Gina stares down at her breakfast, trying to figure a way out of her current predicament. Lucy came over a few minutes ago and set a massive plate of food down in front of her. Erza and Wendy seem to be watching her closely from across the small table. They have no way of knowing this is the wrong kind of sustenance, and they can undoubtedly see how much weaker she is after her adventures yesterday. Natsu is seated with Gajeel, Levy, and the exceeds at a different table. He seems to be keeping his distance from her this morning, even more than before.
She still hasn't figured out what to do about the water nymphs. She understands what they need - a Sire as quickly as possible. She just doesn't know how to manage it. Communication between the nymph colonies is conducted almost exclusively through the nymph Sires; a major flaw when said Sire was killed along with his children who may have also known. There is slightly more communication between nymph colonies of the same element, for situations just like this one, but Gina does not know anything about the water colonies herself. That's information her father would have passed on to the Sire she chose after their colony was first established. The lack of communication is intentional; to prevent a successful hunt, like the one that took place here, from spreading to additional vulnerable colonies.
If she truly can't find another solution, she will have no choice but to make immediate contact with her father. She will not allow more of them to die simply to carry out her plan to fade. Choosing to fade away herself is completely different from willful negligence against nymphs in desperate need. She just wishes there was someone else who could…
LEO! Leo can carry a message for me! she realizes. He may even know where one is located.
The celestial spirits are the solution to everything, and she's never even considered them! If she can bring them into the conversation today, using Lucy, then they can hash out the details of an adoption in relative ease. She's not sure what excuse to give Fairy Tail… but feels much more confident now that she at least has an option that doesn't directly involve Axis.
"Gina? Are you feeling any better this morning?" Lucy's gentle voice breaks into her thoughts.
"Um," Gina stalls, clearing her throat. "I didn't have any more bad dreams."
"Good," Lucy says with a smile.
"Are all of your cuts doing alright?" Wendy pipes in with obvious worry in her tone.
"Yes, thank you," Gina smiles back at her. "I'm sorry that I worried all of you. I really shouldn't have..."
"Nonsense," Erza says without looking up from her own plate. "Facing your own death is challenging to anyone." Gina feels her body tense at Erza's apparent knowledge of the subject of her dream, then remembers Gajeel giving the simplified explanation to Wendy when she'd first arrived. "I would know better than most."
"What do you mean?" Gina asks in mild surprise.
"Many of us here were engaged in a battle at a place called the Tower of Heaven," she explains. "I faced an enemy from my past, and saw no way out without sacrificing my own life for that of my comrades. In that battle, I accepted my death so that those I love would live on."
"What happened?" Gina asks, wondering what could circumvent that kind of resolve.
"Natsu happened, actually," Erza chuckles, and Gina feels stunned. "I had walked into a lacrima which was completely over-powered with ethernano. I'd hoped to use my own body to direct the blast away from my friends. Natsu was so badly injured by then that he could barely crawl, but he was screaming for me to stop. I didn't think he had any real chance of stopping me, but he did. He crawled his way straight into the lacrima, found me, and drug me out. Someone else ended up saving us in the end. That's when Natsu made me promise to never do anything like that ever again - to never choose death. Always choose life."
"Yeah," Lucy's voice echoes softly, "he did something similar for Gray once too. Gray was planning to use a spell called Iced Shell to defeat the demon Deliora. Deliora had killed his family, and countless others, when he was young. Natsu just jumped in the way and refused to let him sacrifice himself. In the end, Gray's sacrifice would have been a complete waste. Deliora's life force had been drained away long before, and he was nothing more than a big scary shadow."
"Wow," Gina says, knowing now that her instinct about what Natsu's choice would be is correct. "It sounds like he will stop at nothing to prevent someone he cares about from making that choice."
"When he pulled me from the lacrima, he was so angry he was crying," Erza says with a fond smile. "He told me then… 'You don't die for your friends. You live for them.' I have held onto that truth since that time. I guess what I am saying is… I understand what it is like to face your death, and even to accept it. But you should never stop fighting, with whatever strength you have left."
"I understand, Erza," Gina simply nods, "and thank you."
"So what's the plan?" Natsu asks Gina as they approach the old burned down house. It's the first time he's talked to her all day.
"Oh, are we speaking again?" she bites back without even looking his direction.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" he spits back.
"You've avoided me like the plague, and completely ignored me all day," she quips, "I thought you decided to complete the mission without speaking to me again."
"Come on guys," Happy complains from above them, and Ming chitters in agreement from around her neck. "We need to be ready to face the big ice monster. Not fight each other."
"Sorry, Happy," Gina mumbles with a sad expression. "You're right."
Natsu hates that look on her face, but the truth is he's scared out of his mind. It has nothing to do with the ice golem and everything to do with Gina. Before she even woke up this morning, she'd taken on a completely haggard appearance. Her skin looks paler somehow, almost translucent. Her eyes look more shadowed, and her hair seems to have lost its glossy finish. He's watching her die, and he's still no closer to understanding the cause than before. She seems to be getting weaker not just by the day, but by the hour.
"Gina, wait," he sighs, stopping his movement. "We have to talk before we meet this thing."
"About what?" she asks without turning around.
"About the plan," he says in frustration. "About us. About everything, dammit."
Gina turns slowly with her eyes narrowed. "You know the basic plan, just like everyone else. Gajeel also suspects that we're being watched. And you want to do this now?"
"Look, I'm sorry," he pleads with her. "I've been an ass today." He hadn't even talked with her when the group had discussed the plan, because he was too conflicted about what needs to be done to make up his own mind. He struggles now with how to say what is worrying him without giving them away. "I haven't been…" he glances around as if attempting to maintain their cover, "a very good lover, or even a good friend. I know you had a rough night. I just… don't want them to take this the wrong way." He motions between them.
Gina sighs and nods subtly. "Yes, it will be difficult to maintain appearances this way," she says. "But there's no way to know what else they may have seen if Gajeel is right anyway."
"I hope you know I only did what I did yesterday to try and catch that chick," he says swallowing hard.
Damn he does not want to have this conversation, but the events last night had been a major discussion point this morning. He'd explained his own theory to the group; that somehow these elemental women were seducing the men into going with them willingly. He still wasn't sure how the ice golems fit in, but Gajeel seemed convinced that they may not be ice golems at all. Gina seemed irritated by the entire discussion, and had said there was no point in theorizing until they talked to it again. Natsu could only assume that her irritation came from his behavior with the mystery woman, but that was probably wishful thinking.
"Yes, you explained that already," she says with a heavy sigh. "But you haven't exactly given them any opposing indication, have you?" She motions to imply his continued physical distance.
"I just… I just need to see Gray to…" he struggles.
"Look, Natsu," Gina says, turning away and beginning to walk away again. "I'm not angry with you about any of that. Why would I be?"
Ouch, he thinks to himself. Okay, that hurt.
"I'm just tired," she says as she continues trudging forward. "Let's just get this over with."
Suddenly, water gushes up from the ground, mere feet in front of her body, like a wall. It begins to form into an ice golem immediately.
"Gina!" he shouts, and grabs her upper arm, pulling her back behind his body defensively.
Surprisingly, Gina doesn't fight him, and instead grabs his shoulders and peers over them from behind. He hates the fact that she is touching him, but is more frightened of her actually getting out of reach. He hears her fish in her token bag for her magical translation token, and flip it onto her arm.
"Translation technique," she says from behind his shoulder, and then starts up with her weird clicking and chirping.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Gina gripes in Etheria about the nymphs' sudden appearance.
"YOU SEEM TO BE HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH YOUR DRAGON SLAYER THIS MORNING," the voice she has come to recognize as Dalma's booms back at her with a mocking tone.
"NO MORE THAN USUAL," she says, rolling her eyes. "I HAVE A PLAN, BUT IT INVOLVES BRINGING IN A CELESTIAL SPIRIT. WOULD YOU AGREE?"
"HOW COULD A CELESTIAL SPIRIT HELP?" Dalma asks.
"HE MAY KNOW HOW TO LOCATE ANOTHER COLONY THAT COULD ADOPT ALL OF YOU," she explains. "BUT WE HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM. THEY ALREADY SUSPECT TOO MUCH. I'M NOT SURE HOW TO EXPLAIN THE DISAPPEARANCES, OR WHY YOU'VE TAKEN GRAY."
"LEAVE THAT TO ME," Dalma replies, "AND CALL IN YOUR WOMAN WITH THE STARS. IN FACT, CALL THEM ALL IN."
"What does it want?" Natsu finally asks. "Did it bring Gray?"
"It knows the rest of the team is here," she replies. "It wants them to show themselves."
Happy flies up into the sky and gives the signal to the group, and they all come out of their various hiding places and file in around Natsu and Gina. Gina moves back in front of Natsu, and he doesn't look happy about it, but he is also unwilling to hold her back physically. Ming peers out from under her chin silently.
"Well…" Gajeel grumbles. "That was a complete waste of time. I told you, these things are water-based. Not just ice."
"You may be right," Gina concedes. "Lucy, it seems to want you to call a celestial spirit."
"Really?" Lucy asks with surprise in her tone. "Did it say why?"
"It seems to think that an older spirit will speak the same language," Gina bluffs. "and it would trust them as a mediator more than me. I've seen you fight with Aquarius and Virgo. Do you have any of the other Zodiac keys?"
"Heck yeah," Lucy beams. "Tell it that I could call on Leo, Virgo, Taurus, Gemini, or Ares. I think Scorpio and Aquarius are out on a date. Sagittarius has the day off, but he might be available in a pinch."
"I AM GOING TO ASK YOU TO BE GRACIOUS OF MY REQUEST FOR PRIVACY," she says to Dalma instead, "LEO DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT MY CHOICE TO FADE, BUT HE ALREADY KNOWS WHO I AM."
"YOUR CHOICE COULD JEOPARDIZE US ALL," Dalma scolds through the golems angry face. "YOU ARE ALREADY TOO WEAK. WE CANNOT EVEN COME IN CONTACT WITH YOU WITHOUT RISKING YOUR DEATH."
"I UNDERSTAND," Gina concedes, "BUT THAT IS NOT MY INTENTION. IT IS MY HOPE THAT LEO AND THIS GUILD CAN USHER YOU TO SAFETY, EVEN WITHOUT ME IF NECESSARY." Gina then turns back to Lucy. "It wants to speak with Leo."
"Show us Gray first!" Natsu suddenly insists. "You don't get anything until we see him!"
"That's right," Lucy agrees. "I'll call Leo as soon as I see Gray with my own eyes."
"GO AHEAD AND BRING HIM OUT IF YOU CAN," Gina requests.
Suddenly, the ground begins trembling in a steady thumping sound, and a second golem begins emerging in the distance.
"I don't like this…" Gajeel mumbles, stepping into a fighting stance. "We've got no way of knowing how many of these things there are."
"Don't worry about it," Natsu replies with arrogance in his tone. "If I hadn't been dealing with Gina before, this thing was no match for me. Even with a couple dozen of them, they'd be outgunned."
Gina rolls her eyes, but realizes that he's not wrong. These nymphs are no match for anyone with any real magical ability in their current state. As the new golem comes to stand beside the first, a small pool of water comes forth from its body to reveal Gray floating, unconscious, in a Water Lock spell.
"Gray!" Lucy shouts in distress. "He'll drown in there! Gray!"
Gray wakes up within the water, and begins pounding on the sides of the water lock. "Lucy?" he asks, looking disoriented, "Where the hell am I?"
"They seem to be aerating the water," Carla muses from beside Wendy's feet. "He's not going to drown in there, young lady."
"Oh thank God," Lucy sighs. "Alright. We're going to get you out of there, Gray, just hold tight. Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!"
Leo appears in a dazzling flash and grins at Lucy. "You called, beautiful?"
"It seems like these things want to talk to you," Lucy explains.
"Wow…" he replies with a chuckle, "Translation's normally not my thing, but I can give it a try."
"AEGINA SEEMS TO BELIEVE YOU MAY BE ABLE TO HELP US," Dalma says to Leo in Etheria.
"Ahhh… I see," Leo says, scratching his chin in thought.
"You know what these things really are?" Gajeel asks.
"Can't say," Leo replies with a shrug.
"Then we were right!" Natsu says with a triumphant smile, and Gina glares at Leo. "They are just like the woman in the woods right?"
"Can't say," Leo sighs. "This is… not going to be easy."
"Just give it your best shot," Gina encourages him.
"WHAT EXACTLY DOES AEGINA THINK I CAN DO?" Leo asks Dalma. "WHAT IS TRULY GOING ON HERE?"
"WE ARE DYING," Dalma responds. "BOTH OF OUR PARENTS WERE KILLED 16 YEARS AGO. WITHOUT A SIRE, WE HAVE BEEN FADING FOR A LONG TIME. MOST OF US ARE SUFFERING FROM ELEMENTAL POISONING. WE HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF OTHER COLONIES, BUT AEGINA SEEMS TO THINK WE SHOULD SEEK ADOPTION."
"Holy shit…" Leo mumbles.
"What is it?" Erza asks. "What do they want?"
"It's not something they want," Leo replies, glancing at Gina. "It's something they need. Badly."
"Is that why they are abducting people?" Erza asks. "Is it something that can be provided another way?"
"I THINK AEGINA MAY HAVE ALREADY PROVIDED A TEMPORARY SOLUTION TO YOUR PROBLEM," Leo replies to Dalma instead. Gina looks back at him, completely confused until he pulls out her lipstick case.
"THEY CANNOT SEE THAT," Gina hisses, but tries to appear like she's talking to the ice golem instead.
"THEY CAN SEE IT WITHOUT SCOURING THE DETAILS," Leo argues. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME, BY THE WAY? I'VE BEEN COMPLETELY RUDE."
"MY NAME IS DALMA," she replies. "I SPEAK FOR US."
"OKAY DALMA," Leo says with a charming smile, "FORTUNATELY FOR YOU, AEGINA ALREADY HAS A CONTRACT IN PLACE WITH THE FAIRY TAIL GUILD, SWEARING THEM TO SECRECY ABOUT THE NYMPH SOCIETIES. IT SPECIFICALLY PREVENTS THE GUILD MASTER, AND OTHERS WHO KNOW AEGINA'S TRUE IDENTITY FROM REVEALING HER TO ANYONE WITHIN OR OUTSIDE OF THE GUILD. HOWEVER, IT ALSO BINDS THE ENTIRE GUILD TO SECRECY ABOUT NYMPH SOCIETY IN GENERAL. IF YOU CHOOSE TO TRUST THE FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS HERE WITH YOUR SECRETS, THEY WOULD ALREADY BE BOUND TO KEEP THAT SECRET."
"AND YOU BELIEVE THEY CAN BE TRUSTED?" Dalma asks.
"WITH MY LIFE, AND YOURS," he replies without hesitation. "AND AEGINA'S IF SHE WOULD EVER ALLOW IT."
"I DO NOT WISH TO BE EXPOSED," Gina pleads, "AND I AM NOT SURE IT IS WISE TO SHARE TOO MUCH INFORMATION."
"YOU WILL REPEAT EVERYTHING I SAY, EXACTLY AS I SAY IT," Dalma threatens. "OR I WILL EXPOSE YOU, AND YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR MAGE BACK. I AM NOT BOUND BY YOUR CONTRACT."
"BUT NYMPH LAW STATES THAT…" Gina attempts to argue.
"I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT NO LAW," Dalma spits back, "BUT I KNOW BETTER THAN TO TRUST A FIRE QUEEN WHO WILL NOT EVEN TAKE A SIRE. YOU WILL TRANSLATE EXACTLY, OR YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE."
"FINE," Gina agrees reluctantly, and begins translating Dalma's words to the group. "She says her name is Dalma Arethusa."
"She?" Gajeel questions.
The ice golem suddenly dissolves into 7 water nymphs in their pure water states. The entire group breathes in a gasp of shock, except for Natsu who just grunts. Gina grits her teeth in anger, but continues translating.
"We are not ice golems, but water nymphs," Gina tries to say as if in wonder. "We apologize for taking your ice mage from you, but we have need of him."
"What did you need him for?" Erza questions, keeping a steady hand on the hilt of her sword.
Dalma motions to her sisters, and another two water nymphs trickle up from the ground. One is being physically supported by the other, and her water is at least half black with elemental poisoning.
"This is her sister," Gina relays, as ordered. "She has a sickness called elemental poisoning. Elemental magics other than water have become toxic to her." Dalma then motions again, and Gray is released from the water lock, and Gina feels dread well in her stomach as she realizes this was planned. "Your ice mage can heal her, simply by touching her."
"Really?" Wendy asks, moving forward to see.
"I can what?" Gray asks, still looking slightly dazed. He takes a step back as the injured nymph stands to her feet, but hesitantly allows her to put her arms around him. As she does, the black begins to fade slightly in her body.
"Hey Gray!" Natsu shouts, "Grow some ice. It will help more."
"How the heck do you know that?" Gray asks.
"Just trust me," Natsu says with a blush.
Gray lets a coating of frost cover his body first - which is easily visible because he's still in his underwear - and the black begins to recede faster. "Whoa…" he mumbles, and then lets his ice wrap more fully around her body. She sighs in what appears to be relief, and the black begins to fade even more rapidly. "Damn. You should have just told me that. You guys made me think I was losin' my damn mind."
"So what about the woman in the woods?" Natsu asks. "She was made of fire, and she had wings!"
"She was not one of their sisters," Gina translates with trepidation. "She came to see if she could help them, but only ended up catching the illness herself." Gina attempts not to sigh in relief at Dalma's decision to hide her at least somewhat. "They were surprised that you helped her."
"It, uh…" Natsu chokes a little, and suddenly surprises Gina by pulling her back against his chest. She can feel affection pour from him in a sudden wave over her body. "wasn't what it looked like. I…"
"They know what you were trying to do," Gina translates, looking to the ground. "They also know that you…" Gina pauses, wondering if she heard Dalma right, "are the father of my child." Why are they even bringing that ruse up?
Leo raises an eyebrow, but does not interrupt. The rest of the group stirs restlessly, wondering where the conversation is headed as well.
"Is that why you stopped trying to kill us before?" Natsu asks.
"Yes," Gina translates, noting that Dalma reminded her yet again to use her exact words. "Place your hands over your child."
Natsu wraps his arms more fully around her, and places both his hands against her stomach, playing his part beautifully and having no idea the entire trick is on him instead of them.
"In our society," Gina says, fighting the urge to flee from whatever they're trying to communicate to him in this game. "Fathers are sacred. Mothers bring forth new life, but fathers sustain. Their strength, is our strength. They protect, and they provide, but they also literally sustain our life force."
"Damn…" Gray mumbles.
"Oh yeah?" Gajeel pipes in for the first time. "If they're such a big deal, then where are they?"
"Their father is dead," Leo answers instead with a solemn expression. "That's why they've been forced to resort to this. They are dying, and they have no one to heal them, or help them until the end."
"Oh my," Panther Lily comments.
"That's terrible," Lucy whispers.
"ASK HIM IF HE WILL SUSTAIN YOUR CHILD," Dalma orders.
"DO NOT INTERFERE IN THIS," Gina pleads.
"DO IT, OR I WILL ASK HIM MYSELF IN HIS NATIVE TONGUE," she barks back.
"She wants to know if you will sustain my child," Gina says with a small tremor to her voice.
Natsu seems to take forever to respond, and his affection grows thick enough that Gina fights back the urge to choke on it in anger, before he says, "I know what it looked like in the woods, but I never intended anything more than to capture that lady, and I felt terrible that I hurt her. Humans aren't like you. We can die, and our kids don't die because of it. I can't imagine how hard it must be knowing your kids would die without you. But... I won't ever let Gina down."
Gina can't prevent a single tear from escaping down her cheek, and she wants to scream at all of them for it. She can also sense Gajeel watching her carefully from beside them, and the tear has not escaped his notice. This is no business of theirs!
"How can we help?" Erza pipes in again. "There must be something that can be done for them."
"Maybe I can help them with my healing magic?" Wendy says, sounding unsure.
"They need to be adopted," Leo explains. "This is where it gets complicated."
"Well then spit it out," Gajeel grumbles. "Let's get this show on the road."
"They need to get in contact with another water colony and request adoption," he explains. "I can locate one through the celestial archives easily enough, but then a request will need to be sent ahead by one group as another helps these nymphs get there. They… may not all make it. They seem to be in pretty bad shape."
"Juvia can help," Gajeel replies, not realizing another nymph won't help, or even that Juvia actually is one.
"And I can send for Lyon," Gray adds. "He uses the same magic I do."
"There's not really time for that," Leo counters, "and there's another complication."
"What?" Gray spits in disbelief.
"This contract," Leo replies, unfurling it for the first time, "is an agreement that Fairy Tail has already put in place to protect the information you've been given so far. According to the rest of the world, Nymphs are legends, not real creatures. That is by design. I was not allowed to tell you anything before, because the Celestial Spirit King himself signed an agreement with the nymph societies; preventing us from telling anyone we encounter anything about their people. However, when I learned that they may be involved here, I had Capricorn seek an additional contract with Makarov - after getting permission from the nymphs of course. This contract forbids the members of Fairy Tail from ever telling anyone outside of the guild about the existence of nymphs, and I would recommend limiting it to those of you here and Master Makarov. Otherwise, keeping the lid on something this big is near impossible. None of you are permitted to speak of their existence, or anything else you learn about their biology or history to anyone else."
"I think we can manage that," Erza replies. "If Makarov has agreed, then I respect his opinion, and believe he would want us to help them."
"So what do we do?" Gray asks. "Seems like you need me here with them."
"And I should stay," Lucy adds, "To keep an eye on things… and make sure Leo can be close by."
"Natsu and I should leave for the location of the next nymph colony," Gina adds. "His magic is fire magic, and they said that would be toxic."
"Right," Erza replies, "which means if any of your own original magic form broke through, you could be toxic as well. Also, we need to know if this elemental poisoning can be contagious. It seems that the woman Natsu encountered caught it from them. Can it be transferred to humans?"
Gina is terrified of Dalma's answer. The truth would be that no, it is unique to nymph biology as far as they all knew. But then again, Gina didn't even realize it was possible at all until recently.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL THEM?" Gina asks.
"I WOULD PREFER THEY NOT BE TOLD ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE THEM HESITANT TO HELP," Dalma replies with a sigh, "BUT I WILL NOT FORCE YOU TO REVEAL WHAT YOU ARE, AND YOU ARE ALREADY TOO SICK TO HIDE IT ANY LONGER. IF WHAT I SAW OF YOUR BODY YESTERDAY WAS SIMILAR TO MY SISTERS… I WOULD GUESS THAT YOU HAVE A FEW WEEKS LEFT AT MOST IF YOU DID NOTHING MORE THAN REST, AND WERE NOT POISONED AGAIN."
Gina trembles slightly, and feels Natsu's arms tighten around her middle. She glances at him without turning her head, and she can see the question in his eyes.
"She says that the instances of a human contracting the illness are rare," Gina lies, knowing her own elemental poisoning may become too hard to hide very soon. "They have only been seen when a human who was already weakened by illness or extreme injury was exposed."
Natsu's grip suddenly tightens around her middle and he walks backwards several paces, pulling her with him. The sudden concern she can feel radiating from him is nearly overwhelming.
"You shouldn't be here…" he whispers in her ear, then looks over and shouts, "Erza! We need to get moving."
Erza's eyes widen as they look back at her as well, then she gets a determined look on her face and begins barking orders. "Alright everyone! Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Carla and I will stay here with the nymphs and help them begin preparing for the move. Wendy, we will be depending on you to help ensure that every Fairy Tail member remains in top health. Gray, you will be responsible for helping treat any poisoning as best as you can without weakening yourself. Loke, do whatever needs to be done to access the information on the closest nymph colony location. As soon as you've found it, we will send word to the second team on where they're headed. The second team will be Natsu, Happy, Gina, Ming, Levy, Gajeel and Panther Lily. Your first task will be to collect the reward money from the current job from the town Mayor. Then, you will proceed to the water nymph colony with the request for adoption, and inform them the nymphs are already being moved. Loke, please inform Dalma that this agreement will require them to return the missing men to the town before departure."
"IS THAT GOING TO BE A PROBLEM?" Leo asks Dalma.
"NO," she replies, "MOST OF THE MEN ARE SPENT ANYWAY. WE WERE ALREADY MOSTLY OUT OF OPTIONS BEFORE YOU ARRIVED. HOWEVER, THERE ARE A FEW WHICH MIGHT WISH TO STAY WITH US. THEY'VE… GROWN RATHER ATTACHED."
"YOU SHOULD EXPLAIN TO THEM THAT THEY ARE BOUND TO SECRECY," Leo explains, "I CAN HELP YOU DRAFT AN AGREEMENT SIMILAR TO AEGINA'S IF YOU WOULD LIKE. I WOULD RECOMMEND THEY RETURN TO TOWN FOR APPEARANCES FIRST, AND THEN ACT AS IF THEY ARE LEAVING TOWN FOR OTHER REASONS, BEFORE JOINING YOU ON THE ROAD."
"VERY WELL," Dalma agrees.
"She does not have a problem with that," Leo translates for Erza, "but a few of the men may rejoin us on the road later."
"If that is their choice, I have no objection," Erza nods in agreement. "Natsu, you and Gina go on ahead and begin packing Team 2's belongings back at the hotel."
"Sure thing," Natsu says, beginning to tow Gina away by the hand.
Gina wishes she could get a final word in, reminding Dalma to keep her promise not to reveal that they can assume human forms, but there isn't a good way to do so. Instead, she follows Natsu without objection.