Things between the dragon slayers escalate. Three of them might have been defeated, but just barely. Sabertooth may have had some help in their defeat, but not without taking some damage themselves. When Athena attempted to help Michael against Lumiere, but she failed and ended up greatly injured. while she was recovering, Michael sat next to her and just hoped that she pulls through. At the same time, he was thinking things over with what Athena admitted to him.

"She doing okay?" Shae asked as he came in.

"I think so. She's still alive, so that's good." Michael said, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Athena admitted to him, and how awful he was to her. "Shae, did you know Athena actually had feelings for me?"

"So... You finally found out about that." Shae said.

"She admitted to it just before she passed out." Michael said as he felt awful about it. "I feel like such a jerk."

"You should." Shae said. "Do you have any idea what she must have felt like? All you saw her as was a friend you grew up with. Do you have any idea how she must have felt when you flirted or acted like a perv at every pretty girl you saw, but never once acted that way towards her? You probably made her feel like she wasn't pretty enough for you. It probably did some damage to her self-esteem."

"I get it!" Michael said as all those words were only making him feel worse.

"Despite all that, she still fell in love with you." Shae said. "I'm telling you all this so you can understand what you're going to do."

"So what do I do?" Michael questioned.

"Well, do you even want to go out with Athena? Do you think you can be with her?" Shae said. "You and Athena have been friends for such a long time. Do you think you can be more than that?"

"I..." Michael wasn't quite sure how to answer that. Athena has been one of his closest friends. It would be a good foundation for a real relationship. Despite all his flaws, Athena still some how ended up falling in love with him. Perhaps they could be. "I be willing to try."

"If you are, you have to really commit." Shae said as he was giving him a little tough brotherly love to get Michael to understand. "All that stuff you do with other girls, all the looking, flirting, and everything else you have to put on her. You need to make her feel like she's the most special girl in the world. You have to make it like she's the only girl you see. She deserves a guy that can give her the attention and consideration she deserves. Can a playboy like yourself really do that?" Michael is beating himself up over this whole thing. It's hard on him, but he's willing to do just that.

"I'll... I'll be the kind of guy she deserves! I'll give her the attention AND the consideration that she should have!" Michael said as he is seeing that he has to change. He owes it to his friend, someone who loves him for him, and who could possibly be the one for him. Shae was glad to hear that as he smiled and turned out there.

"I know you can." Shae said.

"When did you become such a romantic yourself?" Michael questioned.

"I had my eyes open myself." Shae said as he stepped outside, where Rona was waiting for him. He held out his hand and Rona grabbed it and indicated they were together themselves.

"Shae!" Calleen called as she entered the hall. "I just heard from Gale! Fairy Tail might have found where the rest of those dragon slayers are hiding!"

"They did?!" Shae questioned for that was good news to hear.

"They're heading their now." Calleen said. Sounds like Fairy Tail is going into action. They better hope that Fairy Tail can really pull this off.

...

The Mountains

Fairy Tail have managed to locate the enemy's hideout in the mountains near Crocus. Nashi and her friends have already arrived in the mountains. Now that they know where the enemy is hiding, they have to bring the fight to them.

"Well, we're here." Nashi said as she had a look around the place. "Drake's here somewhere; as well as Sapphron and the rest of those dragons."

"Don't worry. We'll get him back." Simon said.

"Hold on a minute." The six of them were the ones that came to face this enemy, but there was actually one more in the group. They all looked back and saw Raio trying his best to get some strength back. "I need a moment."

"Are you okay?" Nova asked as she went over to her fiancé.

"Yeah... I'll be fine." Raio said as he took deep breaths.

"I've got to say, Raio, it was rather impressive you made a wind current that carried us all the way here." Sasha said. That is how they managed to get to the mountains. Raio created a powerful gust of wind that lifted all of them off the ground and carried them all the way out there.

"Thanks, but that actually took a lot more out of me than I thought." Raio said.

"You going to be okay to continue?" Gale asked.

"I'm here. I've got to help out somehow." Raio said as he pulled himself together.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get going." Storm said as he was ready to get in there, but Simon stopped him before he could do anything.

"Wait, Storm. We need to be smart about this." Simon said. "We're dealing with a powerful and dangerous enemy. Failure isn't an option, but we could have some of the most challenging fights on our hands. Remember that our enemies have the capability of turning into dragons."

"You got a plan?" Nashi asked.

"I do." Simon said as he pulled out a map of the area. "This a topographic map of the area. First, we need to get a more accurate location as to where they might be hiding. There could be some caves around here. Nashi, can you and the others track Drake's scent?"

"Let me see." Nashi said as she pulled out the piece of fabric that belonged to his. She held it up to his nose and gave it a good sniff.

"Probably not the first time you smelled his scent." Gale meant to pass as a joke, but actually got punched in the arm by Sasha for being idiotic enough to say that, given what has happened.

"That way!" Nashi said as she pointed the way.

"Perfect. There are actually three caves around that area." Simon said. "It might be best if we split up and each take a cave. That way, we might save some time and we all won't get caught. Time is of the essence and we've got to get going."

"Who's going where?" Nova asked.

"Gale and I will take the cave to the east. Nova, Sasha, and Gale will take the cave to the west." Simon said, but that left two people that had them most concerned. "Nashi and Storm will head on straight." Everyone was a little worried on what that means for them granted their own personal situation. However, Simon chose them because he still believes in the bond and friendship they have. "Listen, I know things are a little hectic between the two of you, but you both have made a great team; never mattered if you two were intimate or not. Are you both okay with this?"

"Uh..." Nashi wasn't sure how to answer because she was more concerned with how Storm felt about it.

"It will be fine." Storm said with Nashi a little surprised that Storm actually would say that. "We've got a lot on the line. This isn't really the time for me to be selfish." At least it could give the two of them a chance to talk. With their teams set, they all got going and just hoped there was still a chance.

...

To The West

Raio and the girls made their way to the cave that Simon pointed out. As they moved as fast as they could, they soon came across something interesting in the mountains. They found their way into a set of ruins.

"Check this place out!" Raio said as he was fascinated with the ruins.

"What is all of this?" Nova questioned.

"These ruins might have been a part of Crocus." Sasha said.

"Correct. These ruins age back to when Crocus was founded many years ago. Since the city has made such great progress, they just up and left this part." They all heard someone's voice and looked around. Suddenly, Nova felt a strange sensation, but she followed it to where that voice came from. She looked up and spotted Keenan sitting on an old pillar.

"Who are you?!" Nova said.

"I'm Thunder Dragon Keenan. I'm the guy that's about to fry all three of you."

...

Simon and Gale

At the same time, Simon and Gale headed for their cave. They looked around to try and find the cave entrance.

"There it is!" Gale said as he pointed to the entrance.

"We better get going." Simon said. The two of them were about to head into the cave, but their instincts kicked in as they could feel an attack coming. They both jumped out of the way as a series of attacks came at them.

"Good instincts. You knew my attack was coming without even turning around." They both turned around and were met with Linus.

"I take it you're one of the enemy dragon slayers." Simon said.

"What gave it away?" Linus questioned.

"You're an enemy? That's all I really need to know." Gale said as he readied his fist. He didn't wait around as he went right for the attack. "Iron Dragon Hard Fist!" He had his fist coated in iron and smashed it right into Linus' gut at full force. However, he wasn't pushed back. He didn't even bent down after getting hit by that attack. What did happen was that the iron around Gale's arm broke off and his fist was in real pain. "Argh! What the damn hell?!"

"Gale, what happened?!" Simon said.

"I don't know." Gale said through some pain. "That's never happened before."

"An iron dragon? Interesting." Linus said. They had a better look at him and saw his body was coated in metal. "However, steel is stronger than iron. An iron dragon can't stand to a steel dragon."

...

Nashi and Storm

The others are now facing with opponents before they can go into the caverns. It would seem that Nashi and Storm were the lucky ones. They already found their cave entrance and readied themselves for whatever might be on the inside.

"Ready?" Nashi asked.

"Ready." Storm said. 'Hang on, Drake. We'll get you out of there.' He thought as he plans to make the wrong he did right and save his fellow guildmate and friend.

'We're coming for you, Sapphron. This struggle you and the other dragon slayers endured is going to come to an end one way or the other.' Nashi thought as she's readied to settle things with Sapphron for good. Both of them stepped inside and into enemy territory, but Sapphron is already well aware of their arrival and he's ready for them.