few months. I'm still a little confused with this whole memory thing."

"Ohhh." Levy pouted.

"Stop this long face, shrimp. You have enough books to read."

"Gajeel! I read all of them already more then once!"

"Whatever."

"Lushi?" Happy asked sitting on the counter while munching on a fish. "Who is this?"

"Happy, Charle, Lily, this is Stella. She is my Exceed. I know her from my time with Ithildin.

"Hello Stella." Lily said with a small nodd. "It's good to see the first Exceed who made it to Earthland is alright and in one piece." the black cat said before Charle walked up to Stella and smiled.

"It's definitly good to have another girl here." she said.

"Aye!" Happy said as he landed beside Charle. "Would you like a fish as a welcome present?"

"Fish!" Stella said as her eyes became little stars.

"Ugh. I forgot." Lucy said with a sigh. "I guess I have to buy more fish."

While Happy and Stella flew away to get the fish Happy had stored somewhere unknown, the mages started preparing their travel to the Capital City of Fiore, Crocus, the Flower Blooming Capital. Lucy and Natsu returned to Lucy's apartment and started packing. Natsu already had moved his stuff over to Lucy the night before so he sat down on the bed and watched his girlfriend as she searched through her drawers for things to take with her to the Capital.

"You know, I could do this all day." Natsu said.

"What? Sitting and watching others work?" Lucy asked with a look back to her boyfriend.

"No." he said with his usual grin. "Watching you walking around the room with the morning sun shining on your hair. Your hair looks like a halo, my beautiful angel."

Lucy blushed a million shades of red and stopped in her tracks. She bit her lip and looked down. "You just say these things."

Natsu got up and moved his arms around her waist from behind. "No. I mean them. You're the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes on." he said, turning her around in his arms and grasping her chin to made her look at him.

"Natsu?"

"It wouldn't matter to me how you look anyway, Luce. I don't love you for your looks. I love you for being Lucy. For just being you."

"Natsu..." the blonde said, leaning in closer with her eyes fluttering closed. Their lips brushed against each others just ever so softly, leaving a tingling sensation on both. Natsu leaned in again to kiss her again. His kiss wasn't one of want or lust, but of love and adoration and Lucy loved him more for this. Without her saying a word, he knew she wasn't ready for more this early. He would wait for her to be ready to move their relationship further.

"I love you, Natsu."

"Love you too, Luce."

She smiled while they rested their foreheads against each others.

"I could stay like this forever." Natsu said.

"Me too. But we need to get ready, we're going in two hours."

The Fire Dragon Slayer let out a sigh. "Well, then I'm going to help you. Girls need forever to pack." he said with his million dollar grin back.

"That's because we girls care about what we're going to wear." Lucy said giggling, hitting her boyfriend on the shoulder. "You're just wearing the same outfit every day!"

"Where is the problem? It looks cool. Besides I got more then just the one I'm wearing. Or did you really thought I'm wearing the same clothes every day? You're weird, Luce."

"Hey, I'm not weird!" Lucy complained with a pout.

"Yes, you are. But you are my weirdo."

Lucy blushed again and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"And you are my idiot Dragon Slayer." she smiled. "But now, help me with this stuff over here. We need to get finished."

Two hours later, Natsu and Lucy were waiting for the others at the northern gate of Mangolia. They decided to travel to Crocus on foot, much to Natsu's delight. After twenty minutes of waiting Erza's giant cargo cart came into view. The others were following behind her.

"Finally!" Natsu said. "Took you long enough!"

"I'm sorry!" Wendy said bashfully. "They had to wait on Tsuki, Fuyu and me."

"That's no problem Wendy." Lucy said with a smile while smacking her boyfriend on the head. "He is just as impatient as ever."

"As if! Now lets go already!"

They started to walk down the road towards Crocus while the sun climbed higher into the sky. Pedestrians who were walking past them could only shake their heads on the group. They were laughing and kidding around like nothing in the world could worry them. But that was what Fairy Tail is like. Even if the world was going to end, they would party and have fun like any other day. Everyone in Fairy Tail knew that. They are a family and that, the knowledge of never being alone, despite how far away one could be, that was what would make them the Number 1 in Fiore again. After those 7 years of suffering and humiliation they would rise again.

After walking on the road for an entire day with only a few stops in between, almost every one of the group fell down on the ground exhausted. One expectation of course was Natsu who was currently chanting on how they would win the Grand Magic Games.

"Ha! We're going to win this for sure!" Natsu was shouting. "We are going to mop the floor with those Sabertooth guys!"

"Natsu!" Erza scolded him. "Don't be so sure of yourself. And don't forget our mission. There is an enemy ahead and we don't even know the slightest bit about them."

"I- We... I think we could tell you a bit about them." Fuyu said coyly.

"Then please tell us."

"W-We only know what we could see from our cells. But we can tell you what kind of mages they are." the boy said. He took a deep breath and looked at his friend for a second before he continued.

"They have mages of every kind in their ranks. The ones we know about are only some of the weaker ones. One of them could use Archive Magic and most of the others used magic related to the elements. But we heard rumors that some in the higher ranks posses Lost Magic."

"What kind of mages are they?" Lucy asked.

"The worst. Every hour of the day we had to go to the lab with them so they could experiment on us. They implanted lacrimas in our bodies and tried to fill us with magic energy so we would become stronger. We weren't humans for them. Only weapons. If we refused to go with them, they used force on us. If we were still refusing after that they would lock us up in a cell for a week or longer with no food and barely enough water. They wouldn't let us out until we were begging them to do it. If someone refused to beg, they would let them rot in the cell. They know no limit. They- they o-once even... even r-ra..." his voice began to crack at the end of his explanation and began to cry. Tsuki moved over to him and hugged him to her chest, comforting him despite the tears streaming down her own cheeks and the look of pure horror in her eyes as if she remembered something terrible. She smiled sadly as she looked up to the others.

"I refused them one time and wouldn't go with them even after they tortured me. It was only two months ago. They- they took me to an empty cell and... and they raped me." she choked out, her voice only a whisper at the end.

There was a moment of silence at the campfire before suddenly a tree nearby bursted up in flames. The young Slayers looked up to see the rest of the team with looks of absolute fury on their faces. Natu's body was covered with flames and even the ground around him began to turn into ashes.

"Those fucking bastards! I promise you: I will only stop when the last remains of this fucking excuse for a guild are burned to ashes!"

"I hate to admit it, but for once I agree to flame-brain." Gray said, barely keeping his anger out of his voice.

"I always thought that every human as at least a little bit of good inside of them. But these men..." Lucy whispered.

Suddenly the sound a breaking branch reached the ears of the Dragon Slayers. They immediately jumped up.

"Who is there? Come out! We know you are there!" Natsu shouted.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming out." a male voice answered from the trees. A tall shadow appeared between the trees and out came a man in his mid-thirties with neck-long black hair and a long black coat. His arms were bandaged up to his elbows as was his torso and he wore black gloves on his hands. He looked almost like Gildarts, only with black hair and a bit taller. He wore black cargo pants with black military boots and had a sword strapped to the left side of his belt. He was smiling at them but his eyes were dead serious.

"I am truly sorry. I couldn't help but to listen to your conversation. I am pursuing members of said organisation and now you gave me one more why not going easy on them." he smiled darkly.

Erza was still in the same position she was in when he appeared out of the shadows, keeping her swords pointed at the man.

"Who are you? What do you want from us? And what is your business with them?" the red-haired demon asked, disgust filling the last word of her sentence.

"Relax, Titania Erza. I'm not here to harm you. I'm an alley."

"Prove it." the knight demanded.

"Very well. I'm going to take of my right glove so don't hit me." he said, moving his left hand to his right, slowly removing the glove. Once he had completely removed it, he turned the palm back to the group.

"That- That is?"

"You...?

"You're...?

"You're a member of Fariy Tail?" Lucy asked surprised.

The man smiled. "Yes. I am a member of Fairy Tail. Thalion, at your service." he said with a slight bow towards the group.

The group relaxed only to tense up immediately again as an evil laughter filled the clearing they camped at and Tsuki's eyes filled with terror and fear.

"Well, well, well. If that isn't the entire group of persistent flies at once. And with our lost children too! This is going to be fun!" a voice chuckled as a man in a black suit appeared behind Thalion.

"Now if you could do me the favour and scream as loud as you can... It's more enjoyable this way." he said evilly. Out of nowhere he shot a dark stream of black chains towards the children who screamed in fear. The man laughed and threw his head back but stopped immediately when the attack was blocked by a sword. He looked back down angrily and was greeted with Thalion standing before him, his sword in front of him. His look was deadly calm and his eyes pierced into those of his opponent.

"I will not allow you to lay a hand on them again. I'll challenge you to a duel."

-:-

And another chapter finished ;)
The nature of their enemy becomes clearer now! The darkness around the Fairies grows as a new man enters the scene! What is his connection to Fairy Tail? The next chapter will show...

!ATTENTION! I'm searching for a good artist on deviantart to draw me a cover for this story. I'm no good at drawing things like this ;) !

Until then!