Natsu's felt odd after waking up, this was because he had a mysterious dream that he couldn't quite recall. He was looking up at his hand while staring at the ceiling, though it wasn't the ceiling of his house.
"Just a dream?" he muttered to himself while looking very focused. "I should maybe ask Aang about this later…"
"Wait! Why do you have a suggestive look in someone else's house?!" that voice belonged to Lucy, who was glaring at Natsu who had decided to sleep in her bed. To this, Natsu gave a confused look to her as Lucy continued her tantrum. "I had to sleep on the floor 'cause you took my bed!"
Happy rose from Natsu's side, looking very tired as well. "Why do you hafta be so loud in the morning…?"
He was suddenly lifted by his ears and faced an angry Katara. "After you two barged in here last night? We should be the ones complaining after you slept at our house!"
"Without our permission!" both girls exclaimed while Happy and Natsu tried to cover their ears from the screaming.
"It's not our fault," Natsu replied with a relaxed tone. "This bed is too comfortable."
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
"Then buy your own. Surely you Aang make enough money on your jobs right?" Katara suggested.
Ignoring her advice, Natsu looked to Happy. "Hey, I'm hungry."
"Aye, me too."
Katara let out a long sigh. "One track minded as always."
"Wouldn't surprise me, Natsu couldn't make a rational thought if he tried." they were all shocked and had tingles down their spines when they saw Azula standing at Lucy's broken window.
"AZULA!?" they all yelled. Katara had a long blob of water prepared to shoot Azula off of the apartment.
"What are you doing here?!" Katara angrily asked.
"Calm yourself, water peasant. I'm not here to kill you… as tempting as it is…" she tossed a stack of jewel towards Lucy. "There, that should be enough to cover for the window."
"Wait… so that was you?" the waterbender asked.
Lucy chuckled a bit. "Hehe, I forgot to mention that."
"It happened when I was battling with this idiot!" she said pointing at Natsu.
"Haha, and who lost that day?" Natsu reminded while smirking.
"Tch… one day… You will wish you hadn't gotten on my bad side, Natsu. And before one of you asks… no, I didn't steal it off, anyone."
Katara let out a smirk. "It's like you can read my mind."
"I've had nothing better to do while I was here, so I did a couple of jobs to keep me occupied…"
"Wow, that's… nice of you." Happy said.
"Don't get used to it furball," Azula said while folding her arms. She leaped off the windowsill and when Katara looked out the window, Azula was gone.
"I am never going to get used to this," Katara muttered.
Lucy looked to Natsu while she held her window repair money. "So what was that dream you had." that got Natsu's attention and he turned to her. "You woke up from a bad dream, right?"
Natsu seemed like he wanted to ignore it and he closed his eyes and his mouth started to water. "Hey! Food! Food!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy gleefully yelled.
"Don't avoid the subject!" Lucy screamed
Azula was eyeing the request board and other than the quests she couldn't do and the usual quests that she thought she was above doing, there was nothing that caught her eyes. She overheard Lucy in the background.
"It looks like you guys have gotten used to this guild," Lucy said to the group of Wendy, Carla, Hen, and Chun. Wendy was reading something, Hen was lying on his back looking relaxed, Carla was drinking tea and Chun was fixing her hair.
"Well of course we have, you guys are a riot." Hen replied.
"I'm glad there is a girl's dormitory so we don't have to deal with you all the time," Carla said looking at Hen.
"Ouch… what did I ever do to you, cat?"
"What about you Chun? How are you feeling after yesterday?" Lucy asked.
Of course, that being the Agni Kai between herself and Azula that ended in a draw. "Hehe… I'm doing alright. Wendy healed me nicely yesterday so that made sleeping much easier."
"I was scared you were going to leave, Chun," Wendy said with a concerned voice
"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Chun replied with a smile.
"That reminds me," Wendy turned to Lucy. "Why don't you live in the dorms, Lucy?"
Lucy was instantly reminded of why she doesn't live there and she gulped. "Well… I can't afford it. The dorm rent is 100,000 Jewel."
Toph suddenly popped up behind them. "In other words, she's poor!"
"Not FUNNY!" Lucy roared. Wendy, Carla, and Chun awkwardly chuckled.
"Well it kind of is." they saw Azula standing by a chair. "It makes you even more of a peasant than I thought. A little girl like Wendy can afford to stay there and you can't… how… humiliating…"
"You don't have to be so mean about it, Azula," Chun said. "What your problem with her anyway?"
Azula though folded her arms. "Hmph, the only reason I am like this to her, is because she is dating that pink-haired menace."
Wendy and Chun gasped at this accusation while Lucy's face was twisted in anger and embarrassment. "Is this true, Lucy?" Wendy asked.
"D-do you really see him that way?" Chun inquired.
"NOOOO!" Lucy screamed while she waved her hands in front of her. "It isn't true! Azula has no idea what she is talking about!" she exclaimed with wide white eyes.
"If that is true, then why was he in your bed last night?"
Wendy and Chun's faces turned red after hearing those words. Carla flew up and covered Wendy's ears. "Seriously, have you no tact?" Carla asked.
"Right… he slept on the floor, forgot to leave that part out." she ended with a smirk.
Hen chuckled. "I mean always thought Natsu and Lucy had a thing…"
"We don't have a thing!" Lucy yelled. "And you!" she pointed to Azula. "Stop spreading these lies about me!" her only response was an eye roll and the firebender folded her arms. Azula proceeded to sit at her usual table by herself.
The doors of the guild suddenly burst wide open. They all saw Max and Warren bursting inside. "BIG NEWS!"
Suddenly loud bells were tolling all over Magnolia, everyone in town looked panicked. Many of the newcomers in the guild were wondering what was happening.
"Bells?" Chun, Wendy, and Carla questioned.
"That's weird, it's nowhere near lunchtime yet." Hen said.
…
Elsewhere near the top of the building, Natsu heard the bells, and Aang stood with him. "Bells?" Aang said.
"But… the way they're ringing…" Natsu started.
"Aye." Happy said putting his paws up.
"Do they mean something?" Aang questioned.
Happy excitedly flew close to Natsu. "Natsu, do you think-?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it!" Natsu said. "Gildarts is back!" he excitedly said.
"Aye, sir!"
"Gildarts?" Aang asked.
…
"GILDARTS!" the entire guild erupted in celebration, many of them were holding mugs of beer as they celebrated.
"Gildarts?" Lucy questioned. "I've never heard of anyone by that name before."
"Gildarts is the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail," Mira explained.
"Huh!?" Chun and Lucy gasped.
"You mean he's even stronger than Natsu?!" Chun asked with an open mouth.
Erza smiled. "Natsu and Gildarts are decades apart in strength."
"Even stronger than you?" Lucy asked.
"Heh, I don't even begin to compare to him."
Of course, Lucy was scared of who this mystery person was and how much he was capable of. "Just how strong is this guy?"
Azula sat by herself but listened in on their conversation. "Given everyone's drunken celebrations, I suppose he must be Fairy Tail's true champion?" she thought.
"Everyone has gone into a frenzy," Carla said.
"It's like a festival," Wendy added.
"What an unruly guild, indeed."
"Everything is unruly to you…" Hen said.
"It is only natural that everyone is happy. It has been three years since he left." Mira said.
"Three years?" Lucy questioned.
"What could someone so powerful be busy with for 3 years?" Chun asked.
Mira turned their attention to the request board. "Above S-Class quests are SS-Class quests, and above those ten-year job quests."
"T-ten year quests…?" Chun asked.
"They are tasks that no one has completed in 10 years…" Erza said. "Gildarts went on a job even higher than that… a 100-year quest."
Lucy and Chun were taken aback. "Meaning no one's accomplished it in a whole century?!" Lucy asked with a gasp.
"Yes."
Azula folded her arms. "A quest so difficult that no one has able to been able to complete in a hundred years, hmm." Azula thought. "They speak of him like some kind of god. He better not disappoint."
Hen chuckled to himself. "If anyone is getting the first crack at Gildarts! It's going to be me!"
Chun turned around in shock. "Did you not hear what they said?"
"Yes he's the strongest in the guild, but how am I going to get stronger if I don't fight the best."
"The girl is right," Carla said. "If this Gildarts is as strong as they say he is, I don't think you have a chance."
"Wendy?" Hen looked at Wendy who was hoping to take his side.
"I saw Chun get hurt and I don't want the same to happen to you." she bashfully said.
"None of you have faith in me..."
'Now commencing Magnolia's Gildarts Shift!' they all heard. Looking out the window, Wendy and Carla could see honking-horns with wings flying around the city to relay the message to everyone that could hear it.
Azula shook her head at the odd sight. "Just when this place can't get any weirder."
'Citizens, hurry, and take your positions immediately!'
"Sheesh, aren't they making too much of a fuss?" Carla asked, not looking impressed by everyone's joyful attitude towards the situation.
"I wonder what is he like?" Chun asked.
Though something else was on Lucy's mind. "What the heck is 'Magnolia's Gildarts Shift'?"
"Step outside and you'll see," Erza said with a knowing smile.
But a very panicked Toph ran in through the doors of the guild before they could think of stepping outside. "Will someone tell me why it feels like the WHOLE CITY IS MOVING?!"
"What?" Azula, Lucy, Wendy, and Chun gasped in unison.
…
Before long, entire buildings were moving, entire parts of the city were being split off into sections. And several sections were even being lifted upwards to account for the elevation change that took place in several locations of Magnolia.
Lucy and was comically pointing at the city being split up, Chun and Wendy looked on in wonder. Their eyes locked onto a single path that led to the guild.
"T-the town has been SPLIT IN HALF!" Lucy comically screamed.
"Yeah… what's up with that?" Toph asked.
Mira giggled while Erza explained. "Gildarts uses 'Crush' magic."
"Anything he touches will get obliterated if he doesn't pay attention," Mira added. "He'll accidentally destroy houses and obliterate them in seconds."
"How dumb is this guy?!" Lucy asked while shivering.
Zuko then joined them. "Maybe don't say that to his face," he advised. Lucy jumped back in fear and held her head. "So this guy's magic is so reckless, you modified the town just for that?"
As they were talking, a lone figure was following the single path laid out in front of him, the walls were high and thick so should he touch them, no houses would be obliterated. He looked to be in ruffled clothes, had short light brown hair with something huge strapped to his back. There were glowing red symbols on the ground as a result of the Gildarts shift. They resembled arrows that were pointing to Fairy Tail. "Wow, he sounds amazing Carla," Wendy said.
"Yeah, amazingly stupid." Carla retorted.
"Why do I get the feeling this guy is going to be annoying…" Azula said.
He walked at a steady pace as the excitement in the guild was building up. Once he was past the gates, Toph finally felt his footsteps. "Whoa… so this is the guy?" she sounded impressed.
He then appeared in the doorway and looked at his fellow guild-mates with a serious tone. He had beard-stubble on his chin and around his mouth. Gildarts took a look at his surroundings and he appeared to let out a disappointed sigh and looked exhausted while walking in.
"Let go of me!" everyone saw Aang trying to hold Natsu back.
"C'mon Natsu, he just got here!" Aang protested.
"I don't care!" he looked towards Gildarts. "Gildarts! Fight me!"
Elfman's shocked expression said it all. "Right off the bat!?"
"No fair!" Hen yelled. "I called dibs!"
Mira was the first to welcome him back. "Welcome home, Gildarts."
The tired man confusedly looked down at Mira. "Miss? There used to be a guild called Fairy Tail around here if I'm not mistaken…"
"It's right here. And I'm Mirajane." Mira replied introducing herself.
"This is strange?" Juvia said.
"How could he not remember Mira? I know he's been gone for three years but-" Katara said.
"A lot happened in those three years," Gray said.
Lucy eyed the man with serious thought. "So this is Gildarts?"
"Mira?" He never would have thought he was looking at Mira because he still remembered her as the punk girl who used to scare people like Erza did, seeing her gleeful and in a dress confused him. "Oh, Mira! You sure have changed!" he comically started to look around. "Oh has the guild changed too?"
"He couldn't tell from the outside?" Lucy muttered.
"This guy really is scatterbrained…" Azula thought. "So far… not impressed."
Natsu ran onto the stairs and faced Gildarts' back. "Gildarts!" he gleefully yelled.
"Oh, Natsu!" Gildarts turned to greet him, finally seeing a familiar face
He leaped into the air and prepared to strike Gildarts. "I said, fight me!" though as he fell towards him. Gildarts grabbed him in the stomach, flipped him several times, and threw him up into the ceiling behind him.
"Sorry, another time."
Lucy and Azula stared with shock at the Natsu shaped hole in the ceiling. "J-Just like that…?" Lucy muttered.
"He stopped, and he didn't even try…? Just tossed him like a rock!" Azula thought. "You can't be serious…"
Chun was shocked as well, she looked to Hen who stood beside her. "Still want to fight him, Hen?"
He nervously chuckled. "Hehe, you know what? I'm good."
Natsu chuckled as he was still in the ceiling. "Haha, he still super strong!"
Gray joined in the laughter that took over the guild. "You sure haven't change pops!"
"A man among men," Elfman added.
Gildarts nodded. "Hmm, there are some new faces too… things sure have changed…" he suddenly turned back to see Aang shooting down a part of the ceiling to get Natsu down. "You there."
"Me?" Aang questioned after Natsu hit the floor hard.
"Yes." he looked to be sizing Aang up. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"It's Aang…"
"Aang huh?" He aloofly looked up before focusing back on him. I'll be sure to remember that name." he said with a chuckling smile.
The Avatar gave him a serious nod.
"Gildarts!" he was being summoned by Makarov who sat on the bar, cross-legged with his arms folded.
"Oh, Master! Been a while!" Gildarts greeted as he walked to the old man.
"How is the job going?"
Gildarts hummed to himself before he stuck his hand behind his head and started laughing. Makarov looked down and grunted before Gildarts answered him. "No good. It's too much for me."
This shocked everyone in the guild. Everyone knew him as the strongest of Fairy Tail, so it came to everyone's shock that he of all people... wouldn't have completed a quest.
"No way," Gray said. "Not even he could do it?!"
Elfman had his arms folded while he had a smirk. "He has a manly sense of knowing when to quit!"
"Or maybe he's just getting old." Sokka flatly said.
"Heh… I guess he doesn't live up to the hype after all." Azula thought while resting her head on her hand as she looked bored. "He's just as irresponsible as Natsu."
Lucy was deep in thought. "Even Fairy Tail's strongest wizard couldn't complete it. Just what is this 100-year quest?"
Erza looked to Lucy while scowling at her. "You are not ready for a 100-year quest. So just forget it!"
"HUH!?" Lucy screamed. "Did I look excited!?"
Toph then had her eyes closed and put her hands on her hips. "Well… you wouldn't last long on a quest that hard."
Makarov talked back to Gildarts after hearing the response. "I see. Too much for even you…"
"Sorry," Gildarts said. "I've tarnished our good name."
"No. Your safe return is all that matters." He then smiled afterward. "To the best of my knowledge, you're the first person to return from this quest alive."
Gildarts let out a hearty chuckle. He turned away from the bar to face his guild-mates. "Everyone I'm going to rest, whew I'm beat." As he walked he still had one more thing to address. "Natsu…" after getting his attention he continued. "Come to my place later, got a present for ya. Oh… and bring that boy, Aang with you." Natsu laughed with excitement while Aang chuckled to himself. Gildarts walked towards one of the walls of the guild. "Well, see ya." as he got closer to the wall. The spaces between the bricks were glowing bright white. They were pressed forward as if they were retreating from Gildarts before exploding into pieces. The rubble rained down as he walked outside.
Everyone was surprised except for a few. Lucy looked completely shocked as this was the first time seeing his power. "Oh, my," Mira said with her eyes closed.
"He… couldn't just use the door could he?" Katara said. "Guess we know where Natsu gets it from."
Toph smiled. "That was awesome! He broke the wall and didn't even touch it!"
Natsu then had flames surrounding his fists. "Haha, I wonder what his present is! I can't wait!" he threw a punch to the wall which blew it open, making a second hole.
"Don't copy him!" Zuko said glaring at him.
"Aang! Happy! Let's get going!" he said as he excitedly marched outside.
Toph had clenched her fists. "If Natsu is going to smash stuff...!" Toph threw her foot and elbow forward which made a wave of earth that then blew a third hole in the wall. "Ah yeah, that felt good!"
"Hey! Stop purposefully damaging the guild!" Erza sternly said.
She and a couple of others saw a wave of lava was speeding to the same wall. The lava blew open a fourth hole and drops of lava that were dripping from it. Hen noticed the deadly glare Erza was giving him. "Um… sorry?" Hen apologized while sweating."Um, Toph a little help here?" He saw that Toph had disappeared, so he made an excuse for his swift getaway. "Uh… I'm going to train! Hehe, I'll see ya later." he ran through the hole he made.
A large drop of sweat fell from Chun's side. "I'm sorry about him…"
"Do Natsu and Gildarts have a father and son thing going?" Azula asked finally walking to the others. "Those two seem eerily similar in brain capacity."
"Aye! Gildarts and Natsu are close." Happy said. "But the difference between their strength is like night and day, but Gildarts seems to be fond of Natsu!"
"Um… how long exactly was Gildarts in the guild?" Aang asked.
"A long time. He came back from one of his long jobs just around the time I was born. He was like a father to Natsu too."
"Like a father?" Azula asked. "Then where is his real father?"
"Igneel disappeared a long time ago. Along with all the other dragons…"
Azula was stunned at what Happy just matter-of-a-factly said. "W-wait… you mean to tell me… h-he was raised by a Dragon? A dragon was his father!?"
"Aye!" Happy replied.
Azula's eyes were white circles."That… is going to take a while to sink in…" she took a breath. "Right so Natsu had a deadbeat dragon father. My new question is: Where does Gildarts fit into this?"
"Gildarts came back and saved me, Natsu and Lisanna from a Gorian."
"Perverted monster, before you ask." Mai flatly answered as she was the only one in the guild aside from Azula who remained seated through Gildarts coming and leaving the guild.
"And who is Lisanna?" Azula asked.
"She… isn't around any more…" Aang answered.
"Jumping away from that topic. Gildarts is the closest thing to a father figure I suppose."
"Aye!"
Aang walked to the hole that Natsu made. "Well, I should catch up to Natsu, c'mon Happy."
"Aye sir!" he hovered above Aang as they both moved to catch up with Natsu.
"Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" Lucy asked turning to Azula.
"The more you know about your enemies the better. I don't plan on losing my next battle with that pink-haired freak," she answered.
A large bead of sweat fell next to Lucy's head. "I should have guessed."
"Well, I have other duties to attend to." Azula walked out the same hole that Natsu made.
"Why do you think Azula is so interested? I hope she isn't plotting against us." Katara asked.
Ty Lee gasped to herself. "You don't think that she is… starting to like him do you?"
Mai shook her head. "I highly doubt it, Azula isn't the type to like anyone."
The bubbly girl shook her head. "You don't get it, Mai. I wish Happy and Toph was here right now."
Suki closed her eyes. "I'm not even going to say anything to that."
Natsu was walking across one of the bridges in Magnolia with Aang and Happy slightly behind him. "What do you think his surprise is?" he asked. "I can't wait!"
"I still wonder why he called me to come with?"
"Cause he can see we're best buds, haha."
They arrived at Gildarts' house a few moments later. Aang knocked but Natsu just burst right in. "Yo!" Natsu happily greeted.
"We're here!" Happy yelled.
"Oh, it looks like you're all here," Gildarts said, greeting them as he sat in a chair inside his compact home. He looked to be brewing what looked like tea.
Natsu and Aang were both looking around. "Haven't been here in a long time!" Natsu said.
"Three years!" Happy said.
Gildarts looked to Aang. "So let's start with you. What's your story?"
"Well… it's a pretty long story…"
Gildarts chuckled and further leaned back into his chair. "Well, I'm not doing anything. Take your time, Aang."
…
So Aang, Natsu, and Happy spent the rest of the day explaining everything that happened regarding Aang, from when he came out of the iceberg, to everything that happened to him after he arrived in their world.
The sun was setting when they concluded, and Gildarts was laughing to himself after hearing of Aang's tale. "Wow, you've had one heck of a year. Listen, kid, if that Ozai-chump shows up to cause you trouble, you just let old Gildarts know," he smirked and jabbed his thumb at himself. "I'll give him a beat down he won't soon forget."
"Nice try," Natsu said. "But I already call dibs on that bastard!" Natsu excitedly said, while clenching his fist. Aang smiled and he scratched his head awkwardly.
Before long, Natsu decided to get right to the point. "So now that that is done, what is my present?!"
"Never mind that for now," he replied. "Have you and Lisanna been getting along since then, hmm?"
"Huh?" Natsu seemed confused by the question.
"Um… about that sir…?" Aang started before Gildarts interrupted him.
"Oh, don't be so embarrassed!" he said letting out a hearty laugh, knowing their relationship since he last saw them.
"Lisanna died." Natsu flatly said as his face turned to an angry frown. "Two years ago."
Gildarts was shocked the news hit him hard. " Guh! I see. So that's why ol' Mira's… Ugh sorry, Natsu."
He started to turn on his heel. "I'm leaving if that's what you're gonna talk about."
"Wait, Natsu!" Aang said reaching out to him.
"...I met a dragon." Gildarts solemnly said. This got their attention and was enough to get Natsu to turn around in shock. "I don't think it's the red one you're lookin' for, though. This one was black…"
"W-where!" Natsu eagerly asked.
"The sacred Mt Zonia. I failed at my job, thanks to that damn thing."
"Are you sure it was a dragon?" Aang asked.
"I wouldn't be saying this if I wasn't sure." he watched Natsu turn back to the door. "What do you intend to do?"
"Isn't it obvious? Ask it where Igneel is?" he answered.
"It's long gone. That black dragon is soaring all over the continent… if not the world."
This didn't deter the Dragon Slayer. "I don't care. There might be a way to find it!"
Gildarts reached down to his cloak. "Both of you, look here." he opened his cloak and they saw that he was bandaged up and there were stitched up scars on his upper body. "Most of this happened in the blink of an eye. "It demolished my left arm, left leg, and my innards." they even saw his wooden artificial leg. All three of them were shocked at just how much Gildarts took, considering how powerful he was. "I dunno about this Igneel fellow, but that black one is an enemy of mankind, no question about it. And… no human can defeat it…"
Natsu's frustration was building. Gildarts was warning him off, but this black dragon could be a possible lead to Igneel. "D-Defeating them is what Dragon Slayers do! This black dragon doesn't stand a chance against our magic!" Natsu said referring to both himself and Aang.
"Then…" he gave a serious look to both of them. "If you truly believe that, I won't try and stop ya."
Natsu clenched his fists and stood there, paralyzed with rage before fully sprinting out the door. "Dammit!"
"Natsu!" Happy quickly flew after them leaving only Aang and Gildarts.
"Aang, I don't know how close you are with Natsu. But I'm asking you to be there for him. No human can beat that thing, but maybe a dragon can."
"Huh?" Aang questioned.
"Knowing Natsu, I'm sure someday he'll be strong enough. For now, fight alongside him. I'd hate for him to take on that demon alone."
Aang gave a serious nod. "I already have been since I got here, but I'll always have Natsu's back. No matter what."
Gildarts chuckled. "You're a good friend, Aang. Now go after him."
Aang turned on his heel, formed an air scooter, and sped out of Gildarts' place to catch-up to Natsu.
…
Natsu was running back into Magnolia. "Dammit! Dammit!" he yelled, he tripped over a rock and rolled downhill and into one of the many rivers of Magnolia. After the splash, he floated on his back and looked up at the sky.
"Igneel… are you ok…?" he asked himself. "I miss you, dad."
Aang and Happy got down to the river. "Natsu!" Happy cried.
"Are you alright?" Aang asked.
"Yeah…" Aang made the water place Natsu onto the bridge that was close by. Once the water receded into the river, he met Natsu on the bridge.
"Natsu… we need to talk…"
"About what?" he asked. "We need to find that black dragon!"
"That's what I was going to talk about. Natsu, Gildarts said that dragon is always moving. Even if we went to Mt Zonia. There is no guarantee that it will be there. Plus, something that Gildarts said about it bothered me. He said it is 'an enemy of mankind.' And after what it did to Gildarts…"
"So?" he angrily asked. "We can beat it with Dragon Slayer magic."
"But even so, I don't think it will bring you closer to Igneel."
"What did you-"
"J-Just hear me out. Even if we fought it, and even if we beat it. If that dragon is as bad as Gildarts says it is. Then I don't think he would tell us where Igneel is. He'd probably sooner die than give us that information."
"So… what should I do?"
"I'm not saying you should stop looking… but don't just rush going somewhere without really thinking about it. Maybe if we hear of a black dragon close-by, we'll check it out. But if it is long gone, then climbing a mountain for it doesn't seem like a good idea." Natsu broke eye contact to think about what Aang said. "Honestly, we don't know what happened to the other dragons, but there is a chance that Igneel and the others are alive somewhere. And We'll find them."
Natsu smirked then he raised his fist. "Yeah… thanks, Aang. We'll find Igneel and beat anyone who gets in our way."
The both bumped their fists. "Hehe, maybe not everyone…" Aang chuckled. "Let's go home."
"Yeah, but first let's go see if Lucy has food for us," Natsu said.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
"Maybe let's just find somewhere else to eat," Aang suggested.
But from a distance, Azula was watching them. However, she looked on with intrigue than with the usual disdain she held for the two of them. "I hardly would have imagined the Avatar would be allied with someone as dumb as Natsu… heh. I probably know a lot less than I thought." She turned around and walked along the river path. "I still have no idea why I'm still here? What do I get out of all this."
Early the next morning, meowing was heard in a nearby ally. Toph stood staring down at the alley with Gajeel behind her. "Alright, there are a couple of cats here, so go nuts, Metalhead!" Gajeel walked into the alley and he picked up a light brown-furred cat with stripes on it as it confusedly stared at him.
It meowed as soon as Gajeel made eye contact. "NO!" he gently set it down and angrily marched deeper into the alley. He stared at a blue-furred cat with white fur on its face and chest that resembled a diamond. "Not this one!" he yelled as a buzzer went off in his head. An orange cat with blushes on its cheeks playfully waved at him. "Or this one!"
He dizzily marched down the alley and there were no more cats in front of him. He tripped over a glass bottle and heavily fell onto the ground.
Toph snickered as she walked over to him. "Well, that's the third alley we checked this morning. Wanna call it a day? Cause I'm getting a kick out of this!" she giggled.
Gajeel slowly rose his head and looked forward. "It's not fair… Salamander and that rookie both got cats… But why don't I?" he cried. "I'm a Dragon Slayer too…"
"I suppose it wouldn't be easy to find a talking winged cat. And I remember Happy said he was 'hatched' so I think you're out of lu-" Toph felt a tiny presence in front of herself and Gajeel. "Hey, Metalhead… I think we found 'im!"
"Eh?" He looked up to see a figure of a cat staring at him. A bright white light was shining from behind it. It let out a long cute meow. An excited chuckle escaped Gajeel while Toph smiled and had her hands on her hips. It meowed again and it's bright yellow eyes were gazing at Gajeel.
Later that day, there was a group of people enraptured in celebration. They made loud noises that looked to irk Cana who herself held a mug of beer in her hand. "HEY YOU!" she yelled. "Not so loud first thing in the afternoon!"
"I hate to be the one to point this out." Suki started. "But you're already drinking in the afternoon."
"She's gonna have the liver of an old man at this rate." Sokka teased.
"Shut up, both of you." she angrily said in a slow tone. "I'm not botherin' anyone am I?"
Hen walked past both Jet and Droy who were worshipping Levy for reading up about an ancient language. He walked past Azula and decided to take the opportunity to make fun of her. "Yo, 'Zula. Conquer any colonies lately?" he asked while waving to her. She turned back to him, her eyes full of fury and a bolt of lightning shot him across the room and he crashed into a wall. His eyes were swirling as he was recovering from his dazed state. "O-ouch…"
"Hmpf, that will teach you to stay out of my way." she then looked at a couple of other mages who stared at her. "Oh, do you have something to say?" they all spit off in separate directions. "Tch, that what I thought."
Katara, Lucy, Chun, Wendy, and Carla were sitting together. "July 7, year 777?" Lucy questioned.
"The dragons that taught Natsu's and my magic disappeared on that day," Wendy explained.
"Oh right," Katara said. "I remember Aang told me about Gajeel's dragon. He disappeared on that day too."
Carla who was drinking tea set the cup down. "What do you make of it?"
Lucy thought it through for a moment. "Maybe they all went on a picnic that day," she said.
"You say the oddest things, Lucy." Wendy giggled.
"Maybe they are in a different world, kind of what happened to me, Aang and the others," Katara suggested.
"But wouldn't the magic have to be extremely powerful for that to happen?" Chun asked. Carla looked to think it over. "You think there is someone we can ask about this?"
"I've asked everyone I could," Wendy said. "But no one seems to know more than we do."
Katara looked to her side. "I'd suggest we ask Natsu but… does he seem... off to anyone?" He was sitting by himself, simply staring out the window. There was a very unusual scowl on his face. "He's been like that since I got here."
Happy was seen wrapping a red bow around a fish and he was running to their table. Wendy was deep in thought about what happened to their dragons. "The fire dragon Igneel. The metal dragon Metallicana. And the sky dragon Grandeeny. Where could they have gone?"
"Carla!" Happy had gotten to their table. He leaped up and he held his aquatic gift over his head as he looked at Carla. "I caught this fish. I thought I'd give it to you!"
"No thanks!" she looked away in near disgust. "I hate fish."
"Oh. Then what do you like? I can get you any-"
"YOU'RE ANNOYING!" she yelled, shocking the blue cat and the others. "Please stop following me around." she leaped off of the table and walked to the front entrance of the guild.
"Wait, Carla?" Wendy called out but she only got a hmph as a response.
"Wow… I didn't think she would go off like that." Katara said.
"She didn't have to be so harsh. Right, Happy?" Lucy said. Happy looked incredibly sad as he held his fish.
Wendy tried to go after her. "Carla! Wasn't that a bit mean?!" she yelled.
As Carla was about to walk out of the guild she hid an angered face and she also had a tear on the corner of her eyes. "His name is 'Happy'? Give me a break." she thought. "He doesn't know anything at all!" Ignoring Wendy's cries she continued out of the guild.
Happy, deciding not to give up, ran after Carla with his fish in paw. "Wait, Carla!"
"Is it me, or is Carla strangely cold-hearted towards Happy?" Lucy asked.
"To be honest. I assumed she was like that with everyone…" Katara said.
"What has gotten into her?" Wendy said.
"It's his fault if you ask me." they heard.
"Mai?" Wendy gasped. They all eyed Mai sitting by herself on a nearby stool.
"Happy's advances reeks of desperation," Mai said. "It even smells worse than his fish." she darted her eyes away for a second. "Happy has been trying to impress her every second he can, mostly with fish… which she hates. I can see how that can get annoying."
"I mean sure but, you gotta admit that was a little mean, right?" Lucy said.
Mai nodded her head. "Perhaps, but maybe that's the only way he'll get the message that she's not interested. That happened to me once or twice and I can see where she's coming from."
"But Happy is so nice to her," Chun said. "I mean, I'm not saying she shouldn't reject him, but she shouldn't hurt the guy."
"Desperate guys will never stop trying," Mai said. "Not give you give them a sliver of hope, hence why he's chasing after her. And I can assure you, it won't end well."
"Wow, you're definitely all rainbows and sunshine," Lucy said sarcastically.
"Thanks, my advice is free. If you want, I can tell you what stopping you from getting a boyfriend."
Lucy's eyes turned to white circles. "N-no thanks, I'm good…" she said with a waterfall of tears falling down her face.
Happy followed Carla outside and they were both on an empty street. "Carla!" he yelled.
She only slightly turned her head to answer him. "What?"
He looked down slightly before he spoke again. "Have I done something wrong?"
Carla remained silent before she spoke again. "You can't protect Natsu," she said as dark clouds were beginning to cover the sky.
"Huh?"
"But I'll protect Wendy… no matter what," she said, almost seemingly to herself and she clenched her paws.
She began to walk forward which made Happy follow her. "But I can protect Natsu. He calls me his friend."
The dark clouds covered the sun as there was hardly any blue sky left. "No!" she then turned around to face him. "You can't protect Natsu or anyone!" light thunder boomed in the background. "You're just some dumb cat, who had no idea who he is!"
With that, she walked down the path but Happy decided not to follow this time, he only sadly looked to the ground. "Who I am?" he questioned.
After he lost sight of her he looked to his right and saw Gajeel with scratches on his face and Toph stood next to her and let out an audible cringe. "Ouch… I heard all that, furball," she said feeling sorry for him. "But who needs her? She's stuck up anyway! Never really liked her."
"Toph…"
She then playfully rubbed his head. "We'll find you a cat that fit for you!"
"A-aye…" Happy said, still feeling sad. It was only then, that he noticed the scratches on Gajeel's face. "Where did you get those scratches?" he asked.
"Shut up!" he angrily replied.
"Well, I'll give you a hint… meeeow!" Toph playfully meowed before Gajeel roughly bonked her on the head. "I SAID SHUT UP!"
Later it started to rain and Wendy was out looking for Carla. "Carla!" she called out. As she called her out. She saw her walking towards her in the opposite direction. "Carla! I am so glad I found you."
"Wendy…" Carla looked at her partner with her usual stern expression. "You'll catch a cold if you don't go out with an umbrella."
"Same goes for you!" Wendy said, she bent her knees to Carla's size and puffed her cheeks as she was still pretty angry about Carla's actions. "Carla, we are still relatively new to this guild. I think we should make an effort to be nicer to everyone."
Carla turned away. "There is no need." she folded her arms. "All I need is you."
"There you go again!" Wendy said. "But that doesn't mean you should treat others like-" they heard footsteps in the rain. Wendy turned to see Mystogan approaching them. She never met him yet so she wasn't aware of the mystique he had at Fairy Tail. "Huh?"
"Wendy…" the man said.
After hearing him speak, Wendy felt a pang of familiarity. "That voice…"
Though Carla knew immediately as her tail went straight and her eyes shrunk in shock. "Never in a million years would I have thought you joined this guild." Mystogan - while holding his staff, had removed the parts of his clothing that covered his face. The face they were met with was the face of Jellal.
Upon realization, Wendy had gasped and took a step back. "Jellal?!"
"H-How can this be?! I thought you were captured!" Carla asked.
"That was a different person, not me."
"B-but that can't be true!" Wendy said. "Y-you look exactly like him!"
"I am Mystogan of Fairy Tail." After revealing that information, he then started to explain himself. "Seven years ago… Possessing little knowledge of this world. I called myself Jellal."
Both Carla and Wendy gasped, and they both noted that he mentioned 'This World'. Implying he came from another world.
"T-this world?" Carla asked as she was slowly putting the pieces together.
Tears were falling from Wendy's eyes as it seemed like she found the person that had been with her right after Grandeeny disappeared. "Y-you're that same Jellal… from seven years ago?" Wendy was lightly sobbing to herself. "I… I missed you so much."
Mystogan slightly bowed his head down and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to see you." Wendy cried and tried to stop the tears. Mystogan tried to get back on track for the real reason he had shown himself. "I am sorry. But I didn't come for a tearful reunion." he felt weak and he lost his footing for a second. He was about to fall but held himself up with one of his staffs. "You… you must leave this city at once!" he dropped to one knee and he dropped the staff he was holding.
"Jellal!?" Wendy cried.
"I've failed in my mission…" both Wendy and Carla looked down at him. "The Anima has grown too large…" he said. "I can no longer suppress it by myself." the storm clouds for a while have been swirling around, and the eye of the swirl seemed to be right over Fairy Tail as it was the only part of the city that was illuminated. "Very soon… Magnolia will cease to exist."
Both Wendy and Carla were stunned at what Mystogan was saying. "W-what are you talking about?" Wendy tearfully asked. "I don't understand at all."
"It's going to end. Its destruction is already a certainty." Wendy's eyes slightly grew. "You need to escape while you can."
But Wendy wasn't sitting right with that. "What about Fairy Tail!" Mystogan grunted to himself. "What will happen to everyone at the guild!?"
Back at the guild. The rain continued to fall. Many of the guild members were looking out the window. "The rain is not letting up huh?" Lucy said as Plue was sat on her lap.
"It must be a pretty big storm," Chun added.
Though Sokka was suspicious. "It never rained like this before." he then looked at Juvia who sat with them, along-side Gray. "Juvia, what did Gray say to you that made you upset?"
Gray flinched in response while Juvia shrugged her shoulders. "Gray-sama hasn't said anything mean to Juvia," she replied.
"What made you jump to that!?" Gray exclaimed.
They all noticed Natsu was still staring outside the windows, he hadn't moved from he previous spot, even when it started raining, he looked as frustrated as before. "I'm worried about Natsu," Chun said. "Should one of us say something?"
"I wouldn't…" Aang said. "I already talked to him about it. It was around this time where Lisanna died two years ago. Mira and Elfman already left for the church."
"Huh? But he wasn't so sad before." Gray pointed out.
"Gildarts mentioned her yesterday, that was part of what put him in a foul mood. Maybe he just hasn't let himself grieve yet, or maybe this is his way of grieving. Either way, I think we should just leave him alone for now."
"Did… she mean a lot to him?" Chun asked.
"From what I know, they were pretty close," Aang said.
A distant boom of thunder was heard as Natsu continued to gaze out of the window.
Wendy looked down at the very weak Mystogan with a serious expression. "Tell me! What about all the other guild members!" she asked.
"They'll all die…"
That was all Wendy needed to hear. She turned on her heel to the direction of Fairy Tail. "Wendy!" Carla called out.
"We have to go back and warn them!" she sternly said.
"You mustn't go!" Mystogan said. "Its already too late. You need to leave the city!"
"I can't leave by myself!" she yelled. Her resolve stunned Mystogan. "I am a member of Fairy Tail! They wouldn't leave me behind, so I won't leave them behind!" with that, she turned away from Mystogan and Carla again and rushed to Fairy Tail to warn them about the impending disaster.
Mystogan looked down at Carla. "You… might it be possible for you to save Wendy." Carla looked down and for the first time, she wasn't sure of herself. She talked up a big game in front of Happy where she said she would be able to protect Wendy. That was about to be put to the test.
"I'm… not sure," she replied. Despite her doubts, she rushed after Wendy leaving behind Mystogan who continued to succumb to losing power.
Azula sat at her table and was still wondering how anyone could be happy as the rain got heavier. She stood up and watched Cana drinking a whole barrel of alcohol dry. "Wow… how is it that she can drink so much and still be functional. I've seen drunkards in the colonies drink less than her, and they can barely walk straight."
Her mind started going back to the Agni Kai she had with Chun, she thought back to how everyone was against her winning. That was seen during the betting as well. Chun also had Natsu cheering for her. "Did they really want me gone that badly?" she thought to herself. She was pleasantly surprised when her head was screaming any thoughts back at her. No apparition of Ursa to supposedly trick her, of her younger-self to berate her. She looked out into the heavy rain and let out a sigh. "Would I fit in at this guild… even after everything…?" she remembered the final moment of their dual. "That brat, she could have finished me off… but she didn't…" she stood up. "Was I just that pitiable to her!?" she clenched her fists in anger. "I need to blow off some steam!" she quickly got up out of her chair and was heading to the door.
As she was leaving, Chun took notice. "Hey, Azula, where are you going?" Chun asked. "It's raining pretty heavily outside."
Azula smirked before she chuckled to herself. "Why should any of you care?" she walked to doors before a voice stopped her.
"Azula!" she recognized is was her brother's voice. "We can talk this out!"
"Don't follow me, Zuko!" she said, preferring not to use his usual nickname. "I am not in the mood." with that, Zuko backed off and let Azula walk until the rain completely soaked her, and even after that she continued onward.
Chun slowly walked towards Zuko. "Is… it because of me?"
"Huh?"
"I… at the end of our fight I mean… is she mad because of me…? Because she didn't win?"
Zuko gently patted Chun's head. "It's not your fault… a lot of things have been happening to Azula very fast. I'm not sure she's done processing everything yet."
"B-but you became good, right? You joined up with the Avatar."
"Yeah I did, but that was only after I figured out what my destiny was. And that was… well, I make my destiny, and it was also to teach Aang firebending. I don't know how Azula's mind is right now, but it's probably all over the place. Maybe that's why she's all by herself. She was never the type to isolate herself. Azula always took charge where ever she went."
"What could have changed her?"
"I think Natsu did." they both turned to Natsu who was still looking out into the rain. "Natsu is the last person Azula would have expected to beat her. In her mind, she was perfect, and Natsu is… well, Natsu. So I can imagine that would tick her off."
"S-shouldn't we go after her?"
"If we babysit her too much, we'll push her away," Zuko said. "She is still technically the Fire Lord, and she'll hold onto that power trip for as long as she can. The best thing to do is to wait for her to come around. She won't change if she feels forced to. It has to happen at her pace."
Hen meanwhile sat by himself looking bored, he was crosslegged. "Hmph…"
"Someone's not in a good mood?" he saw Lucy looking down at him.
"Yeah… everyone just got so down all of a sudden. Toph and Gajeel aren't here. Elfman is out somewhere. Wendy ran off to chase her mean cat, Chun is worrying about Azula. And even Natsu is sad." he let out a sigh. "I'd just walk around and find something interesting to do, but its raining so… can't do that." He rested his hands behind his head.
"I see what you mean. I just wish something interesting would happen."
…
Wendy was running back to the guild as fast as she could, she was short of breath and she slipped due to the wet floor and fell forward on her stomach.
"Wendy?" she looked up to see none other than Azula staring down at her. "It's none of my business but what are you doing out here? Do you want to catch a cold." however she noticed the tears building in her eyes. "Um…?"
"We have to warn everyone!" she said quickly getting up.
"Excuse me?"
"Magnolia! Fairy Tail! Everyone… something bad is going to happen!" Wendy yelled. "Everyone will die, we need to warn everyone so we can leave!"
Azula looked at the ground where the rainwater reflected the sky. What they both saw were the dark clouds swirling over Fairy Tail and there were blue arcs of lightning that were shooting from the eye of the storm.
"Dammit!" she growled to herself. She took Wendy's hand and was leading both of them back to Fairy Tail. "Dammit! Dammit!"
"A-Azula?" Wendy questioned.
"No time for questions! If the whole city about to go, then we don't have much time left!" Azula yelled.
As they were running a large pillar of light was shooting down towards the middle of Magnolia. Before long buildings were disappearing in bright flashes of light.
Mystogan watched the devastation that befell Magnolia and he recognized the beam of light. "The Anima…"
Carla was trying to catch up with Wendy. She had to stay on her feet because if she flew, she would just get blown away by the winds that were blowing all over the disappearing city.
The guild was in sight for both Wendy and Azula. "Everyone!" Wendy screamed, hoping someone, anyone inside would hear her. "The sky is-!" but they were too late as the building was bending unnaturally to its sides. Wendy and Azula were shocked to their very cores as the building itself disappeared in a bright beam of light. The fragments of the light disappeared into the sky along with the other buildings around them.
There was a cyclone that stood in place of where Fairy Tail used to stand. The explosion of wind blew on both Wendy and Azula. Wendy was blown back by the winds and screamed in fear.
"WENDY!" Azula yelled. She fired flames from her feet, boosting herself towards Wendy. She grabbed her hand and pulled the girl towards her and hugged her protectively, so that should they hit anything. Azula would take the brunt of the impact.
The bright pillar of light continued to absorb everything into its mass until there was nothing left to absorb. Once the beam disappeared, there was nothing left of Magnolia or its inhabitants.
...
Once the entire city was engulfed, there was nothing left but what looked like thick, white dust, and bubbles that were floating in the air around them.
There was an eerie silence, the sound of the storm had disappeared and there was nothing but a bleak atmosphere around them with some mountain ranges in the background. The sky itself looked to have disappeared.
Within the thick dust, Wendy was lying on top of Azula who had released her grip on her after everything calmed down.
"A…zula?" the firebender opened her eyes to see Wendy looking down at her. "You… tried to protect me…?"
Azula tried to break eye contact with her. "Think nothing of it," she said while blushing. "The others would kill me if I let anything bad happen to you."
"The others…" Wendy gasped as soon as she saw the dead landscape in front of her. Azula got up and saw it too. "Everyone… the guild… and the whole city… all of it…"
"What in the hell is going on?" Azula asked.
Wendy walked past her. "Is someone there?" she called out. "Somebody! ANYBODY!?" Wendy screamed, hoping that anyone else was around them. Hoping that this nightmare would end quickly end, and she would soon wake up from it. "Anyone…"
Azula stood beside her as Wendy fell to her knees. "I don't believe it… everyone… everything is gone? Just like that?! How on earth could-" she stopped herself from ranting when she heard Wendy silently sobbing. "Oh crap." she got to her knees as well and looked right at Wendy. "Look, don't cry ok. For what its worth, you've… still got me all right." Wendy gasped and looked up at Azula in surprise, her tears still falling down her cheeks. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to be stuck with but-" she was surprised when Wendy had leaped and engulfed Azula in a hug.
The firebender let out an embarrassed blush. "T-thank you… Azula."
She nervously scratched the back of her head. "P-please… don't mention it…" Wendy let go of her and Azula got up to her feet. Azula silently offered Wendy her hand. After Wendy took it, she was helped back up. "Wendy, do you know what happened?"
She shamefully looked down. "I… Someone told me the city would be destroyed, I ran back to try to warn everyone, then I ran into you…"
"So that person knew what would happen? Does he have a name?"
"J-Jellal…" she said remembering her dear friend that she had seen not long ago. She wondered what happened to him. "H-he calls himself Mystogan…"
"Jellal… why does that name ring a bell to me…?"
"But… why are we still here?" Wendy asked. "If the whole city and the guild are all gone… why are we still…"
A lump of dirt was moving to their right. They both looked at it growing, and while Wendy was curious. Azula was much more cautious and suspicious and stepped in front of the younger girl. "Wendy…" her arms were surrounded by lightning. "If this thing is hostile, make a run for it. I'll stay and fight it off."
"But Azula…"
The watched the mound of dirt growing. "This isn't up for debate!" The dirt mound grew bigger, starling the two of them, and before long, Natsu exploded out of the mound of dirt and he saw Azula protectively standing in front of Wendy while aiming her electrified fingers at him. "…I'm still shooting it." she flatly said as she grew an annoyed expression. While Wendy was more shocked.
"Natsu?!" Wendy yelled in shock. Azula shot her lightning far to her left and the beam exploded in the distance.
"Wendy? And… Azula!?" his voice became higher pitched when he noticed the firebender.
"Nice to see you too, peasant."
Natsu angrily butted her head. "What did you do!?"
Azula comically butted his head back. "WHAT!? You think I did this!?"
"It wouldn't surprise me! The Fire Nation kills people for fun, don't they!?"
"WHAT?! Listen, here you pink haired piece of-"
"STOP FIGHTING!" Wendy yelled. Her voice echoed along the dead landscape. "Please… we might be the only ones left… so… please" she was shivering as the tears were starting to build again.
Azula sighed. "Right… I'm… s-sorry, Wendy…" she eyed Natsu with a serious tone. "Natsu, for Wendy's sake… c-could we form a truce?" Natsu was surprised when he saw Azula's hand reaching out for a hand-shake.
"Fine, but I'm only doing it for Wendy. Don't expect me to trust you."
"Oh I wouldn't." they both shook hands. They quickly let go before they saw another mound of dirt moving. But this time it was Aang climbing out of it.
He took a deep breath. "Whoa… what happened…?" he asked.
"And all of a sudden my day just got worse," Azula muttered.
"Aang?!" Wendy gasped.
"Wait… Wendy, Natsu… Azula? Where are we?" he asked getting up to his feet.
"You don't know?" Wendy asked. "Don't you remember what happened?"
Aang thought about it. "I… um… well, things just went white. There was a flash of lightning, and then I find myself digging out of the ground."
"I saw the same thing," Natsu said.
"So they don't know either," Azula said. "Do you want to tell them the bad news or should I do it?"
"Bad news?" Aang inquired. "What are you talking about?"
"Where we are standing… This is… the guild." Wendy sadly revealed. Natsu let out a surprised 'Huh' while Aang stood there as his pupils shrunk. "A hole suddenly opened in the sky and it sucked the guild, the town, and everyone away!" Natsu looked confused as this was a lot to take in. "It's true… and it looks like we're the only ones who were left behind!"
"Wendy?" Natsu then started to slowly shake Wendy's head as he examined it. "Did you hit your head somewhere? Oh, man!"
Azula slapped Natsu in the face. "It isn't head trauma, you dolt! I saw it happen myself! We… actually, she tried to warn you guys. But by the time we got there, it was too late. And so here we are… trapped in a silent hell it looks like."
Aang got over his shock and he looked to think. "Well, there has to be a reason we didn't get sucked up. What is one thing the four of us have in common?" Aang asked.
"I'm not even going to try and guess that…" Azula replied.
"Well, Natsu and I are Dragon Slayers," Wendy said. "And Aang absorbed Dragon Slayer magic right?"
"Correct." they all heard a high pitched voice say.
"Carla!" Wendy exclaimed as they all saw her feline companion hovering above the ground with her wings extended and arms were folded. "Thank goodness you're alright!"
"I suppose," Carla replied. "It looks like your Dragon Slayer magic power proved helpful in this situation… I'm at least glad that you guys are all right."
"But that doesn't make sense…" Azula said. "The Avatar, sure I get. But I don't know why I am still here? I don't use magic, period. Let alone dragon slayer magic."
Carla turned her attention to her. "It might have something to do with your constant coming together with Natsu, especially when your people attacked."
"Huh?"
Azula flashed back to the fight with Natsu as Carla continued to explain. "Perhaps during your fight with Natsu, you absorbed traces of his dragon slayer magic. Not enough to use it, obviously, but that amount was enough to keep you from getting absorbed."
"I-Is that even possible?"
"I can't be sure, but that would be my best theory as to why you are here with us."
Aang looked to think about it. "Well, I did hear you took quite a beating."
"Watch yourself, Avatar!"
"That isn't fair!" Natsu said, getting angry. "You mean the others don't matter-" he quickly realized the gravity of their situation. "WAIT! You mean the others are gone!?" Wendy gave a sad nod and Natsu turned around. "HEY! EVERYONE!" he yelled into the distance.
"Tch, idiot," Azula muttered.
"They're gone," Carla said. "More precisely, the Anima sucked them out of existence."
Aang then fell to his knees, he didn't know what to do next. "So… that's it!? They're gone and there is nothing we can do."
"No," Carla said. "The Anima that sucked everybody into the sky, it is a gate to Edolas… the world on the other side…"
"Edolas?" Wendy and Azula said.
Natsu angrily marched towards Carla. "Hey, stop talking nonsense already! Where is everyone!?" he asked.
Aang held Natsu back. "Calm down Natsu."
"I'll repeat it for those who only have half-a-brain," Azula said. "That thing, that 'Anima' that sucked everyone up. It came from another world called Edolas… so if everyone is still alive they might be on the other side – The other world, and that's world's name is Edolas."
"So, you think everyone else is alive?" Aang asked looking at Azula.
"I don't know… but that's not my current issue. What I want to know is:" she stepped closed to Carla. "How do you of all people know about this? You're clearly no Dragon Slayer, and yet here you are with us. My gut says something us up." she got closer to Carla's face "Something… that you're not telling us."
"Natsu!" they all noticed Happy flying down behind them. He quickly hovered next to Carla. "What's going on!?" It was only at that moment he realized that Magnolia was gone. "THE CITY!?"
"Happy!" Natsu gleefully said.
"You're alright!" Wendy said, happy that someone else was there with them.
"Heh." Aang chuckled. "Well, there's never a dull moment when Happy is around."
Azula sighed. "So Dragon Slayers and flying cats can apparently survive the 'Anima'. Noted. But… I'm still not satisfied, how do you know about all this, cat?" Azula asked.
"Because I'm from the other world of Edolas," Carla revealed, everyone couldn't believe what they heard. "As is this male cat here," she said looking to Happy, and he was shocked by what Carla said too. Happy had no idea what to think because he had no memory of Edolas at all. So he wondered why she said he was from there.
"What are you saying?" Aang asked.
"I'm saying… the city got sucked up… was all because of me and the male cat."
At this point, no one had any words. Aang, Natsu, and Wendy had no idea what to think or say. Azula only folded her arms and as for Happy… a lot of feelings were going through him. He thought back to when Carla said that he had no idea of who he was. Perhaps this was what she was talking about.
But the biggest question he had was... Why had this happened, and why was the blame on both him and Carla?
There you have it! The start of the Edolas Arc. I'm pretty excited to write this out, so I hope you guys enjoyed it. And hopefully, I'll see you real soon on the next update.