This marks the beginning to the Sun Village Arc. I expect it to take four, maybe five chapters max. Regardless of how long it is, I'm on a roll once more. While I might still not update as frequently as I used to a couple of years ago, I'm going to start making actual progress with this story. It's about time I got to treating it in my spare time here at college.

As always, please review and thanks for reading!

Chapter 21: Dreaming to New Adventures

Flame.

That was all she felt. Heat normally wouldn't affect her too much, but this was a burning force she could not ignore. It was overwhelming in its wildness and intensity. Had she been capable of speaking, she was certain the only sound coming out of her mouth would be screams.

"Are you listening…?"

Hearing that voice caught her off-guard. She knew it in some corner of herself, but couldn't recall who it belonged to- not in this oppressive fire.

"You must hurry…save me..while there is still strength in my heart…"

"Please, hear me!"

All of a sudden, the flames flared up and consumed her. It burned to the point that she couldn't remain in this horrible dream any longer.

With a gasp, Lisanna sat bolt upright, sweating while her chest heaved for air. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. After flooding the sink with cold water and splashing her face, the intense heat flowing through her skin faded away just as quickly as it had begun. She leaned against the sink and closed her eyes in an effort to calm down and settle her breathing.

"Are you alright?"

She blinked up at the mirror to see Natsu behind her, onyx eyes narrowed in concern. He stood in the doorway for a moment, "You just flew out of the bed all of a sudden. Did you feel sick?"

Lisanna shook her head, "Just a bad dream…"

He walked up behind her and moved his palm to touch her forehead. She closed her eyes at his touch, for Natsu's warmth was comforting to her compared to the deadly inferno in her dreams. It was strange, she reflected, how different kinds of flames had different emotions or feelings to them. Then again, that was what made Natsu's heat so gentle to her.

"You have a fever, but it's going down pretty fast…" he muttered, "I'll get you a drink. Do you want to go lay back down?"

She nodded, "Yeah, just for a bit. We should be getting up soon, anyway…we need to go to the guild."

"Take your time. If you're feeling sick, I can cover a job today," Natsu offered her a grin, which she returned before he left to go get her drink.

Lisanna made her way back to her room and sat down for a minute, running the dream through her head again. She had processed it only once by the time Natsu got back with a glass of water. Gratefully, she took the drink and put it all down steadily, setting the empty glass down with a sigh of relief.

He sat beside her and rubbed her back, "Bad dream, right? What happened?"

She shook her head in bewilderment, "I don't really get it, but…I was on fire…Not like your fire, but the dangerous kind."

"My fire is dangerous," Natsu smirked cheekily.

Lisanna giggled and punched his shoulder playfully, "You know what I mean. It wasn't a friendly fire. The thing is, though…there was a voice in the flames asking me to hear it…asking me to save someone…"

He scratched the back of his head, "Weird. I didn't think fire could talk."

"Because it can't," she sighed tiredly, "Fire is a force of nature..there's no voice to it. The whole thing was just a bad dream…"

"Probably," Natsu wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, "Well, the bad dream is gone now. Do you want to sleep a bit longer?"

Lisanna smiled and snuggled into his embrace, "If you let me stay like this, I might not get up at all…"

"Don't tempt me," he chuckled, settling down with her for a bit longer. Eventually they had to go to the guild, but until then, there was just peaceful and sleepy warmth.

"Hmm~hm-hmm~" Mira hummed as she rubbed shampoo though her hair.

Lisanna was beside her, lathering her skin with soap, "I still can't believe there's a public bath like this in the guild. The town really went all out rebuilding the guild!"

Lucy was in the water nearby and stretched, "Mm~ this feels so nice…"

"With a place like this here, I won't want to do any work!" Cana exclaimed, a shot glass in her hand as she enjoyed the soaking bath.

"Ever since the Grand Magic Games, job requests have just been pouring in," Yukino murmured beside Lisanna.

"It's been so hectic…" Mira sighed, "It's enough to make you dizzy."

Levy stretched her arms, "True, that's why it's important to let your body relax once in a while…"

"Didn't you have a job, Levy?" Lucy asked.

The bluenette shrugged, "I did, but Jet and Droy insisted they go on their own. Something about being able to do work on their own or something."

"Speaking of working on their own, Sting and Gray went off a couple of days ago. I haven't seen them come back yet…" Lucy said thoughtfully.

Lisanna blinked in surprise, "Really? That's certainly a rarity! I haven't seen Sting do a partner mission with anyone besides Natsu in so long!"

"I'm sure Lector tagged along, but it's still pretty unexpected," Mira agreed as she rinsed her hair out.

Yukino shook her head, "Well, the client asked for them, so I suppose it was just situational."

"While we're on the subject of people taking off for jobs, didn't Wendy leave with Erza earlier?" Levy asked.

"That's right," Mira confirmed, stepping into the water, "Apparently, the job reward was some ultra-rare sweets. They went at it with their eyes twinkling. You should've seen them."

Cana arched an eyebrow, "Erza? You sure? I'm pretty sure Erza's been chilling over there for a while…"

To prove her point, she gestured to the far end of the bath, where sure enough, a red-haired woman was soaking in the bath.

Lucy stared in confusion, "Erza? Is that you?"

The woman stood up and in just a moment, the girls froze.

"Hey, blondie~" Flare Corona giggled as she stood up from the water.

"Raven Tail's Flare?!" Yukino gasped.

Levy's eyes got huge, "What's she doing here?!"

"You bitch!" Cana shouted with a card flashing into her hand. She charged Flare, but before she could attack, Lucy tackled her to the ground.

"Lucy! What gives?!" the Card Mage protested.

"It's ok," Lucy reassured her, "She..isn't such a bad person, after all."

Flare shyly looked away, but her hair lengthened and grabbed several sponges, then started scrubbing Cana absolutely everywhere, "I can wash you…every single spot…"

"Th-this is incredible!" Cana squealed in amazement.

The red-head put her fingers together uncertainly, "I left Raven Tail…but I don't have a place to go now…"

Lucy smiled, "Why don't we try asking Master if you can join?"

Flare blushed and smiled back a bit.

"Ehh?!" Levy gasped.

Lisanna was staring with wide eyes, "She's gonna join Fairy Tail?"

From the corner of the room, Juvia was watching with a towel wrapped around her body and a suspicious look on her face. The last thing Juvia needs is more competition for Gray!

"But I don't wanna join Fairy Tail," Flare snickered.

"THEN DON'T SHOW UP OUT OF THE BLUE LIKE THAT!" The girls shrieked as one.

Lucy walked back to her apartment with Plue beside her. She felt so good after soaking in the water, "Wahh~ that new bath is great..it's so much bigger than the tiny one back home…I need to pay for rent soon, though…maybe I should do a job like Sting."

Upon entering her house, she found Erza, Wendy, and Charle with a huge box of sweets sitting in her living room.

"Welcome home!" Erza said, a cup of tea in her hand.

"WELL THIS IS NOSTALGIC!" Lucy screamed, "BREAKING INTO MY HOUSE AGAIN?!"

Wendy scratched the back of her head apologetically, "Sorry, but we had so many sweets, we decided to share the bounty…so we kind of let ourselves in."

At the prospect of free candy, all was forgiven by Lucy, "Really? Thank you!"

She set her stuff down, "So, the job went off without a hitch?"

Erza's eyes twinkled in triumph, "It went perfectly."

Charle had a sucker in her mouth, "On another subject…have Lector and the others gotten back yet?"

"Hmm…" Lucy put her finger to her lip, "Now that you mention it, they haven't been back in three days…Although if memory serves, they said the job would be really easy…"

Erza frowned, "Given that it's Sting and Gray, they're both quite strong, but…to be gone for three days…"

Wendy shrugged, "They should be nearby. Shall we go check on them?"

"Sure!" Lucy exclaimed, "Let me get ready!"

After a few hours of trekking, they found a monster, probably a troll of some kind, unconscious and beaten. The beast was huge, but it's face had been utterly crushed.

"Well, there's the monster from the request…" Erza muttered.

Wendy glanced around, "Where's Sting and Gray?"

"Guys…help…me…"

The girls looked to the side in alarm to find Lector struggling towards them on a small cane of wood.

"Lector! What happened?!" Lucy demanded.

The red exceed gave out a huge sigh, "Well…"

"GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY, YOU GODDAMN FLASHLIGHT!"

"THAT'S MY LINE, YOU PERVERTED ICEPOP!"

Gray and Sting finally came into view, beaten and bruised, but just from each other. They were still fighting, punching and kicking and just beating the crap out of their guild mate.

"Uh…" Wendy managed.

Erza rolled her eyes, "Just the usual, huh…"

"And we were worried, too…" Lucy sighed.

Charle had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling, "Lector, have they been fighting for three days now?"

"Oh yeah," Lector finally collapsed, too dizzy to keep standing, "They've also been eating and sleeping in between as well…"

"Oh my…If that's not a passionate fight…" Charle murmured in amusement.

Erza stepped in, "Come on, you two…not right now…"

Without so much as glancing at her, Sting and Gray punched Erza in the face, "SHUT UP!"

Their watching guild mates blanched and dove for cover. After realizing they'd hit something other than themselves, the two men glanced at the Swordswoman.

Erza looked positively pissed, "Hoh…"

Sting's eyes bulged, "Oh, fuck! I hit Erza!"

"What's she doing here?!" Gray screamed in horror.

Needless to say, the shrieks of pain which sounded through the forest for the next twenty minutes or so were by no means pleasant.

Back at the guild the next day, Sting and Gray were more annoyed with each other than ever.

"I ain't ever going on another job with that asshole again," Sting muttered.

Natsu grinned, "Yeah, ice princess is a pain to work with."

"Shut it, you idiots," Gray retorted, "The request was withdrawn, so we got no money."

Romeo was at the same table as the feuding mages and sighed, "You guys are like big kids…"

"They're hopeless," Lector decided.

"Aye!" agreed Happy.

"Fro thinks so too!" squeaked the green exceed.

Mira came back into the guild after picking up their mail, which consisted entirely of job requests. She called over to Makarov, who was, as usual, seated on the bar, "Master! An urgent request has arrived."

"Hm? Another?" Makarov mused as he sorted through the jobs, "Since the Grand Magic Games, requests for specific wizards have just been pouring in…You kids have gone and made yourselves quite popular, eh?"

The old man held up a request form and shouted, "Natsu, Sting, Gray! There's a request for all three of you!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" the three boys roared in aggravation.

Lucy sighed, "So, that's why Sting and Gray went on a job together, huh?"

Erza gave the three rowdy young men a death glare, "The client went to the trouble of requesting you three! Get along this time, or else!"

Makarov was scanning the job description, but after a moment his face grew pale, "Hm? Hm-hmmm?! This is…"

Natsu walked over with his arms crossed, "Old man, just let us Twin Dragons handle this one."

"Popsicle dick just pisses me off on jobs," Sting growled.

"I don't want to go with them anyway," Gray agreed.

"No…" Makarov muttered intensely, "You must go. And at all costs, do not be careless…The name of your client is Warrod Sequen. Among the Ten Wizard Saints, he's ranked fourth- One of the Four Gods of Ishgal."

Everybody in the guild freaked out.

"EHHHHH?!"

"One of the Ten Wizard Saints is the client?!" Lisanna gasped.

"That's beyond rare…it's practically unheard of…" whispered Lucy, whose eyes were huge.

Wendy gulped, "Why would someone so amazing…?"

Natsu, Sting, and Gray just stared at the old man.

"Ah?"

In the end, the three requested mages went on the job, but Lucy, Lisanna, and Wendy decided to tag along with them and the exceeds of course. The path to Warrod Sequen's house was out in the wilderness, far from civilizations.

Wendy took a break from the map she had and looked to the natural landscape with enthusiasm, "Wow! It's so peaceful out here!"

"The air out here is so fresh…" Lucy sighed happily.

Lisanna smiled, "That breeze feels great, too…"

Happy jumped up in the air, "It's like we're going out on a picnic!"

"Maybe…" Lector cast a glance behind them and the girls.

Charle followed his gaze and sweat-dropped, "It would have that atmosphere…if not for that…"

"YOU GUYS ATE MY FOOD, DIDN'T YOU?!"

"I WOULDN'T EAT SOMETHING YOU TOUCHED!"

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

Everyone besides the fighting boys sighed in exasperation. It seemed they were in it for the long haul.

"Can you guys please stop fighting already?" Lucy muttered, "We're about to meet a very important person."

Lisanna crossed her arms, "Y'know, we came out here because we were worried about them, but…it's going to be difficult, huh?"

"Both of your hair colors hurt my eyes," Gray snapped at the Twin Dragons, "Do something about it!"

"Shut it, frost diva!" Natsu retorted, "No one wants to see you naked!"

"Who was it that ate my food?!" Sting growled, "Give it back, already!"

Ignoring them for the time being, Lisanna glanced at Lucy, "Speaking of the Ten Wizard Saints, aren't they the mages most recognized by the Magic Council?"

Lucy nodded, "That's right. Master Makarov and Lamia Scale's Jura are with them. I think Master Jose of Phantom Lord was a Wizard Saint at one point as well, but he's since been stripped of the title. But the four highest ranked mages in the Wizard Saints are the Four Gods of Ishgal."

"That's quite a title…" Lisanna frowned nervously, "They must be incredibly powerful mages…"

Wendy looked up from her map curiously, "Ishgal?"

"It's the old name for this continent," Lucy explained, "At some point over the last few hundred years, it was renamed to Fiore."

The blonde woman looked over at the feuding boys thoughtfully, "Why would someone so renowned ask for them?"

"Ah! There it is!" Wendy suddenly exclaimed. She pointed to a lone house on top of a hill.

"That must be the home of Warrod Sequen…" Lisanna murmured.

Upon seeing the place, the boys settled down. The group of mages walked to the door and carefully opened it.

"Excuse us!" Lucy announced for the group, "We're Fairy Tail mages!"

"Hush…"

The mages grew quiet at the voice, which continued, "Be quiet…the plants like the silence. If you can comprehend that, then shut those annoying mouths."

A man stood in the back of the room, facing away from them as he watered a series of plants. The Fairy Tail mages waited tensely for a response, slightly nervous that they had angered him.

"As if…"

Was that a snigger?

Flowers started growing all of a sudden, huge blossoms of every kind. The exceed gasped in surprise as they were surrounded by the growing plants.

"It's a joke, a joke!" the man cackled as he turned around, revealing himself to be quite elderly and peculiar. His head was shaped like a tree. He bore a humorous grin on his face as he continued merrily, "The plants and flowers love human voices! Wahahahaha!"

Lisanna could only blink, "A..a tree?"

"Is this old guy even human?" Natsu asked.

"Well, he's supposed to be a badass, so I guess it's expected he'd be…unique…" Gray reasoned.

Warrod cleared his throat, "Thank you for coming, wizards of Fairy Tail. Which of you are Natsu, Sting, and Gray?"

Without warning, he picked up the three exceed. The Saint's jaw dropped in surprise, "What a shock! They're much more catlike than I anticipated!"

As quickly as he'd picked them up, he put them down, "It's just a joke! Wahahaha!"

Lucy sweat-dropped, "He's pretty high strung for an old man, huh?"

"Yup…" Wendy muttered nervously.

Warrod sighed heartily, "Ahh, I'm thirsty…"

"WAHAHAHA!" Just like that, he picked up the watering can and started drinking from it.

Sting scratched the back of his head, "Uh, excuse me…are you Warrod Sequen of the Ten Wizard Saints?"

"Indeed!" he exclaimed, "I am Warrod Sequen!"

They went outside and sat down at a table, where the Wizard Saint brought out a book, "Since I retired, I've been continuing my efforts to afforest the deserts."

"Retired?" Wendy repeated, "Does that mean you were in a guild at some point, Mr. Sequen?"

He nodded, "Yes…haha, it twas a good guild…"

Warrod brought his hand up and they watched in fascination as a plant sprouted up from it, "Using my Green Magic, I halt the spread of deserts. It sounds nice if you call it charity, but honestly it's just a hobby to me. For that reason, I've been traveling the world to deserts all over. Some time ago, I found a strange village."

Opening the book, the old man continued, "According to my research, that village was once known as, "The Village of the Sun," which worshipped an everlasting flame as its guardian deity."

Natsu arched an eyebrow, "An everlasting flame?"

"Yes," Warrod confirmed, "However, the village has since been frozen."

"Hm?" Gray became interested at that particular bit of information.

"I cannot tell if it was a natural or man-made disaster," Warrod admitted, "But the plants, animals, and even the villagers are all frozen, not to mention the buildings and rivers. Even the everlasting flame was frozen."

Lucy's jaw dropped, "The flame was frozen?!"

"That's impossible," Sting insisted, "You can't just freeze fire…"

"I don't know what occurred in that village, but..the villagers are still alive," Warrod told them, "I cannot just leave them in their stasis. Something must be done. That is my request."

Natsu grinned at Sting, "Easy! If we combine our fire magic, there ain't a thing we can't melt!"

Gray wasn't so sure, "If that were all, there'd be no reason for me to come along, right?"

The Wizard Saint smiled, "You are keen, boy. Indeed, that ice is not an ordinary magic. I believe your power will be necessary."

Lisanna was listening all along, but something had been bothering her which she now brought up, "Forgive me if I'm being rude, Mr. Sequen, but someone of your power and magic…couldn't you resolve something like this on your own?"

"It seems you are quite mistaken regarding my position," Warrod informed her with a smile, "The Ten Wizard Saints are not invincible. They're just ten people hand-picked by the council. There are many other wizards out there much greater than I am on this continent alone. The likes of me are quite insignificant. In fact, I know almost no offensive magic. Quite the contrary, if I were to take on you youngsters, I have no confidence in my abilities to win."

"Really?" Wendy inquired.

The old man nodded graciously, "Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. That's what your friends and guild make up for, hmm?"

None of them could argue with that. Despite his reputation, the mages found Warrod to be quite likable, if a little bizarre at times.

"You make a good point," Lucy agreed.

Natsu and Sting bumped fists, "You got it! We accept!"

"Just leave it with us!" Lisanna exclaimed.

Warrod smiled at them and stood up, "The village is about two thousand kilometers south of here, but it's quite alright. I'll provide you with a method of reaching it quickly. Gather over here."

The mages did as he asked.

"Turn to the right," Warrod ordered.

They followed his command instantly.

"…that was a joke," he snickered.

"GIVE US A BREAK ALREADY!" they shouted indignantly.

Warrod set his staff in front of him and closed his eyes. He then began to recite an incantation in a language foreign to the younger mages, but whatever the tongue, it caused massive plants to sprout beneath them. Like a giant green serpent, a magical tree lifted the Fairy Tail mages and flew off with them in the direction of the Sun Village.

"AWESOME!" Sting shouted in glee.

"It's almost like an animal!" Lisanna gasped with surprise.

Wendy saw the ground rushing past them, "Look at how quickly we're flying!"

Gray took to surfing the tree with a large grin, while Lucy just enjoyed the ride. The exceed were also delighted, but Natsu joined his twin by throwing both fists in the air and cheering, "WHOOHOO!"

Lucy glanced behind them where Warrod's house had faded away into distance. She smiled in admiration, "He's so modest, but such an incredible mage at the same time…This magic that controls mother nature is so beautiful…"

Still channeling his power into the tree, Warrod saw the end of his magic disappear with the young mages. The old man closed his eyes and murmured softly, "They're flowing…Mavis…"

The Saint reminisced when he was their age, traveling and fighting with Purehito Gaebolg, Yury Dreyar, and Mavis Vermillion. They're adventures together were some of his fondest memories, along with the crown jewel, the formation of their guild, Fairy Tail.

He sighed bemusedly, "Has it really been one hundred and five years since then…? Mavis, your strong feelings..have all been inherited by those youngsters."