-DISCLAIMER- I DON'T OWN FAIRY TAIL -DISCLAIMER-

So, this is Chapter 9 of 'Lost.' Sorry it took so long to get up, but I've been pretty busy. I'm not entirely sure yet what will be updated next, but I'll probably still try to focus some energy on my shorter stories so I can clear those out and get to the stories everyone's waiting for updates in. Also, I'm kind of feeling another one-shot coming on... Possibly a Navis

Anywho, read. Enjoy. Review. Thanks to all my wonderful readers!

Random thought... What do you call the NatsuxLevy ship anyway? NaLe? NaVy? Lena? Letsu?


"Wendy, do you think you can handle Knightwalker?"

Wendy shook her head emphatically. She'd seen Erza's fight with Natsu in front of Fairy Tail, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with the swordswoman. She might be able to keep her busy for a few minutes, but she knew that Natsu needed her to beat the woman, not just keep her busy.

She also felt guilty as she knew this answer put Natsu in a bit of a predicament. They both knew that she couldn't keep Dorma Anim busy long enough for Natsu to take Knightwalker out.

"Well, I guess we just hold out as long as we can and hope for the best," Natsu said, getting into a ready position.

Wendy nodded determinedly, casting enchants on Natsu and herself. If they were to even have a chance in this battle, they would need every last ounce of their strength. It was already bad enough with Dorma Anim, and now Knightwalker!

However, just before the battle began again, a blur of red came out of nowhere and struck Knightwalker from the side, knocking her back despite her quick parry. Wendy gasped as the blur stopped moving, revealing itself to be Erza Scarlet, currently wearing a basic armor set composed of a plain-looking breastplate, skirt, and a sword.

"How did you get here?" Natsu asked irritably before Wendy could say anything.

"I brought her because I knew you couldn't do this alone." The man who stepped forward was revealed to be Mystogan. "It took me a few days to help her remember her magic, but fortunately once you learn magic, it's easy to re-learn."

"Well, it'll be useful to have an ally I guess," Natsu said with a sigh. "If you can take care of Knightwalker, Wendy and I will do the rest."

Erza Scarlet just nodded tersely, and the sounds of swords clashing soon rang through the battlefield. Wendy smiled, able to focus her attention back on Dorma Anim with Natsu.

"You should be easier on her Natsu-nii," she said quietly. "Whatever it is she did in the past, she can't remember any of it."

"That's precisely the problem," Natsu said as he dodged an attack fired by the machine they were fighting. "If she remembered, I could talk about it and move past it. But she has no idea what it is that she did, so where does that leave me? I don't want to tell her what happened, because then how will I know if she actually feels remorse or not?"

Wendy frowned. "Well I see your point," she said, dodging a swipe from Dorma Anim, "you don't know if she'll ever recover her memory. Do you intend to treat her this way forever?"

"No," Natsu said, dodging another attack from the machine before firing back with an iron fist that connected solidly. "But I swore when I left the guild not to return until I was at least as powerful as somebody. I still have a long way to go before I get there."

"How powerful is this person?!" Wendy asked, shocked, as she blocked an attack, mitigating the damage rather than dodging to give her an opportunity to counter.

"Every time I fought him, he always beat me with just one punch," Natsu answered, causing Wendy's jaw to drop. For a moment she forgot she was in battle. Someone was that much more powerful than Natsu? And someone in Fairy Tail? Wait.

"Is he the master?" She guessed, as she was jolted back to reality by Natsu pulling her out of the way of a well-aimed blast from Dorma Anim.

"No. We'll talk more later," Natsu said through gritted teeth.

Wendy supposed he had a point. They needed to start fighting Dorma Anim in earnest if they were ever going to have a chance of survival.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu's fire coated fist launched into the machine, knocking it back a bit with a force. Still, there didn't seem to be a lot of damage. Then they were both moving as the machine struck back again.

"We need to find a weak point." Wendy nodded as Natsu's voice reached her. Finding a weak point wouldn't be easy. As a machine, there was no good place to start, since the general rules of people didn't apply. Still…

"Perhaps we could try the mouth, Natsu-nii," she suggested as she managed to avoid another attack from Dorma Anim.

"Good thinking Wendy!" He flashed his bright grin at her, and she blushed at the praise. As the mechanical dragon opened its mouth for another attack, Natsu charged forward. Taking the full force of the attack, he ignited his fist, slamming it full force into the creature's open mouth.

Wendy could've cheered as she heard the sound of metal breaking, but before they could press the advantage the mouth snapped shut. The voice of the king came from inside.

"So you worms have figured out a way to break the dragon's hide. It won't do you any good if the mouth stays shut. These limbs are more than enough to beat you."

"Natsu, Wendy!" Wendy resisted the urge to turn toward Mystogan when he called out, focusing on the raging dragon in front of them instead. "Dorma Anim is almost impossible to beat. It's specially made of an alloy that nullifies all magic! You need to pull back while I think of a better plan!"

"All magic?" Natsu said with a smirk. "Our attacks may not be doing much, but there is some damage. Look closer, Mystogan!"

As the machine closed in on her for another strike, Wendy hesitated a moment to examine the metal closely. Natsu was right! Sure, there weren't any enormous cracks in the armor, but hairline fractures and scratches were beginning to appear in the areas Natsu had been targeting. She leapt back, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Pain erupted in her side and the arm that she brought up to block as her body was sent spinning from the force of the impact. She managed to tuck her chin into her chest as she landed, preventing the back of her head from hitting the ground. From there, she was able to regain her feet with a little assistance from her hands.

No sooner had she reached her feet than she wished she stayed on the ground a moment longer. Dorma Anim was hurtling at her, clawed limbs ready to finish what they'd started, and only a few feet away. There was no way she'd be able to dodge in time at this rate. She hurriedly readied her roar, hoping to slow the machine down enough to soften the blow.

But then something hit it from the side, hard, and it went tumbling across the battlefield. Wendy looked up toward her savior and gasped. It was Natsu, but this was a different Natsu. His fire had taken on a fierce glow, his teeth grown more fang-like in their appearance. Scales coated his entire body, and his hands ended in clawed talons rather than normal fingers. The pressure from his magic power was increased tenfold, and his eyes glowed a brilliant orange color like the fire that encompassed his body.

Wendy couldn't help shivering at the sight. It was the first time she'd ever seen Natsu in full dragon force, and as proud as she was of her big brother she couldn't help feeling just a little bit nervous. It wasn't that she was afraid he would hurt her. Natsu-nii would never do anything to hurt her! It was the realization of what it meant to have the power of a dragon living inside of you. A power that she could access too if she trained more!

"You!" She heard the rage in Natsu's voice, deeper and darker than his usual carefree tones. "You dared to attack Wendy? If there is one thing I won't forgive you for it's harming someone who's precious to me!"

"What-what are you?" The king's voice sounded shaky. Less sure than the arrogant tones he'd addressed them with till now. Yet still the machine readied itself and charged. Natsu stood, as though rooted to the spot, as the enemy came closer at an alarming speed.

"NATSU!" Wendy shouted. She wanted to push him out of the way, but it was too late! She could never reach him in time! The machine was too close!

Then Natsu moved, his flame-enveloped hands moving to catch the hurtling machine. Wendy watched in amazement as the image of a giant fire dragon appeared around him, its arms holding back the assault of Dorma Anim with him. "Fire Dragon's Secret Technique," the words seemed to whisper from the flames rather than from the dragon slayer's slightly opened lips. "Vengeful Strike!" The flames roared up at the last words, the dragon's body coalescing into a brilliant red-orange flame that struck Dorma Anim like a giant bomb. Wendy shielded her eyes from the light as the spell exploded, knocking the machine dragon back through the air as it enveloped the whole area, almost up to Wendy, in a bright, hot-white flame.

She found herself gasping for breath, her body covered with sweat as the fire sucked the oxygen out of the air around her, begging for more. The heat grew in intensity, like she was sitting next to the summit of an erupting volcano, and all she could do was try to bear it. For almost a full minute the flames raged on. Then they disappeared. The air temperature dropped instantly. Wendy let out a long breath, almost shivering at the touch of the cool breeze against her face and neck.

Natsu still stood in the middle of the battlefield, his eyes looking no less fierce despite having faded back to their usual onyx color. The scales and talons were also gone, leaving the pink-haired dragon slayer in his normal human state. After doing a visual check to make sure he was ok, Wendy's eyes searched for their opponent, which she found shortly after. Dorma Anim lay decimated, all of its limbs completely gone, with the rest of its body charred and mangled on the ground. At that moment only one thought echoed through her mind. The king!

She ran up to the dragon and easily stripped away what was left of the covering. The king remained strapped into the creature's heavily damaged control center. His eyes, frozen in a wide, disbelieving state, turned slowly to meet hers. She ignored the man's trembling lips that seemed as though they were trying to speak and did a quick visual inspection. His left arm was obviously broken, though thankfully not bad enough for the bone to break skin. His right foot looked as though the ankle had just become another joint, and much of the rest of his body was bruised and slightly burned.

A further examination revealed nothing worse than 2nd Degree Burns, and Wendy sighed in relief. She didn't have a lot of energy left for healing right now.

By the time she extracted the king from his machine, Natsu was laying quietly on the battlefield, the fierce anger gone from his eyes. Tearing her eyes forcefully from the scene, Wendy resisted the urge to run immediately to her big brother's aid. She knew his magic was just depleted, but if she didn't heal Faust soon he might sustain worse injuries or even die.

The first thing she had to do was get the bones that were broken back into their proper place. Steeling her mind against the image of torn and slightly scorched flesh, she first took the ankle in her hands and snapped the bone back into place. Then she placed her hands over the injury, allowing her healing magic to flow and knit the bone and flesh back together. When the ankle was completely healed, she turned her attention to the broken arm, snapping that into place as well. Then she healed any dangerous burns and other really bad injuries she found, but she left many of the bruises and lesser wounds. After all, he did just try to kill them, after trying to turn Natsu's entire guild into a giant magic lacrima. She wasn't heartless, but she didn't want him to have it too easy either.

Once she was sure that he would live and that he wasn't in too much pain, Wendy rushed over to Natsu's side, checking him for injuries. To her relief, he hadn't sustained any damage beyond the physical exhaustion from overusing his magic, again.

It was only after checking on Natsu that the battle of the Erzas returned to her mind, and she stood quickly, surveying the battlefield for a sign of the powerful duo.

She finally found them some distance away, collapsed opposite each other on the battlefield. It would appear that since they were each others' counterparts, their strength was about equal. She hurried over to Erza Scarlet first, but as she approached she realized their eyes were still open and their breathing was steady. Still, she did a basic check for injuries to make sure each was alright before returning to her big brother.

When she got back to Natsu, she found Mystogan there, this time with a large black cat who carried an enormous sword. He smiled at her when she approached.

"Well Wendy, the war is over now thanks to you and Natsu here. Now Fairy Tail can be safely returned to Earthland."

Wendy nodded. She was glad that the war was over, but there were a few things she was still curious about. "You said some time ago the king was responsible for all the anima that tried to suck our magic into Edolas. How did he make that work?"

"There is a machine in the castle that controls the anima. I don't' know how it was created or where he got the knowledge to make such a machine, but his goal was to revive the magic here in Edolas." His features changed as he looked toward the floating islands before adding, "I've already told you magic in Edolas is fading, and you've learned that guilds are all considered dark guilds because magic guilds are illegal here. But it wasn't always this way, and not everyone agrees that the king's solution of siphoning magic from another world is the best solution…"

He then sighed, casting his eyes to the palace that stood a short distance away. "With the king defeated, I must reverse the Anima if we are going to return Fairy Tail to Earthland. However, that means that not only Fairy Tail, but all things with magic in them will be pushed out of Edolas. Magic will be no more. The people won't like it, and will probably think of me as a terrible ruler. But there's no other way."

Wendy couldn't think of anything to say as Mystogan turned back toward the palace and headed in that direction with Panther Lily. When the pair was a safe distance away, she heard a voice whisper softly, "Maybe there is another way." She looked down to see Natsu, his eyes open now with a small grin on his face.

"Natsu-nii!" She quickly wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, forgetting for a moment the world around them.

Natsu just grinned at her as she slowly pulled back, and both of them got to their feet. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the palace. "Let's go Wendy. We're gonna' give the new king a reason for the people to love him."

Wendy nodded, happily following him toward the palace. She didn't know what his plan was, but she trusted him enough to follow his lead anywhere.

~~~~~~Some time prior, in an unknown location on Edolas~~~~~~

"I thought you knew where we were going, Carla," Happy complained. They'd been wandering for a whole day and still seemed no closer to their destination, the city of cats that Carla promised. He was doubting her 'memories' even more now, and she wouldn't share with him what big mission he was supposedly missing.

"I do. I'm just having trouble remembering how to get there," Carla responded, but it sounded to Happy like she was trying to convince herself as much as him. His ears also picked up a lower comment, no doubt intended only for her own ears. "I just wish these damn wings would work."

Happy thought about saying something, but then changed his mind. Giving Carla a hard time about her memories and her ability to use flight would only make the situation worse. Perhaps they could find some place to fish, or…

His train of thought ground to a screeching halt as a shadow passed over them. He looked up to see the source, and saw the shapes of several cats flying over them. They both stopped as the exceeds came to rest on the ground in front of them.

"Men!" Exclaimed the one that appeared to be the leader. An ugly cat with large, squarish features. He reminded Happy of someone he'd seen in Earthland, but he couldn't quite place the face…

"What do you want?!" Carla asked, a little irritably, as the cat-like creatures blocked their path.

"The queen wishes to see you, men!" The cat replied. "You will come with us immediately, men!"

"Why should we come to see your queen?" Carla demanded, even though she'd previously said that was precisely where she was going. Happy did a mental face-palm as he stepped forward to interrupt.

"Maybe we should start again," he said politely. "I'm Happy and this is Carla. We're from Earthland, but we got pulled into this world by some weird force. What are your names?"

"I'm Nichiya, the captain of the queen's guard, men!" The square-featured ugly exceed responded. "The queen has foreseen your coming and requires an audience with you. Men!"

"Nichiya…" Happy shuddered as he recalled who this blockhead reminded him of. Though he'd never seen him in person, Ichiya from Blue Pegasus had been featured once in a Sorcerer magazine, having been given the dubious honor of bearing the title 'ugliest official guild mage in Fiore.' Apparently it wasn't just the looks that were similar. Seeing a quizzical look on the exceed's face, he quickly regained his composure. "Well we would like to speak to the queen as well. We'll come with you."

"Alright, follow us, MEN!" With those words Nichiya rocketed off into the sky, followed by the 4 guards who accompanied him. Happy and Carla watched them fly several hundred feet, talking and laughing, before they suddenly turned back. Instantly they flew back to their position, surrounding them with swords and spears pointed at them.

"So you tried to trick us, men!" Nichiya said. "You will come with us willingly or not."

"We would come willingly," Happy replied. "But I'm afraid we are unable to fly."

"An exceed who can't fly? I've never heard of such a thing, Men!" Nichiya said.

Happy sighed. "Well, if we could fly, we wouldn't have been walking around on the ground like this just waiting for you to catch us, now would we?"

The strange looking cat put a finger to his chin, considering the statement. Happy waited, watching Nichiya's eyes move back and forth. Finally he seemed to reach his conclusion.

"Very well, we will carry you to see the queen. Perhaps she will know why you can't fly."

Happy just nodded his assent. He would just be glad to get this whole 'mission' business figured out so life could go back to normal. Carla, on the other hand, wasn't so quick to agree. She protested every step of the way. He could swear she never stopped complaining about the undignified transport from the time they picked them up to the time they were deposited in front of the queen.

The queen cut a grand figure in her royal gown, standing high above the other exceeds that were all no taller than Happy and Carla. Her height really wasn't important, though. Happy was only interested in one thing, and once the formal greetings were over he let her know it.

"So this is where we're really from, huh? Tell me why you sent us to Earthland so I can finally start making some sense of all this mission stuff Carla keeps talking about."

Carla looked like she was ready to throttle him, but he shrugged it off. Perhaps it was all the time spent with Natsu that brought out this straightforward, blunt part of his personality. Perhaps it was his annoyance with the way Carla treated him like an idiot because he couldn't remember this 'mission' they supposedly had. Either way, he was ready for the truth and unwilling to tolerate any delay.

The queen looked at him for a moment, her eyes registering confusion. Happy felt his jaw threatening to drop, and it was only through supreme exertion of will that he kept his face from giving away anything. He might have expected any reaction but this. Chagrin. Remorse. Resignation. All of those seemed like plausible reactions for someone in her position, but confusion?

The look quickly faded, leaving him to wonder if he'd imagined the response. The queen gestured to him and Carla. "Come with me," she said.

They followed her into the palace, to the throne room. Once inside, the queen ordered all but one of her advisers to leave. Many of them objected to her being left alone with these strange exceeds, but when she was firm with them they left, one after another. Soon it was just the four of them. The queen then stepped out from her royal robes, revealing that she was, in actuality, the same size as all the other exceeds.

She began by telling Happy and Carla that she didn't know anything about any mission. She then went on to explain that some time ago several exceed eggs were sent to Earthland with the hopes that the babies would be born into a better life than what they would have here in Edolas, where the humans hated them. She continued to reveal that, though the humans currently believed they were super powerful rulers, this was just a façade to keep the exceed race from being persecuted by the humans as they were before.

Happy couldn't help noticing that Carla looked very similar to the queen as they were talking. When the queen finally finished her explanation, Carla chimed in again, sounding every bit as confused as Happy was feeling right now.

"But… I've been seeing bits and pieces of this mission for years. Everything, from our arrival on Edolas to when we were supposed to betray our dragon slayers to the guards…"

Happy looked at Carla, shocked to hear of this. It was his first time ever thinking of such a thing. Betray Natsu?! There was no way that would ever happen! It hadn't even entered his mind, consciously or otherwise! He was sure of it! What was Carla going on about?!

"I assure you there was no such mission," the queen said quietly. "Perhaps you can describe what you remember?"

"It's not really a conscious memory…" Carla said, her face flushed red with anger and confusion. "It was images. Images of us returning to Edolas with our dragon slayers. Images of us 'guiding' them through 'secret' ways. And then the images of their ultimate betrayal into the hands of the king's soldiers. THEY WERE REAL IMAGES!" Her voice rose drastically at that point. "Already many of them had come true, and if we hadn't separated the rest would've too!"

The queen frowned, looking at Carla thoughtfully, before she responded. "Carla, I think something else may be going on here…" She looked away before looking back at the two, glancing briefly at Happy before focusing squarely on Carla.

"I think you have the same power that I do," she said quietly. "The power of precognition. It was this power that I used to convince the humans of our power. To convince them that I could shape the future, but in reality I could only see it…"

"See… The future?" Carla still looked confused, but Happy could see in her face that she was starting to get the picture. From the little that she and the queen were saying, he thought he was beginning to understand as well.

"Yes. In other words, those images you saw… You thought they were a mission. You believed you were sent to do that to the dragon slayers, because you couldn't explain why else those images were there. But the truth is, they were precognitions. You were seeing pieces of events that would take place in the future…"

"You mean… Wendy and Natsu were still in danger?!" Carla frowned, her voice rising rapidly.

"That I can't say for sure," the queen responded. "The thing about precognition is that unexpected events can throw it off. That's why even I was able to convince the people that I could shape the future. Your steps in moving away from the dragon slayers may have allowed them a freer path to their goal."

"What should we do now then?" Happy could no longer keep from speaking. Now that he knew for sure that this mission thing was all imagined, he wanted to get back to Natsu as soon as possible.

"Whatever your heart tells you," the queen said, a small smile on her lips. "I heard from some of my guards that you and Carla are unable to fly. In Edolas, we can all fly, and there's no limit. All you need is a clear heart."

"A clear heart…" Happy murmured, looking out over the city of Extalia. Suddenly it became clear to him again. The reason that he was here. The reason he stayed with Carla even though Natsu needed them. Carla needed to figure this out, and he needed to help her. But now that they knew the truth, he needed to return to Natsu, and she to Wendy.

"Let's go Carla," he said, a smile growing on his face as he felt the familiar white wings sprout from his back. "To Natsu and Wendy!"

Carla nodded slowly. It took a few moments, but soon her own wings sprouted, and the two were off.

But they'd barely left Extalia when, off in the direction of the castle, an enormous flash of red-orange fire reached up to the clouds, accompanied by an ear-shattering roar that Happy somehow knew had been heard through all Edolas. "Come on, quickly!" He called out, flying as fast as he could toward the capital.

Unfortunately, the capital was much further than it looked, and after only a couple hours of flying he found himself exhausted. He and Carla were able to land on a small farm, far out from the rest of the exceeds. There they met a grumpy old farmer and his sweet wife. And for the next couple hours they forgot all about returning to Wendy and Natsu. Until suddenly all of them, even the farming couple, found themselves floating up into the air of Edolas, a strange force pulling at them as though they would disappear from this world itself.


And there ya have it folks. Hope you liked it!