It's the 4th of July! That may mean nothing for some, but I wish us Americans a Happy Independence Day! I do not own Fairy Tail.


.:Denver, CO:.

"And then he just…ate the poison! Like it was nothing!" Levy laughed as she walked back into Blood Waves' building, with Blade and Katana in tow, laughing. "I swear, he's indestructible!"

Unlike before she had left the building, Levy felt a lot more carefree. She'd gone to a place called iHop that served what tasted like heaven, and then Katana had actually said he wanted to check out a book. Katana—the one who looked like he could kill a man just by looking—liked to read. Levy was ecstatic with this mutual interest in literature and she checked out a few books of her own, under his own account, of course. They'd spent the entire day just hanging out, much to her original disbelief. Today, she'd gone out again with 'bodyguards' for a brunch.

Who would have known that these burly guys in a lethal sounding gang called Blood Waves, would have this much personality? She'd enjoy telling them stories of Fairy Tail on the way back, albeit she warped the part about powers as to not sound mental.

"Crazy friend you've got there." Blade chuckled and locked the deadbolt back in place. "Are all of them like that?"

"Hmm," Levy hopped onto one of the bar stools and spun around. "Not all of them, but they're all lively enough. It's great."

"Which reminds me," Blade pointed to the ceiling. "We've got some computers upstairs, now is a good time to look into their locations, if you want."

"Yes!" Levy jumped off her seat and followed Blade up the staircase. "Wait, we're going to the third floor?" She lowered her voice. "Where you do the…the business?"

"Yeah, but those are in the other rooms," Blade held open the door for the first room that they had approached. "And here we are."

Levy's eyes widened as she took in the equipment laid out in the room. Blade had said 'a few computers' but this was a full on lab! The room was dark, lit with only the glowing monitors, and she was sure that couldn't be good for the eyesight. For a single keyboard or two, there'd be around six monitors, she couldn't imagine how they found the time to look at them all! There were four of these mega computers set up around the room, and in the middle was a table littered with unfinished drinks and snacks as well as a worn down sofa.

"This is amazing," she breathed. "A lot more than the library."

"The library doesn't even scratch the surface," Blade chuckled. "In here, a lot more than just the internet is available. If we're lucky, one of our guys can manage to slip past the FBI's main firewalls. They change the passwords daily to maintain security, but not all of them are always strong enough."

"Hey Blade," One of the guys that was seated at a mega computer kept his eyes on the screen. His hair was dyed silver at the jagged ends, and the piercings in his ears made a giant hole. "Check this out, wicked Google homepage today."

"Sheath, I thought you were supposed to be setting up the locations for our next job?" Blade asked, though not very reprimanding.

"Later, but this shit looks cool."

"What is it?" Intrigued, Levy walked over to where all six screens combined to show one image of the Google homepage.

At first, it looked like the normal color and font as it had all the other days. But when Sheath hovered a mouse over the logo, the words started to move. One by one, from left to right, the letters shimmered and the background darkened. Soon enough, there was a night sky full of the constellations that Levy was familiar with back on Earthland. Though, there was a main constellation that spelled out the word 'Google'.

"Hey, I know those!" She couldn't help but exclaim.

"What, astrology?" Sheath questioned. "Who doesn't?"

The moving image wasn't done yet. Now, they erupted into flames that danced across the screen, and Levy could have sworn that they took the shape of a dragon before returning back to the word 'Google', ablaze. Next was what looked like water magic, sharp fragments of iron, glittering crystals of ice, wisps of wind, runes, and more.

This had to be for her.

By the time Google had gone through its many transformations, it reverted back to default.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Sheath turned slightly to smirk at Blade, who was just wiping off his awed expression. Levy was surprised that the man was wearing a pair of glasses. "I wanted to see what the event was for, hardly no Doodle for Google or dead person's birthday," he went on, "But when you click on it, all that shows up is this."

Once Sheath clicked on the plain logo, the computer was taken to a blank webpage with equally plain black words that filled only a small portion. Still, as she read the print, Levy couldn't help a slow grin spread across her face.

Do Fairies Have Tails?

LOOKING for answers!

THE STARS SEND A MESSAGE.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Blade leaned in closer with a frown. "Hey Mage, you said you knew astrology or somethin'? It talks about stars here."

"No," she found it hard to contain a smile. "I think…I think that was meant for me. Someone- one of my friends is looking for others, too!"

"They did all that?!" Sheath's jaw clamped shut just as quickly as it had fallen open. "That's some skill, you sure they ain't working with the government?"

"Highly, highly doubt it." She shook her head. "Do you think you could do something similar to that? Send a message back to them?"

"Normally, I don't mess with this kind of public stuff," Sheath rubbed the back of his neck, unsure.

"Really? I thought you guys in Blood Waves were supposed to be the best of the best, or something?" Levy frowned.

"Well, I guess I gotta show the little lady what we're made of, huh?" He chuckled and read over the message once more. "How do you want it?"

Levy's mind whirred with ideas flying back and forth. The'Do Fairies Have Tails?' part was surely to say that it was for members of Fairy Tail. She understood why they very well couldn't go busting out with the guild's insignia; that'd likely cause a terrorist panic. 'LOOKING for answers!' had nothing to do with the first part, this person was just saying that they were looking for Fairy Tail. The last part, 'THE STARS SEND A MESSAGE.', was something Levy only had to think about for a beat.

Lucy.


.:Peoria, IL:.

"If I have to stay at another motel, I'm building an igloo outside." Gray cracked what sounded like every bone in his body, sore from the poor mattress and endless travel.

"Y'know, that might actually be possible," Spike paid the teller at the front. "With this whacked up weather and all, snow in April ain't that much of a surprise."

The two had taken the train out of Chicago and stopped by several suburbs along the way before they finally reached Peoria, Illinois. The city was the biggest one in miles, nothing but small towns and cornfields in the rest of the vicinity.

"But don't worry, friend," Spike patted Gray's back and the ice-mage flinched away. "We ain't doin' any more ground travel. A friend o' the gang's got some flight ready for us in the outskirts. Go get a cab."

Gray directed a glare in Spike's direction. The gang member had claimed that he was repaying a debt, but Gray seemed to be the only paying for anything. The train rides, motels, and now a driver? He was almost out of his stolen money and hoped that Colorado wasn't far.

"How much longer?" Gray slumped in the back of the cab.

"Probably 'nother day or so," Spike shrugged. "Depends on the weather and gas."

"The skies are clear." Gray stated.

"They are now," Spike craned his neck at the sky. "I plan on flyin' us out directly to the Rockies and then one of our guys should be waitin'."

"You can fly?" Gray asked, not knowing of this man's ability.

"A plane, yes," Spike scrunched his nose and the driver let them off in a slightly less urban area. "If you go on one of those talks about magic and whatnot, I'm gonna really have to second guess bringin' you along, sport."

Gray sighed and reminded himself that this was a place called Earth, as Spike had informed during a mini questionnaire. Not Earthland, nor Edolas, but a place with no magic at all. It explains why his Ice Make magic wasn't working, and also probably why Natsu hadn't destroyed half of the world by now. He'd hope that in Colorado, there would be more answers as well as the security that Spike had promised.

"Just down this road 'ere we got a dirt runway," Spike gestured to what looked like rolling hills until a medium sized building appeared along with the metal beasts Gray had seen up in the sky. "I like takin' the Turboprops for a spin, nice speed. Wait out 'ere while I get them keys."

"I don't need you to boss me around." Gray retorted, but stayed outside anyways because he was curious of these 'planes'.

He walked along the whole line of them, probably around two dozen structures that could transport in the air. Of course, if there was magic then none of this would be necessary. Compared to Blue Pegasus' airship, this was nothing.

"You ready to fly, pretty boy?" Spike jangled his newly given keys and Gray cringed inwardly, remembering how Sugar Boy called him similar names in Edolas.

Gray cautiously followed the steps up to the aircraft with Spike in the lead. The two of them slid into the only two seats available and he was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of buttons, levers, and dials to control.

"You sure you know how to work this thing?"

"Blood Waves only reins in those with the best talents, Sir Gray." Spike pushed two of the overhead buttons and a glass hood slid over their heads as a cool fan turned on. "I've been doin' this for quite some time now."

Gray wondered again what Blood Waves would be like once he reached them, but didn't think on it too much as the plane began to roll. Gaining more and more speed each second, a low whistling hummed around the plane as they proceeded to takeoff. Gray gripped his armrests tighter.

"You 'fraid of heights?" Spike laughed and pulled on a headset.

"Only that you'll crash." Gray grit his teeth at Spike's slightly erratic steering, but it evened out once the ground was far below them. "Don't do any flips."

Spike only responded with a laugh and the threats of a barrel roll.


.:Orlando, FL:.

Natsu didn't think this far.

The army men that had taken him away from the desert camp had apparently thought him dangerous. Well, they aren't wrong, he'd thought. Of course the Natsu Dragneel should be feared by most, admired by all. But to be treated like your average ruffian? Unthinkable.

They'd transported him in some kind of giant aircraft. Funny thing is, the usual motion sickness he experienced was gone. He maybe felt a little queasy every now and then, but nothing to the magnitude as it was before. During his hours of solitude in an enclosed section of the flight, he'd tried again to create his flames.

It frustrated him how there wasn't even a sign of warmth emanating off of his fingers. He'd cursed and growled, but then soon realized that at the moment, getting out of confinement was his first priority. The people here must have had weak prisoners before, or maybe just old material, for he was easily able to break apart his cuffs discreetly simply by pulling.

He'd then used his free hands to quietly untie his legs and remove the horrid gag they'd put on him. Once he felt the landing, it was all too easy to overtake the unsuspecting guards that opened the heavy metal doors.

Making a run for it was also easier than he'd originally anticipated. Weaving through the bullets that all seemed much too slow for him, he'd busted through the boom barrier and even outran the dogs. Maybe the dogs here were just…slower? Nevertheless, he'd had to hide out for several hours, and by dawn, was officially lost. Well, lost-er.

It was something of a miracle that he ran into a gas station where a minivan had parked. The family must have gotten food or gone for a bathroom break, but Natsu took no chances with his time. He'd ducked into the stupidly unlocked trunk and buried himself amongst their supplies as to not be seen.

Then he'd fallen asleep.

And woke up in a different place entirely.

There was a castle.

The family was gone again, and their van was in a lot with a bunch of other cars. People walked on the sides, some wearing ridiculous ears and others elaborate, cheap dresses. What universe was he in now? His eyes caught an elaborated sign that read: Walt Disney World: Where Dreams Come True.

How the family hadn't noticed someone of Natsu's size hiding out in their van was something beyond him. He just took the opportunity to scavenge the vehicle for anything worth keeping. Instead, he found an extra set of keys.

It didn't exactly look like an SE-plug car, but how hard could driving one of these possibly be?


.:Ashbury, CA:.

We were supposed to be brainstorming for our essay due on Monday for when we get back from the weekend, but nearly the entire class was either on their phones, or gossiping with one another. I spied the teacher engrossed in some romance novel with a questionable cover before tapping Dylan's shoulder.

"Psst," I whispered not so quietly. "What you did was awesome!"

"Huh, what?" He tugged out his earbuds and looked at me smugly. "Did you just say I was awesome? I already knew that, but it doesn't hurt to-"

"Not you," I rolled my eyes. "I saw the Google homepage earlier, I love it!"

"Pssh, that?" He scoffed. "That was nothing."

"Everyone was talking about it during lunch, I even saw some media articles. Some conspiracy connected it to the illuminati. What's the illuminati?"

"Not as bad as SISI," he shrugged and then frowned. "I think."

"How do you know they won't take it down?" I asked. "I mean, it is their homepage."

"They could try if they'd like, but I had it set up to last twenty four hours exact." He tapped a pencil on the desk. "Google wouldn't risk shutting down the site for a day because of profit, so they'll probably make up some bizarre story to go along with it."

"If only you were as tolerable as you were smart…seriously though, thanks." I was hesitant to show any gratitude as it may further boost his ego. "You were right, one of them is bound to see it."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." He grinned and stuck out an ear which I threatened to poke with my own pencil.

"I said that dill pickles are my least favorite food." I sniffed. "And I have an essay to plan for, so if you'll excuse me-"

"Why do you keep calling me dill pickle?"

"Didn't I tell you? Dear Leslie seems quite taken with the nickname 'Dyl', and I find that it bears a striking resemblance to that of a dill pickle."

"Could it be it's because you're…jealous of her?" He snickered.

I stared blankly at him and sighed deeply. I blinked slowly a couple of times to draw out my most uninterested expression possible.

"Ok ok," he shrugged. "Not jealous."

"And also not paying attention." The teacher had apparently abandoned her book to check on her class for once, why did she always have to pick on me?

I had that Spanish quiz next period, and rumor has it, it's going to be speaking. So when Dylan went off to lunch to do whatever he did with his friends, I stopped by the girls' bathroom to calm my nerves and maybe give myself a pep talk. Right, because talking to yourself in the bathroom doesn't seem strange at all.

Lucky for me, there was no one there, probably because I had chosen the less popular bathroom—the one with only two mirrors (the horror). I washed my face and took a peek behind my bandage at my Fairy Tail insignia for reassurance.

"There you are." The sound of heels echoed around the bathroom and I tensed, quickly covering my hand back up.

"Leslie, hi." I forced a smile. "What brings you here?"

"What, I can't use the bathroom?" She crossed her arms and I noticed that she wasn't alone; two other girls flanked her side. One of them looked particularly bored on her phone, while the other one tried for an intimidating stance. "Of course, that's not why I came. Who uses school toilets? Oh wait," she wrinkled her nose and looked me over, "Don't answer that."

"Then what?" I asked, because what could they do to me? Capture me in a magic water bubble hovering above the ground and torture me to the point of near death? Not likely.

"You know what?" She spat. "I thought we had come to terms with your relationship with Dyl. And when I say 'relationship' I mean the nonexistent one."

"Leslie, I don't know what you're-"

"Don't you dare!" She pointed a finger at me. "I know he left school with you. I know he stayed over in your little hut!"

"He was helping me with my Spanish work." I explained. "I have a quiz today and-"

"Oh, yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes and the two girls shook their heads. "After school studying? Everyone knows that's code for hooking up."

"Except," I pointed out. "I didn't know that."

"Lucy Heartfilia, I've had enough of you!" She snapped. "I've been with him for years and years! You show up for three days and think you've got him wrapped around your finger?!"

"Leslie," I know I shouldn't say something that wasn't for me to tell, but to Tartarus with it, she was getting on my nerves. "Dylan doesn't even like you, not in that kind of way."

"You sniveling little bitch!" She shot back and I wished there was a chair for me to sit on; this might take a while. "You think you know him so well, don't you? I've been with him through the good and bad. Where were you when his mom died? Where were you when his dad would disappear all the time?"

"Uh, should you be telling me this? Because I don't think-"

"I don't care what you think!" She shrieked, now dangerously close to scratching my face with for all I knew could be razor sharp, pink nails. "This is your last chance, Heartfilia. You've had your disgusting fun, but now you leave him out of it."

"Or else?"

"Or else I'll make you leave."

I was going to tell her that I wanted to leave. That I'd probably be gone so fast after reuniting with Fairy Tail, that she wouldn't even remember my face. But Leslie just turned on her heel and stalked out the door. Though, I did catch one of her lackeys whispering "Dumb blonde."

The minute bell brought me out of my thoughts of no remorse and I sighed, time to face my language failure. I pushed the door handle. It didn't budge. Huh, weird. I pushed harder, but there was still no give.

"She did not." I grit my teeth and banged my head on the locked door. How did she even get a key? "Leslie!" No response. "Ugh!"

I had decided sometime last night as I lay in bed that even though my grades and reputation here won't ever affect me in my real life, they were still important. For instance, if Adelaide and Mark were to hear that I skipped a class or failed a quiz, there would be questions. There may also be restrictions, restrictions that I couldn't afford.

So, I took it upon myself to actually start trying, and clearly, things weren't working out for me at the moment. Leaning on the door, I contemplated on texting Dylan about my situation, but then decided against it. If I brought him into this, then who knows what Leslie will do next?

"Open sesame." I shoved again hopelessly.

The bell rang and something inside me wilted as my heart sped up. I'm late, there it is, my life is over. And now I was mad. Mad at Leslie, mad at this stupid mortal world, and mad at school rules. I felt pumped, my blood boiled.

"I'm all fired up." I muttered Natsu's favorite line with a grin.

I Lucy Kicked the door with all I had and ta-da! It opened! Well, it didn't 'open' exactly. The door sort of flew off its hinges several feet before the mangled slab of metal went crashing into the lockers, leaving sizable dents that I'd surely never be able to pay for. This would certainly get me in a lot more trouble than just being late.

There was a large sound factor to this occurrence, and I barely had time to gawk at what I'd just done before someone would come running to check out what had happened. So I went to the one place where I was sure someone could help, the main office.

Mrs. Wilde was in her usual spot and looked up at me with a puzzled smile. "Lucy, dear, aren't you supposed to be in class? Did you get lost?"

"That's the thing," I laughed nervously. "You said that I could come to you when I needed anything, right?"

"Of course! What's the matter?" Her forehead creased with worry.

"Okay, well, um," I laughed sheepishly. "I kinda got locked inside of the bathroom, right? It was a harmless prank. But then the bell rang, and I didn't want to be late, so I kind of…opened it."

"Well that's wonderful!" Mrs. Wilde smiled and took out a pink slip of paper. "Do you need me to write you a pass?"

"Yes, that would be great! But, um…" I lowered my voice. "I also kinda…broke it."

"Broke it how?" She tilted her head. "I'm sure it's nothing the janitors won't be able to fix."

"No, it's like…" I took a nearby sticky note and crumpled it for a visual demonstration. "And some lockers kinda got in the way too."

"Hm," Mrs. Wilde frowned and I was sure she was about to haul me off to the principal herself, even with her small body. "I'm sure these kinds of things can be fixed up, but there's going to be a fuss and I don't want that kind of negativity directed at you."

"So…you won't tell anyone?" I smiled. "That it was me?"

"It'll be our little secret," she winked and slid me the pass. "Run along now, there's still time left for your Spanish class."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Wilde!" I beamed at her and exited the office, unable to believe that I had gotten off so easily.

As much as I dreaded walking into Spanish, I quickened my pace as Leslie was still in lunch and could be prowling the halls in search for my devastation at this very moment. To my utter delight, today there was a substitute teacher who knew just about as much Spanish as I did, so now I was blessed with a few extra days to stress.

Come by eighth period, I got there early since the substitute wasn't sure when to let us out. By the time Dylan made it, I was deeply engrossed in replaying the memory of how I mutilated a metal door off its hinges and damaged nearby lockers. I never knew that I had this strength before, but that's probably because I never needed it until now. I wonder if the others are experiencing these changes, too.

"Earth to Lucy—oh wait maybe you don't respond to that—Earthland to Lucy." Dylan waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked. "So apparently there was an explosion during seventh period, should I be asking how Spanish class went?"

"It wasn't an explosion." I sighed and tried to figure out how I'd explain this phenomenon.

"Oh, really? Forgive me for asking, but I did see the damage." He scoffed. "You've somewhat proven to me that you're as harmless as an unprovoked porcupine. Clearly, this porcupine has been provoked. Why?"

"I'm not a porcupine."

"And I'm not a dill pickle, now answer the question or I'll have to take out the pepper spray."

I doubted that he carried pepper spray around all the time, but answered his question as best I could. "Well, someone didn't come up with a convincing enough story last night, so Leslie decided to drop me a visit and-"

Dylan cursed. "Did you hurt her?"

"What? No!" I scoffed. "She locked me in the bathroom and I busted outta there."

"With what?"

"Um," I coughed. "I kicked the door?"

His shoulders slumped, and I didn't blame him for not believing. "Lucy-"

"I did! I don't…it's really weird, but I'll tell you more later, once I know for sure." The bell rang and Mr. Buchannan told everyone to go to their seats, and that was that.

Once I got out of APUSH, I didn't even have time to explain myself because Dylan claimed that he had really important 'jockey' business to do, and that I wouldn't understand because I'm just a porcupine. So then I went on my own porcupine merry way towards the main entrance where Adelaide was picking me up.

I did make sure to be very cautious, though I wouldn't think Leslie could assassinate me when everyone was watching. On my way out, I took a peek through the main office's glass door to wave goodbye to Mrs. Wilde, she's been so nice to me. Why? Maybe it was some kind of old-lady syndrome or something, but I appreciated it. Though, when I checked, she wasn't there.

Strange, she's always at her desk.

Stupid Lucy, you can't expect her to sit down twenty-four seven! I chastised myself, she's got a life too! But just before I turned away, I caught her walking out of a conference room with Dylan in tow. At this point, I wanted to know what the heck was going on, so I hid behind a tall potted plant and peered through the glass.

Hm, they were in a deep conversation. Dylan was doing most of the talking, he looked kind of mad. What could he be mad about? Was she not allowing him to conduct his jockey business? I snapped back to reality and noticed that I was no better than Leslie by spying. I'd leave him to his own business then.

"How was school?" Adelaide asked for probably the hundredth time once we got back to the house. "You look a little worried."

"Oh, yeah, there was a substitute in Spanish today, so now I just get more time to stress over that speaking quiz we're gonna have." Not a lie.

"Can't you get Dylan to help out?"

"Ha! Good one, he's busy actually." I shrugged. "I think he'll be busy for the rest of high school." Lie.

"Uh huh, sure he is." Adelaide smiled. "Mark is working overtime today, so I guess we can break out some of the unhealthy processed stuff."

We ate a meal of noodles and chips. It's really bizarre because at first, the noodles were all dry and hard, but after just adding water and putting it in the heating box—microwave—they were as good as fresh! Oh the things you can do with technology.

So far, the news had supplied me with at least a shred of information of what was happening with Fairy Tail each day, and they didn't fail me this time.

"The suspected terrorist bearing the Mark of SISI found in the Middle East several days ago has escaped." Jane Doe reported. I smiled, Dylan was right. The media would find out one way or another, I wondered how they'd been able to get past government secrets like we did. "The unidentified man with uncanny pink hair-"

"Salmon." I whispered with a smile.

"Appeared to have escaped once his plane had landed, the original plan was to transfer him to a detention center, but that has been compromised." Her lips pursed. "Now to John Doe who is live on the scene where the radical was last spotted."

The screen changed to where John Doe was, and it looked to be some kind of fairy tale amusement park, except there was considerable wreckage seen as the cameraman panned around. "Early this afternoon, the unidentified terrorist was spotted in this beloved Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida. Breaking through the gates, he managed to drive a 2013 black Toyota Sonata with no intention of stopping."

"Oh, Natsu." I whispered and my smile fell. Surely, he didn't mean to. I don't even think Natsu knows how to drive! Maybe Edolas Natsu, but not Earthland.

"Reports coming in say that there have been fifteen injured, but no deaths. Casualties are not life threatening and the patients are expected to make a full recovery." John announced and I let out a breath of relief. "Though, property damages have been racked up to the millions, and no one has seen the Pink Man since."

"Yes," The screen switched back to Jane. "Police found the discarded Sonata just a mile from the park, and it is assumed that the man may have either stolen another, is in hiding, or may even be holding hostages to do his bidding."

"Idiots." I mumbled under my breath. "He would never."

"Speaking of missing, the Naked Man along with a handful of other criminals have escaped the CPD jail and none have been recovered." Jane read off her paper. "The city, however, is staying calm, and federal agents are working around the clock to find the escapees."

"Good luck with that," I smirked.

"Lucy, what on Earth are you saying to yourself over there?" Adelaide peered at me and I coughed.

"Oh, uh, I was just texting someone."

"Dylan?" Her suspicion turned into glee and I shook my head.

Then, as if she jinxed it, Dylan did text me.

We need to talk.

Oh dear Mavis, that did not sound good. I finished up my noodles and threw out the styrofoam cup. "I'll be upstairs in my room stressing over Spanish!"

"But it looks like there's a new story about snowstorms in Egypt!" Adelaide called after me, but I had already gotten upstairs.

Criss-crossing my legs on the bed, I opened the text again and bit my lip as I texted back a reply.

About?

Can't say

Why not?

The government could be tapping into our conversation.

I rolled my eyes at that, though in hindsight, the possibility of that was very high.

Is it about Natsu? I saw it on the news just now

You mean the one who just wrecked the best of my childhood memories?

That's the one.

Nope, something else

Is it the bathroom door again? I really didn't mean to break anything…

Not that either

THEN JUST TELL ME

I'm coming over

You can't just COME OVER.

Oh, do you want to come to my place then ;)

Fine, come over

Be there in 10

But he was here in five minutes, much to my surprise and Adelaide's delight. He'd even brought a bunch of Spanish textbooks to look convincing, but I glared at him the whole time he chatted with Adelaide and up until we were in my room.

"Okay," I crossed my arms. "What was so important that you just had to drop everything and come over? Did you miss me?" I cooed.

"The Google homepage is normal again."

"So?"

"It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet. That's the thing, we still have…two hours, thirty seven minutes, and fourteen seconds left." He peered at his watch. "And that's not all."

"It's not?"

"Whoever took down the message, sent me one." He slid his own laptop out of his messenger bag and a glowing screen illuminated his face. "It's not a Google thing either, this person managed to personally contact me."

"Great! Now we can talk!"

"No, not great." He frowned. "I've never, ever had anyone break through one of my codes. Right down to the binary elements, it should have been impossible for them to track me down."

"Okay, your pride has taken a hit." I feigned sympathy. "What was the message they sent? Maye one of the Fairy Tail people found someone just as talented as you."

"I can assure you, that's a rarity." He scoffed and peered at his monitor.

I tried to make sense of what he was looking at, but again, it was just a sequence of green script that was incomprehensible to me on the black screen.

"This person is asking if I'm the 'Keyed Star'." He read off. "Like, Alicia Keys? She's a star."

"No, dill pickle, that's me." I grinned, this really was someone from Fairy Tail. "Celestial mage, remember?"

"Right, because you've mentioned you have magical keys and all evidence is present before me." He rolled his eyes and continued to translate. "It says something about 'gearing up to lead the shadows'? Lucy, do you know what voodoo is? You're not a Satanist are you? Because-"

"Stop talking and read the rest." I interrupted him and he rolled his eyes yet again. "Oh lookie here, this one isn't cryptic for once! They're asking if you finished writing your novel because they really want to read it."

"Levy!" I gasped and smiled.

Knowing by that last part that it was most definitely her, I could assume that by 'gearing up to lead the shadows' was just a really complex way of her saying that she was the leader of Shadow Gear! I wondered who was helping her. She's really smart, so I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out on her own.

Dylan cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to say something. "I take it you know this 'Levy'?"

"Yes! She's my best friend!" I tried not to jump in my excitement.

He put a hand over his heart. "I thought I was your best-"

"Okay, so I want you to tell her this…"

Dylan complied with my request, only complaining minimally, but once I'd started yawning he declared that it was time for him to leave because beauty sleep is a 'fickle thing'.

"And don't think I forgot about the bathroom door thing." He pointed at me. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

I stopped mid-yawn and nodded as he left, though from downstairs, I could hear Adelaide babying him as he tried to make his escape. Once I heard the door shut, I was instantly awake and shut my own door. It was time to discover what was going on with my body. That Lucky Kick? Totally not normal.

I had this…strength that I've never felt before, and I had to test it out again to make sure it was real. Sneaking downstairs as to not cause alarm that'd I'd be going out—it was only the backyard—I stepped out into the grass and looked for a tree.

Yes, I was going to punch a tree.

I didn't want to harm a palm tree—they looked so nice—so I went for the big oak one in the back. Finding its thick trunk, I checked my surroundings to make sure there weren't any government spies lingering about. And then, I punched the tree.

I probably should have worn gloves.

"Ow ow ow!" Tears stung my eyes as I clutched my surely bloody fist, not my best decision.

But look! At the tree! Maybe it was the poor moonlight, but there was a sizable chunk taken out of that tree. A sizable chunk taken out by me! Splinters of wood littered the ground and my awe was interrupted with the sound of the back door opening.

"Lucy? Is that you?" Adelaide's small voice reached me and I froze where I was.

"I, uh, yeah! I was just-"

"Could you do me a favor and get the mail? Mark's still at work and I forgot earlier."

"Y-Yeah, no problem!" I replied, still slightly shaken.

"Thanks!" She smiled and closed the door.

Did she not see me? Maybe I was too far into the darkness, well thank the stars for that! I made my way around the house and stuck my hand into the brick mailbox, pulling out a wad of letters, pamphlets, and sales papers. My hand still ached as I flipped through today's mail.

Bills, bills, feed starving children, save the environment, bills, school information, and—

I stopped in my tracks and peered closer at the white envelope. Again, maybe it was just a simple trick of the moonlight, or maybe that really was Cait Shelter's insignia. Nah, it couldn't be—wait—the sender read 'Cait Shelter'.

"No way," I breathed and took the envelope inside. "Hey, Adelaide? What's Cait Shelter doing in the mail?"

"You couldn't have forgotten already!" She swiped the mail out of my hands and looked through them as I had. "It's the orphanage where we found you."


.:Blackleaf, MT:.

"Are you sure you're not cold?" A plain girl with mouse brown hair asked her new companion.

"No, no I'm fine." A small girl not quite a teenager, with longs wisps of blue hair shoved her pale hands into a coat pocket. "You people have done so much for me already, I don't know how to thank you."

"Oh no, Wendy, was it?" The girl smiled. "The pleasure is all ours."

Wendy Marvell sat in the back of a public transit bus along with a group of six or seven other girls. Leading them was a woman with kind eyes at the age of maybe her mid-twenties. These people had helped Wendy when she suddenly found herself in the middle of a forest, rather than at the S-Class trials on Mount Antro.

When she'd first arrived, Wendy thought she had failed the test and had begun to cry. But then she got hungry, so she went looking for maybe a restaurant that'd serve her food even though she didn't have any Jewels on her. Except, there were no restaurants.

And Wendy couldn't use her magic.

Feeling as hopeless as ever, especially without Carla by her side, Wendy had walked by the edge of a winding road that cut through a never-ending forest. She'd even had to sleep in the wilderness when nightfall came! Of course, she'd use to camp with Mystogan all the time, but that was when she had magic. Something was wrong, but she felt too helpless to fix anything!

That was all until yesterday, when a bus had stopped for her—no other vehicles had—and this group of girls had welcomed her. They told her that she was lucky she didn't catch a cold, and fed her warm soup they'd kept in a thermos.

"Where are we going?" She finally found the nerve to ask.

"It's a home for girls like us," the brunette—her name was Sophie—smiled dazedly. "We can be who we are, even when no one else accepts us. You'll be happy there."

But there are people that accept me! Wendy had wanted to shout, but was still very confused and didn't want to leave them.

"You're lucky we took a trip to town today," The young woman said. "We needed some more supplies for the girls here, who knows what would have happened to you out there?"

"We have to protect each other," Sophie nodded. "All we need is each other."

Wendy frowned at this type of closed mindset, but didn't want to question her rescuers.

"You're a quiet one," the woman smiled. "My name is Caroline."

"M-My…I'm Wendy." She introduced herself, even though she had already stated her name once before.

Caroline laughed anyway. "I know that, and I think you'll warm up soon, no need to be so shy. There are a lot more of us here and you can be a part of our family.

That sounded wrong, Wendy cringed inwardly. She didn't want to offend Caroline, or Sophie, or any of the other girls—she already had a family. She had Fairy Tail and more than anything in the world, she wanted to see them.

"Where are we going?" She asked again.

"You'll see," Caroline looked ahead as a castle-like mansion came into view, partly hidden by the mountainous wildlife. "You'll see."

Sophie gripped Wendy's arm and her voice came out a lot bolder than earlier. "Welcome to Cait Shelter."


Well I'll be diddly darn damned, now this chapter ranks as the longest chapter I've written in the history of chapters I've ever written! And my eyes do not appreciate these hours of monitor-staring, not one bit! Yes, Wendy was the character that I was going to introduce in the last chapter, and I was even going to put it off till the next one, but clearly she made the cut.

8XxAnimexX8, out.