"Good morning, Namine-san!"

Namine turned around to see Wendy running up to her with Carla in her arms.

"Good morning, Wendy, Carla." Namine said, turning around to greet them with a smile.

"Are you heading to the Guild?" Wendy asked. Namine nodded.

"Yah, what about you?" Namine asked. Wendy nodded. "Let's walk together then."

Wendy nodded again.

Wendy and Namine walked towards the doors of the Guild, talking and smiling. That was before they spotted Ethan waiting outside the Guild and they stopped in front of him.

"Good morning, Ethan." Namine said. He looked at them and smiled, seeming to try and hide the worried look on his face. Wendy and Namine were oblivious to it, however Carla wasn't convinced.

"What's with the worried look?" Carla asked before she realized something. "Where's Fate?"

"At home..." Ethan instantly replied, seeming annoyed with question. Then he seemed to come up with an idea of some sort, looking at Wendy. "Say, Wendy?"

"Yes?" Wendy asked.

"You're a healer right? If someone got sick, would you be able to cure them? Or, help at least?" Ethan asked, avoiding anyone's gaze by looking at the ground.

"I can bring fevers down and heal a variety of different things when it comes to illnesses. But it depends."

"How about animals...?"

"I've taken care of Carla before, if that's what you mean."

Before Wendy could ask why he was asking any of these questions, Ethan grabbed one of her wrists gently and started to pull her behind him as he walked away from the Guild. Namine trailed behind them.

"W-Wait, where are you taking me!?"


Before she knew it, Wendy was standing in a bedroom, looking down at Fate, who's cheeks were tinted red and who was seeming to have a hard time even breathing. Carla was feeling her forehead and talking with Destiny, who seemed to have been watching over her while Ethan was gone.

"Where's Akina?" Wendy asked.

"She went on a job, so she's out of town." Namine replied. "Wendy, I'm still learning how to use my healing magic..."

"So I decided that you're basically a master at healing, so I'd bring you in to help." Ethan explained.

Wendy took a moment, and then nodded with a determined look in her eyes and a huge smile on her face.

"I'll do my best." Wendy said before walking over to the 3 Exceeds and sitting seiza style on the ground. Ethan and Namine watched as Wendy talked to the 3 of them. Namine patted Ethan's shoulder.

"Maybe Lucy passed it on. If not, it's the middle of fall, it's cold and it even snowed last night. It's probably just a normal cold. Let's leave Wendy to her job." Namine suggested. Ethan nodded and they left the room.


"Let's hope Lucy just passed her cold on to you." Wendy said.

"I doubt it. She has a high fever and her breathing is all shaky." Carla explained.

"I-" Destiny was cut off.

"You tried using your power, which you have no idea how to control, to heal her, even just a little bit. It failed, get over it." Carla snapped.

"Carla!" Wendy scolded.

"Sorry. Fate's just... she's fragile. Destiny, if you had ended up screwing up even worse, then you may have hurt her." Carla sighed.

"I know, it was stupid..." Destiny sighed.

"You tried and nothing bad happened, that's all that matters." Wendy said.


"You might want to back away... I could pass it on to you..." Fate mumbled.

"I'm sure you're worth getting sick over." Destiny stated.

"But..." Fate started.

"Just accept our presence. Geez, I'm surrounded by a bunch of stubborn people." Carla complained.

"Sorry... But, I'm pretty sure you're stubborn too. Aren't you, Carla?" Fate asked.

"I guess." Carla replied.

Fate smiled a little. Wendy had left to talk to Ethan and Namine, leaving Carla and Destiny behind with Fate.

"The spell Wendy casted is really helping, huh?" Destiny asked. Fate nodded.

"She's amazing." Fate replied. She suddenly remembered something and slowly sat up, only to be pushed down by Carla.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Carla asked.

"M-My book... I have to finish writing what I was writing..." Fate replied.

She reached for her book, pencil and eraser that were on the windowsill, but was cut off halfway by a coughing fit, in which she quickly pulled the blankets over her mouth. Destiny grabbed her things while she wasn't paying attention and opened her book to be greeted by a surprising sight, though Fate wasn't too happy about it.

"Geez..."

"Are these all yours?" Destiny asked. Carla got up and looked over his shoulder.

"M-Most of them... some of them, I've gotten help on..." Fate replied.

"Songs...?" Carla asked. Fate wished she could disappear under the blanket, but she couldn't, so she nodded.

"There's so many of them." Destiny said.

"Well... I started writing songs for fun when I was 3... It's just... kind of my hobby now, I guess..." Fate explained.

"That's so young! I knew you were a genius!" Destiny stated proudly.

"Actually, Exceeds portray time differently than Humans. Age, by 10 years I think. Like, Happy and I are 6 in Exceed years, but in Human years we're actually 16." Carla explained.

"That's so confusing..." Destiny sighed.

"Not really, once you get used to it." Fate said.

"How old are you?" Carla asked.

"Ugh... I think I'm 13, but I'm not quite sure..." Fate replied.

"Y-You're older than me... but you're shorter..." Carla stated.

"I've always been short. That was even the first thing Krystal told me." Fate explained.

Carla and Destiny exchanged looks.

"Who's Krystal?" Destiny asked.

Fate flinched; any trace of a smile on her face was gone as she frowned. She must've not realized what she had said until he said something himself. Fate turned over, resting on her right side with her back turned to them. From the shaking of her shoulders and the tiny, mostly quiet sniffles coming from her, she was most likely crying.

"Fate-" Carla started.

"Th-There's a pocket in the front..." Fate cut her off. Destiny went back to the front of the book and found the little pocket. From the pocket, he pulled out 2 photos.

In the first photo, there was a younger Fate, a smaller black Exceed with hazel eyes, 2 older black Exceeds, one with forest green eyes and one with hazel eyes, and an older white Exceed with forest green eyes. They were all playing in the snow.

In the second photo, 7 Exceeds were racing across a field. In first was a purple Exceed with bright blue eyes, in second was a mikado yellow Exceed with seal brown eyes, in third was a black Exceed with chocolate brown eyes and the top of his right ear was a goldish-yellow, in fourth was the same small black Exceed with hazel eyes, in fifth was the same black Exceed with forest green eyes, in sixth was a black Exceed with chocolate brown eyes that was identical to the Exceed in third place, except his right ear was just black, and in seventh, last place, was Fate, though she didn't seem to care.

"Fate, who..." Destiny trailed off.

"In the first picture, it's me, my younger sister Yuuki, my older brother Henkou, my Mom and my Dad. In the second picture, it's Krystal, Aaron, Peter, Yuuki, Henkou, Tristan and I..." Fate explained.

Destiny and Carla looked at each other, deciding whether or not to push any further.

"Can we ask...?" Destiny asked.

"I'm sorry... even though it's been 9 years, I don't want to talk about it yet..." Fate replied. Destiny and Carla nodded.


Carla slammed the book in front of Ethan, making him flinch. Destiny had been against the idea, but it was a rhetorical question on Carla's side.

"Tell us what the hell happened to her." Carla demanded.

"C-Carla..." Wendy started.

"I-I can't... Fate doesn't want to talk about any of it." Ethan said.

"Yah well says you! I bet she cries herself to sleep!" Carla snapped.

"Wh-What is this about?" Namine asked.

"It's about Fate, and she's a part of Fairy Tail! Meaning that we have the right to know what happened 9 years ago!" Carla replied.

"Give me a reason why I should talk about something she doesn't want to even remember." Ethan said.

Carla opened the book to a certain page, and then placed it in front of him, placing her hands on her hips.

"I-I know that Fate doesn't want to talk about it, and we may not have the complete right to know, but... we're worried." Destiny said. Ethan sighed and leaned back.

"9 years ago..."