Lucy and Gajeel followed Mirajane as she hurried along the corridor. There was no way for them to actually follow José unless they find the door to the area they just seen, but Mirajane seemed to have a plan.

She soon slowed, hand dragging across the wall. She stopped at a point.

"Here," She spoke up.

"What?" Lucy asked, a bit confused.

"Gajeel, if you will, hit here,"

Gajeel eyed the white haired women before he followed her request. Turning his arm into an iron hammer, he punch the wall, sending a cloud of dust towards them. Lucy waved the dust away, waiting for it to clear. Sounds of fighting can be clearly heard.

Gajeel poked his head out of the hall. They were literally right by the stairs which Jose just went up and they could see their friends fighting nearby. The workers didn't take noticed as they try to ward the other intruders off.

"Couldn't we just went through the hole Erza made?" Gajeel asked.

Mirajane took a step in, "and jump right in the fray? Not if we want to miss them. This way, we avoid the fight and make our way to the top,"

"Nice," Lucy grinned.

"...Better than Laxus," the Iron Dragon Slayer mumbled as Mirajane smiled at him.

The other two went through the hole and headed up the stairs, with Mirajane right behind them. Lucy was picking up speed, but Gajeel was faster.

Levy was pushed roughly down, unto a familiar chair. She was strapped down, nice and tight. José brought out the worn out book from within his cloak, flipping through it's pages. A servant came up and ask where to turn the weapon at, which Jose would reply, Magnolia.

Levy paled. Her father was in Magnolia. Magnolia was also a large city, the casualties would be great.

"Please, I would do anything...just don't destroy Magnolia," she whimpered. She had no control when José forced her to sing. She tried to struggle against her restraints, now wishing she worked out more instead of holing herself up in the library.

José flipped through the book, he had no time, were did the song go? He flipped faster, stopped and went back a few pages back. There, there was the song. The perfect song to destroy a city.

José relished in the thought that his plans will finally go right for once, but he did not forget about the intruders knocking at his door. He hissed at the workers to move faster as he made his way to Levy and the music machine.

Something stirred.

The workers did what they told, pushing the small machine in front of Levy. José stood to the side watching, his eyes drifted over to the other side of the room, were the only entrance was. He flicked his hand up, dark purple energy wrapped around it.

"Shade," he murmured. The dark purple energy shot off towards the door, separating into several parts, each gaining an eerie form. They slip through the cracks of the door, disappearing from sight. Jose stared at the door for a few moments, before bringing his attention back to Levy.

The shades slithered amongst the walls and stairs, finding their prey.

As the three continued to run, Gajeel was the only one to hear strange whispers. He couldn't tell what they were saying, only mumbles in his ear. They grew louder as they got closer to the top and, in an instant,

"WATCH OUT!" Gajeel pushed Lucy out of the way as something dark flew past.

"Whaaaa?!" Lucy gasped.

"Lucy! Gajeel!" Mira shouted, running towards them, helping Lucy up, "What was that?"

Gajeel rubbed the back of his head, "Not sure, but I did hear some strange whispering, might've been from that,"

"Oh, wow," Lucy grumbled as Mirajane helped her up, "Didn't think to tell us beforehand?!"

Gajeel shrugged, indifferent, "I wasn't sure what it was,"

Mirajane held Lucy back as the other brought out her whip, ready to fight, "Not the right time for this,"

Ssssshh

"Behind you!" Gajeel growled.

Mirajane and Lucy whipped around, coming face to face with something evil. It had no true shape, it was a dark purple mass, writhing around, with three dark spots spots near the top, looking like eyes and a mouth. A dark mist seem to float around the thing.

"What...what is that?" Lucy gaped, taking a step back.

"A Shade," Gajeel spoke up, his arm already turning into Metal, "Looks like Jose was ready for us to come," He took a few steps forward, ready to clobber the Shade, when Mirajane's arm shot out in front of him, blocking him from his target.

"What the hell, women?" Gajeel said.

"Leave this to us, Gajeel. You have something more important to fight," Mira said, glancing at the tall man. Gajeel stared down at her before giving a curt nod, his arm turning to normal. He turned on his heel and ran up the stairs.

The Shade noticed one of it's prey trying to escape, it moved quickly, a ghastly arm reaching out for Gajeel. A glowing whip wrapped around it's arm, pulling it back.

"We'll be the ones fighting you," Lucy said, continuing to pull the Shade back towards them. The Shade made a strange garbled noise and changed its course of attack. Dark magic surrounded Mirajane, covering her body. In a split second, the magic dispersed. Revealing Mirajane once again, but different. Her red dress was gone, in it's place was thigh high red boots, a strange red outfit, almost swim suit like, covered her main body, with a large gap in the middle. She had golden, clawed gloves on her hands, a black tail coming from behind her and also sprouting a pair of dark wings. Black cracks appeared on her body, along with her lips red as blood. Her usual hair style now flew up, her eyes darkened, and her ears become elongated and pointed.

The Shade went for Mirajane first, who punched the creature, but her hand only went straight through. The Shade grabbed her arm, throwing her away, slamming in the wall.

"Open! Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Lucy shouted, a golden key in was a golden glow and a new person showed up. It was a smartly dressed man, with orange, spiky hair, some making it look like he had ears. He wore a single gold ring on his left hand.

"It's been so long, Lucy,"

"Agreed, Loke. You ready?"

"As ever,"