Chapter 11

Normal POV

Sun filled the guildhall, shining through the large windows at the top of the building. It was a peaceful day, or at least as peaceful as it could get in Fairy Tail. Jet and Droy were being impressed by Levy, Natsu and Gray were beating each other into the ground, and Erza was enjoying a strawberry cake, with everyone sitting ten feet away from her. Wendy, Carla, Lucy, and Makoto were sitting at a table in the middle of the hall. Wendy was explaining to Lucy about the disappearance of Grandeeney.

"July 7th, year 777?" asked Lucy. "Are you sure?"

"That is a very specific date," Makoto noted. "7/7/777. It feels deliberate." He summoned what seemed to be a journal from his pocket dimension and began to scribble something.

"Yeah," Wendy realized. "Natsu's dragon also disappeared on that same day. He also said Gajeel also lost his dragon the same day." Carla set down her teacup.

"So, what does this all mean?" She asked.

"Igneel, Metallica, and Grandeeny," Wendy mused. "I wonder where they are now."

"Maybe they went camping?" Lucy suggested.

"So, a few all-powerful beings, with the power to wipe all of us off the face of the earth, went camping. That seems really plausible." Makoto sarcastically responded. He pocketed his journal. Wendy giggled. Carla gave Makoto a hard stare. "Okay geez, sorry." He glanced behind her very quickly. "You might want to get going, Happy's walking over with a fish? Yeah, a gift-wrapped fish." Carla sighed, and slipped off the table, then started walking away, leaving Wendy behind. Happy noticed her trying to leave, and followed her outside.

"Carla, where are you going?" asked Wendy. Carla paused for a moment, but then kept walking. Wendy turned back to Makoto. "Why did you say that?"

"It was going to happen anyway," he replied. "Carla avoids Happy like the plague."

"Wasn't that a little mean then?" asked Lucy. Wendy glanced up.

"It looks like it's about to rain," she said.

"I should probably make sure Happy doesn't get caught in the rain," Makoto said while standing up. "Natsu seems…. preoccupied." As if on cue, Natsu went flying into one of the pillars supporting the balcony.

"I should also probably find Carla too." Wendy stood up as well. The two walked out, to find the Exceeds.

Makoto POV

It felt weird walking around the empty streets. Normally, it would be bustling with activity. The normally open shops were all closed, and the stands along the side of the street were abandoned. Come to think of it, why weren't there any sidewalks? Maybe because there are no cars, but Erza has one.

"Carla! Happy!" Wendy called. Instead of a response, the sound of a conversation could be heard up ahead. Out of habit, I pulled Wendy into a nearby alley. Who's going to attack you here? asked Mike. Hey, avoiding thieves constantly changes a person. I responded.

"Wh-" began Wendy, but I motioned for her to be quiet. I peeked around the corner to see Happy and Carla.

"…protect Natsu," Carla said. Happy made that noise anime characters do when they're surprised. I turned back to see a slightly confused Wendy. I gestured for her to look. As she moved, something made her freeze. Wendy slowly back away, and mouthed Gajeel. Oh, right. He was here too.

"I will protect Wendy," Carla said suddenly. Wendy looked up in surprise. "No matter what happens, I'll see that she doesn't get hurt." Footsteps could be heard soon after.

"Do you still want to follow them?" I whispered. Before, she had seemed unsure about eavesdropping, but after those words, she looked like she needed answers. Wendy nodded. I peeked around the corner. Gajeel was following them, for whatever reason. I turned back to Wendy.

"I'm going to carry us to the roof, if you don't mind," I told her, then I grabbed her hand. And activated my armor. I slowly rose, reaching the roof in a few seconds. I then deactivated my armor, and we took off at a sprint, to catch up to the two cats.

"….. protect Natsu too!" Happy said. His voice floated up to the roof. "He calls me his partner!" Carla stopped walking.

"No, you can't," she stated. She turned to Happy. "A cat who doesn't know who he really is." She then walked away from him. Then suddenly, Gajeel nabbed Happy by his pack and dragged him off to one of the alleys. I felt someone tapping my shoulder.

"Um, we should hurry," Wendy said while pointing up. Drip. Drip. The rain was beginning to pour down in sheets.

"I'll make sure Happy doesn't get killed," I joked. Wendy didn't say anything. She seemed preoccupied, deep in thought. I waved my hand in front of her. "Uh, earth to Wendy." She blinked in surprise.

"I'll check on Carla," she quickly said before walking right off the roof. I sighed in frustration and swung off the side of the roof. Splash! A jet of water shot in my face, as I landed in a puddle. Just great. I think. Now my shoes are wet. I glance around. Looks like Wendy's already gone. I turned and ran in the direction of Gajeel.

It was a terrible idea to try and find Happy. My voice was drowned out by the sound of the rain, and tracking them was impossible. After ten minutes, I took refugee underneath one of the stalls. I wish something interesting would happen. I said. Well, check the sky. replied Mike. I peeked up to see a large inverted cyclone in the sky. A large ball of pure electricity was shooting bolts.

Oh, right. Today was the day that the Edolas arc started. Man, it's been six months since I found myself in this crazy world. I wasn't too worried about getting sucked in, since apparently, since the armor transports me to my pocket dimension, but I was slightly worried about how my body would fair if I didn't have my armor on. The white and gold armor covered my body, just as the tarp that was covering me began to disintegrate. I then jumped out and launched myself into the air. I wasn't being sucked in. I then remembered that I had left the memory lacrimas at my apartment, and those contained a lot of magic energy. Shit! I concentrated and activated supersonic mode. Woosh! A few seconds later, I was standing in front of my desk, just as it was disappearing. I quickly rummaged through the drawers, looking for a bag. Ah-ha! I pulled the bag out of the drawer just as the desk vanished. I looked around, suddenly surrounded by a blinding light. Zing!

When I could finally see again, what was once Magnolia was now a cloudy wasteland. I looked down to see that I was standing on clouds, with bubbles rising from them. I glanced around. No one in sight. I guess I'm too far away to see anyone. It would probably be safer to look for Natsu or Wendy, but I wasn't sure if I could find them before the portal closed. Guess I'm on my own. I looked around one last time and slowly began to rise. I was soon moving faster and faster, flying straight at the center. I began to slow down as if something was trying to push me back. Go faster! I cranked up the power of the jetpack and zipped into the storm like it wasn't there. A large gust of wind suddenly pushed me into one of the stray bolts of electricity. I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded.

I felt myself tumbling onto the ground, rolling a couple of times before hitting the base of a tree. I slowly opened my eyes, to find that I was on one of the small, floating islands surrounding Edolas. Wow. The sky was greenish-yellow color, with moons hanging in the background. I got to my feet and tried summoning a sword. All I could manage was a butter knife. Hey, do you know what's going on? I asked Mike. The laws of This world seem to have classified me as an object, so I have around…. 80% of the maximum magic I can hold normally. said Mike. How would you recharge? I can absorb magic in the air, or from any type of lacrimas. Wait. I ran to the edge of my tiny island and peaked at the rocky cliff. Blue crystals dotted the rockface, either sticking out or forming patterns in the rock. Looks like I found a solution. I activated my jetpack, and set it to hover mode. I then slowly descended until I was floating by the rockface. I put my hand to a medium-sized lacrima. It glowed, then was sucked into the armor. The percentage on my visor read 87%. I tried a larger one. 94%. Then I noticed the island was slowly falling. Without the magic energy at the base, the formation couldn't stay afloat, I guess.

I switched to slow flying, and began to scan the area for concentrated amounts of magic. Hmm, Fairy tails over there, that's the black market, and yep. That's definitely the direction of the capital. I flew back to the falling island and yanked out a couple of extra crystals. This caused the rest of the landmass to drop like a boulder in the ocean. I narrowly dodged being crushed by an island. Pocketing the lacrimas for later, I lazily flew towards the capital, careful to conserve the magic, with the comically large spire of the castle coming into view. It twisted and turned, making it look like it could topple at any moment. I decided to land on the outskirts of town since landing in the middle of government infested troops didn't really suit me. Deactivating my armor, I began walking into the city. It was a little strange, walking through a mostly normal city. It felt like I was in a small, quaint village in the countryside of France. The only thing that was different was the black and gray guards patrolling the streets.

"Hey, you!" I glanced behind me to see a trio of thugs looking quite beat up, walking around angrily. "Have you seen Gajeel anywhere?"

"No," I quickly said, before walking away. Messing with these guys was a bad idea since I would probably have to reveal my magic to fight them.

"You're lying!" another shouted.

"Come back!" said the third. They all began running towards me. I quickened my pace, hoping the guards would come to my aid. One of the guards stepped behind me.

"What are you doing chasing a child?" they asked through their helmet.

"He knows where Gajeel is!" one of the thugs exclaimed.

"And why do you need to know?" countered the guard. While they were talking, I quietly slipped into one of the alleys and focused. I looked down and confirmed that I was invisible. I walked down the alley and wound my way to the palace.

I approached the tall, black, gates, flanked by a few guards. They didn't seem to alert, casually talking to each other. I walked to the side, and climbed over the fence, careful to not make any noise. Snap! I looked down to see that I had stepped on someone's toothpick, probably someone littering.

"What was that?" said one of the guards. The other one began walking towards me. Shoot. I was paralyzed with fear and annoyance. Without thinking, I bolted into the castle. I ran over the gray carpeting and assessed my situation. There was a door to the right of me, a hallway to the left, and a spiral staircase in the right corner.

"They're trying to run away!" the guard yell. Their heavy footsteps were getting closer, so I scrambled up the staircase. It kept on going up and up, so I jumped into one of the hallways. I turned back to see that the guards ran past me and continued to run up the spiral staircase. I sighed in relief and rematerialized in the doorway. I used the last of my magic to summon one of the lacrimas and recharged myself back to 70%. I cautiously got up and began looking around. It seemed to be a walkway, with a balcony wall to the left of me, and a flat wall to the right. I walked forward and noticed a few doors every now and then. As I was walking, I noticed a massive lacrima, covering a whole island floating a couple of hundred meters away. So that's where the guild ended up.

"…saw it when it got there Hughes," I heard Erza say around the corner. I looked around, trying to find a way to hide. The door? No, I would be trapped if they found me. The voices were getting louder. With no other option, I vaulted over the balcony, and summoned a knife, stabbing it into the rock on the outside. It was lodged between two of the bricks, with the mortar crumbling. Geez, have they just been spending all of their time on magic? Then I made the mistake of looking down. Oh shit! I was hanging by a knife a couple hundred meters above the ground. It had been a miracle someone hadn't spotted me yet.

"There are like, tens of thousands of Earthland magic!" cackled who I assumed was Hughes or Sugarboy.

"Or the magic of 100 Earthland wizards," said a man whose voice was most definitely Sugarboy's.

"The details don't matter!" chided Hughes. Their voices began to fade away.

"Have you not squashed Fairy Tail?" asked an old man's creaky voice. I had forgotten this person's name, but he was some kind of scientist for the king. I slowly peaked over the wall, to see the back of the old man's white hair. He was wearing a white and black cloak, while also holding a short wood staff.

"Byro," Erza said in annoyance.

"You haven't been living up to your name, have you Fairy Hunter?" replied Byro smugly. He cackled a little. "While they run the fastest, we expect results soon."

"Chill," said Hughes. "She'll catch them soon. His skills are like, woah and woah!"

"Stop laughing like that," said another voice. I turned my attention to the arrival of Panther Lily. It was strange, since, for the rest of the anime, he never has armor on. His normally bare chest was covered in a cape, and a helmet covered most of his face. "I don't like people with loudmouths. Including you Hughes."

"You probably think you like, I'm above all of this!" shot Hughes.

"Shut your mouth," said Panther Lily.

"In a bad mood?" asked Sugarboy. Panther Lily seemed to grunt and walk past.

"He hasn't been enjoying the ramped-up security," Erza said.

"He's a commander," said Sugarboy.

"There really is no point in this military build-up. Our kingdom controls most of Edolas." She turned on her heels and began walking away. Everyone soon followed after her. Once they disappeared from sight, I quietly clambered over the wall again, to find the hallway still deserted. I sighed in relief.

"What are you doing here?"