Author's Note: The cover image is a tribal sea dragon. I decided to use this as the guild mark for Animalia. My postings my slow down this coming week, because I will be visiting my parents. I will try to continue typing, but I make no guarantees. I will be back up to a chapter a day (hopefully) the following week. Please don't forget to cast a vote and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Mayen, Naiyo, the guild Animalia, and the town of Hitakowa are all from my imagination.

Chapter 10: Animalia

By that evening, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Natsu are waiting in a small café near the train station terminal in the small town of Hitakowa for Erza to return. Natsu is slumped on the table still recovering from his motion sickness. Lucy is sipping on some tea, looking around. Gray is shirtless with his arm slung over the back of his chair as he takes in their surroundings. Happy is sitting on the table munching on a fish and poking Natsu with his paw. Erza had told them to wait while she asks around for Mayen. She knew Natsu wouldn't be up to walking around, and it would be easier for her to find them if they were together.

Natsu finally gets his bearings back as Erza joins them at the table with a slice of cake. "No one has seen Mayen, so we did make it here before her, like we thought." She takes a bite out of her cake. "So we have time to figure out what to do." She looks each of them in the eyes.

Lucy sighs and plays with her tea. "I don't know. I don't want her to lose her magic, but I don't want her to live life without her real memories."

"We could not tell her and just help her find the person that put seal on her or someone else that can remove it." Gray points out.

"What about the person she came here to find? What if they trigger memories?" Erza takes the last bite of her cake.

"I don't see what the problem is." Their attention turns to Natsu who has his arms crossed. "I think we should tell her truth."

"You idiot! That could leave her without her magic!" Gray hits the table.

"I don't think it would, droopy-eyes!"

"Why not, Natsu?" Erza leans on the table, looking at the dragon slayer.

He shrugs his shoulders. "It seems like a strong spell. It's not like her memories will all come back at once, so that gives us time to figure the other half of the seal. If they do come back all at once, it's only a chance that her magic is gone. It's the same spell used on the master, and he got his magic back. I believe Mayen is strong enough, and I don't want to hide something that important from her." The group stares at Natsu with widen eyes and dropped jaws. He blinks at them. "What?"

"That's actually sound reasoning." Erza rubs her chin.

Happy grabs Natsu's vest and pulls on it. "Who are you, and what did you do with my Natsu?!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Natsu breathes fire at the blue cat.

"You actually grew a brain, squinty-eyes."

"What'd you say, ice princess?!"

It took almost a full night of running, with only a few hours of sleep, and half a day for me to finally reach Hitakowa. I stand outside the town's entrance panting. I ignore the hunger pains in my stomach. I had only grabbed enough food for the night. Looking around, I flip the hood of my cloak up and make my way through town.

I stick to the shadows as I work through the streets searching for any signs of Naiyo. I stop in an alley near a food cart. The smells wafting around me make my stomach growl loudly. Sighing, I step out of the shadows and approach the cart, planning to buy something quick and continue my search.

"Mayen!" I spin around in shock, my hood falling down. A blue blur comes straight at me. The next thing I know, I have a crying Happy buried in my breasts. "We were worried about you?!"

I look down at him in shock as he rubs his face in my chest. My face flares up in a bright blush, and I push him off. "Get off of me, you perverted cat!" I cover my chest like I had been violated. Laughing catches my attention. I follow Happy with my eyes as he flies over to the rest of the team crying that I was mean. "What are you guys doing here?"

They walk over to me smiling. Gray has his hands in his pocket shirtless, and Natsu has his hands behind his head. Erza stops in front of me with her hands on her hips. "We came to help you."

I look at Lucy. "What about your rent money? Shouldn't you go on an actual job?"

She waves her hand in front of her face and smiles sweetly. "Helping a friend is more important."

I feel tears prick my eyes as I smile. My stomach breaks the heartwarming moment by making itself known. I scratch the back of my neck, embarrassed as they laugh at me. I let them lead me to a small restaurant.

We have a small lunch. Our food comes out when Erza gets down to business. "Gajeel said that you came here, because someone was asking around about you."

I nod, swallowing my first bite. "I thought it might be my sister, Naiyo, so I took off before really thinking about it."

Erza nods. "We did some asking around, and there is a small group that was going around town asking about two women both with black hair, one with green eyes and one with gold."

I slam my fork down. "What do they want with Naiyo?" I hiss my eyes narrowing.

Erza holds up her hands. "Calm down. We found out where the group was staying. We even got a guild logo."

Lucy places a hand on my shoulder, calming me down. "People said it looked like a sea horse but spikier."

My shoulders tense, and I growl lowly. "It's a sea dragon."

"So you know who these people are?" Gray asks raising an eyebrow.

"Animalia." Their bodies tense at the threatening growl that escapes my throat as I glare at my plate.

"Before we go charging in," Erza places an armored hand on top of my shaking hand, "can you tell us anything about them? I've never heard of their guild."

My eyebrows crease as I try to remember anything of importance. I look up and meet their concerned gazes, not really understanding why they would be worried. "I don't remember them being particularly strong, but it's been seven years that could of changed." I gasp grabbing my head as a sharp pain shoots through my temples.

"Mayen?!" I hear the alarmed shouts of my friends. I wave it off, holding the side of my head one eye closed. "I'm fine, just a headache." They share look between themselves which I raise an eyebrow to, but I'm ignored.

"Alright. We'll head out now." Erza stands up. We all follow her lead.

"Where are they?" I fall into step beside the Titania.

"The townspeople said that they were camping out north of the town." I nod my head, clenching my fist.

My stride falters as my seal starts to burn. I cry out as I stumble, but I'm caught by cool arms. "Are you okay, Mayen?" I look up into Gray's dark blue eyes.

I nod and stand up, but I stumble again. This time a warm hand steadies me on the small of my back. I am met by the concerned green eyes of Natsu. I blush, shrugging off the help and walking forward stubbornly ignoring the fire in my side.

We move through the woods silently, trying to find their campsite. "I smell fire." Natsu takes the lead sniffing the air. My eyes narrow as I sniff to, catching the same scent. It takes everything in me not to take off without my team, but Lucy's hand on my shoulder keeps me grounded.

Erza holds up her fist, and we all stop, seeing the flicker of a fire through the trees. I have never seen my team so serious, even Natsu has a straight face and is not jumping in for a fight. I'm glad they came after me. I wouldn't have been able to keep my head on my shoulders. Erza gives me a look, making me smirk with a nod.

I quietly make my way to the lead of the pack and pull my hood up, stepping into the clearing while they stay hidden. Sitting around a fire ignorant to my presence are three different sized men and a woman. The largest guy was probably the same size as Elfman. He's bald with an 'X' scar across his face. His hard brown eyes glaring at the fire. His broad chest is bare, and his navy blue, baggy pants are tucked into a pair of combat boots. The navy blue Animalia insignia is worn proud on his right pectoral. The next man is probably the same height as the first, but he is skinny with lean muscles. He's leaning against a tree with a hat pulled over his hat as he apparently slept. His blonde hair is sticking out from under the hat. He is dressed in a black button down shirt that is half open and a pair of tight jeans. His yellow symbol is on the back of his hand which is laying across his stomach. The final guy has his back to me, so I can't tell much about him because of the shadow cast by the fire. All I can see is that he is smaller than the other two. The woman has short purple hair and tan skin. She has a build similar to Erza's. I can only see her profile. She has on a bikini top and jeans. The fire lights up the white guild mark on her cheek.

I clear my throat to catch their attention. The three around the fire jump to their feet and look in my direction. The skinny guy continues to sleep against the tree. I get a look at the third guy. My temple throbs as I look at him, but I ignore it. He looks to be the oldest of the group, possible in his thirties. He's built like Gray in height and body. He has brown hair braided over his shoulder. A sword is situated on his hip with a white gloved hand on the hilt. I can't help but feel like I have seen him before. "Who are you?" His voice is gravely. It sends another pulse through my temple, but I don't know why. As he talks I can see the black logo on his tongue, similar to Bickslow.

"I heard you were looking for some women, and I was wondering why." I raise my arms shrugging.

The woman sticks out her hips, placing a fist on it. "What concern of it is yours?"

"I know the women you're looking for." I point out, holding my tongue. The big guy takes a step forward but stops when the older guy, clearly the leader, lifts his hand.

He eyes me suspiciously with his hard gray eyes. "We have some unfinished business with the women we seek."

I cross my arms. "Is that all you're going to say?" I glare at him from under my hood, trying my hardest not to attack. They won't touch Naiyo.

"That's all Goro needs to say, bitch." The woman snaps.

"Emer!" Goro turns his head in her direction. She backs down with a huff. He looks back at me, turning his nose up.

"I guess I have no choice but to beat the answers out of you." I sigh.

The group laughs. "What makes you think you can take us, girlie?" The big guy takes a step forward again.

That's my teams cue to jump into the clearing beside me. Lucy has her whip in hand on the far left. Happy is floating in the air between her and Natsu, who has his arm raised holding his bicep showing off his Fairy Tail mark. I'm in the center. Then Gray is beside me with his arms crossed over his bare chest. Erza has her sword drawn on the far right. I lift my hands up and pull back my hood. Leveling the enemy with a harsh glare. "They make me think I can get answers."

"Fairy Tail!" The woman shrieks.

Goro chuckles and looks at me. "We meet again. Last time I saw you, my old team had left you for dead in the woods."