I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting here at my computer writing this, now would I? ;-)


Chapter 11

"Answers"

The outline of a figure was visible now in the growing sand. At last the form was complete, but Erza was caught off guard by what it was.

"N-No way!"

A hand! It was a gigantic, misshapen hand. Erza froze. What was she supposed to do now? Her answer was clear when the fat fingers wrapped around her in a crashing grip and started throwing her around in the air. Erza desperately slashed at the sand creature, but as soon as she made a clean cut through the thing, more sand floated up to replace it. It was healing itself! Then again, how the hell are you supposed to beat sand? She couldn't breathe, her ribs were being crushed. Her vision was growing darker. And then the air came rushing by, the pressure gone. She was falling. She opened her eyes and saw the ground fast approaching. She landed face first, scraping a little along the rocks and sand.

Then she heard the sound of clanking metal as her sword tumbled out of her grip, landing point-down in the sand a few meters away.

Just as she turned over, she could see the back of a meaty hand disappearing behind the cliff wall, across to the other side. Erza was in no hurry to chase after the thing, whatever it was. She had a vague idea of what it was; a summon. Creatures like those didn't reside in the Solitary Desert, and the way it had taken form was proof enough of that. Summons were unique magic, and unlike Lucy's celestial spirits, they didn't think for themselves. They were puppets to the one who called on them, and were controlled directly through the summoner's magic.

The hand was being controlled by an unseen enemy wizard. And Erza didn't like the thought of that.

She painfully got up, making sure that nothing was broken. It was a little painful to breathe, but none of the ribs seemed to be damaged. Erza limped over and recovered her sword, examining it closely for any damage and let out a moan. There were two deep nicks in the edge of the blade, obviously from being bounced along the stony ground. One glance told Erza that she'd spend at least an hour honing and sharpening to get rid of them. That, however, was the least of her problems at the moment.

A clinking sound brought her back to the present situation, and something skidded to a stop behind her, sending pebbles and gravel flying. She did a one-eighty and was surprised at what her eyes met. A magic four-wheeler car resided in front of her, and its driver stepped out into the sunlight.

"Oui."

"Reedus?"

"Yo, Erza! Whoa, you look like hell. Then again, join the party."

"Aye!"

"Natsu? Happy?" Erza jogged over to them, for once relieved at the sight of their ridiculous looking faces. As she drew near, she quickly took in its occupants. That's when she noticed some missing people.

"Where're Gray and Lucy?" she asked, concern obvious in her voice.

"Oh, right. Gray's in there," Natsu informed her, jerking a thumb inside the four-wheeler. "Damn Frosty couldn't take the heat, so I told him to stay outta the kitchen."

Erza rolled her eyes at the cheesy line, then shuffled around to the door of the magic vehicle and glanced inside. A passed out Gray lay on one of the small benches. His face was red and flushed, his shirt and shoes discarded leaving his feet and torso bare. Cana was wiping his forehead with a cool cloth.

"You're here too?" Erza asked her, kneeling next to Gray and putting her hand on his forehead. He's burning up! She shook her head. "Ice and heat-"

"-bad combination." Cana nodded, not looking up from her work. "I'll fill you in on what's happening on the way to the guild."

Erza opened and closed her mouth several times, questions forming but remaining unspoken. She looks like a goldfish when she does that, Natsu thought with a snicker.

"And Lucy?" prompted Erza.

Cana paused and dropped her eyes to her lap, wringing the damp towel in her hands anxiously. "Shadow Gear found her. They're taking her back to F.T. as well."

Erza let out a sigh of relief. For a moment she had feared the worse. It was a comfort to know they were in good hands. She admitted that she was confused about what was going on, but she had a feeling everything would be explained sooner or later.

"But…" Cana continued suddenly, let eyes lifting to meet the warrior's gaze. "She's not doing to good, last I hear."


"Let me get this straight," Erza said slowly. "We've been gone for two weeks?"

The four-wheeler car thundered across the desert, bouncing and jerking at the slightest pebble that was in its course, and there just so happened to be a lot of damn pebbles. Well Reedus is certainly taking his sweet frickin' time driving, Natsu thought bitterly as his head collided with the ceiling for the fourth time. He leaned out of the window once again, his face turning even a darker shade of green as his insides lurched and heaved. Why didn't Erza let me walk home?

Cana nodded. Gray had woken up now that he was under cover from the unrelenting sun. He had pulled out the tattered pieces of his ice cloak and had them laid across his lap, trying to absorb any remaining chill from the remains. If the wind blew at a certain angle, he could almost get a small whiff of cold, but it died as instantly as it began. It didn't help that the wind was like breathing into hot coals.

"We believe it has something to do with the Iron Flutes," Cana explained, flipping over one of her cards for the tenth time and, still getting the same result, turned it back over angrily. "Levy said the Flutes are part of an ancient legend or something-or-other. Something to do with some kind of demonic cult."

A wave of pain from Erza's ribs made her wince and crouch over, holding her arm protectively over the fragile bones. It still hurt if she took too deep breaths. I probably landed on it, she thought. No doubt they were bruised.

"Anyway, long story short," Cana continued, cracking her neck. "The Flutes apparently make time pass slower wherever you can hear their sound."

"Some kind of wide range ritual magic?" Erza asked with a grunt.

Cana lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Maybe. Levy's still researching on all the details."

Gray hesitated. "But if you knew that, why come get us?" he asked.

"Because," Cana replied, "the cult who first created the Iron Flutes is alive in this very desert."

"Wouldn't that make them, like, a thousand years old?" Gray laughed. "You said it yourself Cana. It's ancient history! They couldn't possibly be alive. Time goes by slower here. So what? Why make us abandon the job Makarov gave us?"

Cana turned her steady gaze onto his. "Let me ask you this, Gray. If you wanted to achieve immortality, how would you go about doing it?"

Gray scratched his chin in thought. The thought had never once occurred to him. "Well," he said slowly, "if time goes by slower here, then you'd be able to live longer, right? But to live forever and be immortal and stuff? Hell if I know." he admitted.

"Come to think of it," he added as an afterthought. "Erigor said something about being immortal before he, you know, attacked us!" He jerked his head in the diection of the vehicle's trunk where Erigor was bound and gagged, on express delivery to Onibus prison. They had no further use for him, so they felt it fair to just throw him back to the authorities. If they needed answers later, they could pay him a visit. Otherwise, they wanted him off of their hands.

"Exactly." Cana said, nodding in satisfaction. He had said exactly what she wanted to hear. "All human beings die of old age or other causes eventually. It's part of life. Except this cult is different…"

"Different?" Erza asked. "Different how?"

"Remember how I said they were a demonic cult?" she questioned.

Erza nodded, shivering slightly. The topic of demons was not a pleasant one. "And what is one quality that demons have?"

At the group's confused looks, she decided to just spell it out for them. "Demons can possess other life forms."

Something suddenly clicked inside Erza and Gray's minds. "Y-You mean they take over other people's bodies?" Gray asked shakily.

"Of course!" Erza suddenly blurted out, banging her fist into the side of the car. She winced slightly as her wounds flared. "It makes sense now! Your body ages, but the soul doesn't!"

"Wha-? Natsu asked. "W-w-what you talkin' b-bout' Erz-urk!"

Erza ignored him. "The reason they're still alive is because they use a soul transfer technique. When they're bodies start to give out, they take over the corpse of their victim's!"

Gray raised an eyebrow. "This sounds a whole lot like Jellal's R-system."

"A soul transfer technique is more advanced," said Cana, warming to her theme. "The R-system required something like a soul exchange. A soul for a soul. Take a life to bring one back. With a soul transfer, the wizard can use any corpse."

"The wizard performs a ritual that moves his own soul into the body, making it his own." Erza said. Makarov had told her about this kind of thing before, and the more she heard the more it unnerved her. "And with the aid of the Iron Flutes…" she felt no need to finish the sentence. The others had already finished it for themselves. They could live even longer in those supposed forms.

"So," Gray said patiently, "what you're saying is that we are being targeted by these people- er, demons?"

Cana nodded in confirmation. "That's what Master suspects. They can't just use any corpse, of course. It has to have magical qualities to it. In other words, a wizard."

"A wizard's body for a wizard's soul, huh." Gray muttered.

"Another thing: those who they've consumed, I suppose I should call it, their magic accumulates and gets transferred along with the soul. So if these guys are as old as we think they are, it's possible they have more magic energy and powers than humanly possible."

Gray whistled in admiration. "Damn. Sucks for us."

"Levy said that every wizard who travels into the Solitary Desert mysteriously disappears. And now I think we have an idea as to where they've disappeared to." said Cana.

"It's a good thing I'm not a human wizard then." Happy said cheerfully.

Natsu glared at him through watery eyes. "Anybody else in the mood for cat for supper?"


Sorry for taking a ridiculous amount of time to update chapters. I've been really busy lately and hadn't had much time to write. But, at long last, I present the 11th chapter!

Thanks for all the support and reviews I received. You guys rock!

I hope the plot isn't getting too complicated. If it comes down to it, I'll rewrite this chapter to try and get my point across better, but I think I did a fairly good job. I might or might not depending on the feedback. For people who are familiar with Naruto, think of it like something Orochimaru would do. :D

I made this chapter a tad longer than my previous ones upon request, so let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading! R&R.

P.S. Sorry for the short action scene. I kind of ran out of ideas. :(