Many thanks to you reviewers. Any kind of review (as long as they have some heart in them) encourage me to do better... or worse.
Yes, the last chapter was ... bit of a eh... ew? I'll try to make it up with this chapter, so please do forgive me.
Also I changed the name of Charlie, the white girl Exceed that Wendy has as her friend/partner, to Carla, since that is the name on the wikia. If you object to this, then just put Charlie at the end of your review or Carla, if you don't mind, at the end of review.
-AoL
Chapter 12
"How long have we been walking?" Natsu asked.
Carla turned around from the head of the group. "We only walked for half an hour. And at a very slow pace, might I add," she replied. She then turned back to the front and began walking again, but she halted only after a few steps.
"What?" Acnologia asked, confused by the Exceed's actions.
"There's a storage of some kind up ahead," Carla said. "I suggest someone go scout it out."
Ginjo stepped forward. "I will." He quickly made his way over to the storage, which was about a hundred meters away, and peered inside. He went around the building, surverying each site before he went inside. The others held their breath. Anticipation was building up within their minds as to why Ginjo went through the length of going around, noting every detail, and then going in. But whatever thoughts they had were quickly dispersed when the said man came out unharmed and mentioned for them to come in.
The two Exceeds, two humans, and the dragon ran across what little forest and clearing that was between the storage and them, and rushed inside. Ginjo closed the door.
"You were right, Carla. This place is a storage. Look at all of these clothes," Wendy said as she made her way about.
"Ha! Look at all of the funny clothes!" Natsu roared off, digging through the clothes and the accessories.
"Maybe these are what the inhabitants of Edolas wear, which means," Acnologia said as she held up a hat with a lot of long feathers attached to it. "We should all put these on for disguise."
"...That's a god idea," Ginjo said as he removed his cloak.
Wendy was blushing as she held unto a shirt. "Please don't look this way..." she muttered, but everyone was too busy with their own disguise making that they did not hear her, or even turn to her. Satisfied of the lack of attention on her, though slightly irritated by the same fact, she began to change.
Acnologia was the first to be done with hers. Before, she wore a black leather jacket and pair of black leather pants, a change from the single black one piece she always wore around Ichigo. Now, she wore a plain red on black one piece that started just above her chest and ended just above her knee. It was made out of a fabric that was both flexible and tight.
Ginjo, on the other hand, got himself a suit of thick armor and carried a sword with a skull embedded at the center of its hilt.
Natsu wore a black jacket over his usual clothes but kept his dragon scale scarf around his neck.
Wendy got into a white dress with unfamiliar flower patterns and blue strips.
Happy wore a helmet and Carla had a veil over her face.
"Oh, there's a building over there!" Natsu shouted just after he changed and rushed out of the storage towards a tree-like structure. Ginjo and ACnologia peered out of the window of the storage and their eyes widened at the insignia that was on it.
"It's Fairy Tail!" Acnologia shouted with a smile on her face. Yes, she was happy that Fairy Tail did not turn into a crystal structure that Carla had talked about. She rushed outside as well, but at the same time, she was confused. Fairy Tail's main building was a castle, not a tree. When did they get the building into a tree?
So, she stopped halfway, and Ginjo slowly walked up to her. For some reason, he was never quick with his movements. He was somewhat sluggish and only moved at a pace of a drunken turtle.
"So you noticed," Ginjo talked to her.
Acnologia looked at him from the side of her eyes. Her smile was gone, replaced by a grim scowl. Instead of replying, she nodded.
"That ain't your Fairy Tail," he vocalized her thoughts.
"There is no magic flowing out of the guild when there should be," she said. "But they have Fairy Tail's flag. So who are they?"
"It's Grey!"
"Elfman is there too! But ... everyone is so different," Happy said.
Wendy had reached them only few moments ago, and she was staring at the guild members through the window as well, just like Natsu.
"Well?" Ginjo asked as he came to them as well, but he hid behind the wall between the windows.
"I - I don't understand. They all look like our guild members, but there is something ... off about them."
Acnologia noticed it as well. "I don't see gramps," she said.
Natsu grunted. "Yeah." Then he creaked open the window a little, so that the group can hear the conversations going on inside.
But as time went by and they listened on them, the group grew frustrated. They sounded nothing like their guild members! Sure, they looked like them, but they all acted ... not so like them! For example, Lucy was shouting at people. Elfman was being bullied and was crying in the corner.
"...This is our guild," Wendy said. "But the people-"
"Are not our people."
Ginjo decided to speak then. "Then they are Edolas's Fairy Tail," he said, and everyone turned to him with wide eyes, as if what he said was something of a big deal. 'Well, it is on a indirect terms, but directly, I doubt it,' he thought. "We should avoid them-"
Then the door creaked open and Lucy came out of it with a kinky clothes.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Ah-ah..." Wendy stuttered, unable to pull out words.
Edolas Lucy scanned over the group of strangers before she landed her eyes on Natsu. "Natsu!" she shouted and bear hugged him. Natsu was too shocked by the fact that Edolas Lucy recognized him. That and the fact that Lucy was super fast and strong. Natsu gurggled as he tried to escape from the bear hug but Lucy seemed to really like holding him as if he was a teddy bear. She even shook his sideways.
"L-Lucy!"
"Lucy-san!" Wendy said.
The said woman turned to Wendy and gave a confused expression. "Have we met before, brat?"
Wendy's eyes began to water at hearing the word 'brat.'
"Oi!" Ginjo shouted. "Don't make the kid cry!"
"I-I didn't do anything!" E. Lucy retorted.
"You hurt her feelings!" Natus retorted.
"What did I do?!" she snapped back at him, completely taken back by Natsu's behavior.
Soon, all of the Edolas Fairy Tail's guild members were out, talking and arguing.
"It's Natsu!"
"Who's this?"
"Woah. Is it me, or do you and she look alike?"
Everyone froze and began to compare the two beauties. One was black haired, the other was blue haired. Not only their face, they wore similar clothes and had similar ... bosom sizes. That was, however, rude to point out, and considering the scowling face Acnologia had plastered unto her face for her own distinction, it would have been a suicide move.
"...She does!" Ginjo said, trying to dissipate the awkward and harsh silence that had settled between the Edolas Fairy Tail and Earthland Fairy Tail rescuers. Ginjo's words did what he intended to do, and people began to chatter. Rather noisily for Acnologia's preference, though.
Acnologia just looked up to the sky, completely ignoring everyone. Though many were confused, they did not ask why she did so, nor did they wait to talk to their comrades.
"Oi, Acnologia."
The black haired beauty looked down from the sky to Ginjo, who called her. He had cold sweat breaking out on his face, and he certainly did not look comfortable.
"What?"
"You and I need to talk about Ichigo."
Acnologia gave Natsu and Wendy a look, though they weren't looking back at her before she followed Ginjo to a more isolated area of the clearing.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Ichigo is here in this world, but he is nowhere near us," he said. "I think you can feel him if you try."
"Why me? Aren't you better at this? I mean, you come from the same world as he came from."
Ginjo grinned. "We received similar 'training' but I had to leave that world before I could 'finish' it. Yes, you are right though. I can do it, but if I try to, then Ichigo will recognize that I'm trying to look for him. He might be well with it, but he also might not be. I do not want to risk him hiding, so I'm asking you to do it."
Acnologia gave him a raised eyebrow. But she closed her eyes and concentrated.
She still remembered all of the things that Ichigo taught her. They were never official nor didactic instructions; they were simple hints. She remembered during one of their food hunting episodes, just before they ran across water and ran into Tower of Heaven, she had asked him about how he was tracking down humans and animals that leave no trace of smell or track behind.
'I look for their soul. It leaves a trace behind. But I guess for you, the closest explanation would be that I go after raw life force that they leave behind.'
At first, she hadn't understood. How can someone leave their life force behind like a track? It was just improbable. Yes, improbable, not impossible. She had thought it was improbable because nothing was impossible. But when she "felt" and "saw" Ginjo's own presence earlier that day, she understood after that long time.
So she concentrated, bringing up the feeling she had received then.
There was a silence between the two as Acnologia let her own power spread out like a web and searched for Ichigo.
It was like she was a spider, weaving a great web pf her own magic power. 'Ichigo would have said something along the lines of "Oh, that would be mana particles set on a loop to return to you after reaching a certain distance" or something like that,' Acnologia thought, but as far as she was concerned, she was sending out her power, waiting for a feedback.
T-Tha.
Thamp.
Thamp thamp.
Thamp thamp.
Though she was unfamiliar with the concept or the actual machinery that is the radar, she saw Ichigo's location in a map in her mind drawn by her expanding magic, similar to how radar worked.
When she cut it off, she found herself staring at a concerned Ginjo.
"What?" she growled at him.
"You're sweating."
She scowled. She was a dragon, not some scrawny human who gets tired over some magic-.
She looked back at herself, and then there the thought was cut off. She was indeed sweating. "How...?" she muttered quietly. She was supposed to be a dragon, and not a -. Oh right. Magic was not common in this world as her world. She could use it, yes, but it required a more concentration along with more end stress than she ever felt in the Earthland.
She grinned at the thought of a challenge of pushing herself to her own limits. 'This might be a bit fun.' "Alright, one more time."
-AoL
A man in red armor approached another in similar armor. The one he approached had more complicated patterns.
"My Lord," he said and gave a salute.
"What is it?"
"The Kingdom's hunters have been seen heading towards Fairy Tail's location."
The man raised his eyebrow. "Is that so?"
The soldier nodded.
"Well, it took them long enough. I'll go report to the Head, but you know what to do."
"Ambush them as planned?"
The officer nodded. "But to your best to pick them out from afar, especially when they are on their Legions."
The soldier gave another salute and hurried away. It was not long before the officer heard shouts of order and gathering.
He then sighed and began to walk towards the opposite direction of the soldier.
He and the soldier were part of the Red Shield Rebellion, a group of fighters who wished to see the end of the current oppressive regime. Despite being only five months old, the Red Shield had grown in strength and size to become a serious opponent for the Royal Army over the last two months.
'But the change itself was brought on by the current leader,' he thought as he stopped before a wooden door and rapped his knuckles on it.
"Head."
"..."
"Head, the Royal Army has spotted Fairy Tail."
"...Is that so?" the 'Head' muttered as he opened the door.
Unlike the officer, the Head had no red armor. Instead, he wore a red shirt and pants. He had orange hair that stood out, but infinitely less in his red clothes than it would have with other colors. He had a silent scowl on his face -it was directed at no one in paticular but it was just a part of his face. He carried, however, a giant black sword. The sword itself had many things bound to it. Runic seals on paper, character seals on linen, and necklaces and beads around its hilt and blade. But the feature that stood out among these other noticeable feature was the the white skull-like mask with red streaks on them.
The officer got the chill that ran down his spine whenever he met the Head. It was a chill that told him that this man was unique. That this man was powerful. That this man had an aura of authority.
"Y-Yes, sir."
The Head's eyes hardened. "Have out forces...?"
"Yes, sir! I've ordered them to go out and ambush the Royal Army!"
The Head's eyes smiled. "Good, good." Then there was a silence. "But know what, Cakiri?"
The officer gave him a confused face when the Head placed his right hand on the man's right shoulder and walked out of the command room.
"There are very important guests today. Guests who have come from where I came from, Cakiri. Let's go find them."
-AoL
Now Carla and Happy managed to avoid much of the attention of the Edolas Fairy Tail, most likely because they were so small and hung around Ginjo, since he did not attract much attention himself with all of the guild members awing at the similarity between Acnologia and Edolas Wendy and Natsu shouting something like "Lisanna." They were happy about it too.
"Who is this Ichigo, really?"
Happy turned and looked at Carla, who asked him the question.
"Ah?"
"The God of Fairy Tail."
"Ah, Ichigo-chan! He was such a smart guy! He gave me fishes too!"
Carla facepalmed. "Aside from him giving you fishes."
"Natsu was too weak compared to him."
"Really?"
"Ichigo-chan took Natsu as a disciple and trained him along with Gray and Cana," Happy said as he remembered the 'happy' times where Ichigo beat the crap out of the three mages and sent them on ridiculous training exercises.
"Exactly how strong was he?" Carla asked.
"Didn't you hear about him much?"
"Aside from hearing about him being ridiculously strong from others in vague manner, I haven't heard much."
"Oh." There was a pause. "He defeated Acnologia with only 10% of his power."
"... That's ridiculous. Acnologia there is the dragon of darkness and decay, the strongest of the strongest and -"
"Ichigo-chan's girlfriend."
"Oi, cat! Stop talking about me"! Acnologia growled, having finished her second "radar." She looked very tired, and she also looked like a pissed off cat that needs to be left alone. Funny, considering that she was talking to one.
"A-Aye!"
"... I found him, but he's on the move," Acnologia growled as she rubbed her temples. "Twenty kilometers from where we are right now."
"That's awful close," Ginjo said nonchalantly. "Maybe he knows what happened to our Fairy Tail."
"Maybe," she replied. Then she turned to the crowd. "Natsu! Wendy!"
The two whirled around upon hearing her. "Yes?"
"We found Ichigo. Let's go get him first."
Natsu was the first to brighten up. Well, more than before since he was extremely happy about seeing Edolas Lisanna.
"Where? Where is he?" Natsu bombarded as he ran up to Acnologia, who only gave him the foot to his face.
"He's on the move, but not too far away from us."
"Well then, check it again!" Natsu shouted as he tried to push Acnologia away, but immediately regretted shouting in front of her. Having seen so much things new and old, he let himself go a bit in front of Acnologia, and realized that he made a big mistake. After all, Acnologia was a short-tempered dragon.
Her frowning face slowly turned into a smirk with a devious glare.
"Ho... I just found something beat my frustration out on..." she drawled as she pushed off Natsu with her foot. She drew out a bit of her magic and forced her hands and forelimbs to change back into her original dragon limbs, complete with claws. "Are you ready Natsu?"
Natsu gulped before he activated his own magic.
He then blinked. 'I thought magic didn't work here...'
Acnologia grinned. "Enough concentration brings out magic, Natsu. And I think your instinct did that for you..."
"Oh god..."
"Instinct to survive from me!" she roared with a evil laughter.
-Scene Break
Erza Knightwalker did not expect the usually shivering Fairy Tail to be out in the open, making a mess of the nearby forests with fire and something black. Neither causes of the forest's destruction looked healthy for her.
"They're finally making some mess, huh?" she grinned and then she ordered the Royal Army behind her. "Take them out!"
-Scene Break
Acnologia hadn't even started beating up Natsu when she felt the presence of a force flying towards them in great numbers.
'Didn't know I was keeping my magic up in passive form,' she thought as she stopped mid-track of beating Natsu, who already had bruises and right black eye. "Natsu, we got company."
"Eh? How do you know?" he asked her as he got up, just thankful that the pummeling had stopped because Acnologia was distracted.
"Trust me. I found them with the magic I used to find Ichigo's general direction."
"Flying, did you say?"
The two of them turned to Edolas Mirajane.
"Yes. Is something the matter?" Acnologia replied and asked back at her.
Mirajane and gulped and quickly ran over to her guild. "Get the magic up and running! The Royal Army found us!"
The Edolas Fairy Tail was quick on the move, as if they were getting ready for some sort of battle.
"Alright! I get to find out how strong our Edolas Counterparts are!" Natsu said, getting pumped up for the obvious action to come. But for some reason, the guild members were ... retreating, retreating back into the great wood like structure of their guild.
Ginjo was the first of the Earthland mages to go up to them and ask the obvious question. "Are you guys hiding?"
"We have to!" Edolas Elfman replied. "We're not strong enough to defeat the Royal Army."
Natsu and Wendy blinked.
Say what?
"We can't possibly go against them. We have to run away!"
Now, even Acnologia was surprised. Then she realized it. Edolas Fairy Tail. They were Earth's counterpart, but their attitude was also different! They were cowards!
But if the change in their attitude was because they were in a different world, then -.
"Where's Erza?" she asked.
Wendy looked about and then into the Edolas Fairy Tail's windows while they were telling the Earthland mages to come in.
"S-She's not here..." Wendy replied.
Acnologia groaned. "Seriously?" she muttered. "Please don't tell me that girl will be our enemy."
Then there was a roar that resonated throughout the forest.
They all looked up.
Flying cows.
There were flying cows above them.
-Scene Break
"The Royal Army's attacking the Fairy Tail!"
Cakiri, the officer of the Red Shield from before, grunted. "Fire!"
-Scene Break
Now the Royal Army had nothing to expect. Fairy Tail was a coward dark guild that always ran away with their magic boosted guild hall. It was always a tedious job for the Royal Army. Go after Fairy Tail, and just before they manage to capture them, they would just disappear through the ground. The worst part of it was that the magic made their escape untraceable by any means of magic. What was more frustrating was the fact that they never ever fought back. Not even once.
It was a goose chase around the entire kingdom.
So when they saw one of their own Legions get its head blown off by an explosion, it was ... surprise. Simple surprise, but nothing more.
"It's not Fairy Tail!" Erza Knightwalker shouted back at the Fairy Hunting party that was assigned to follow her. "It's Red Shield!" Then she forced her Legion to whirl around towards the mountains in the distance.
-Scene Break
"Is that Erza Knightwalker?" Cakiri muttered under his breath.
Erza Knightwalker. One of the captains of the Royal Army. She was known for her ruthlessness as well as her powers.
"The 'Fairy Hunter' herself is here, eh?" he then turned to one of his comrades. "Is the Head here yet?"
"No, sir. It seems that he will be arriving few minutes later, according to the last of our soldiers who came through to here," he replied.
"Huh. Let's just do our best to kick their ass. I mean, we have these things the Head made us for this kind of occasion, right?" Cakiri grinned as he turned to the Heavy Assualters. They were all carrying a long barreled weapon of some sort that used tiny steel cylinders and mixtures of multiple grains.
Yes, the Head made them a rifle. Specifically, a sniper rifle. It was that weapon that made them feel at ease. Normally, Red Shields would use guerrilla tactics to do damage upon the Royal Army and the Royal Family. However, after the current Head took over the Red Shields, he introduced weapons and ways, such as this weapon he called sniper rifle, that led the Red Shields to lead a more frontal assault.
"Fire again."
-Scene Break
Erza Knightwalker hissed as one of those damnable invisible arrows put a cut on her thigh. It was impossible to dodge them without knowing exactly where they were coming form, and even over a large distance, they were very accurate.
"Evasive maneuver! Don't let those things hit you or the Legion!" she shouted over the screams of several more of the weapons.
"Oh. She finally guessed where we were," Cakiri muttered. "Fire away. Don't wait for command."
-Scene Break
While the two forces were duking it out, or more like a one way slaughter with the number of Legions falling out of the sky and the Royal Army unable to fight back, the Earthland mages saw their chance to fight.
"I'm pumped up!" Natsu grinned. "Happy-!"
Acnologia grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.
"What?" he asked.
"Whoever is shooting at them will most likely not know that we are their ally ... if they are our ally. These Royal Army is out to get Edolas Fairy Tail, but not us, remember?"
"But they are one of ... us!"
"Doesn't matter. Besides, if you go up there, you are going to end up shot to dead just like how those guys are," she said as she glanced up at the sky. "If you really want to fight, then make fireballs or something you can throw," Acnologia said before she turned away. "As for me, I'm just going to watch."
Natsu grumbled. "Fine, but I'm fighting to protect these guys," he replied before making fireballs and throwing them at the nearby Legions, setting them alight on fire.
Ginjo silently looked at the Legions falling out of the sky like dead fall leaves. They were being shot down by something incredibly tiny and fast, or they will be able to see and dodge them. Not all of whatever hostile weaponery that was shooting them down, but at least some. And the manner in which the Legions were shot down reminded Ginjo of a certain invention that humans back on Earth used. Snipers. But he didn't know how to make it, and that left Ichigo.
Was Ichigo killing these soldiers, or had the man given the secrets of brutal warfare to these people? Either way, Ichigo didn't seem like the Ichigo he knew.
He just went over towards Acnologia and saw down near her, content to just watch Natsu and Wendy fight.
"But where the hell is Ichigo?" Acnologia grumbled, frustrated. She was so close to Ichigo now. She was sure that he knew that she was here. So why wasn't he coming to her?
