"You know, Hisoka, I'm personally quite disappointed in you."

Hisoka nodded. "Yeah, Merlin. I heard it all from Nashi."

"Not all of it," Merlin interjected. "I have just a bit to add to what she said."

Hisoka leaned forward on the table, supporting himself with his elbows. "I'm listening."

"Again, I'm quite disappointed in you," Merlin began. "When I was hurting myself over what happened to Will, and insisting that I was fine, you stepped in and took care of me. And now this? Honestly, if you're going to protect other people like that, you've got to take better care of yourself."

Hisoka smiled and nodded. "I will survive this, and I promise I will take better care of myself."

"You'd better."

Hisoka stood up, then looked at his hand. I wonder if there's a way to take advantage of these lacrima. After all, they are full of magic, even if I can't directly use them at will. Suddenly, he broke off into another fit of coughing. Merlin reacted quickly by handing him a piece of fabric.

"You know, Akane also coughed up blood about half an hour ago."

"I figured he would," replied Hisoka. "He may be resilient, but he is dying from the same thing that I am."

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the others chattering.

"I heard that in this world, you died a while back," Hisoka mentioned, changing the subject.

Merlin nodded. "It's a bit weird, imagining myself being dead, but it explains their reaction to first seeing me." He pointed a casual thumb towards the Edolas versions of Emma, Levy and William. "I feel a bit bad for them, since I can't stay here forever."

Hisoka nodded. "Both my parents live here, and I can't even survive two weeks in this world. Same with Akane."

"Oh, yeah. I've been meaning to ask about that. What's the deal with your parents again?"

"Well, as it turns out, Laxus' brother that he apparently never told anyone about, who one day found himself in Edolas, is my dad, while my mom is native to Edolas. And when I was about three, one of the first of the random Anima sent both me and Akane to Earthland."

"Right. And what about Akane's parents?" Merlin asked.

Hisoka sighed. "He'll tell you when he's ready. He's still trying to process it himself, actually."

Merlin nodded. "I understand. He has good reason to be nervous about something like that."

Hisoka turned to the sound of footsteps, and saw Asuka entering the guild hall, supporting a limping Romeo.

"What happened to you guys?" asked Merlin.

"More importantly," added Hisoka, "why did you run off like that?"

Merlin looked at Hisoka, confused.

"They were there when I went after Nashi," Hisoka explained. "I was going to rescue them, too, but they disappeared on me."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Asuka apologized. "You two looked like you could hold your own for a bit, and we needed to find someone who could help Romeo. And it looks like we've found a good place to stay, anyway."

Merlin nodded. "What happened, anyway?"

"Back when we first came to Edolas, Asuka and I landed on top of a castle spire," Romeo explained as Asuka helped him into a chair. "We jumped down using Asuka's guns as propulsion to soften the fall, and I broke my ankle in the landing. Then we were captured by Edo-Nashi, who, despite thinking we were the enemy, should have at least had the courtesy to provide some sort of splint." He seethed in annoyance as he remembered Nashi using his ankle as a form of torture. "In fact, she did pretty much the opposite."

"And someone…" Asuka glared at Nashi, who was now also watching, as was everyone in the room. "Someone destroyed one of my guns, which are my only means of using magic in this world!"

"I made it so you could escape," Nashi retorted. "You're welcome."

Asuka continued to glare at Nashi for a second, then turned her attention back to everyone. "Anyway, now we're here. Maybe someone could help Romeo with his ankle?"

"I can do that," Levy volunteered.

"You're a mechanic," Lucy replied.

Levy glared at Lucy. "And in working with heavy machinery, I've dealt with my fair share of broken bones. I'll deal with Romeo."

Lucy sighed. She may still dislike Levy, but over the years, they had become more cool-minded and less interested in fighting. She realized this was a fair point. "Fine. You help Romeo."

Hisoka and Merlin watched this, then got back to their conversation. "Anyway," Merlin continued, reverting the subject, "How are we supposed to get you guys back to Earthland within three days when we have no idea where Mystogan is?"

"I don't know," Hisoka admitted, "but we have to believe in him."

"Oi, Invel-san!"

Invel turned from the books he was sorting to see Nero approaching him. "What is it?" he asked.

"I need to ask a favor of you," Nero explained. "You have clearance to access ancient records in the council archives, right?"

Invel nodded. "However, if you're asking me to give you that clearance, the answer is no."

Nero sighed. "Look, I know there are all these protocols and all that, but this is a matter of great importance."

"It is of great importance that we keep those records hidden," Invel explained. "Those ancient magics could be quite dangerous if released to the world. Even I only use my magic when absolutely necessary. Surely your father's told you how his battle against me went."

"It is my understanding that he won."

"By employing devilslayer magic, which is also quite dangerous. Also, before he did that, I was able to bring quite a vast area to absolute zero. Honestly, it's a good thing he defeated me that day. Who knows what I would have done?"

"I understand that these magics can be risky," Nero acknowledged. "However, this involves the fate of the entire world – two entire worlds, in fact."

"And what might that be?"

"Elkhart may have found a way to put an end the random Anima that have been occurring lately."

Invel's eyes widened briefly. Then he reasserted himself and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm listening."

"You know that continent that the Blue Steel Twins were investigating?"

Invel nodded. "I was in charge of filing their report."

"Then you are also aware of the lacrima that Merlin used to save William's life?"

"Well, technically, it was the moss that was absorbing magic from the lacrima, but yes."

"Well, Elkhart paid a visit to the continent, and he kind of brought it home with him."

Invel's eyes widened. Then he smacked a hand against his forehead. "That idiot! What was he thinking?"

"Well, according to him, he scanned it first to make sure it was safe. The forest was apparently unharmed by its removal, due to the trees now having their own magical reserves."

"Well, at least he's not a complete idiot. But he still shouldn't be messing with this sort of thing."

"We have reason to believe that it can be used to put an end to the random Anima," Nero protested. "We just need to analyze it more."

Invel sighed. "Well, I still can't just give you clearance. Therefore, in order to access those records, you would have to make me a part of this."

Nero smiled. "Deal."

"Any other favors?" Invel asked.

"Oh, yeah," Nero remembered. "Can we spare an anti-motion sickness lacrima? One that can be installed on a wheelchair?"

"So, Mirajane, you can't use magic?" Scarlet inquired.

Mira shook her head.

Scarlet looked at Mystogan, then at Cana. "I guess that means only you two are able to use magic, as well as Bickslow? Out of those of us who are here, that is."

"Indeed," replied Cana.

"As well as Freed, Asuka and Romeo if we can find them."

"Laxus, too," Mystogan added.

"Laxus?"

Mystogan pointed up at the ringed gas giant in the sky. "The way a wizard's inability to use magic in this world works is that that planet emits a special kind of magical radiation," he explained. "However, it only does this to your internal magic supply, whereas Laxus gets his dragonslayer magic from a lacrima in his body, so he has a limited amount of that which he can use. Basically, the radiation will try to crystalize magic that isn't in lacrima form."

"I see," replied Cana. "Intriguing."

"Not only that," Mystogan added, "but I have reason to believe that your friend Hisoka's life is in danger from that same radiation."

"How so?" asked Cana.

"You mentioned that he's a fourth generation dragonslayer, right? Meaning his soul was fused with that of a dragon."

Scarlet nodded.

"The magic keeping the human and dragon souls in his body stable would also be crystalizing from the same radiation. How long did you say those four have been here?"

"When Merlin came in telling us what had happened, it had been three days according to him, and it was another day before we came over. That means it's been a week."

"Then he hasn't got much time," Mystogan replied. "We have to find him, and fast!"

"Sugar Boy and I saw a flash of light that looked like Anima above the royal city a week ago," Hughes mentioned. "We were too busy fleeing to investigate it, but that may have been them."

"Speaking of which, where is Sugar Boy?" Mystogan asked. "He should be with you."

"We split up," replied Hughes. "I'm not certain where he is."

"I see. Well, we can't wait for him to arrive. We have to find Hisoka! Let's go!" He jumped onto the legion. The others exchanged glances, then climbed on. "Coco, he can hold this many people, right?"

"He'll be a bit slow," Coco replied, "but I believe Legy-pyon can do it."

"How slow?"

"I'd give it two days to get to the royal city."

Mystogan gritted his teeth in frustration. "What if we left some people here?"

"He could get there in a day and a half unloaded."

"Well, either way, there's a chance Hisoka will already be dead by then. And we need to be able to fight in case we get interrupted by some rebels, so we can't leave very many people behind. Come on."

The others exchanged glances, then climbed onto the legion.

The flying ship lowered itself to the ground, and three people jumped out. The shortest one turned and waved to the ship. "Thanks for the lift!" She then turned to the building they had been looking for. "Hisoka was right. It is huge." They headed towards the Vistarion library.

"I wonder if they'll let me use my archive," Hibiki wondered. "You said they have anti-magic rune barriers, but I think it would be useful."

"I'm afraid not," Levy replied. "In fact, I don't think Rufus' memorizing ability will work in there."

"It will still work," Rufus corrected. "My incredible memory is a side effect of my magic, but it's still there if my ability to use magic is suppressed."

Levy nodded in understanding. "Well, at least we have that."

The three continued into the library, and stopped at the front desk. Levy cleared her throat.

The librarian looked up. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"We need a pass," Levy requested. "There are certain obscure magics we need to research."

The librarian pushed his glasses up his nose. "And what might this be?" he asked.

"It's sort of Anima-related," Levy explained. "And there are a bunch of unfamiliar magics as well, and some known ancient magics."

The librarian stroked his chin, deep in thought. "Well, there are books on ancient magics on floors minus twenty through minus twelve, as well as references to Anima scattered throughout the library. I'm not sure how to help you beyond that."

"'Minus'?"

"The underground levels," the librarian explained.

"There are underground levels?"

"Of course. Did you really think what you saw from outside was big enough to contain every book ever written?"

Levy realized the logic in that.

"You said minus twenty through minus twelve, right?" asked Hibiki.

The librarian nodded.

"So that's nine floors."

"That would be correct."

"I know you have anti-magic barriers, but is there a chance I could connect my archive magic to the library so that I can use it to access information more quickly? We're in a bit of a hurry."

The librarian briefly thought about this. "Well, we can try, but there are certain protections that I cannot take down, so there's a good chance that I won't be able to do anything."

Hibiki nodded. "Thanks." He turned to Levy and Rufus. "You two can go on without me. I'll catch up."

Invel took the communications lacrima and placed it on top of the data storage lacrima. "Alright," he confirmed to Elkhart, who was on the other end of the line. "Begin transmission."

Elkhart took his scanner and held it between the fallen star and the communications lacrima, then activated it. The data lacrima on Invel's end began glowing as magical data poured into it. Then Elkhart finished, and the scanner in his hand dematerialized. "Done."

Invel picked up the data storage lacrima. "I should be able to find similar data based on this."

"Right," Elkhart replied. "And by the way, thanks for the anti-motion sickness lacrima."

Invel nodded, then headed down the steps into the archives.

Elkhart placed the mystery lacrima, which, for the purpose of the operation, had been dubbed "the fallen star," back in its box, then headed down to the guild library. "Anything?" he asked.

William and Porlyusica turned towards them. William pushed her wheelchair over to him as he approached. "Well, we did find one thing," William replied.

Porlyusica got down from the ladder and approached them. "You said there was a crater around where you first found that lacrima?"

"It was covered by a thick forest," Elkhart replied, "but yes, I believe that was the shape of the terrain."

"I see," Porlyusica acknowledged. "Well, I believe that Lacrima may have come from Edolas."

"Not through the Anima, though," William added. "It drifted here through interstellar space over the course of several thousand years. Then it collided with Earthland seven years ago, when the random Anima first started."

"Weird," Elkhart commented. "I wonder why Akane didn't mention that, since I'm guessing that's what spawned the fear barrier. Surely he would have made a connection."

William shook her head. "That barrier's been around for centuries, though I think the fallen star may have strengthened it. Speaking of which…" she eyed Elkhart suspiciously. "…how were you unaffected by the barrier?"

Elkhart shrugged. "Maybe because I'm too busy dealing with my own personal fears. I mean, magic is affected by emotions, so maybe that protected me."

"What fears?"

Elkhart glared defensively at William. Then his expression softened as he realized she was not trying to be intrusive. "Nothing I'm willing to share with you right now," he simply put. "I'm actually still trying to figure it out myself."

"I see. Well, anyway, that's something we've found. We deduced how long it had been here due to our belief that it may have triggered the random Anima."

Elkhart nodded. "It makes sense. It has much stronger traces of other magics we've found in the random Anima. Can I see the book where you found that?"

Porlyusica pointed to a red, jacketless book sitting on one of the tables. Elkhart walked over, picked it up, and looked through it. His eyes widened, and he held it up.

"This…" he began, and stumbled, looking for words. "This is a book on how all of the magic in Edolas works! And it looks like it's centuries old. How did it end up here?!"

Porlyusica went over to him. "It didn't come from the guild library," she explained. "I brought it over from my house. It's the oldest book I own. I had it with me when I first ended up in Earthland."

"Incredible…" Elkhart sifted through the pages again. "This may be exactly what we need. I mean, the others should keep searching, just in case, but…" he looked through it. "Amazing…" he trailed off as he scanned each page. "So many unfamiliar concepts. I can't wait to read them all. I could even make an invention or two with these concepts!"

"But right now, we should be focusing on the matter at hand," Porlyusica asserted. "When we finish this operation that you started, I'll let you look through it all you like."

Elkhart's eyes glinted with excitement, and he smiled warmly. "Thanks!" Then he snapped back to attention. "Right, so…" He found the pages that William and Porlyusica had been looking through. "Right. So… it looks like the crystal is a fragment of one of two moons which used to orbit… Qucrypso?"

"The gas giant that Edolas orbits," Porlyusica explained. "But we don't have time to read about it. I can explain as needed."

"Right. So, it looks like one of these moons was in a retrograde orbit around Qucrypso, and the two eventually collided. It looks like one of the moons had a curse shield that blocked out this anti-magic radiation from Qucrypso. This is the same radiation that prevents Ethernanos from forming and crystalizes magic on Edolas. The moon in the retrograde orbit was interesting, as its entire surface was coated with solid lacrima. So when the two crashed into each other several thousand years ago, it sent out shards of lacrima with traces of magic that had a bit of curse mixed in – not enough to do anything on its own, but detectable. The magical/cursed explosion created by the collision launched these shards at incredible speeds, sending them out to the stars. So I guess this is one of those shards?"

"That would seem to be the case, yes," Porlyusica replied.

"What if we threw the crystal into, say, a giant source of anti-magic radiation?"

"Where did that idea come from?"

"Random thought. To be fair, a lot of my inventions, as well as my relativity magic were created by random thoughts, so they can actually be useful." Elkhart sifted through the pages a bit more. His eyes widened. "Shit…"

"What?" asked William.

"Hisoka's in danger. It looks like all free-floating magic gets crystalized by this radiation, which would include soul magic. And since Hisoka's a fourth generation dragonslayer, there's plenty of that in his body."

William's eyes widened in fear. "That mean's Akane is also…"

"What do you mean?" asked Elkhart.

"He didn't mention it to the guild," William explained, "but he did tell me and Merlin on the way home from the northwest continent. Akane's also fourth generation."

"I see…" Merlin looked down at the pages. "It doesn't say anything about the rate, and I'm not sure how much magic power is used to fuse human and dragon souls, so I have no idea how much time they have, or whether they're even still alive."

A tear ran down William's left cheek, and she wiped it away. "They'd better both still be alive, and they'd better both get back safely, or I'm going to kill them."

"I trust that they will," Elkhart reassured her. "Anyway, as for my idea about throwing the fallen star into Qucrypso, I think I may be onto something…" he turned back to the book.

The legion pulled in and landed in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall, and ten people jumped off onto the ground. Then the legion turned and flew off on its own.

"What if we need it back?" asked Elfman.

Coco pulled out what looked sort of like a dog whistle, but slightly different. "I can call him. He's trained to respond to this."

They continued into the guild hall.

"Where's Hisoka?" Mystogan demanded.

"Here," a raspy voice replied. Mystogan turned, and his eyes widened at the sight of him.

"I take it you're Hisoka?"

The young man nodded. His skin was sort of greenish, and looked like it had been scraped down with glittery sandpaper. "Well, at least you're still alive." Then he noticed the redhead sitting beside Hisoka, who was in a similar condition. "Wait, another one?"

Akane nodded. "I'm Akane, by the way."

"So, you're also a fourth generation dragonslayer?"

"What gave it away?"

"Maybe the fact that you're in the same condition he is?" Mystogan sarcastically replied. "Well, neither of you have very long left to live."

"Oh, gee! How did you guess?" Hisoka wondered mockingly. "Of course we don't have long left to live! We've been in Edolas for a week and a half, and it's kind of leaving its mark."

Mystogan sighed. "Honestly, I'm surprised you still have the energy left for sarcasm. Based on your current appearance, it looks like you have about a day left to live."

Akane nodded. "That was Hisoka's estimate."

"So we need to get you two back to Earthland, and fast! I can do it right now. I just need to go outside to draw the magic circle…"

"Wait!" Lucy shouted. Everyone fell silent. They could hear the sound of footsteps outside. Earth-Emma slowly ventured over to the doorway and peeked outside. Then she quickly jumped back inside.

"Get down!" she shouted, right before an explosion ripped the guild hall apart, sending rubble flying everywhere. Luckily, Nashi quickly devoured the flames, so nobody was badly injured. As the dust settled, everyone found that they were surrounded by rebels.

"Yeah, we saw that legion," one of them commented, pulling up a pair of binoculars. "And we were able to see that you were on it." He looked over at Mystogan. "Oh, and it looks like you don't really need magic to be powerful. That explosion was one hundred percent magic-free."

"Maybe it's time Edolas got its magic back," Mystogan seethed.

"Oh? And so you got Edolas' magic back, but decided to keep it for yourself?" Edo-Nashi stepped forward.

"I'm telling you, those Anima aren't us!" Mystogan exclaimed.

"Sure they aren't." Edo-Nashi blew them off. "And you totally don't have multiple magic staves strapped to your back."

"I hardly see how that's the point. I used these to get to Earthland and seek help dealing with your stupidity."

"By crushing us? With magic?"

Mystogan sighed in annoyance. "Getting some people over from Earthland to explain things from their side."

"Hasn't this gone on long enough?!" William stormed over to Edo-Nashi. "Ever since the first of the Anima occurred seven years ago, you were convinced that they were attacks from the king, based on what? Anima has been a thing for much longer than King Jellal's been around, and what in the worlds was he attacking you for? You know what this is?! A bloody conspiracy! Someone made some baseless claims, and a bunch of you blew it out of proportion, and a bunch of people have died as a result of your stupidity…" Tears welled in her eyes. "…including my brother…"

"You really think shouting about conspiracies and crying is going to convince me of anything?" Edo-Nashi raised her sword, which appeared to have been repaired. The blade burst into flame, and swung towards William…

Suddenly, Edo-Nashi was hit in the face by an iron pole, and the sword clattered to the ground. The pole then retracted to Merlin's hand, and he stared at his hand incredulously.

"I… can use… magic?" He looked around at the shocked expressions, which seemed to confirm what had just happened. "I see…" He tossed the magical focus Elkhart had given him over to Earth-Nashi. "It looks like I won't be needing this. It works the same way as Asuka's guns. Tetsuryuuken!" He raised an arm, which morphed into a blade with deadly spinning teeth.

"Don't attack the leader," Earth-Nashi requested, activating the fiery blade of the focus weapon. "She's mine."

"So I guess we're fighting now?" Bickslow guessed. "Well, in that case, Baryon Formation!" His dolls circled into a ring, preparing to fire. Mystogan pulled out a staff, and Cana readied her cards. Eallesander remained in the same position, but was secretly ready to make their move at a moment's notice.

"We meet again, me!" Earth-Nashi greeted her counterpart.

"Let's settle this once and for all," Edo-Nashi replied.

Well, it seems things have gotten a bit chaotic. I hope it still makes for a good story. In other words, hope you enjoyed!