Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 29:- Prisoner Exchange


Unaware of the veritable war going on beneath London many miles to the south, Erza reclined on the chair by the windowsill of her bed and breakfast room, sitting so still she could almost be mistaken for an elaborate sculpture. Her eyes were half closed, her breathing steady and it looked like she was half-asleep. Which she was. But she was also fully alert. Erza had long ago perfected the art of resting as much as possible without falling asleep while still being fully aware of her surroundings - a skill that was difficult to master but made sentry duty easy, ensuring you were able to see incoming threats and make sure you weren't too tired when they arrived.

She was keeping her eye on Sirius naturally. He looked innocent enough, lying curled up on the covers and making occasional gruff snorts in his sleep. In fact, Erza had not been lying when she said he thought that his dog form was cute. And aside from his initial stalking of them and his claim to be a fugitive, nothing that he'd done had given Erza any reason to doubt his word or his intentions.

Yet this was a different world. And Erza had already been to a different world where she herself was a lieutenant in an oppressive army that made a living out of hunting Fairy Tail members! So while she was willing to trust Sirius to a large degree, she was not quite ready to put all of her eggs in one basket. If she were then she would have simply fallen fully asleep as she had done every previous night.

But it was quite a good thing that she'd decided not to tonight. If she had, then she would not have noticed the flashing red and blue lights starting to emanate through the window from the street outside.

Erza frowned in confusion as she stood up and peered slightly around the edge of the window to see several cars pulling to a stop outside with two odd flashing lights on top - one blue and one red - which alternated between each colour to create a constant strobe effect - red, blue, red, blue, red, blue.

"That's odd," Erza murmured to herself. For in the last week she'd spent here she had seen these vehicles before. She didn't know what they were for exactly and had not asked anyone from this world for fear that it would make her look ignorant and raise suspicion against her. Sometimes she'd seen them driving without the lights flashing, but whenever she'd seen them driving with the flashing lights they had also been accompanied by a high-pitched wailing noise that seemed to prompt all other vehicles to get out of their way. The first time Erza had heard the noise she'd thought it had been some kind of strange animal in distress, or perhaps a monster, and had very nearly exposed her magic in preparation for a fight before she discovered it was just a car.

This was new. Seeing them with the lights on but no noise. And why were they pulling up outside? She could see in some kind of uniform spilling out into the street from the doors and rushing around like panicked ants. Some crouched behind the cars and peered up towards the building Erza was in while others hurried towards the front door quietly.

Whatever it was, it certainly didn't look good.

Erza quickly strode away from the window, flashing slightly as she donned her Heart Kreuz armour with a rapid Requip. "Sirius," she said, reaching onto the top bunk and poking him in the side with an armoured finger. Sirius immediately shot up with teeth bared, snarling defensively, but once he saw who'd done it he calmed rapidly and shifted back into human form.

"What is it?" he grunted, rubbing his eyes.

"Can you tell me what the function of those four-wheelers outside might be?" Erza nodded her head towards the window. Sirius' gaze followed the nod and frowned when he noticed the lights, bounding out the bed and crossing over see for himself. And when he saw, he swore slightly under his breath.

"Oh crap," he muttered. "It's the Muggle police."

"The what?" Erza frowned. "What is a Muggle?"

"Oh, its the term that we use to describe non-magic people in this world," Sirius brushed that off. "But that's not important. What is important is while I don't know a huge amount about all Muggle customs, I do know that those men outside are non-magical law enforcement."

"Like non-magical Rune Knights," Erza hummed. "But why would they be here?"

"They must have somehow found out I was here," Sirius growled. "Like I said I'm a fugitive and the Muggle police were warned about me too when I escaped from prison. They don't know I'm a wizard but they think I'm dangerous. They've come to try and arrest me… and anyone that I'm associated with."

Erza's eyes narrowed and her fist clenched, the gauntlet rattling slightly. "Well I suppose that explains why they aren't making strange noises. They must be trying to sneak up on you."

"And they'd have succeeded if you hadn't stayed up."

"Indeed. But I have had more than enough experience with unjust arrests," she said, remembering well the time the Council had had her arrested to serve as a scapegoat for the Lullaby incident… and worse still the memory of when Jellal had been taken away despite his recent actions in destroying Nirvana and the fact all his crimes had been committed under the influence of another.

And as she thought that, she suddenly saw Sirius in a whole new light. Suddenly he was a proper comrade. Because if it was true that he was wanted for a crime that he didn't commit then she'd be damned if she'd let him be taken away while she could prevent it. Not like she had with Jellal.

"If its true they are after you then we will get you out of here," Erza said firmly. "We will fight our way out if needs be."

"I'm grateful," Sirius smiled, and he meant it. "If I had my wand I could zap us out of here in an instant but I'm afraid the only magical thing I can do without it is turn into a dog. And… if you're anything like the other Fairy Tail mages I've witnessed the we can't fight those people. They're innocents after all. We should try and avoid hurting them at all costs. Besides… maybe you don't have to fight. Maybe I can try to escape as a dog and you can put out the story that you were my hostages or something…"

"We will not leave abandon a comrade. That is not the way we do things. But I agree that we must avoid hurting these people," Erza nodded and turned around to lay a hand on a slumbering Cana's leg and shook her. "Cana, wake up."

"Huh?" Cana blinked, sitting up and stretching with a tired grimace. "What's up, Erza? It's not morning yet."

"Okay, how are you not hung over?" Sirius gaped at her. "The amount of stuff I saw you drink…"

"Hey, I'm the best there is at holding my liquor," Cana smirked. "So, what's going on?"

"We're leaving," Erza replied. "Right now."


The police force worked quickly and efficiently, creeping up the staircase and carrying their truncheons at the ready. All of them were clad in bulletproof vests as their files indicated that Sirius Black possessed a gun, but as British police did not usually carry guns themselves they wanted to make sure to catch him unawares if at all possible and so not risk civilian casualties. And since they had learned he apparently had two female accomplices then they'd need to neutralise them too.

Through the use of hand signals they carefully moved their way up the stairs bit by bit, trying to make as little noise as possible, until they reached the correct floor. Having been provided with a spare key by the manager, the police sergeant leading the group gently inserted it into the lock, inching it in circle to try and open it as silently as he could, inch by inch, while the others clustered behind him and prepared to make the charge inside, breath bated, stomachs clenching and nerves steeling.

But, as the sergeant was in the middle of unlocking the door, something slid out from underneath it - a card with a picture of a leprechaun blowing a trumpet and standing over a slumbering sheep. The policemen didn't notice it until it started to give off a strange, greenish glow that came off it in wisps like some kind of gas. They all instantly backed away but it was too late. Their eyelids drooped as the magic did its work and one by one they slumped to the ground, stretching out across the floor or collapsing back against the walls. Some snored, some yawned in their sleep, but all of them were out like a light.

The door opened and Cana leaned out, grabbing her Sleep Card and smirking at the incapacitated men. "Nighty night," she said, before closing it again and turning to her companions. "That takes care of those on the inside."

"Handy technique," Sirius nodded approvingly. "But will it work on those outside?"

"Long as I throw enough cards it should," Cana held up her hand, splaying ten cards across it with the skill of a top quality dealer.

"Throw cards?" Sirius asked. "Do you have some magic that prevents them from being caught in the wind?"

"Nope," Cana shook her head, stepping to the window and peering out. "Just had a helluva lot of practice. Okay… I count four vehicles out there. Why have they formed a semi-circle around the door?"

"It's a barrier, designed to stop us from escaping if we try to jump out of the window or something," Erza noted.

"We'd have to be pretty desperate to try that," Sirius murmured. Two seconds later, Erza stepped past him and boldly flung the windows open, hopping onto the windowsill and throwing herself out into space!

"What the…!" Sirius cried, running to the window and watching as she dropped down a full three stories. Yet she landed flawlessly, legs bending beneath her as she fell into a full forward roll. And on the way down she had apparently pulled four knives out from her Requip space because as she rolled to her feet they scythed through the air to puncture one of the tyres on each of the vehicles, filling the street with the whistling of deflating rubber.

The officers cried out and took cover behind the vehicles just in case she had more knives, except for two brave ones who immediately ran forward in an attempt to tackle Erza to the ground. The redheaded mage neatly sidestepped one and grabbed the other by the arm, spinning him around to pull him into a full nelson she could hold in one hand, before hooking the other arm around the neck of the second and squeezing tightly. As she held them, she watched four cards zoom down from the window and land neatly on the sirens of each of the police vehicles, emitted the same greenish glow as the first, while another three landed on the ground around them.

It took mere seconds for the police officers behind the vehicles to succumb to the effects of the magic, laying them out across the road just as they were about to run to the aid of their comrades. Erza and her two opponents were too far from the cards range to be affected but the one she was strangling had already passed out so she dropped him, before she gripped the other and delivered a practiced punch right to his gut, just like she did with Natsu whenever he got motion sick on a train. The policeman coughed and collapsed against her, unconscious.

"Sorry," she said to him as she lowered him to the floor gently beside his companion.

Any pedestrians who were witness to this event were running away at this point, and Erza turned back to the door just as Sirius hurried out of it. Moments later, Cana followed, after first having laid a ten pound note on the desk in front of the receptionist for the trouble.

"Well that was efficient," Sirius noted as he looked out across the slumbering police force. "Good job."

"Yes, but now we'll need to get out of here," Erza said. "Perhaps we should head for the train station."

"Sounds good to me but I don't know where it is. Never been here before."

"Good thing we know then," Cana said. "We searched it out as soon as we came here to try and see if we could recognise any of the destinations on the map. Come on, we should go before this lot wake up from their nappy time."

Sirius nodded and added, "Or before the Ministry shows up. Don't forget to keep your Fairy Tail marks covered," before he shifted into a dog while the girls retrieved their cards and knives respectively. All three of them them hurried off together down the street, Sirius in the middle and the other two on either side of him.

"I gotta admit," Cana snickered. "It does feel kinda fun to be on the run from the law. Makes me feel badass."

"Yes well I do hope that we will not have to get used to it," Erza murmured. "I hope that we can patch things up with this Ministry of yours as soon as we reunite with our comrades, Sirius."

Sirius wanted to say, "If you've been spotted with me then that might make things more difficult," but could not because of his current form. So he just ran on, his breath coming out in little clouds in the chill autumn air… which felt unusually cold to him considering he had a thick coat and all.

"Hey, is it me or is it getting colder?" Cana suddenly asked, shivering slightly as she ran. "And… darker?"

"Now that you mention it, it is," Erza frowned, little puffs of steam spilling out of their mouths as the streetlights seemed to dim. "How odd…"

Sirius' ears pricked up and his hair stood on end when he realised he could feel it too - there seemed to be a distinctive drop in the temperature around him as if he was slowly being lowered into a freezing cold lake, except the cold didn't seem to be making him shiver… more like… making him fearful…

…Oh no…

Muggles be damned, he suddenly shifted back into human form and grabbed the shoulders of the two girls, stopping them in their tracks. "You have to get out of here! Now! I'll try and draw them away!"

"Huh?" Cana blinked. "Draw what away?"

But Sirius' pupils had narrowed into dots as he stared in the direction they'd been running.

"…Them."

Even before Erza's head turned to look she felt as if her armour had transformed into ice, a terrible chill passing through her body that made her stomach fall away and knees start to shake. But when she set eyes on what Sirius had seen, a sudden and overwhelming sense of despair seemed to wash over her like a tidal wave, sweeping her up and down the road in its flood.

For there, gliding down the street towards them, wafting over cars and wheeling around Muggle pedestrians like wraiths were near on twenty figures in long black cloaks… hoods covering up their faces but their rotting, scabbed hands clearly visible and reaching out towards the three fugitives, bringing with them a blanket of fog that rolled along behind them like a cloud. Deep, rattling breaths that seemed to suck the air out of Erza's lungs even from a great distance could be heard, and wherever they passed the Muggles were dropping to their knees, shivering and whimpering as they covered their heads, but the creatures ignored them and continued on, solely focused on their goal.

"What… what are they?" Cana croaked, the brunette starting to sweat despite the cold that seemed to be spreading through every nerve ending in her body.

"Dementors…" Sirius breathed. "The Ministry's called in Dementors to come after me! Come on, the other way! Run!" He grabbed Cana and Erza's arms and attempted to drag them backwards but though Cana stumbled back with him, Erza did not budge. She appeared to be rooted to the spot, staring at the Dementors as if she was seeing something else entirely and her whole body shaking in either cold or fear.

"Sirius Black!" shouted a voice from nearby. And there stood a small group of three Aurors, led by a man named Proudfoot and who were currently being shielded by a Patronus in the form of an eagle that was arcing slowly around the three of them in a way that a real eagle could never fly. "You are under arrest. Surrender to Ministry jurisdiction and come quietly or you and your accomplices will be brought in by force."

"Not a chance," Sirius hissed under his breath as the Dementors drew closer, his emotions draining by the second. "Erza, come on!"

"Erza, we have to go!" Cana yelled, her voice straining as her stomach began to clench into a tight little ball of anguish. But Erza was now barely breathing, her armour rattling as she trembled and unparalleled horror welling up inside her.

"St…stay back!" she cried, managing to summon the strength to take a single step back as the Dementors closed in, but they ignored her and kept coming, picking up speed as they sensed prey at hand. "STAY BACK!" she yelled, and she suddenly threw caution to the wind and Requipped right there in the middle of the street, metallic wings whooshing out to either side of her as she donned her Heaven's Wheel Armour, generating a dozen swords in the air above her head and shrieking in a higher pitch than normal:- "TENRIN: BLUMENBLATT!"

The swords fired forwards with a thrust of her hand as if they'd been shot from a cannon, piercing the Dementor's cloaks and thunking into their bodies. But the Dementors didn't even slow down. Instead they just got angry, hissing beneath their hoods as the gripped the swords in their decimated hands and yanked them loose, dropping them into the street and rushing forwards like a stream.

And as they shot in, Erza's world seemed to fall away. Her vision went dark and suddenly screams filled her ears. Terrified yelling and cries for family members, accompanied by crackling flames. An orange glow appeared in her mind's eye until she could see the fire, could see people running panicked as men in cloaks and masks pursued them through the burning remains of… Rosemary village!

Erza's home when she'd been a child! She was rewitnessing its sacking from the supporters of Zeref.

"KILL ALL THE ADULTS!" roared one particularly fat masked man as he skewered a man in the back with his blade. "TAKE ALL THE CHILDREN!"

"Big brother, where are you?" wailed a small girl with a ribbon in her hair desperately as the masked men bore down on her.

"No… no…" Erza thudded to her knees as she watched the massacre. "Stop! S… stop it! Please, stop it!"

But the scene was already shifting, and Erza saw herself, younger and with short hair, her wrists captured in the cruel iron manacles she'd worn for years as she collapsed from exhaustion, her feet blistered and her hands scraped and bruised, only for a guard to rush over screaming at her to get back up and flaying his whip, striking little Erza across the back in a blow that sent pain tearing through her body - so much so that older Erza actually felt it herself.

"STOP! STOP!" Erza's high-pitched screams rent the street, clapping her head in her hands and shaking it furiously. "STOOOOP!"

But it didn't stop, and as the Dementors bore in the scene kept changing. She felt her torture at the hands of the guards after she was blamed for the failed escape attempt of her and her friends. She saw her pain as her eye was brutally damaged. She saw the the magic troops bearing down on the rebelling slaves, gaunt and twisted much like the Dementors themselves, firing upon her terrified brethren! She saw the incoming attack bearing down on her before suddenly Grandpa Rob was in front of her, arms wide and shielding her with his body.

"I will not allow such young life to perish!" he croaked, his voice ringing in Erza's ears as if he was right next to her, as if it was happening for real. She watched helplessly as he defended her from the magical strikes until his very body splintered and he broke into pieces before her.

"GRANDPA ROOOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBB! NOOOOOOOOOO!" she wailed as if she was still that same one-eyed girl, the despair and horror as fresh as it had been back on that day. And it only got worse.

"Erza, there is no freedom in this world," she suddenly heard the voice of a younger Jellal as he turned and sneered at her with an expression that looked alien on his face. "This tower is mine. I will complete it!"

"Stop it, Jellal!"

"Don't you hate them, Erza?" Jellal grinned sinisterly before he slaughtered two guards right then and there.

"I have no more need for you. However I will allow you to live. If you try to tell someone, I will have to destroy this tower and everyone on it."

Suddenly an older her was standing the in the lacrima tower, body immobilised as Jellal pushed her into the crystal. "Your body will be deconstructed and reconstituted into Zeref's."

A split second later and she was standing in front of a heavily beaten Natsu, arms wide, as Jellal's Altiaris bore down on her, right before someone threw himself in the way, arms wide and shielding her just like Grandpa Rob. Erza watched all over again as Simon's broken body fell to the ground in front of her.

"…I… loved… you…" he rasped his final words before his body went limp and his eye slowly closed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Erza's screams doubled as both her memory self and her real self wailed at the same time. Erza felt herself convulsing uncontrollably, struggling about wildly on the spot as if bound in ropes or stuck in mud, thrashing from side to side like a thing possessed and screaming, non-stop, as she felt her insides coalesce into a vast, swirling ball of misery, guilt, fear and horror. She could no longer remember she was in the middle of street, or even that the Dementors were the ones causing this pain. All she could do was scream.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAHHHH! AAAHHH! AAHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sirius' jaw hung open - he'd never seen such a violent reaction to a Dementor in his life! But the more horrible things you'd seen, the more the Dementors affected you. So how many terrible, painful things had this poor girl been dragged through to react this badly?

Though she wasn't alone. He too was feeling the all too familiar effects - ones he'd hoped to never feel again. He could hear his own screams when he heard the news that James and Lily had been murdered, could hear Wormtail's accusing voice before he blew up the street and faked his own death. And a quick glance to the side told him Cana was suffering too, for she'd clamped her hands over her eyes and was shaking her head desperately.

"You'll never be worthy," said a voice in Cana's ear. It was her own voice, welling up from all the times Cana had wallowed in self-depression when she thought about her amazingly powerful father. "You're useless. Just a waste of space that nobody needs. You're a loser, an alcoholic, too weak to become an S-Class mage. There's no way you can ever live up to your father's legacy. You don't deserve him and he doesn't want you."

"No!" Cana cried vehemently, tears stinging her eyes as she looked up, watching the Dementors reaching out towards the immobilised Erza, hands inches from touching her hair. "No! He's accepted me! He knows I'm his daughter and he wants to be my Dad!" she roared, grabbing three of her cards and flinging them through the air at the nearest Dementors. "RAKURAI NO UNMEI!" she yelled, bolts of electricity burst from the cards to shock the Dementors and push them back slightly, hissing and their cloaks smoking a little but looking none the worse for wear.

But even as they did, Erza finally succumbed fully to their hideous power and blacked out, falling limply downwards with a clash of metal against tarmac. Cana stood over her, snarling as the voices contained to ring in her ears, trying her best to block out her own former self-loathing as she swung another two cards through the air to add, "WIND EDGE!" and generate a sudden barrier of wind around her and Erza that the Dementors gathered around for a moment, cloaks whipping around them, before they continued to press forwards, passing through the wind as if it wasn't even there.

"GET AWAY!" Cana bellowed desperately, starting to feel her strength waning as her own despair pounded at her brain. "BAKUEN!" she threw down another card and suddenly the wind changed into a burst of fire that consumed the Dementors, but Cana didn't for a moment think she'd won because the anguish didn't lessen for a moment and then clammy hands started to stretch out of the fire, following by clammy arms, the Dementors cloaks alight with flame and burning away to reveal their grey skin underneath.

Sirius was rooted to the spot as he watched Cana desperately trying to defend her friend. What could he do? There was nothing that came to mind. Without his wand he couldn't Disapparate them away, nor could he summon a Patronus to help. He was entirely powerless. Turning into a dog to try and fight the Dementors would be pointless and would give his best disguise away to the watching Aurors…

His only remaining option seemed to be to run… abandon the two to their fate… but he couldn't do that surely… but on the other hand maybe he could find someone and tell them what had happened if he did…

But then all his deliberating was made irrelevant when a clammy hand grabbed his shoulder. Sirius whirled around, gasping - five more Dementors had got in behind them! They were surrounded! There was nowhere left to go. He wrenched free of the Dementor's grip, stumbling back towards Cana until they were back to back over the fallen Erza, all happy thoughts draining out of them as if the Dementors were physically sucking them away.

"No… stay back…" Cana coughed, losing strength and piling on another explosion attack to no effect. Her vision started to darken, losing strength in her legs until she fell backwards onto her backside, while the Dementors snagged at her arms and began to haul her off the ground, struggling feebly. Sirius was in the same boat, coughing and gagging, but his eyes wide as one of the Dementors lowered its hood, its eyeless face and gaping mouth leaning towards him!

This was it! He was going to lose his soul!

"Enough!" barked a voice suddenly, and the Dementor lurched away from him as if physically struck. Sirius looked up blearily as Proudfoot and the other two Aurors marched forwards, the eagle Patronus around them, but they made sure to stop before the bird's positive effect could be felt by Sirius himself.

"Do not Kiss him yet," Proudfoot said. "I know that that was the order, but his two companions… they're Fairy Tail mages. Minister Fudge will have some serious questions about how these two met. We wait until we've got that information before you Kiss him."

"No…" Sirius choked, his head lolling to the side and beholding an unconscious Cana and Erza lying nestled in the disgusting arms of two other Dementors that were carrying them bridal style. It was the last thing Sirius saw before one final, overwhelming spell of despair hit him, and he blacked out too.

Proudfoot grimaced. Truth be told, watching that had made him horribly uncomfortable. The redhead's reaction had been torturous to see. But it was an inevitability. Even if there had not been a sudden attack on the bank in London, it would have ended this way - Fudge had decreed that Dementors be brought in in any potential Sirius Black lead to help deal with such a dangerous man.

Still… this was certainly a win for the Ministry! Sirius Black and two Fairy Tail mages at once! What a prize.


Pantherlily was falling back. Despite his coordinated assaults, the Goblins around him just kept flooding through, and he had a large gash in his side now from where a goblin's sword had come a little too close for comfort. Gritting his fangs, he retreated backwards, ducking underneath another Goblin cleave and rapping the perpetrator in the nose with the butt of his sword, hard enough to break it.

But just as he was contemplating flinging himself into space and diving down to try and rejoin the Dragon Slayers, flashing lights from down one of the corridors caught his eye.

"Stupefy!" shouted two separate voices as two broomsticks with barely visible people astride them swooped over the heads of the Goblins, red lights lancing out to send several Goblins crashing down like ninepins. Following shortly behind them was Lisanna, her legs morphed into those of a bird and forcing other Goblins to duck as her talons skimmed over their heads, soaring over them on her feathered wings.

And then came Juvia, bringing up the rear by literally flooding out the corridor. Goblins yelped as they were caught up in the flood of water and swept along like bits of driftwood. As soon as Juvia reached the vault door where Lily was standing she threw her liquid arms out and redirected the water stream down all the other corridors leading to this spot, washing the Goblins away and granting them a temporary reprieve.

"You… how did you guys get here?" Lily asked, dropping back into his regular form once again.

"More to the point, what are you doing here at at all?" A voice he recognised to be Molly's came from one of the two brooms. "This is about the most foolhardy thing I think I've ever heard in my life."

"We can worry about that later," Lisanna said. "Right now we should focus on getting to the others. Where are they, Lily?"

"They went down," Lily jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Not sure exactly where."

"We'll one of the carts to the bottom," Charlie said as he landed. "We can hop out on the way if need be, but we'll avoid the traps if we stay in here… I hope."

"That's not so encouraging," Molly pursed her lips as she landed too, piling into one of the carts along with the others. Lily quickly grabbed the pedal to set it loose and was about to hop in himself when suddenly his wound panged at him and he grabbed his side, gritting his teeth.

"Lily!" Lisanna reached out a hand to him as the card rolled to the edge of the drop.

"Don't worry about me! I'll catch up!" Lily grinned right before they dropped out of sight. He took a moment to wait for the pain to subside a little before spreading his wings and descending down after them. He could already hear the sounds of more Goblins coming in behind him, recuperating from Juvia's flash flood and coming back for more.

But as the cart barrelled downwards in tight spirals, Pantherlily noticed a line of Goblin archers pulling up on a nearby edge and taking careful aim at the cart. Quickly he swooped in, growing into battle form and swinging his blade in a huge arc as the arrows were released, allowing the blade to grow until it could swat all the arrows out of the air with a single stroke and cleave a large stalactite into dust as well. Lily dived in towards the goblins as they hastily tried to re-nock their arrows and ploughed the flat of the blade into them, sending all fifteen of them hammering into the wall at once.

And as he landed on the ledge to recuperate… a nearby voice made his small ears twitch.

"Mrrooaw… quite a swing you've got there," said the unmistakably female voice. "I adore a male with a bit of brute force."

"Huh?" Lily looked around, and his eyes widened when he beheld a bizarre feline creature he'd never seen before. From the neck down it appeared to be lioness, with a dusky golden coat, large paws and a tail that was constantly flicking at the back. But its head was that of a pretty human woman with long hair the same colour as her pelt.

"Something wrong?" the woman-cat cocked her head. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Erm… forgive me for asking but… what are you?" Lily asked.

The woman-cat gasped in mock horror. "How rude," she smirked. "You don't recognise a Sphinx when you see one? Oh, you wound me."

A sphinx? Lily had never heard of one of those from either Edolas or Earthland, and had only heard the word a couple of times since he'd got here. So this was what they were, huh?

And Lily could see that this Sphinx was not exactly here by choice. She was sitting in a large doorway which presumably lead to more bank vaults, but she couldn't move away from it due to the heavy iron collar locked around her neck, attached to a chain that ran to the side of the wall. A chain that would be long enough to allow her to reach the far wall, but not long enough for much else.

"You're a prisoner here then?"

"How perceptive of you," the sphinx tossed her hair slightly. "Yes, I've been 'employed' here at Gringott's since I was merely six years old. Spent my whole life more or less just sitting here in this hallway. I can't say much for the view - it never really changes. But the Goblins make me sit here and pose riddles to people wanting to access the vaults beyond. If they get it wrong, I don't let them pass. But this chain prevents me from attacking the clients as much as it stops me from getting out. Honestly they never let me eat any of them, even if they get it wrong. It's maddening. Anyway, what's your name, handsome? And for that matter, what are you? I don't exactly have a great knowledge of the outside world after all."

"That wouldn't really help you in this case," Lily murmured. "I am Pantherlily and I am an Exceed. Do you have a name?"

"Yes," the sphinx grimaced. "Sphinxes don't really have a need for names, but my captors named me Sobekneferu."

"You don't like that name," Lily observed.

"Apparently an ancient female ruler of my homeland was called Sobekneferu and I was named after her."

"Is that not a name to wear with pride then?"

"Not really. It means 'the beauty of Sobek' and Sobek is an ancient river god nobody believes in anymore with the head of a crocodile! A crocodile! How is naming a cat after a human that was named after a crocodile a good name?"

"I… shall abstain from commenting," Lily replied dryly.

"Anyway, what's a butch cat like you doing down here anyway?" Sobekneferu snickered, openly winking at Lily, an action that made him shift about on the spot a little. Clearly she was flirting with him, but Lily reasoned that it was probably because she didn't get to do much down here and was just messing about for her own amusement.

"I came with my human friends. We're here to rescue the dragons that the Goblins hold prisoner down below."

"The dragons?" Sobekneferu raised her head sharply. "Free them? You mean, you're on a rescue mission."

"A suicidal one probably," Lily muttered dryly. "But yes, I am."

"And we are you here to free those fire-breathing lizards and not we sphinxes may I ask?"

"We didn't know there were any sphinxes down here. All we heard was they kept dragons prisoner - there was no mention of your kind. We're not exactly familiar with this place."

"I see," Sobekneferu lifted up a heavy paw and tugged at the chain around her neck with it. "But since you're here, would you mind terribly cutting me loose?"

Lily frowned, lowering his sword. "Why should I do that?"

"Why? Well you're here to free prisoners aren't you? I'm a prisoner! Hello? You see the chain, don't you?" she waggled said chain, allowing it to rattle against her collar. "Use that whacking great big sword and those bulging… firm… muscles of yours," she grinned. "And cut me loose."

"You're saying I can trust you then? I seem to recall you complaining a minute ago that you weren't allowed to eat humans. Why should I cut you free if there's a chance you'll try that on one of my friends?"

"Aww, come on. Don't I have an honest face?" Sobekneferu pouted, batting her eyelashes at him prettily. Lily grunted, but was unmoved by the display. The sphinx frowned and pushed herself to her feet, revealing that she stood tall enough for her head to be just over waist height, and then turned side on. Lily's eyes widened when he beheld the array of scars and burn marks that adorned her feline flank, some which looked very old and others shockingly new.

"This is why," she said. "You can't just leave me down here while you free some wild fire-breathing lizard. The Goblins treat me and the other Sphinxes like crap. Its a constant torture - they bring the hot irons with them every time they feed me to make sure I don't try and eat them instead. I want out of this hell pit and the other Sphinxes will too. So if you free me, big boy, I swear that I won't kill any humans. Just goblins."

Lily's jaw tightened. "No. Not even Goblins. Goodness knows they deserve it after what they've done to you, but there's to be no killing if it can be avoided."

"What kind of big cat are you if you aren't willing to kill something?"

"I'm an Exceed. So, do we have a deal? I want your word that if I free you, you will not do any killing of any sentient being under my watch."

Sobekneferu scowled, but slowly relented, rolling her eyes and sighing deeply. "My, my, you drive a hard bargain… I like a forceful male," she licked her lips cheekily.

"Deal?" Lily pressed.

"Oh, very well, deal," Sobekneferu nodded. "I swear it on pain of death. Now cut me loose."

"With pleasure," Lily hefted his blade and slammed it down, slicing neatly through the chain a mere inch from Sobekneferu's side. The sphinx stared at the chain, almost as if she didn't dare to believe it, but Lily just hefted his sword and said, "So, what next?"

"Next? Why next we find the others and free them too. There are ten Sphinxes down here somewhere including myself. Let's sniff them out. Follow me." And she bounded down the nearest pathway, Lily taking flight and swooping next to her.

As they went, Sobekneferu threw back her head and laughed out loud. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh gosh! I'd forgotten what it was like to run! Wow, I feel so free! Hold on my sisters. I'm coming for you!"

Lily chuckled to himself. His new companion was quirky but despite her brazenness, he had a feeling he could get used to her.


Lily wasn't the only one who'd found something though. Perhaps a full mile beneath him under the ground, guided well by Bill as the Curse Breaker navigated them smoothly around all the hidden traps and pitfalls throughout the bank. By this point they'd also managed to pull ahead of most of the Goblins, meaning whenever they encountered one, it required a mere swing of an iron club or blast of fire to send them packing.

"We're getting close," Wendy breathed.

"Yeah. I can smell one. Right up ahead," Gajeel agreed as they ran towards a large cavern, a massive gaping space in the rock up ahead with a faint, orange glow emanating from within. Two Goblins were standing guard, but before they could even react Bill and Fleur rattled off a Stunning Spell each that dropped them to the ground, hitting the Goblins straight in the face as they had been wearing armour that they both knew would reflect a spell like that back.

"Okay then," Bill said, bracing himself as he squared up to the entrance of the cavern. He'd never had to do this before personally after all since he was usually in Egypt finding treasure. "Let's see if this works… I might need one of you ready just in case it doesn't." He took the Clankers from Fleur and stepped cautiously into the entranceway, rattling the bag carefully and deliberately to generate the sound it was named for. The others stepped cautiously behind him, Happy and Charla floating in the air on their wings.

And sure enough, looming in the middle of the cavern as soon as they rounded the corner, was a dragon. It towered over the humans, its wings folded in close to its sides but its stature no less impressive. This particular dragon had scales that were a glistening pearly colour, its spine adorned with with long spines at regular intervals down its length and its long snake-like tail wrapped slightly around a stalagmite nearby. It wasn't quite as large as any of the dragons that the Dragon Slayers were familiar with, but it was pretty close.

But a couple of seconds after they laid eyes on it, a guttural growl ripped through Natsu's throat. For the dragon was clearly in terrible condition. Many of its spines were broken, its legs were anchored down with heavy iron manacles, and its entire body was covered in scars, its scales flaking around the wounds, most of which clearly hadn't healed properly and some of which were still open and oozing slightly. Most of them were centred around its head, which was criss-crossed with so many injuries that it barely had any scales left at all, and its eyes in ruin. Quite clearly it was blind, and had been for a very long time.

The dragon looked up as it smelled them approach, baring its teeth and shifting its body weight as much as the chains would allow. But it could clearly hear the sound of the Clankers and it slowly backed away, bowing its head down and trying to tuck it under its wing, which it probably couldn't even stretch properly in the cramped space.

Even Bill was horrified. He'd never actually seen any of the captive Gringotts dragons. He'd never needed to since the Weasley family vault was nowhere near important enough to be guarded by one. And to see for the first time exactly what the Goblins had done to the beast… it made him seriously question whether he was working for the right company and whether he should go join Charlie in Romania from this moment on. How could anyone do that to… anything? Let alone a flaming dragon.

"Oh gods," Wendy had her hands over her mouth, looking like she was going be sick.

"Bastards…" Gajeel growled lowly. "Those utter bastards…"

"Zis is… barbaric…" Fleur agreed, looking equally stunned.

"I think this one's an Antipodean Opaleye," Bill frowned. "If I remember what Charlie's told me correctly. They're supposed to have amazing, multi-coloured eyes, hence the name… but this one… it may as well not even have it."

"What are the Clankers for?" Charla asked.

"Its trained to expect pain whenever it hears them. It's probably wondering when one of us is going to give it a new wound."

"Like hell!" Natsu snapped, and he suddenly strode boldly forwards, walking right past Bill and striding towards the dragon. The dragon heard him approaching and swung its head around to face him as he walked towards it.

"Monsieur, are you crazy?" Fleur hissed at him. "Zat zing could eat you in a second!"

But Natsu ignored her and walked forwards until he was right in front of the dragon's face. The great winged lizard's nostrils twitched slightly, sightless remains of eyes staring Natsu in the face as it took several deep whiffs of his scent. Natsu stood there, firm as a statue, fire building in his stomach like boiling lava as he surveyed the grisly work of the Goblins all across the dragon's snout.

If it wanted to, the dragon could have easily lunged forwards and seized Natsu in its mighty jaws. But it didn't. It craned its head forwards slowly, sniffing Natsu's hair, his scarf, his clothes. And Natsu simply let it before reaching out a hand slowly and placing it on the dragon's nose. The dragon growled slightly, a slight glow appearing from within its maw, but Natsu ignored the vague threats and leaned forwards himself, until he was resting his forehead against the dragon's snout, just between where its former eyes. And the two of them just stood there for several moments, listening to one another's breathing and taking in one another's scent.

Bill couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why… how is he doing that?"

"He's not doing anything," Gajeel replied stiffly. "I reckon that dragon's just… recognising him as some sort of kindred spirit, I guess."

"But he's a Dragon Slayer. You said his magic revolved around magic that can kill dragons."

"It's also the same magic that dragons themselves use," Wendy said. "I guess you can say we've got a little bit of dragon inside us."

"But then how come that Hebridean Black attacked you?"

"Well that one was guarding its eggs," Wendy reasoned. "I guess she was driven to protect her young."

"That dragon may be an animal," Charla agreed. "But many animals have strong instincts that tell them whether something is a foe or not. I suppose that dragon simply recognises that Natsu is not an enemy."

Bill and Fleur could only stare in amazement before Natsu pulled his head away and looked back. "Wendy," he said. "You think you can heal her?"

"Her?" Bill blinked, wondering how Natsu could tell but Wendy had hurried forward to survey the damage.

"I think I can get rid of some of the major damage but… there's nothing I can do about her eyes. Eyes are so delicate and complex… that's beyond me."

"Just do what you can," Natsu said. "Cos we're getting this girl out of here, along with all the others."

"Damn straight we are," Gajeel said as he marched forwards. "Oi, blue cat. White cat. I'd prepare to whisk Bill and … whatshername… Flare?"

"Fleur," Fleur coughed, while off in another universe a redhead with very long hair sneezed.

"Right yeah, Fleur… prepare to whisk them out of the way," Gajeel cracked his knuckles. "Don't think the dragon will hold them to quite same level of kinship as us."

"Aye, you're probably right there," Happy said as he hopped up onto Bill's shoulder, while Charla took Fleur. Gajeel stepped up to the manacles around the dragon's legs and turned to lock eyes with Natsu and Wendy.

"We do this quick," he said. "Go from one dragon to another fast as we can. Otherwise those Goblins will be able to come up with some kind of counter when they figure out what we're doing if we don't work fast enough."

"Roger," Wendy nodded.

"Let's do it," Natsu agreed.

And without another word, Gajeel suddenly barrelled between the dragon's legs, whirling around and lashing out with both Iron Dragon Swords. The manacles cracked and fell away before the sturdy dragon metal and as Gajeel rolled out the other side, Natsu roared, "Onto the next!" As one the three Dragon Slayers bolted out of the cavern, running side by side while Happy and Charla whooshed their human passengers along before them.

It took a few moments before the dragon realised it was now free, and as soon as it did it reared up, a roar shaking the caverns and momentarily making Pantherlily freeze up even from a mile up, thinking it might be thunder. The dragon's tail lashed out to collide with a wall, its wings unfurling as far as the cave would allow before it suddenly dropped back down onto all four feet with a crash that fractured rock and barrelled out of the cavern, following its nose towards the distant trace of fresh air it had been able to smell but not taste for years!

The Dragon Slayers didn't even look back as the dragon charged out behind them and went a different way. They followed their noses as they vaulted over rocks and dodged around stalagmites, trailed by the Exceed as they hurried towards the next cavern. They bolted in to find it filled with a Common Welsh Green, which looked in slightly better shape than the Opaleye but not by much and was also blind. Happy swooped in first, Bill rattling the Clankers to cow the Green into submission before the Dragon Slayers hurried forwards, Natsu calming it, Wendy doing what she could to heal it in ten seconds and Gajeel shattering its chains.

They weren't even in the cavern for half a minute before they rushed out, leaving the Green bewildered and sniffing after the draconic smelling humans curiously, before it too realised it was free and dashed forwards so fast it crashed into a stone wall, causing a small rockslide which it ignored as it thundered away in the same direction as the Opaleye. The Dragon Slayers were already running onto the next, and Wendy could already tell from the smell that this one would be a Hebridean Black.

"ARE YOU FEELING IT, SALAMANDER!?" Gajeel bellowed almost giddily as they pounded along.

"FEELING IT?" Natsu cackled. "OH, I'M REALLY FIRED UP NOW!"


The roars of the dragons were not lost on those in the cart, who were keeping their heads down beneath the rim of the rushing cart while Charlie held up his wand to cast a Shield Charm over the top in an bid to deflect any Goblin projectiles that came there way. But at the sound of the roars they all glanced at each other, wide-eyed.

"Oh gods, they've already done it," Charlie whispered. "I don't know whether I should be happy about that or not."

"Never mind that now," Juvia poked her head out of the cart, to peer over the side. A Goblin arrow struck her in the shoulder but she ignored it since it passed right through her water body harmlessly, but she could see flame down below and the white form of the Opaleye rearing up and spreading its wings to their full capacity at last. She gasped as it threw itself into the air, powering its wings as hard as it could before crashing down again on a nearby ledge, unused to flying after so long. It clawed its way up the wall like an overgrown gecko, flapping its wings and throwing itself upwards again.

Right towards the cart!

"Incoming!" Juvia cried and flooded the cart instantly, scooping all four of them out into open air moments before the Opaleye crashed through the rails and turned the cart to splinters as it fought its way upwards. Goblins screamed when they realised the dragon was loose, diving for cover as the dragon expelled a gout of flame from its jaws that washed over the wall where many of them had been standing moments before, crashing once again into the rock and scrabbling on upwards.

Juvia reformed, having narrowly dodged the dragon's wing. Lisanna quickly took on her bird shape to grab Molly and Charlie by the arm in each of her feet, giving them a chance to mount their brooms and fly properly even though they were soaking wet, before she spiralled down and latched her feet around Juvia's arms.

"They did it…" Charlie gasped as he watched the Opaleye climbing away, sending bits of rock falling down beneath it. "They really went and did it."

"And they're still doing it," Molly pointed down to where the Welsh Green had emerged, taking its own turn to leap into the air. The four of them steered sharply right and away from the Green as it hefted itself upwards.

"Come on," Lisanna cried. "If we follow the direction the dragons are coming from, that's where they'll be."