Sting's POV

Shit were we ever in trouble.

"The hell do you mean, the first is gone?!" Natsu demanded angrily on the quidditch pitch that night when we met for our training sessions. I could see why he was getting so worked up. That little ghost-girl had been our ace as far as I could tell. She was the one who kept telling us stuff about the challenges, and predicting the best way to stand watch against both Voldemort, and now Zeref. If she was really gone, that could spell trouble.

Natsu's was stomping around as though he were on a rampage with fire dripping from his mouth like drool, and Lucy was trying to calm him down before things got out of hand. (although, in the end she just sort of ended up yelling at him when he caught her skirt on fire.)

"So Mavis is gone. How do we proceed?" Rogue asked from beside me, his calm voice seeming to pierce the agitation in the air like a knife. I guess he was kinda like Erza in that aspect. Except the redhead is scary. Rogue just has a way of calming everyone down when we all lose our heads. I for one, simply shrugged, toying with my earring absently.

The gathered wizards all glanced around at one another, looking for any sign that somebody, anybody may have had a plan.

"What about you, gramps?" Gray finally asked as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off without even looking. Did he do that intentionally?... Must have been.

The old man seemed to consider for a moment, closing his eyes and remaining silent. It soon became obvious that everyone else had gone quiet too, just waiting for his choice with their breath held. Looking at him with his white beard and solemn expression, I could have sworn that he had aged twenty years in that one moment. Damn... Like I'd known that the Fairytail master was old and all... But now he just looked ancient. I wonder, if we left him here, would he fossilize?

"The first is gone, but we will continue as normal." He said finally, opening his eyes and looking around at all of us gathered. "The disappearance of the First is no more than a temporary inconvenience. If she didn't believe that we could handle this, she wouldn't have left." Looking around, I couldn't deny that that was a nice sentiment but... this is Zeref we're talking about, isn't it?

I know that I can be cocky sometimes... but even I'M not suicidal. I've seen FairyTail wizards in action, and I admit that being on the receiving end of their rage would scare the crap outta me now that I know what they're capable of. Zeref... Well let's just say that after going up against that bastard Mard Grier... Zeref seemed more than a little bit of a death mission to challenge.

"Are you sure, master?..." Mirajane asked hesitantly, glancing around at all of us gathered as though she had come to the same conclusion that I had.

"OF COURSE HE'S SURE!" Natsu exclaimed, seeming to have been reanimated as he clenches his fist with a wide grin. "Right, Erza? Laxus? Lucy?" It was almost eerie how slow the responses came, and the tone that they were delivered in.

"Right..." Erza said, her voice surprisingly quiet as she moved just a little closer to Jellal subconsciously.

Oh there is definitely something there... I thought to myself with a slight smirk as I took a half step closer to Rogue, his scent offering familiar comfort, like a cool autumn night.

Laxus simply grunted in response to Natsu-san's proposal, and Lucy looked away uncomfortably, her hand drifting to something golden hanging around her neck. It kinda looked like one of Yukino's gate keys, but it was too small, like it had been-... broken. Oh shit. So then blondie's carry around more weight than she lets on. Yukino had explained to me sometimes about how attached celestial wizards got to their spirits, and vice versa. Maybe I'd ask her about it later, after all, I'd been spending a lot of time with her lately in order to get to know her better.

To be honest, I still felt pretty bad about how I'd behaved in the Grand Magic Games, so it's almost been therapeutic to get to know the Fairytail wizards one by one, learning about them and befriending them.

Looking up at Rogue, I raised an eyebrow when I saw Froshe trying to climb off of his shoulder and up into his head. He seemed to be having a little bit of trouble, but I'd learned a long time ago that Frosh got upset when I tried to help. For whatever reason, he wanted to do things by himself.

"What are you doing, Frosh?" Rogue asked, reaching for his small companion who jumped up to avoid his hands. Everyone was starting to look as Frosh hopped over Rogue's reach again and again.

"Fro wants to talk!" The small green exceed exclaimed finally. Lector glanced at me as I glanced back at him, both of us frowning slightly. Frosh didn't usually say much unless he was agreeing with someone else.

"Fro thinks that Fairytail can do it!" He said with a determined look on his face, unzipping the back of his frog suit with effort, and turning to show the Sabertooth emblem on his back. "Fro is not strong. But Fro is strong because he has friends! Rogue taught Fro that he will not disappear because Rouge will protect him!" Zipping his costume back up, Frosh turned back to the rest of us. "Rogue is strong because Fro is not. He is strong to keep Fro safe. You are all the Rogue and Fro to someone else!"

I don't know how he did it, but having picked up on the emotions passing through all of us, Frosh had completely understood the situation.

"So what you're saying is... We'll become stronger to protect the others?" Rogue asked him gently, translating Frosh's use of third person, and his personal reference in order to clarify for anyone who may not have understood.

"Fro thinks so." The exceed nodded, finally letting Rogue pull him down into his arms and hold him with a small smile.

"Aye sir!" Happy chirped happily in agreement, landing on Natsu's head and high-fiving his best friend.

"That speech... was MANLY!" Elfman exclaimed, tears running down his cheeks as Lisanna patted his arm gently, a small smile on her own face.

"Don't cry, big brother." She said softly, pulling Elfman into a gentle hug. Looking around, I couldn't help but notice that everyone glanced at somebody after Frosh's speech, and Rogue's explanation.

Sorry that the chapter was short, but hopefully my computer will stop being so temperamental and WORK from now on! Love you guys! Thank you SO much for being so patient!