**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Mashima does. Yada yada. Disclaimer stuff. I make no money for this fanfic.

So, here's chapter 7 of "Lost..." For all of you hoping to see some NaLe moments, that won't be happening at least until the Edolas Arc is over for obvious reasons. The arc won't be as long as canon, but I don't want to make it too short either. So anyway, I'll write what comes out and eventually they'll reach the end.

Probably update Dragon Slayers of Fairy Tail next if anyone cares...**


Lucy Ashley grunted as she returned to her place near the head of the guild. It was another uneventful, completely uninteresting day. She supposed that she should be glad of that. After all, any day without a sign of that fairy hunter was a good day.

But still, what was a day without a little excitement anyway?

*Crash* The doors to the guild flew open. She instantly jumped on guard, wondering how the fairy hunter managed to slip through their guard. They'd been so careful to have their defenses in place! As her eyes swept up to the figure emerging through the doors, she instantly recognized him. He was dressed differently, with black pants and a dragon-printed black and red vest, but the spiky pink hair gave him away immediately. It was Natsu Dragion.

But something seemed different about the timid mage today. For one, he was out of his vehicle and acting with confidence that bordered on cockiness. For another, he was accompanied by a young girl with blue hair and two exceeds.

Exceeds?! What were they doing there? Did Natsu Dragion betray them? Was that why he had a sudden confidence?

No. Impossible. She would need to confront this situation directly.

"Natsu! What are you doing with those exceeds? And who is that young girl?!"

"Chill, Lucy," The tone was very different from Dragion's. Firmer, with none of the quaver that her Natsu's voice usually held. "I'm not the Natsu you know. Me and Wendy are from another world."

"Wendy?" Exclamations rose up all over the guild, and even Lucy's jaw dropped as she looked at the flat-chested girl next to Natsu. Her Wendy just looked at her for a moment before looking away again, while the girl next to Natsu stared at her counterpart, her hands moving unconsciously to her chest.

"Whether you're from another world or not, you still brought exceeds with you," Lucy said, setting her voice in a hard tone. "How did you know where to find us?"

"Well, we found out from Mystogan."

"Mystogan? Who the fuck is that?" Lucy glared suspiciously at them.

*Sigh* "Wendy, why don't you tell them."

"Umm… Ok Natsu-san…" And Wendy began…

~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~

"Alright Wendy, I don't know when and if I'll see you and Natsu again before this is over, so I wanted to tell you a couple things. First, and most important – I have a counterpart in your world. His name is Jellal, just like my real name is. But he is very different from me. If you ever meet him, do not mistake him for the same kind of person that I am, got it?"

Wendy nodded her head, wrapping her childhood friend in another hug. "But why didn't you ever come see me?"

"I had a lot to do, keeping the anima from destroying Earthland." Mystogan answered. "Even Natsu never saw my face before today, and he's been in my guild for years."

"I don't have much time." Mystogan spoke louder as he turned back toward Natsu. "The two of you should go to Fairy Tail and see if you can enlist their aid."

"I thought Fairy Tail was a giant lacrima," Natsu said, scratching his head.

"There's a Fairy Tail in this world too. Perhaps the last remaining wizard guild in all Edolas," Mystogan said. Then, looking pointedly at Natsu, he added, "And just a warning – if you happen to run into Erza here… she's not a friend. Don't show her mercy, because she sure as hell won't show you any."

"An evil Erza? Sounds great! I can pummel her without having to feel guilty about beating my friends up."

Wendy couldn't help laughing at Natsu's perpetual optimism. But she needed more information if they were going to find this world's Fairy Tail and ask them for help.

"Jellal-san… I mean, Mystogan, where is Fairy Tail?"

"Oh yes. Right now it's that way, about a 10 hour walk if you hurry," Mystogan pointed toward what looked to be the southeast, at least based on the position of Edolas's sun. "You should hurry, though. The guild may move again at any time."

"Oh, ok…"

"And one more thing, you probably shouldn't mention my name to Fairy Tail there…"

~~~~~~END FLASHBACK~~~~~~

Wendy stopped, mortified that she had only remembered this crucial instruction after telling the whole story. Even worse, it felt like every eye in the guild was wide and looking directly at her. She took refuge from their stares behind Natsu, deciding that it would be easier to let him deal with it.

"Prince Jellal?!" Shocked voices rose up from all around them. "Wasn't he banished? How do you know him anyway? The prince was in another world?"

"Look, we don't know any more about that part than you do," Natsu interrupted, glaring around at them. "But what we do know is that ya'll's king has our guild in some sort of giant lacrima and he plans to use them up as magic power for this world. We're here to stop him. Simple as that."

"Simple?" Lucy's voice was harsh as she repeated the word back to him, and Wendy cringed from the sound. "You call that simple? That lacrima is guarded by the royal army, and in case you haven't noticed magic guilds aren't exactly welcome in this world! Your plan is to just charge in and stop the king?"

"Umm, yeah."

"And furthermore, you still haven't explained why you have exceeds with you," she growled, pointing to Happy and Carla.

"Exceeds?" Natsu scratched his head.

"Don't play dumb," Lucy glared at him. "They're right there behind you. It's obvious."

"You mean Carla and Happy?" Natsu blinked. "They're just flying cats that hatched from eggs we found a long time ago in Earthland, right Happy?"

"Aye sir!" Happy grinned, pumping his fist in the air. Wendy looked toward Carla, and was surprised to see the white exceed looking at the ground. Was something wrong with her friend?

Words continued to be spoken around her, but she let them drift gently over her stream of consciousness. Her focus was on the reactions of Happy and Carla to the announcement that they were exceeds. It was more than obvious that Happy had no clue who or what he was outside of someone Natsu found as an egg and raised. Carla, on the other hand, seemed to have some further idea. The way she looked at the ground when Natsu asked the question – even to Happy. And even now, she was looking at the blue cat – no, exceed – with a dissatisfied expression. It was almost as though she expected him to know something that he didn't. To realize something he didn't.

But if Carla already knew who she was and where she came from, why didn't she ever speak of it? Wendy thought back, trying to remember a single instance where Carla had mentioned anything about where she came from. Even the word exceed. She hadn't. She was sure of it. And whatever their heritage, she seemed ashamed of it now.

That was, perhaps the most disconcerting of all this. After all, if their heritage were as innocent as it seemed, there would be nothing for Carla to be ashamed about. There must be something wrong. Something she didn't want the dragon slayers to know about her and Happy.

And what was their plan anyway? She couldn't deny that she'd gotten a whole lot stronger since she started training with Natsu, but she wasn't confident enough to take on an entire army with just the two of them yet. Especially when they had no way of knowing who was on the other side. Apparently, they couldn't fully count on Carla and Happy. At least, Carla's reaction and the guild's reaction to the exceeds seemed to imply that.

Just then the door burst open. "We need to jump! The Fairy Hunter is coming!" A teen who looked exactly like Natsu came running into the guild. When Lucy saw him, she instantly grabbed him and put him in a headlock. "That's what you get for being late." She said. Then she yelled, "Levy, can we make the jump yet?!"

"I'm working on it," The blue-haired girl called back. "We're almost ready."

"Fairy hunter eh?" Natsu grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Sounds like a fun fight."

"You can't fight her! She's the most powerful of the king's knights. And she's feared for a reason!" Lucy was screaming at Natsu, but Wendy could also see a hint of fear in her eyes. "Erza's hunted down every guild in Edolas. We're the only ones that have even survived this long."

Wendy felt her breathing catch when the name Erza was mentioned. She slowly turned toward the older dragon slayer beside her, trembling at what she might find when her eyes reached his face. She sighed softly when they finally got there. His lips were drawn together in a hard line, curved up slightly into an almost feral grin. His eyes glimmered with barely contained excitement, and his hands clenched at his side.

"Erza huh?" She could hear the slight tremble in his voice. "So Erza's an enemy in this world?"

Lucy nodded, her posture relaxing slightly. Apparently she misinterpreted the slight tremble in Natsu's voice for fear. "She's our worst nightmare. She and her squad are unstoppable. She earned the nickname 'Fairy Hunter,' and many times we barely escaped her in time."

Without a word, Natsu turned and started heading for the guild doors. Lucy grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?!" She yelled at him. "Didn't you hear what I just said?!"

"This is just perfect!' Natsu said, shrugging her off. "I've always wanted a chance to fight Erza without holding back."

Lucy looked at him as though he were crazy, then turned to Wendy. "Can't you convince him not to do this?" She asked, and the younger dragon slayer could hear the faint pleading in her tones.

"Once Natsu-nii sets his mind to something there is no convincing him," Wendy said with a soft sigh. She couldn't tell Lucy that this was even worse because this particular person was strongly connected to strong negative emotions right now. It had been hard enough to get Natsu to tell her what little she knew of the whole ordeal. If she shared those details with someone else now, who knew whether he would ever open up to her more about that? Or anything else for that matter. She couldn't risk having him closed off to her.

Nor could she leave him to fight this Edolas version of Erza alone. With a determined step, she followed the older dragon slayer out of the guild hall, where he stood and watched the horizon expectantly.

"We're not going to make it in time!" One of the perks of being a dragon slayer was hearing conversations you weren't supposed to hear. The words inside the guild came from the short, blue-haired girl they called Levy. Perhaps the Fairy Tail in her world had a Levy as well. She didn't know yet, and wasn't likely to soon, since Natsu-nii clearly had no intention of returning yet.

Not that he wouldn't take her there and let her stay in the guild. He'd offered to do that several times. But she didn't care to go to a guild that he wasn't going to be around in. Especially a guild where the people he treasured most treated him like a nuisance. No, she wouldn't be going back to the guild until Natsu-nii was ready.

But Levy's statement was issued in short, anxious tones. They were clearly spoken only to those in closest proximity to her, but they also indicated that if Natsu was unable to at least delay this world's Erza, the Fairy Tail guild here would be taken and they would lose their last chance of help in this world.

A male voice started to answer Levy, but before she could focus on the words her attention was drawn to something else. Something was approaching their position at great speed, from the sky no less! It was a winged mount, looking in some ways like a miniature dragon, and mounted on top of it was the exact image of the Erza she had met and traveled with over the last few days. This Erza was grim faced and dark eyed, and carried with her a large sword. She was traveling with a small group, perhaps a squad, of ordinary knights. She dropped down on the mount toward Natsu, as though she meant to have the creature itself move him out of the way.

If so, it was a foolish move on her part, for Natsu's techniques and power were more than a match for the winged steed. With a simple roar he knocked the steed from the sky, forcing the red-haired woman to dismount. She executed the dismount gracefully, doing a single forward flip toward them to hit the ground in a crouch only 10 feet away. Behind her, the knights brought their mounts to the ground, probably having no desire to lose their way of returning to the castle.

"Dragion. You were the last person I expected to try to stand in my way," Erza declared as she strode forward, her eyes set and determined. "Stop this foolishness now and I will try to persuade the king to be lenient with you."

"You must have me confused with someone else," Natsu said, a small smirk coming to his face. Wendy quietly whispered some speed and endurance enchantment spells as he spoke. "My name's Natsu Dragneel, and to be honest I'm really looking forward to beating the shit out of you."

Erza motioned with her right hand, and two guards rushed Natsu. He ignited his fist, dodged their attempted strikes, and hit the first with a devastating blow to the chest that knocked him back 30 feet, unconscious, and connected with the second to the side of the head, knocking him 10 feet to the side before he also lost consciousness.

"You see," Natsu said as though nothing had happened, "you happen to look just like somebody who pissed me off recently. But no matter how hard I try I can't bring myself to go all out against her. Fortunately, I have no such hesitation when it comes to you. So that means I'm going to kick your ginger ass till you know never to mess with Fairy Tail again – pathetic army and all."

"I can see you're not Dragion," Erza said, her weapon now at the ready. "I may have to take you seriously." She then directed her gaze toward Wendy. "Little girl, I request that you stand down. I have no interest in harming children, but I won't hesitate if you stand in my way."

"Natsu is right," Wendy said, drawing herself up next to the fire dragon slayer. "You shouldn't underestimate Fairy Tail. I have no intention of backing down, as I can see now that the two of us are more than a match for you."

Erza's eyes hardened before she charged in. "As you wish," was all she said.

Then she charged, her speed fast enough to match Wendy's enhanced agility. Her sword came in toward Natsu at a downward angle, as though she meant to slice through his shoulder across to his waste at the bottom. Natsu blocked the strike with a part of his arm that was now covered in scales, and Wendy gasped in surprise. It wasn't that she didn't think highly of him of course! Natsu was the greatest dragon slayer in all Earthland! But still, how had he mastered the dragon force to such an extent already? According to the little Grandeeney revealed about it, to be able to use the dragon slayer magic to protect only one part of the body with the dragon force scales required an immense amount of control of the power.

But then, in the short time that she'd known him, Natsu always showed a natural talent for anything regarding fighting and the using of his magic. She'd seen him efficiently take out large groups of dark mages, his mind analyzing their magic and attack patterns subconsciously faster than her mind could figure them out. Had it not been for their sweeping of the dark guilds in those regions, she might never have even seen him fight. But they needed jewels, just like everyone else, so they would acquire them by raiding dark guilds and turning their leaders in. Typically the leaders, if not the entire guilds, would have bounties of some sort. And even if they didn't, nobody would notice or care if the dark guild's treasury was empty.

So really it shouldn't have surprised her that Natsu had already mastered the dragon force and applying it to the specific part of his body that he wanted to protect, but she still couldn't help being a little surprised.

"Wendy! You take out the trash. I'll take care of this ginger bitch," Natsu yelled.

"You'll pay for that!" Erza charged him again, but Wendy didn't take the time to watch the outcome now. Natsu gave her a task, and she intended to show him she could do it. This would be easy! Just 6 guards left after Natsu took out the first two, and they all used swords!

"Sky Dragon's Talon" Wendy whispered the words as she flew at the first two, knocking them easily out with one hit.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack." Her next strike easily broke through the other guards' attacks, knocking them back several paces.

"Sky Dragon's Dance!" This was a move she'd mostly created herself, involving variants of the talon, wing attacks, and other sky dragon spells. Her body moved in a rhythm discernable only to her, both feet coming off the ground and kicking out with devastating talon attacks as she did a perfect 360 in the air. As she came back down, her wings struck out with razor-sharp gusts while she flipped forward, using the momentum to bring her feet down in a final, ultimate double talon attack on the last opponent.

She was surprised when the last attack was partially deflected. Till then, the guards that Edolas's Erza brought along had been fairly helpless against her attacks. But apparently the Fairy Hunter brought more than just weaklings. The man that she faced now was nearly six feet tall, giving him an easy height and reach advantage over her. He was holding what appeared to be a sword, but she could sense magic in it. How did magic work in this world anyway? She never got the chance to ask Jellal about that. Next time she saw him she'd have to berate him for not telling her, and of course ask him why he warned her to stay away from Earthland's Jellal. That was curious too.

She felt rather than saw a rush of liquid, and rolled to the side quickly. Her opponent was just pulling his sword back from its downswing, and as the rock melted away before the liquid Wendy quickly realized that her momentary distraction had nearly cost her more than she could afford to give. Normally she could've counted on Natsu-nii to save her, but he was involved in his fight with Edolas's Erza.

The man swung again, his sword coming in a diagonal arc this time. She jumped over the line of what she now knew was acid as it spread toward her, whispering a speed enchantment to get her close. Once she was within range, she struck out quickly with a simple claw attack, connecting with her opponent's stomach. She then ducked under the blade that he slashed across even as he fell back. She felt the edge nick her shoulder, and was thankful that he didn't have the magic activated on this strike.

She fell back a little way, putting everything she had into her next strike. "Sky Dragon's Roar!" The attack connected, slicing through his acid strike and ripping into him in a conic whirlwind of devastation. She gazed at the results in front of her, panting heavily. She knew she'd grown stronger, but damn! The ground was torn up for over a hundred feet, shrubs, rocks, and trees alike torn apart by the blasts of wind. The man lay in the middle of the cone of destruction, his arms twitching, but other than that unmoving.

Suddenly a wave of intense heat washed over her, enveloping her in a protective warmth. She turned toward the source to see Natsu, still facing off against Erza, wreathed in flames that were shooting at least 15 feet into the air. He was in a position she'd never seen him take before when fighting, and judging from the shocked expression on Erza's face, the flames felt a little different on that side of the battlefield.

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Embrace." Moving so quickly that she could barely track his movements, Natsu brought his arms out to the side and then pulled them together almost as though he were hugging somebody. Great wings of fire mimicked his movements, wrapping Erza in an orange-yellow embrace. The red-headed knight struggled, attempting to use her spear-sword to break free from the flames. But her efforts proved fruitless. Slowly the flaming wings grew closer together, tightening their hold on her, until finally she disappeared into the midst of them. Then there was an enormous explosion, flames shooting out and licking all the way up to Wendy's feet, brushing at her dress and hair. When the flames cleared, Erza was laying back on the ground, her sword still clutched in her hand.

"Damn… You…" She grunted, struggling to raise her head from the ground. Her efforts proved fruitless, however, and Natsu just stepped back, the flames and the heat receding.

"You'd better finish me, or I will make you regret it later," Erza said from the ground, the words straining from her lips in a grating, hoarse tone.

Natsu stopped and turned to her, and Wendy saw the anger in his eyes. "Don't think I'm not tempted," he said, his voice harder than it ever had been before. "But tempted or not, I don't need to kill you. Just don't mess with Fairy Tail again, or I'll beat you down even worse next time."

Erza's lips moved as though she were making a retort, but consciousness was already slipping from her. Finally her eyes closed, and she joined her fallen comrades.

"We should tie them all up to slow them down once they awaken," Natsu said matter-of-factly as the guild suddenly faded away and disappeared behind them.

"What about Edolas' Fairy Tail, Natsu-nii?" Wendy asked, coming up beside him.

"Who knows where they went?" Natsu shrugged. "We're gonna' have to try to make it to the capital in time. That's the best we can do now."

"Jellal, that is Mystogan, seemed pretty sure we'd never make it on foot," Wendy said, recalling the masked mage's instructions to find Fairy Tail and get a magical vehicle to take them most of the distance.

"Well, it could take us longer to find Fairy Tail if we look for them now," Natsu said with a shrug. "The best we can do is head toward the capital and hope it all works out somehow."

Wendy nodded, surprised that she didn't hear the familiar sound of Natsu's blue companion chiming in with an "aye sir." She looked back to where Happy and Carla had been when the battle started only to see empty space.

Happy and Carla were gone.


So that's that chapter. Read and review if you enjoyed it!