CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Arrival

The next morning, the members of Fairy Tail had a hastily made breakfast before jumping back into the carts and back onto the road. The sun was now close to the middle of the sky when, in the distance, Lunara could just barely spy the slightest haze on the horizon. "Hey guys… I think I see Crocus- urp…" Wendy had explained to her before they had left that she couldn't use whatever she had used yesterday to help her motion sickness, because it wouldn't be as effective. Which sucked, because her heart felt ready to jump back up her throat, along with her breakfast. Ash- Natsu- looked at her sympathetically, which didn't help her mood. "It gets worse if you stay awake." Lunara narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" He looked at her one more time, then brought his paw down on her head. The last thing she heard was Lucy snarling at Natsu for hitting her, then her vision faded out.

After a while, her eyes slowly opened. The sun was now farther down in the sky, and many of the wizards were taking naps or talking about the Games. She rose to her paws, forgetting about her motion sickness…

And collapsed on the bench with a whine. Her stomach turned and tumbled like a parcour artist. As she struggled to get back up, she heard several voices talking. Quickly, she lay back down on her side, pretending to still be knocked out. It was Natsu, Lucy, and Porlyusica. Porlyusica was holding a large leather book, skimming through pages and stopping every now and then to point to a page and talking to Natsu and Lucy about something. She perked her ears to see what they were talking about.

"… an ancient art that was long abandoned, Golden Spirit Fyre is a magic that was created to chase off evil dieties and demons. But unlike Dragonslayer Magic or God Slayer Magic, it was made for chasing off enemies rather than killing them. But after a serious accident, it was banned by the Magic Council."

Lucy growled. "Does it say what the accident was?" Porlyusica skimmed through several more pages before stopping. "Apparently, a guild known as Nevermore wielded it against the Magic Council. Their goal was to defeat the Council and get access to the Etherious Cannon. Like Avatar, they believed that if they caused enough deaths, they would succeed in summoning Zeref to them. But the Council stopped them and banned Golden Spirit Fyre from being used. But that was the old council. The new council has allowed the Fyre to be used again."

Natsu sighed and stretched his legs. "Good. So we're not criminals. Does it go into details about Nevermore?" Porlyusica scanned the page and shook her head. "No, but it gives details on something else…"

"Nevermore never was a dark guild before the rebellion. All of the members used Golden Spirit Fyre, but they originally used it for good. They were a guild dedicated to eradicating Zeref and his followers. They were known for journeying through the land to distant villages, slaying demons and monsters who were threatening them. But, according to rumours, one day no one left the Nevermore Guild Hall. And for two days, everything was quiet. No one was able to contact the members, not even their family members. Then, terrible screams were heard from the hall…"

"When they came out, they were never the same. Their hearts and souls were darkened and twisted, and they thought of nothing but killing others. Some believed that Zeref came and possessed them, forcing them to join sides with the very enemy they had been trying to defeat. Others say the spirits of the demons and monsters rose from the dead and tortured them until they were driven insane. But one rumour agrees that they overused the Golden Spirit Fyre and drove themselves mad with the overwhelming power. Because of that, they couldn't tell who was a friend or foe. They went on a killing spree. And the first to die were their family members, not knowing how twisted their loved ones were."

Natsu and Lucy shuddered. Lunara didn't blame them. She remembered realizing that the one who had sent the Hellhound had been her father. Having a parent trying to kill you sounded awful, but welcoming home your sister or son or father after they were locked away for so long, only to have them slaughter you sounded horrible. No wonder the council had it banned. Another incident like that would be devastating. She groaned as her stomach gave another heave. "Kill me now…" she whined. Porlyusica, Natsu, and Lucy jumped in surprise. "How long were you there?" snarled Natsu. Lucy whacked him over the head. "BAKA! She's in on the whole 'turn-us-back-into-humans' plan!"

"OW! That's the second time today you've hit me!"

"You totally deserve it!"

"You deserve it more!"

"You deserve it twenty-seven more times than I do!"

"You deserve it thirty-zero-nineteen more times than I do!"

"What's that supposed to mean, baka?"

Lunara groaned. "You two fight more than a mated couple."

They turned and glared at her. "WE'RE NOT MARRIED OR MATED!"

After another hour of stomach-turning hell, the haze in the distance drew to a giant utopia of sound and smells. Lunara had enjoyed the great vastness of Sky City, and Magnolia had seemed so busy for her, but Crocus was ASTOUNDING! The beautiful flowers and trees were so much more pretty then the stubby shrubs and sprouts that grew in the indoor gardens, and the smells… good Moon God, the smells! She could smell pastries, and flowers, and candy, and delicious meats…

Her stomach couldn't take it all. She emptied the last of her half-digested breakfast out the side of the cart.

The cart bumped down the road over to a roadside inn right outside Crocus. "Sorry" she heard the driver say. "the other guilds are staying in inns like this, too." Porlyusica smiled mysteriously, then hid it when she saw Lunara staring. "How come?" she heard someone say. "It's because this is one of the only inns that will accept pets." The wizard frowned. "I don't think it would be because of the exceeds, because they've been accepted in the past… so why would they do something like this now?" the driver smiled. "You'll see. I worked as one of the organizers for a long time, and they've got something new planned for this year…" he refused to say anything else.

Lunara wondered if Porlyusica knew something they didn't, too.

Once they entered the inn, Natsu could tell that this inn was different. There were tons of pets everywhere, and pawprints were scattered across the floor. Just then, he recognized someone…

"Sting!" the fellow dragonslayer was talking with the innkeeper at the front desk. Lector was perched on his shoulder. He could hear Sing arguing. "Why did they spring something like this last-minute? I can understand that they need the space, but storing animals in the guild hall?" Lector shrugged. "It's the only place big enough, yes…"

Natsu darted up with a joyful bark and rubbed his muzzle on Sting's leg. He looked down to see the playful dog staring up at him, panting and tail wagging happily. "Why hello there, aren't you friendly?" he noticed the Fairy Tail mark on Natsu's shoulder. "So you're one of Fairy Tail's fighters? Excellent! I can't wait to see you against Gale…" Natsu cocked his head. Who was Gale?

The master entered the inn. "Sting. Good to see you here!" Sting nodded. "You too, Makarof! But where's Natsu?" the master froze. Um about that…"

But Sting didn't let him. "Oh, he's probably passed out of motion sickness. Well, tell him I look forward to fighting him!" he walked off with Lector, discussing… animal food?

Something was up with this year's Grand Magic Games. And he was determined to find out what.