Gosh... Natsu was defeated in the latest manga chapter. I wonder if he will gain new power if he is devoured by the shadow. If the shadow is an independent individual not Future Rogue, he might tempt Natsu into accepting his power and Natsu may just take the bait (like Natsu in my fic for his desire to live) in order to save Lucy and he goes berserk. Future Rogue is dead meat if that really happened. Nah.. my guess to the manga plot is always off the mark.

Thank you ahuna67 for your beta. Thanks to your feedback, I know what to look out for.

Cait Shelter was not known as Cait Shelter in original Chinese version of the fic. I decided to use back Cait Shelter as it sounded better. I intended to differentiate Cait Shelter from the original manga. Similar to Edolas which is set as a city in my fic instead of another world, Cait Shelter is not a guild, it is a village. In this fic, it is Wendy's hometown. Extalia is also another country of its own where the Exceeds resided.

Reviews are always appreciated.

Chapter 8: The Village of Illusion

The Light Alliance had successfully taken down Oracion Seis and stopped Nirvana, completing their mission. They headed to Cait Shelter, Wendy's hometown where she grew up in which happened to be nearby. Wendy had not returned for quite some time since she left the village to take the S Class exam and join the Magic Council. That was where Wendy mastered her Sky Magic. She would take this chance to pay a visit to the villagers and most importantly the Village Head who had taken her in. Wendy aspired to be an outstanding healing mage to be able to help people in need.

They were all very proud of Wendy when she returned in glory. She had not failed them. Wendy had become the youngest S Class mage in the history of Fiore which Tsuna was jealous about. He was next in line after her. He would have thought he was the youngest if it was not for her. He sulked as he saw the villagers walk up to greet her. Tsuna turned his head and was rather surprised to see a number of kids coming up to him giving him flowers.

"Don't despair; the head said there is always light at the end of the tunnel". A kid spoke up. "Never lose hope. We will watch over you." The rest crowded around him leaving him confused.

Tsuna, Lucy, Gray and Happy prepared a dance for them to thank them for taking care of their injuries. They were dancing happily and everybody was enjoying it. Some of them even joined dancing their silly dance. When the dance had ended the Head of the Village walked to Tsuna, having an important announcement.

The whole group of them listened attentively and their eyes widened in shock. The truth was that the whole Village of Cait Shelter was destroyed earlier by someone who used the lost magic before their arrival and they were here as a form of illusion. They had a message for Tsuna before they left for where they should be.

"Isn't that just like what happened to my hometown Drago Village nine years ago?" Tsuna thought. He nodded at the Head of the Village in respect to hear what he had to say.

"We have seen the depth of despair coming from that boy and we hope that you together with that girl can save his lost soul ". Lucy was startled when she realised that the Head was looking at her direction. Meanwhile, Wendy had lost it. It was Natsu who destroyed her village.

"I'm not listening! I don't want you to disappear! NO! Who did this to you?" She clutched her head and cried. She did not want to believe it, did not want to believe that Natsu was the one behind this.

The Head continued to talk as he started to fade into the light, "This is our final wish to you. Miracles will occur as long as you don't lose hope. Wendy had been a genius and we are all very proud of her. We are glad that she had finally found real comrades. We are really grateful. Please continue to watch over her". With that the Head vanished into the thin air as Wendy started running towards him.

"No!" Wendy kneeled down and cried. "I don't want to believe that he did this to you?" A hand was felt on her shoulder. It was Erza. Being one of those who learnt the true identity of Zeref, she could understand how she felt. If it was in the past, she would not have believed that Natsu who was naive and innocent in nature would have done that to them, but now the situation had changed. All they could do now was to look forward and face whatever challenge which might come to them and save Natsu from darkness, only then they would be able to answer to the people of Cait Shelter.

The group watched as Erza took Wendy away. Wendy needed some time alone. Charles had already teared up. She began to feel homesick. Maybe she should visit Extalia some time to see her mother.

Meanwhile, a boy in black arrived in the village looking at the group in surprise. Tsuna recognized him. He had appeared in Nirvana.

*Flashback*

Tsuna found Lucy and Hibiki unconscious in the riverbank. Angel was especially badly wounded. Tsuna fell weak on his knee. There was some dark aura lingering around which he felt suffocating. The boy in black approached him from his back.

"Tsuna?" The boy called his name.

Tsuna's hair stood up at his presence. "Was he the one behind all these?" Tsuna hesitated to look behind at first. He plucked up his courage and turned to face the boy. At first glance, the boy felt very familiar to him. It was like he had known him for a very long time.

"I wanted to meet you." Tears flowed down his eyes.

"Who are you? I don't know you! Did you do this to them?" He demanded in fury.

"Tsuna, it's me." The boy looked stunned that the salmon-haired boy did not recognize who he was for a while before he let out a bitter laugh when he realised something. "Of course you won't be able to recognize me in this appearance."

All the sudden, he was surrounded by a black wave. The boy clutched his head in fear, "Get away from me, Tsuna! I can't control this power!" Tsuna did so in instinct but unfortunately he was still affected by the magic aura that emitted from him. Tsuna fell unconscious before he realized it.

*End Flashback*

Lucy started to approach the boy, who held his hands up in attempt to stop her.

"Don't come near me! I'm infested by the magic of darkness!" He yelled in panic. Since he was here, he will bid farewell to them. "As expected you guys had done well. From now on, we shall be on our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other. Tsuna, Lucy, I wish you happiness. Farewell. We shall not meet again."

The boy walked away quickly before anyone could react. To their horror, the plants around him had wilted off as soon as he walked past them.

Tsuna could not help but wonder who that boy was. It seemed that he knew him. Tsuna found him familiar but he just couldn't point out why he felt so.

"Who is he?"