Edolas Lia stood in front of her with a knife gripped in her hand, orange long hair gathered in a loose ponytail, she was wearing a grey leather sleeveless halter top, black gloves, with black leggings and black mid-calf boots.
"Well I am you…in a sense" Lia told her as she removed her hood, surprising Edolas Lia, but Edolas Lia didn't show that surprise she just narrowed her eyes as the gears in her head turned.
Lia and Edo Lia sat on the ground as Lia finished explaining where she came from and why she was here.
"It's a hard to believe story" Edo Lia muttered "And I thought she was messing with me back then…"
Lia frowned not understanding and Edo Lia didn't seem like she was going to explain.
"And you say your world's Fairy Tail are that giant Lacrima, that appeared in the capital?" Edo Lia asked
"Probably" Lia answered "Is there a Fairy Tail here too?" Lia concluded given she was staring at her mirror image right now.
"Yeah, used to be a member in it too" Edo Lia told her "Since magic is prohibited, they're a dark guild, anyway I was heading towards the capital myself, if it's as you say, I will help"
Lia raised an eyebrow but stood never the less as Edo Lia stood up as well. "It's just a four days' journey from here" Edo Lia told her as Lia hummed in agreement and both started walking
"If you don't mind me asking, why leave Fairy Tail?" Lia asked
"Felt like it" Edo Lia told her shrugging but Lia saw her reach for her left hand and the slight stiffness.
"So what do you do then?" She asked "Those guys back at the village were terrified when they saw my face."
"I gather information" She told her "Even if by force and then distribute it to certain people" Lia raised her eyebrow at the half truth.
"You almost made two holes in me back there" Lia told her dead panning "Is being an informant all there is to it?"
"The less you know the better" Edo Lia told her dangerously, with a look that could rival Erza's "Now stop being nosy"
"I am just curious" Lia told her shrugging "Beside you can't tell you don't want to ask about my world?"
"I do but I have something called restraint" Edo Lia replied not sparing her a glance
"Ask away if you want" Lia told her "From what I can tell so far, there's so many differences. For one you don't have magic in your bodies"
"And you do?" Edo Lia asked surprised "The only one here like that are the exceed"
"It's the normal in our world and what are exceed?" Lia asked
"They are considered gods here, but in my opinion they are just cats with wings" Edo Lia replied as Lia immediately thought of Happy and Carla which immediately made her remember a certain blonde.
"Oh god" Lia stopped in her tracks "According to Mystogan he already sent a friend of mine here, I need to find her" She had already told Edo Lia about Mystogan when she explained, Edo Lia turned towards her.
"Who is she?" She asked her hands on her hip.
"Lucy, she's a blonde, brown eyes, about this ta…" Lia was describing when Edo Lia hushed her
"I know how blondie looks" Edo Lia grumbled "I should have expected you probably know most of the people I know" She sighed "Well, I did hear about Lucy getting spotted in Louen, I thought it was the Lucy I knew but it might be your friend, so let's check it out"
Lia nodded as they walked the rest of the way exchanging questions and answers, it was obvious Edo Lia had a curiosity like Lia. Eventually they moved to the topic about what Edo Lia knew about the Lacrima, which wasn't much, just that it was in royal city.
Lia found out that the town she was last in was Louen, and the town they were heading for now was Sycca. According to Edo Lia with Lucy getting spotted in Louen, there was no way she was still there, that she had probably left the town since the guards would be looking for her.
Lia figured Lucy would do the same thing since staying in a place where guards were chasing you wouldn't be the smartest plans.
They reached that town by night and found a hotel room to stay in, after showering both sat down to discuss their next move. Lia appreciated the fact she could stop using her sensing since it was draining her out to sense for everything.
"I'm heading out to find some info on Lucy" Edo Lia told her empathizing the 'I'. "You stay here"
The tone used made Lia nod and obey as Edo Lia got up to leave they heard noise from one of the rooms.
"Don't go around prancing in a towel!" The voice shrieked loudly, but even though Lia recognized it.
"That sounds like Lucy" Edo Lia was the one to state, another thing was shouted but not as loudly as before. Until Lucy shrieked again.
"Care, damn it!" Lucy shrieked loudly, Lia tried to sense for magic and caught them.
"That's definitely Lucy…Happy and Carla" Lia said as she focused again "Natsu and Wendy too, and if they have magic they're definitely from my world"
"Talk about luck" Edo Lia muttered "Let's go!"
They both made their way towards the room where the voices where coming from. The room was just one door down.
"What, Natsu? Wanna peek?" Lia heard Lucy asked from the other side
"Please, stop it!" Lia heard Lucy reply which made her and her Edolas self freeze.
"Don't tell me…" Edo Lia started face palming "Tell me Earthland Lucy have a multiple personality disorder"
"No, she doesn't" Lia replied chuckling nervously as she was about to knock but Edo Lucy pushed her out of the way and started fumbling with the lock.
"You know you don't have to…" Lia started but was interrupted by Edo Lia declaring she got it as she opened the door.
Both Lia stared at the group inside, Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla sat on the couch while, three Lucy, two in towels and one actually dressed stood in front of them.
"Hey guys" Lia greeted nervously as Edo Lia stood beside her.
After Lucy and Edo Lucy got dressed, Lia told them what happened since she came back to Magnolia and then got sent here.
"Mystogan told me he sent you ahead, so I though finding you would be best" Lai finished to Lucy, she was using her magic sense to recognize her from Edo Lucy who had no magic in her.
"Can you use magic too Lia?" Wendy asked her as she nodded
"Didn't Mystogan give you the pills?" Lia asked them as they explained that Mystogan didn't send them here.
"So that's why I can use magic?" Lucy wondered as Lia nodded
"Do you have any extra?" Carla asked her
"No, sorry, you'll have to just rely on Lucy and I" Lia told them, meanwhile, Edo Lia and Edo Lucy were caught in a glaring competition.
"But you two look exactly alike two" Natsu noted looking between the two Lia "and even though, there's only two of you it's still hard to tell you apart" He said to the two Lucy.
Edo Lucy looked away from Edo Lia and turned to Lucy "If I remember right, there was a spirit that could change your hairstyle, right?"
"Right, Let's ask the spirit of the crab!" Lucy replied summoning cancer
"It's nice to see you again-ebi" He said, Edo Lia hid her amazement behind an uncaring mask.
"He's a crab spirit, but ends his sentences with -ebi?" Edo Lucy pointed
"I knew you'd point that out!" Lucy said "You go, me!" Cancer gave Edo Lia a haircut, as her hair was left really short.
"Would you like to change your hairstyle too-ebi?" Cancer asked Edo Lia who glared at him
"Touch my hair…you die" She threatened him as he retreaded back and the rest sweat dropped at her.
"Are you sure it's okay being this short?" Lucy asked Edo Lucy
"Is there a custom on Earthland about taking care of your hair, too?" Edo Lucy asked
"Well, all girls think like that-ebi." Cancer told her
"It's one of the few girly things most girls share" Lia agreed
"Girls, huh?" Edo Lucy wondered and she and Lia shared a look before Lia looked away, Edo Lucy walked to the window "You'd just be stupid to think of being a boy or a girl in this world…We've got enough to handle just surviving…"
"But everyone looked like they were having fun…" Happy noted
"It's Fairy Tail's favorite game…called pretending the world is made of sunshine and rainbows" Edo Lia said sourly crossing her hands and leaning against the wall
"If we didn't force ourselves to keep laughing, our hearts would break just like that…" Edo Lucy replied "Plus, there are people who still need us, even in this world" before turning a look towards Edo Lia "So, even if we're now 'Dark', we've got to keep the guild going"
Lia smiled at that while Edo Lia tusked.
"But I guess that by itself isn't going to cut it…" Edo Lucy added surprising Edo Lia who caught on her words "Never mind…"
Everyone turned in for the night, as Lia and Edo Lia returned to their room, they both lied in their respective beds.
"Hey…" Edo Lia called although she sounded nervous "In your world, how is Laxus and Eiran?"
"They're okay, Eiran and I go on jobs all the time, he should be in that Lacrima with the others" Lia told her "Laxus though, I think he's okay, he was expelled for something he did and he's traveling around."
"Good to know, in this world they're dead" Edo Lia told her
Lia sat up looking at her counterpart who had her left hand above her and with the gloves still on for whatever reason. "Is that why you left Fairy Tail?"
"Partially" She replied "Mostly because it's a guild full of wimps"
"It didn't sound like that" Lia told her "Lucy said they were trying to survive…to keep the guild going"
"That's not enough!" She replied sharply "What's the point of surviving, just for the sake of staying alive? What's the point to just keep running? If they don't fight nothing changes!"
With the awkward silence between them, Lia took a breath.
"You know back in Earthland; I just came back to the guild a little over a month ago" Lia told her before chuckling "For some reason it feels like it's been longer though"
"You left the guild before too?" Edo Lia asked seeming interested
"No…not exactly" Lia told her "Four years ago, I went on a job and I don't know what happened on my way back from it, but I ended up going missing for four years, and I don't remember what happened in them."
"You haven't found any clues?" Edo Lia asked her "Or you haven't even tried?"
"Haven't tried, honestly I am trying to just forget it" Lia admitted
"Not thinking about the problem won't make it go away" She told Lia "You're as wimpy as those Fairy taileres here"
"Maybe it won't go away, but do I really want to find out?" Lia said "Even if the memories aren't here, every time I think about it, I feel…" Lia stopped "…broken" She couldn't a find a better word.
"Still…If not for yourself, you owe it to those around you" Edo Lia told her surprising her "To them it's like you came back from the dead, they deserve to know, besides you lost an experience, what hurts usually adds to us, in more ways than one" Edo Lia sat up and looked at Lia "It might not be easy, but what's easy isn't usually worth it"
"So, How were they in this world?" Lia asked changing the subject, if Edo Lia was like her, she would want to talk about them, it helped to talk about the people she lost, or at least it did with her mother.
"Eiran was the best big brother you could ask for; he was always taking care of everyone, cheering everyone on when things got rough" Edo Lia stated with a small sad smile as she remembered the good times "He would joke around and he even finally managed to confess to the girl he loved before he…"
"Looks like Eiran isn't that different from the Eiran in my world" Lia told her smiling
"Laxus though he always annoyed the hell out of me" Edo Lia turned "He would always tease me, and find a way to argue with me, we rarely agreed on anything. But he…" She trailed off remembering him "It's late we better go to sleep" before she turned around looking at the wall without saying anything. Lia laid back down, she couldn't imagine those two dying, she doesn't know how she would feel, if she would be able to even breathe. She made a mental note to try and find Laxus when they went back.
The next day they were in Natsu and the others room, as Lucy informed them that her Edolas self had left before they woke up leaving a note behind.
"About that…" Edo Lia turned to them "I am going to have to leave you too, I will try and meet up with you in the royal city but I have somethings to handle"
"Okay, thanks for bringing me here" Lia told her as Edo Lia turned walking outside,
"you okay with that?" Lucy asked her as Lia nodded
"It's our friends" Lia told her "Despite it all, it has nothing to do with them"
Near Mid-day Edo Lia stopped in a back alley and just waited there, till two figures approached her.
"Gajeel" Edo Lia acknowledged the Gajeel in the suit but looked with shock at the other one.
"Lia meet Gajeel from another world called Earthland" Edo Gajeel introduced.
"Didn't expect the informant to be you" Gajeel noted
Meanwhile, the others walked behind a very happy Lucy who held a book.
"She's already back in high spirits" Happy noted
"She's happy she found that rare book at the bookstore, right?" Wendy said
"It's not rare, just informing" Lia corrected she wanted to read the book too and honestly was excited at the prospect of new knowledge.
"What kind of book did you buy?" Natsu asked
"A book on the history of this world!" She informed him "I bet you guys want to learn about this world too, right?"
"Not really" Natsu said as Lia said "Yup"
"This history book tells everything!" Lucy said holding the book high "This world is fascinating!"
While Lucy went on Lia's attention turned to the gatherings of people, till a sudden shade covered them.
"What's this?" Lucy asked
"That's…!" Carla surprised as they all stared at the sky
"An airship?" Natsu wondered
"And it's definitely belongs to the kingdom" Lia noted as they stared at the guards running in front of them
"It's the royal army!" Lucy noted as Wendy pushed them to hide.
They listened to the guards as they said the magic extraction was the just two days away, just as the airship landed.
"Giant lacrima, they say?" Natsu wondered
"That's everyone from Magnolia…" Wendy said
"They're extracting the magic power two days from now?" Lucy wondered
"And the capital is three days away on foot" Lia said "We won't make it"
"If they start extracting the magic power, everyone will be gone for good." Carla stated
"Can we steal that ship?" Natsu wondered
"Steal it?" Wendy was shocked "That airship?"
"Normally, that's not necessary, right?" Carla wondered "Just sneaking on board should be fine!"
"Well this isn't a normal situation" Lia said agreeing that was there best plan "Besides stealing it means less guards to deal with in the royal city"
"Don't encourage him!" Carla retorted
"And I hate hiding." Natsu added
"It's rare for you to suggest transportation, Natsu…" Happy stated, Natsu chuckled
"As long as I have Wendy's Troia, riding stuff is…" He didn't get to finish as Wendy reminded him that she can't use magic "I take that plan back"
"Well, I vote we do it!" Lucy stated excited "We won't make it otherwise, right?"
"Besides I can help with your motion sickness as soon as we're abroad" Lia added since they didn't have time right now, and the spell took a few minutes to cast
"But how?" Wendy asked
"With my magic!" Lucy stated proudly "You remember, right? I'm the strongest right now!"
"And I have magic too" Lia added sweat dropping at the blonde
"I figured it out when fighting in Louen." Lucy continued "Basically, magic is more advance on Earthland than it is here."
"That's probably true, yeah" Wendy agreed as Lucy came to it Natsu and Happy were talking to Lia
"We're depending on you this time" Natsu said
"Aye" Happy agreed
"Don't ignore me!" Lucy screeched at them.
Lucy came out of hiding running at the guards. "Now, Watch!" She pulled one of her keys "Gate of the Lion, I open thee! Loke!" Although they were shocked when instead of Loke came Virgo. "Huh?"
"I apologize, Princess" Virgo said to the blonde
"Virgo?" Natsu wondered confused
"Princess?" Lia wondered beside him seeing as this was the first time she has seen this spirit; she did have the pleasure of meeting Aquarius though on that one mission she went on with team Natsu.
"Wait, what's going on?" Lucy asked Virgo
"Brother is on a date, and cannot be summoned at the moment." Virgo informed her making Lucy wonder about calling him brother.
"Yes, Leo requested I address him that way earlier." Virgo told her
"He's such an idiot!" Lucy said crying
"The celestial spirt sure are…unique" Lia struggled with words chuckling beside Natsu
"Aye" Happy agreed
"That's Lucy!" The guards shouted bringing them back to reality "Capture her!"
"Crap! I figured that Loke would beat them all!" Lucy said
"Princess…with your permission if I use my full power" Virgo told her "…I can even dance!"
"Definitely unique" Lia sweat dropped before she noted the guards now surrounding them "My turn" Lia aimed her hands at the guards in front of them "Magic missile: Fire!" instead of a number of fire balls there was only one and was easily blocked by their weapons
"What was that?!" Natsu asked her
"Well I usually use the magic around us" She told him "And with no magic here, my attacks are useless" Her weakness had just been amplified
"It's too late!" Lucy panicked "What will we do?!"
"Guess we have no choice, but to play by their rules…" Natsu stated pulling a sword that released fire
"I know how to use it now!" Wendy pulling her own magic weapon
"Forget about attack spells" Lia turned to the guards "Body enchant: Celero! Robur!" The enchantments were cast on her and just as Natsu and Wendy were thrown back, Lia appeared in front of the guards.
She kicked one with a round house kick before teleporting out of the way as another tried to hit her. She kept going attacking and teleporting but with too many guards she was hit and thrown back.
"There's too many" She noted standing up and looking around her, they didn't have an escape root too.
"This is bad! The airship is leaving!" Carla shouted as they watched the airship fly away, they were being apprehended by the guards
"Everyone!" Lia called in worry as she kept trying to resist the guards around her but kept getting surrounded, she wasn't going to run by herself, just as a vehicle approached them at an astonishing speed.
But one thing they noticed about it was the Fairy tail mark on the side, just as it stopped beside them.
"A magic 4-wheeler?" Lucy wondered
"That's Fairy Tail's mark!" Happy noted
"That's…" Lia stared at the driver
"I heard from Lucy. Get in." The driver told them, they all hurried jumping in "We're gonna fly. Don't fall out." Just as the wheels caught on fire and the vehicle moved forward "Go fire!"
Lia, Wendy holding Carla and Natsu were cramped in the back seat while Lucy held Happy sat beside Edo Natsu in the front seat.
"Wow! We escaped just like that!" Happy noted as they were miles out of the city in a matter of no time.
"You saved us…" Lucy told him
"Thank you very much!" Wendy thanked him
"We were in really tight spot back then, thanks!" Lia told him before turning to the sick Natsu "Sorry I can't reach from here; you'll just have to hold it!"
"You're going to the royal city, right?" Edo Natsu asked them "This'll be faster than that beat-up airship. The fastest man in Fairy Tail…" He introduced himself "That's me, 'Fireball' Natsu."
"Natsu?!" Everyone around her were shocked
"You guys didn't notice?" Lia asked them
"But…" Lucy was confused "Natsu! This is…Edolas's Natsu?"
"Just like Lucy said…the splitting' image." Edo Natsu said to Lucy He then looked to Lia "I didn't believe her when she said Lia was in Fairy Tail" He turned to Natsu "And that's the other me? Lame…"
"Our Natsu can't handle transportation." Wendy informed him
"Is that really supposed to be me?" Edo Natsu asked "Just like my nickname, "Fireball", I'm a wizard that specializes in deliveries."
"This magic 4-wheeler doesn't have a SE plug!" Happy noted
"SE plug?" Wendy wondered
"Self energy plug" Carla told her
"It's a device that converts magic power of the driver into fuel." Carla informed her
"People don't have magic power in them here" Lia told them "So it wouldn't serve any purpose here"
"So then it just runs on magic alone?" Wendy asked
"Oh? Looks like Edolas's cars are way more advance than Earthland's…" Carla noted just as Edo Natsu stopped the car
"Hey, what was that all of a sudden?" Lucy asked him
"I wouldn't say that" Edo Natsu told them "As magic power is a limited resource, so is the magic power for fuel. It's tricky to get now. So, this is as far as I take you. Get out!"
Wendy and Lucy stared at him with shock.
"If I go any further, I won't make it back to the guild." He told them "They went and transferred somewhere again…"
"I'm alive again!" Natsu said while standing outside
"Fair enough!" Lia told him getting out herself, she understood it wasn't their fight, it wasn't their friends, the fact they were providing any help was more than expected.
"Looks like the other me and Lia catches on fast!" Edo Natsu told them "Now, everyone out!" He pushed the rest of them out of the car "Go right ahead and fight against the kingdom…but don't get us involved. This time, since Lucy…" He looked towards Lucy "Not you. Since the Lucy I know asked me, I lent you a hand. But I'm not going to get my hands dirty. I just want to continue cruising…"
"Hey" Natsu leaned against the car "You get out, too!" he forced Edo Natsu out of the car
"Hey, What the hell are you…" Edo Natsu freaked out
"I have something to say to you, other me!" Natsu told him
"Let's hope it's something important" Lia sweat dropped feeling sorry for Edo Natsu
"Stop it! L-let me go!" Edo Natsu tried struggling "Put me down!"
"You…" Natsu turned to him after putting him on the ground "How can you handle transportation like that?!" Lia face palmed
"That's what he says?!" Lucy was surprised too
They were all shocked though when Edo Natsu shook and stuttered hiding his face with his arms.
"I'm sorry!" Edo Natsu said surprising them with tears in his eyes "I don't know either!"
The group stared at Edo Natsu surprised as the said guy kept shaking in his place.
"Huh?" Natsu said weirded out "Are you really the me from before?"
"Y-Yes! I'm always told that my personality changes when I get behind the wheel…" Edo Natsu answered
"This is the real Edo Natsu!" Happy freaked out
"Please don't yell!" Edo Natsu said covering his ears "It's scary…"
"Wanna try doing a mirror act together?" Lucy teased the shock struck Natsu.
"I'm sorry! I'm Sorry" Edo Natsu kept apologizing "B-But I can't! I just came this far because Lucy asked me!"
"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself." Wendy told him trying to calm him down.
"Yeah, and it doesn't seem like you'd be much help anyway." Carla said
"Are you perhaps Wendy?" Edo Natsu asked her as she nodded "You're all small and cute! And you, sir, are the me from Earthland?"
"Who're you calling sir?" Natsu asked him
"He's being polite, maybe you should learn from him" Lia told Natsu chuckling
"And you're Lia, right?" He turned to her as she smiled nodding "You're just like how she was when she was with the guild still"
"I'm Happy" Happy introduced "and that's Carla"
"And I'm…well, I think you know by now." Lucy smiled as she walked up to him but he freaked out and hid behind the car apologizing.
"Take it a little easier on me over there, would ya?" Natsu told her
"Our Lucy told me to carry you all here and that's why I did it…" Edo Natsu told them as he showed them the royal city from over the cliff.
"That's…" Lucy was surprised
"Is that the Royal City?" Happy wondered
"I guess you're named 'Fireball' for a reason" Lia commented
"Oh, how pretty!" Wendy admired
"Wait, what?" Natsu slung his arm around Edo Natsu "If we've arrived tell us that in the first place!" causing Edo Natsu to start apologizing again "Great! I didn't think we'd get here this early!"
"Somewhere down there is the lacrima that they turned everyone into." Lucy said
"And it's about time we saved them" Lia said
"Let's hurry up and go!" Carla added running ahead followed by Wendy then the rest.