Author's Note 1: After a brief hiatus due to sickness and working on my career writing, I'm back baby! So behold, part 1 of the Inner Circle Arc! Let's begin!

PS: Due to some revisions to the story, I've edited parts of Chapter 16 and 18. Just FYI.

Chapter 19: Forest Encounter

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?

"No!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Ask that one more time I'll use you as a hat!" Lucy yelled.

"Waaaw! Alyssa, Lucy's being mean to me!" Happy cried, flying into the amazon's arms. The seven wizards were walking through a forest with the goal of making it back to Magnolia. The reason why? A certain dragon-slayer didn't feel like taking another seven hour train ride to get home. The only one who really had a problem with the long walk back was Lucy, but she quickly simmered down, although she did point out something.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Lucy asked.

"No, we're not." Zeke said as he looked at a map. "We just need to take a right at the next lake."

"Far enough. But where's the lake?" Alexander asked, noticing a lack of water in the distance.

"I have to agree with Alex." Juvia begrudgingly said, not really wanting to disagree with her love interest. "It doesn't look like there's any water anywhere."

"Look, my great-uncle spent seven years charting this forest. I think his map would be fairly accurate." Zeke replied, a bit irritated from the lack of fate he was receiving. Natsu looked over his friend's shoulders, raising his eyebrow at something.

"It's upside-down."

"What? No it..." The archer took a second look at the map and his body turned white in shock and embarrassment.

"It was." He whispered, making the rest of the group (minus Natsu) fall down in shock. "We were suppose to be heading Northwest, not Southeast."

"Great, just great." Lucy groaned as the group got back up and started heading the right direction. Eventually, the group stopped to set up camp for the night around sunset. Natsu went hunting for dinner, Juvia and Happy started setting up the tents & fireplace, and Alyssa & Alexander decided to help Lucy out in her Celestial Arms training while Zeke took down notes.

"You're putting too much force into your swings." Alexander said as he deflected the blonde's snake-sword with his saber. "The Celestial Arm is an extension of yourself. You have to treat as if it's an extra-limb."

"Got it!" Lucy said as she retracted the blade back into its sword form. She then attempted to block Alyssa from behind, but she was too slow and got knocked on her face.

"You got to be quicker than that if you're up against more than one opponent!" Alyssa stated as her friend got back up.

"Well then, try this on for size!" Lucy exclaimed as she pulled out Virgo's key and held it out. "Virgo, please lend me your power."

A blue magic circle appeared behind Lucy and a corporeal version of the Maiden spirit appeared next to her.

"Of course, Princess." The spirit nodded before vanishing. The hidden slot split open, Lucy inserting the key and turning it. The sword split into floating pieces around the circle before the blonde aimed it at Alyssa. The segments took on the golden glow and launched at Alyssa. Naturally, the speed queen evaded the projectiles. The evaded attack hit a nearby tree, tearing it apart before the pieces disappeared and reappeared as the sword.

"Not bad." Alexander said as he rested his saber on his shoulder. "But if you want the spell to be really effective, you got to give it a powerful name."

"Oh, like your Final Wave, right?" Lucy asked, getting a nod from her fellow Celestial wizard. At the camp, Zeke continued to look at the training wizards and taking notes in his journal. As he was doing this, Juvia looked at the archer with a tilted head while she was setting up the fire pit.

'What's he writing down?' The water wizard thought to herself. She looked back at the training session and noticed Lucy's bosom having a slight bounce as she evaded Alex's shots. 'No, he couldn't be! Could he? I mean, I've heard of guys that draw dirty pictures of women for...self-gratification. But Zeke wouldn't do that! He's been nothing but a gentleman to me! But then again, they say the innocent looking ones end up being closet perverts!'

As her body started steaming from her scandalous thoughts, she took a look at Zeke as he was writing more stuff down. 'M-Maybe I can just take a peak. Make sure he's not doing anything weird. But I have to discreet about it!'

Zeke continued to write his journal until he heard faint breathing over his shoulder and signed. "If you wanted a peek, all you had to do was ask."

Juvia squeaked and quickly got up with a blush of embarrassment on her face. The brunette held up his journal for the water wizard to take. Cautiously, Juvia took the book and started looking through it. But much to her relief, the journal lacked any kind of elicit drawings. Instead, it contained notes and drawings of various wizards, weapons and magic.

"Pretty dull, huh?" Zeke said, knowing that most of his friends didn't get his categorizing hobby.

"Actually, these drawings are pretty good." The water wizard replied, surprising the archer.

"Really?" He asked, getting a nod from Juvia. The water wizard noticed there was two pages dedicated to her. The portrait of her face was nicely detailed and even the drawings of her using her magic looked good.

"So, you like drawing?" The blue-haired woman asked before taking a seat next the brunette.

"I guess." Zeke replied, a light blush making way onto his face from the close proximity. "I mean, I'm no professional by any means. But I think I'm okay." He took another look at Juvia as she read his journal, the sunset making her hair take on a shine along with her skin.

'She's more beautiful up close.' The archer thought to himself, subconsciously moving closer to the water wizard. Juvia turned to talk to Zeke, only to freeze up when she realized how close their faces were. The two looked into each other's eyes, moving slightly closer to each other.

'Our lips are so...close.' Zeke thought.

'Should...should I go for it?' Juvia thought as the two of were inches away from each other, moving in closer. They started to close their eyes until...

"HEY GUYS! Check out what I caught!" Natsu exclaimed as he carried a 500 pound wild hog over his shoulders. "Who's up for pork chops?"

Snapped out of their intimate moment, Zeke and Juvia's bodies flushed completely red, the two quickly turning away from each other in embarrassment.

'Damn it!' Juvia cried out in her head.

'Natsu, your timing sucks!' Zeke yelled in his head.

"Oh well. Better luck next time." Happy commented to himself, having seen the whole thing.

Later that night...

After dinner and bathing, Team Morningstar turned in for the night to their own tents (Natsu & Alyssa sharing one). However, the orange-haired speed wizard got up in the middle of the night to relieve herself. Since she was sleeping before, Alyssa was wearing a red t-shirt, shorts and a pair of slippers.

But as she walked past the bushes, Alyssa heard the sound of crying. "What the hell?" She walked towards the direction of the noise, using a tree for cover before looking at a nearby path. And what she saw was a group of men & women in silver armor, armed with pistols and swords. Two of armed strangers were pulling a cage with the bruised silver-haired child still crying.

'Oh my god.' The orange-haired woman thought to herself in horror.

She looked on as the boy cried in the cage, only to be socked by one of the armored women. The amazonian woman scowled at this. 'Okay, these guys are definitely not on the up and up.'

With her mind made up, Alyssa sneaked towards the back of the cage, the boy turning his head and spotting the sneaking speed queen. Before the child made a noise, Alyssa held her finger to her lips to silence him. She then placed her hands on the cage and started to slowly vibrate the metal.

"Do you guys hear something?" One of the men asked.

"Meh. You're probably just hearing things." Another one answered. However, the cage then blasted apart, getting the attention of the guards.

"What the hell?!"

"The beast is free! Kill it!" One of the armored men yelled and fired his pistol. The boy covered his head his arms in fear, only to be shocked from the lack of pain. The amber-eyed boy looked up and saw Alyssa standing over him with her clenched fist held out. The amazonian woman opened her hand, dropping five bullets to the ground.

"I-I didn't even see her move!" One of the women said in fear.

"She's a speed wizard!" One of the men yelled, trying to shoot Alyssa, only for her to a repeat of her earlier action, using superhuman speed to pluck the bullets out of the air. After dropping the bullets, Alyssa glared at the armored individuals and cracked her knuckles.

"My turn." She said before dashing towards them, socking one of the women in the jaw before turning her attention towards the others, evading shots and sword swings as she fought them off. The silver-haired boy watched in amazement as the woman took on his capturers single-handedly. However, he noticed one of the with his sword drawn, ready to stab at Alyssa while her back was turned.

"Look out!" The boy yelled as he ran towards the man, the wing tattoos on his back starting to glow. And in a blinding flash of light, a pair of elegant silver wings emerged from the boy's back. With a burst of sudden flight and speed, the boy tackled the man into a tree, knocking the armored figure out. The boy wobbled away, feeling a bit of the impact as his wings vanished. Tired from his confinement and sudden burst of action, the boy started to fall backwards, only to be caught by Alyssa, who had finished her battle with the currently knocked-out posse.

"Are you okay?" Alyssa asked the tired child in her arms.

"Thank...you..." The boy whispered before fading into unconsciousness. Assuming the worst, Alyssa quickly ran back to the camp with the boy in tow. As soon as she left, a few of the armored figures groaned as they got back up.

"Bitch." One of the men groaned before pulling out his pistol.

"No." The female leader said as she held her hand out. "It's obvious that we're outmatched."

"So what? We let her get away with the creature?" One of them asked.

"We might have to." She said as she pulled out a crystal-clear orb. "For now, we should get the hell out of here and report to Lady Fuyu."

And with that, the armored figures ran (or as much as they could with their injures) into the night. Back with Alyssa...

"Guys, wake up! We got an emergency!" The orange-haired woman yelled as soon as reached the camp. The rest of the group got up, a few of them rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"Alyssa?" Natsu asked groggingly, his eyes widening as he saw the injured boy in his girlfriend's arms. "Who's that?"

"I didn't get his name. But he's hurt." She replied. Hearing this, Lucy and Juvia quickly set down a blanket and pillow for the child to rest on while Zeke quickly grabbed his medical kit. As this happened, the boy dreamed. Dreamed of the times before the cage. Before his freedom was taken.

Later that night...

"My lady, we have...a problem." Michael said as he kneeled before the masked woman.

"What is it, my knight?" She asked, the emerald light of the cathedral shining off her garnet mask.

"One of our hunting parties was ambushed a few hours ago."

"Which one?"

"The Fianna Team. They claimed that they were attacked by a speed wizard."

"I see. And what of the creature?"

"She took it with her."

Hearing this made the woman clench her fists. "Damned heathen. Do we know who this speed wizard is?"

"We do. She's Alyssa Grunewald of Fairy Tail."

The masked woman thought to herself about the familiarity of that name. She then remembered a newspaper article she read about a group of Fairy Tail wizards (identified as Morningstar) who defeated the demon flute Lullaby in Clover. She also recalled her anger upon seeing the image of a certain dragon-slayer. The masked woman held her head down and started to chuckle, confusing the blond man. "It seems destiny has a cruel sense of humor."

"My lady?" Michael asked. But to his surprise, the masked woman placed her gloved hand on his face, making him blush.

"We cannot let this sin go unpunished. Michael, I want you to take a team with you to the town of Magnolia. Teach the speed wizard and the rest of her team what it means to disrupt our great mission and retrieve the monster."

"O-of course." Michael said as he stood up and turned to leave.

"One more thing." She said, getting the young man's attention. "Bring the one called Salamander to me, alive. I want to punish him personally."

Michael raised his eyebrow at this, but quickly decided to drop it. After all, his Lady's wishes were to be followed to the letter.

"Be cautious, my knight. From what I have heard, Morningstar is a formidable team." The woman stated. "They won't be defeated so easily."

"I understand, Lady Fuyu." Michael said with a determined expression. "I shall use the utmost caution in dealing with these sinners."

And with that, the dirty blond left the room, leaving Fuyu to her own thoughts. She turned towards the skylight and put her hands together, giving a silent prayer. "Benevolent Creator, please grant your followers safety for the coming battle. Let them punish the sinners who dare to defy your word."

And then...

He was flying. His wings flapping as he soared through the skies. The euphoria of flight and the beautiful sight of the mountains and clouds made him truly happy.

But suddenly, the sky turned into a terrifying red. Several looming figures appeared over him before his wings disappeared. Without them, the boy started to fall, screaming as he descended to his death.

"AHHHH!" The boy yelled as he sat up, panting and sweating from the nightmare. After getting his bearings, he looked around and noticed that he was on a bed in some kind of hospital room.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're finally awake!" The boy turned and saw the orange-haired woman who rescued him from before. He backed up a bit in confusion and waryness.

"W-where am I?" The boy asked.

"You're at the Fairy Tail Guild."

"Fairy Tail? Guild?" He asked in confusion. He then looked at the mark on the woman's face and titled his head in confusion.

"Ya. After you fainted, we brought you here to treat your injuries." She replied with a kind smile. "I'm Alyssa, by the way."

The boy stayed silent for a bit, looking wearyingly at her before introducing himself. "I'm Ven."

"Well then, Ven. Would you like something to eat?" She asked. Feeling the emptiness in his stomach, Ven nodded and Alyssa got up to get the food. As she left, Ven tried to remember how he got to where he was. He remembered Alyssa rescuing him and then he recalled...everything that happened, clutching his sleeve.

A bit later, Alyssa was heading back to the medical wing with a tray of food. But when she approached the room, she heard some crying and slowly peaked in. Ven was sobbing into his arms, the orange-haired woman feeling bad for the silver-haired child as she saw a vision of an orange-haired girl in the same position from several years back. She stepped back and knocked on the door, giving the boy a chance to wipe his eyes.

"Here you go." Alyssa said as she placed the tray in front of him. The boy looked at the food before digging in. As he tasted the first food he had in days, a few tears came to Ven's eyes.

"Thank you!" He said between bites. "Thank you!"

After Ven had finished eating, Alyssa tried to ask the boy about how he got trapped by the armored poachers. However, whenever she attempted to get the information, Ven would freeze up and curl up in a ball. Seeing as how the boy was clearly distraught, Alyssa simply held the boy in her arms, letting him sob until he fell asleep. After tucking him in, the orange-haired wizard left the medical wing and headed towards the partially built main hall, seeing Natsu and Happy (who was sleeping on one of the tables) waiting for her.

"How is he?" The dragon-slayer asked.

"He's had some food." She replied. "But he doesn't want to talk about what happened. The only thing I learned was his name, Ven."

"Well, at least that's something." Natsu replied before noticing the distant look in his girlfriend's eyes. "You alright?"

The speed wizard thought for a bit before replying. "He had the same look I used to have. Back when I first came to Fairy Tail."

Hearing this made Natsu's eyes widen. "You don't think..."

"I can only hope it isn't." She said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, praying to whoever would answer that her guess was wrong.

Meanwhile, a group of five observed the night-draped town with Michael at the front.

"So, this is Magnolia." A barrel-chested gray-haired man with a matching bushy moustache and red eyes stated. His armor was red with silver shoulder spikes and matched his massive frame, a large double-sided axe strapped to his back. "I'm not impressed."

"I think it looks pretty." A petite brown-haired woman with yellow eyes and a flowery yellow dress with armored gauntlets chimed in. "Oh, I think I see a bakery from here!"

"Who cares?" A gothic-looking girl with purple hair and matching eyes groaned. She wore a smaller set of black armor and a spear strapped to her back.

"Sunshine's right! It's all gonna burn anyway!" A crazed man with spiky blond hair, brown eyes, a red t-shirt with a cartoon 'KABOOM!' on it, long black jeans, armored gloves, and a bandolier of bombs wrapped across his chest.

"Hold your tongue, Ivan." Michael stated, interrupting the giggling man.

"Come on! Just let me toss a few bombs here and there and BOOM! No more wizards!" Ivan yelled, rubbing his hands in glee.

"A frontal assault would be suicide. Remember, this a town full of people who could blow off your head with one look." Michael chastised his fellow blond before addressing his comrades. "We must play the long game. Observe our targets. Find out their strengths and weaknesses. We wait until they're at their most vulnerable." He then pulled out his rapier. "And when the time is right, we slide the knife."

In another part of town, Zeke was walking home with a book in his hands. The book was called 'The Tribes of Fiore', the pages of which had pictures and drawings of people with silver hair, wings marks and actual wings. 'The Wincar Tribe are a group of nomadic magic users who mostly live in the mountains. Their most notable features are their silver hair and the wing marks on their backs. These marks allow a Wincaran to manifest powerful wings and access to wing magic. The Wincaran also believe that the Wind is were all souls are born and return there upon death.'

After reading this, the brunette archer tried to theorize why a Wincaran child would be kidnapped. From what he had read so far, they were a frugal people who lived off the land. As such, ransom was crossed out as the motivation. Another possible motivation Zeke thought of was something a bit more gruesome; experimentation. And with that grim thought, the brunette entered his house and walked past his dinning room table, not paying attention.

"Good Evening, Zeke." A male voice greeted.

"Hey, Reggie." The archer greeted back. He then revised what happened, stopping and walking backwards towards the table. Sitting there was a young man with strawberry blond hair, blue eyes behind circular glasses, a black vest with a white buttoned up shirt underneath, black gloves, dress pants and loafers. Hanging from his left wrist was a pendant shaped like an X in a circle and he was currently taking a sip of coffee. Also on the table was a strap-locked briefcase with a stylized green H in a circle.

"Reggie? What're you doing here?" Zeke asked his cousin (on his mother's side). "Oh god, please don't tell me the Thunder Legion is back in town!"

"Three things. 1). Stop calling me Reggie. It's Reginald. 2). No, the rest of the Legion are busy doing jobs elsewhere. And 3). I'm mostly here to play courier." Reginald answered, passing the briefcase on the table to the brunette. "With all you've accomplished recently, Great-Grandfather Marcus believes you've earned this."

Zeke put this book on the table and then proceeded to open the briefcase. And when he saw the contents of the case, a gleeful smile akin to a child receiving a Christmas gift made way onto his face. "No freakin' way!"

Inside of the briefcase was a set of dark green gloves with white-colored fingers. However, the most striking thing about the gloves were two lacrima tops with solid green arrowheads inside of them. "This isn't a joke, right?"

"Nope. You're looking at the genuine article." Reginald replied, amused at his cousin's reaction. With excitement, Zeke put on the green gloves, the arrowheads within the crystals shining for a brief second. After feeling a quick rush of magic, Zeke clenched his fists, getting a feel for his new equipment.

'It's about damn time.' The brunette thought to himself with a smile, admiring the new gloves. "So, what finally made Great-Grandpa decide to give me a set?"

"Are you kidding me? In the last few months, you've dealt with two of Zeref's demons, completed an S-Class quest, and Aunt Amelia told the elders about how you held yourself up against Jose. Plus, word through the grapevine is that you finally took the initiative to build yourself a custom bow instead of using the basic longbow." Reginald explained. However, Zeke was still admiring his gloves, caught up in his own prideful glee. As such, the blond decided to let his cousin bask as he went back to drinking his coffee.

The Next Day...

"The new guild hall's coming along nicely." Reginald stated as the three Hudson men stood outside the partly-rebuilt building.

"Well, we do have two wizards with speed magic and a giant." Lyle commented.

"Morning, Zeke! Morning, Mr. Hudson!" The three turned and saw Natsu, Alyssa and Happy walking towards the guild.

"Ah, Natsu, Alyssa, Happy! It's been too long!" Reginald greeted by shaking their hands.

"Reggie! Haven't seen you in forever." Natsu greeted with his usual smile.

"How've you been doing?" Alyssa asked.

"Fine, until you called me Reggie." The strawberry blond man joked. The group entered the guild hall and saw Lucy having breakfast at one of the tables. Zeke introduced his cousin to his new blonde teammate while Alyssa went to check up on Ven.

"Good Morning, everyone." The seated group turned and saw Juvia walking towards them.

"Hey, Juvia." Zeke greeted with a smile, which the water wizard reciprocated. As the two began to chat, Reginald looked at the two with a smirk before cutting in between them, looking at Juvia.

"So, you're the blue-haired bella that my cousin's become smitten with." The bespectacled blond teased, making the two blush.

"Um...well...I wouldn't..." Juvia stuttered before realizing she didn't know this person. "Wait, who are you?"

"I am Reginald Hudson the Third." He introduced himself with a bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Madame Lockster."

Getting over her bashfulness, Juvia smiled and took a bow as well. "A pleasure to you as well."

"Beautiful and Well-Mannered. You've got good taste, cousin." Reginald teased.

"Could you please stop?" The brunet said with luminescent blush on his face.

"Well, look who's back from vacation!" The group turned and saw Team Maelstrom walking towards them, Elfman being the one who greeted them.

"Morning, guys." Zeke greeted before suddenly feeling a gust of wind. He looked to his side and saw that Reginald was gone and looked back towards the other team. The bespectacled young man was on his knees and holding one of Erza's gauntlet covered hands.

"Erza dear, it's been too long since I was last graced by your beauty." Reginald said with a charming smile.

'Oh boy, I know wear this is going.' Lucy thought to herself, thinking that Zeke's cousin was going to get bashed for flirting with Erza. But much to her shock, the requip wizard's cheeks became as red as her hair.

"R-Reginald, w-when did you get back in town?" Erza stuttered out.

"Last night." The bespectacled blond stated, chuckling as he saw her blush. "So, how about we catch up over breakfast? My treat."

"Um...I'd l-love to. B-But I h-have to p-polish my new a-armor." Erza stuttered, quickly pulling her hand back and started to walk away. "S-So we'll h-have to do this another time."

"Such a shame." Reginald said, feigning disappointment. "And I just learned about a new cheesecake recipe from Couras."

Hearing this made the redhead stop in her tracks and slowing turn her head back. "Come again?"

"And such a wonderful flavor. The perfect mix of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. But, I guess I'll have to cook it another time."

"On second thought, we do have a lot to talk about!" Erza exclaimed, grabbing Reginald's hand and the two walked off, Erza's eyes shining with glee and Reginald smiling as he was dragged away from the guild.

"What just happened?!" A confused Lucy exclaimed.

"He loooooves her!" Happy said in his usually teasing tone as Zeke and Natsu nodded in agreement.

"Reggie's had a thing for Erza since we were kids." The dragon-slayer explained to his blonde teammate with a bemused smirk.

"Ya, I got that. But what's up with Erza's reaction?" The Celestial Wizard asked.

"You've seen how stubborn she is about fighting and missions." Zeke stated. "You think she'd be less stubborn when it comes to romance?"

But before this conversation could continue, Alyssa walked back to the group. However, she was being followed by Ven, who was peeking out from behind the amazonian woman's legs and looking astonished by the sight of the half-repaired guild hall.

"Hey, little guy." Natsu greeted as he kneeled down to the silver-haired boy's level. "I'm Natsu." Ven titled his head in confusion at a certain feature of the dragon-slayer.

"Why is your hair pink?" He innocently asked, making Natsu drop to the floor while the rest of Morningstar laughed.

"It's not pink! It's salmon!" He yelled.

"Oh." Ven said before taking a seat at Morningstar's table.

"So, Ven. Do you want to talk about what happened yet?" Alyssa asked, trying to be as careful as she could about the topic. Ven's face saddened a bit but then looked up at the woman and nodded.

"I was just having flying around the mountain, having fun. I mean, that's what most of the kids in my tribe do." The boy started to say. "But when I came back down, I was suddenly trapped in a net. I think I was hit on the head, 'cause I latter woke up in a cage with a bunch of strange-looking people around me." His eyes started to water as he continued his story. "I asked them what they were doing, but they just called me a monster and told me to shut the hell up."

As he started to sob some more, Alyssa hugged him in comfort. "It's alright."

"Ven, do you know where your home is?" Zeke asked, only for the boy to shake his head.

"I've never left the mountains before."

The group about this for a moment before Lucy had an idea. After a quick trip to the archives, the blonde pulled out a picture book of constellations. She then opened up the book to Ven and asked him if he recognized any of the constellations. And sure enough, Ven found one that he recognized.

"That's the constellation of Declan the Hunter." Lucy stated as she looked at the information underneath the image. "It can only be seen from the Fianna Mountain Range."

"Fianna...Fianna..." Zeke mumbled to himself as he looked through his info-lacrima. But when he found information on the aforementioned mountain range, his eyes slightly widened. "Yeesh. That's a month-long trek by carriage. Even longer if we go by foot."

The Wincaran's head lowered at this, only to feel a comforting hand. "It doesn't matter how long it takes, Ven. We'll bring you back to your home safely."

"R-Really?"

Alyssa just smiled and held out her pinky finger. "I promise from the depths of my heart."

"You can count me in!" Natsu said with his usual smile.

"Me too!" Happy stated.

Zeke and Lucy nodded in agreement. Seeing that these strangers were willing to help him, even though they couldn't have known for less than a day, brought a tiny smile onto the boy's face. "Thank you."

And then...

After explaining the situation to Makarov and Lyle, Team Morningstar (minus Juvia, who needed to take a few jobs to pay her rent and Alexander, who was working with the rest of Star Liberators to rebuild the Jabberwocky) spent the next few hours readying themselves for the long journey ahead of them. Soon enough, the five wizards arrived at the edge of Magnolia with all their supplies and started heading Southeast, where the Fianna Mountain Range lay faraway.

"So, is everyone all packed?" Zeke asked, getting a nod from everyone (except for Ven, who was now wearing a white t-shirt, grey shorts and sandals that Mirajane provided him with). "Alrightly then. Let's go!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy proclaimed as the group started their long journey to bring their young friend home, unaware of the fact that they were being followed by five figures.

To be continued...

Author's Note 2: Sorry it took so long to update this chapter, but Flu season has hit pretty hard in Florida (at least in my house). Also, I've started a new Power Rangers Samurai fanfic that I guarantee will be better than the actual show! And as always, let me explain a few things in this chapter;

1). The Wincaran Tribe and the Declan constellation; Just another part of my efforts to build up the world of Fairy Tail.

2). The inclusion of Reginald Hudson; Aside from adding some more detail to the inner workings of the Hudson Family, I've also needed a new romantic interest of Erza because quite frankly, I can't stand Jellal/Siegrain/What ever he's going by now! The dude is an endless pile of 'Woe-is-me!' without actually tiring to make things better for himself or the woman he supposedly loves. Plus, I wanted to give Erza some slack with all the crap she's gone through in life.

3). The Ascension Gloves; Like I said in the first chapter, Archery Magic in my story is based off the Quincy Powers from Bleach, so the Ascension Gloves serve the same purpose as the Sanrei Gloves. And I do mean the same purpose 'wink, wink.'

Also, starting this chapter, I've decided to begin a new feature to replace the chibi talk at the end. Ladies and Gentlemen and others, welcome to Fairy Tail Q&A! In this segment, you can ask any cast member of FT: AND any question you can think of (as long it doesn't involve spoilers)! Just send me a PM with your question to any cast member and they'll answer it at the end of the next chapter!

Next Time: Ambush! Be sure to read, favorite, review and support this story by editing the TV Tropes page! See ya later!