Author's Note 1: It's been a sad past few weeks for Fairy Tail fans. Or at least, fans of Juvia. ...I have nothing to say that won't make that suck.

But let's move onto to something more positive. As I stated in the latest chapter of Power Rangers Samurai R (which you should all be reading by the way), I've recently gotten a job at my local Cinemark and as such have recently bought myself an HP Chromebook. So expect a lot more updates. Anyway, time for some Fairy Tail goodness!

We've had the revelations, now it's time for the rescue!

Chapter 22: The Rescue

"...up..."

"...ake up…"

"WAKE UP, JACKASS!"

A with a solid right cross to his left cheek, Ivan of the Holy Crusaders was woken up. The first thing he noticed (aside from the pain on his face) was that he was tied to a tree. The crazed blond then looked up and saw two women and a man looking down at him. And all three of them were pissed.

"Goody. You're awake." Zeke said with a massive amount of sarcasm as he held Ivan's green stone (which he had pilfered it the Crusader while he was still unconscious). "Now tell us where your buddies took Natsu before I perforate one your lungs with an arrow."

Hearing this just made Ivan chuckle. "So, the others have already captured the Salamander. Hate to break to ya, string bean, but your friend is gone. You might as well start writing his eulogy."

Angered by this, Alyssa kneed him in the stomach and caused him cough violently. "You sure you're a woman? 'Cause you hit like a lumberjack."

"That was only half of my full strength." The orange-haired woman stated as she cracked her knuckles as a show of force.

But Ivan just continued to laugh before spitting at the Fairy Tail wizards. "You might as well kill me, you blasphemous assholes. Because I'd rather die than betray my sacred mission."

Alyssa was about to strike him again but Lucy just raised her hand to stop her. The blonde then proceeded to pull out of her gold spirit keys.

"Open, Gate of the Maiden - Virgo!" And out of the gate came the shapeshifting maid spirit.

"Good morning, princess." The pink-haired spirit greeted with a polite bow. "How can I assist you today?"

"You see that man?" Lucy said as she pointed to the tied up Ivan. Virgo looked and nodded. "Punish him."

Hearing this brought a subtle spark to Virgo's eyes, even though her expression didn't change. "Understood, princess."

As the pink-haired maiden walked towards the Holy Crusader, said Crusader just chuckled some more. "Kinky sex ain't gonna work either."

However, he failed to notice the smirk on Virgo's face as she stood over him. The maiden spirit then proceeded to...

(The following 'punishment' has been removed due to this story being rated T. Seriously, you don't want to know what Virgo is doing behind this message. It's pretty damn weird.)

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!" Ivan (now stripped down to his boxers, had various blemishes all over his skin and covered in nacho cheese) yelled out as he ran away from Virgo, who was holding up a log covered in suspicious-looking liquid. "JUST KEEP THIS FREAK AWAY FROM ME!"

The three Fairy Tail wizards were stunned and shocked by the events that had just transpired. Well, Zeke and Lucy were while Alyssa was trying not to vomit.

"Um….Virgo, that's enough. You can go back now." Lucy squeaked out.

"Aw." Virgo pouted in disappointment. She tossed the suspicious log away before bowing and fading back to the Spirit World.

"Well, that was….something." Zeke stated as he started repressing the punishment he had just witnessed. He then approached the shaking Crusader. "Now, let's talk."

At a nearby stream, Ven was sitting with his head on his knees while Happy looked over his various lacrima grenades. But as the blue cat was cleaning one of his weapons, he heard the silver-haired boy tearing up.

"Ven?" Happy asked.

"It's my fault." The boy whispered to himself. "You guys went on this journey because me. Now Mr. Natsu is gone and…"

However, the wincaran stopped as he felt the blue-furred cat hug him.

"Don't even think this is your fault." Happy said.

"But...I…"

"Did you intend on getting captured and taken from your home?"

"...no…"

"Did you send those weirdos after us?"

"...no.."

"Then it wasn't your fault. So don't blame yourself." The cat stated as he ruffled the boy's head. Even though Happy was worried about his father figure, he had faith that his teammates would come up with a plan to save him from interrogating the captured crusader. And even though Happy was often considered the runt of Team Morningstar, he had just as much experience and hardships faced as his human comrades. "We chose to help you, no matter the consequences."

And hearing this made the wincaran boy calm down a bit and ease up his conscience.

Back with the three human wizards, Zeke, Lucy and Alyssa were going over the information they had gotten from Ivan (who was once more tied to a tree). The Holy Crusader sect that Ivan was part of was based in a secluded canyon not marked on any map and under the command of Lady Fuyu. Underneath the cathedral was a prison where they keep the 'abominations' they had captured for experimentation, figure out how magical beings ticked. It was also likely that Natsu was being held in the aforementioned prison.

The stone that he and the other crusaders had used were described as holy relics called Transport Stones. They worked by the user thinking of someone and they would be teleported to their location. It would also teleport anyone the user was touching (hence why Gerome was able to bring Natsu with them).

And soon enough, the four wizards and wincaran were gathered around with Ivan still tied up (and cursing up a storm).

"Are you guys sure?" Happy asked after he had heard about his friends' plan.

"We are." Zeke stated with firm determination.

"At least let me come with you!" Ven cried out. But Alyssa kneeled down and placed her hand on Ven's shoulder.

"It's too dangerous, Ven." The amazonian woman stated with a comforting expression. "Just trust us. We'll meet with you and Happy later." She then turned towards her feline friend. "Can you keep him safe for us, Happy?"

"Aye, sir." The blue-furred cat said with a salute, more serious than he had ever been.

With a nod, Alyssa stood up and approached Lucy and Zeke, the later of which was holding the Transport Stone.

"You sure you want to do this?" Zeke asked Lucy.

"He would do the same for me." The celestial wizard answered, remembering how the team had tracked her back to her home when they thought she was quitting Fairy Tail.

So with their minds set and their wills strong, Zeke held out the green stone while the women placed their hands on top of it. They closed their eyes and started thinking about their salmon-haired friend.

'Natsu.' Lucy thought, remembering when he and the others offered her the chance to join Fairy Tail.

'Natsu.' Zeke thought, remembering the day when the two became best friends.

'Natsu.' Alyssa thought, remembering her first encounter with Natsu and how infectious his smile was.

And in a brilliant flash of green light, the three were gone, leaving only Happy, Ven and the tied up Ivan. The cat and boy grabbed their bags and continued on with their trek, mentally wishing their friends luck. However, they failed to see Ivan's smirk.

Meanwhile, Natsu was still laying on the floor of his cell. After a few hours of remembering his past, the fire dragon-slayer now had more time to process this. But while he was beyond angry, there was one nagging question in the back of his head.

But in a flash of green light, that train of thought was tabled. And when Natsu reopened his eyes, for the first time in hours, a smile appeared on his face as he saw his team now inside of this cell.

"Guys!" Natsu said with glee.

"Natsu!" The three cheered, Alyssa rushing and giving her boyfriend a hug.

"How did you guys do that? Wait, where's Happy and Ven?" He asked. And when he said the later, the silver-haired woman in the other cell widened her eyes in shock.

"Happy's taking him back to his home." Alyssa explained.

"And as for how we got here, you can thank this little trinket." Zeke said as he up the Transport Stone. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

Lucy and Alyssa placed each of their hands on either Zeke or Natsu's shoulders, making the dragon-slayer raise an eyebrow. The three started to think about Happy, but nothing happened. They opened their eyes and saw that the Transport Stone was no longer glowing. Zeke attempted to use the stone by himself, but still nothing happened. However, the archer's mind was quickly able to put two and two together.

"Son of a bitch!" Zeke yelled out in anger. "Teleporting. Teleporting like that takes up a lot of energy. Energy that a small rock like this couldn't possibly generate. They must have some kind of charging station or stockpile of charged stones."

"You mean…" Lucy said, fearful of the answer.

"We used up the charge to port in!" Zeke stated. "We're trapped."

"No, we're not." Alyssa said as she attempted to vibrate the chains off of Natsu. The vibrations cracked the chains enough for the orange-haired woman to break them apart. "New plan, we find the charging station or another stone and get out of here."

"Not yet." Natsu said, confusing his teammates as he melted the bars in his cell. "I need to ask Fuyu something."

"Fuyu? The crazy lady in charge?" Lucy asked. "What do have ask her about?"

As he finished off melting the bars, Natsu just sighed before turning back to his friends. "Fuyu...is my mother."

No one knew how to react to this. Lucy and Alyssa looked at their teammate in shock while Zeke tried to remain skeptical.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Zeke asked. "I mean, why do you think…"

"I've seen her real face. We have the same hair color. The same eyes. And...I remembered everything." The dragon-slayer said, all of the events of the last few hours once again coming to the forefront of his mind.

And thus, he told them the entire story. From his memory of his family, his real last name, and the night that ruined his life. And as he relayed his memories and revelations, the dragon-slayer started to tear up once again. Alyssa hugged her boyfriend in comfort while Lucy sobbed at the story and Zeke just stared, not sure what to say.

"That's why I need to ask her." Natsu said as he wiped away his tears. "Hoshi...she might still be…"

Zeke, now finally out of his state of shock, stood up and walked out of the cell. "Then ask her. Hell, beat the answers out of her if you have to."

The others stood up as their leader continued to talk. "Lucy and I will find a way out. You and Alyssa find Fuyu and get the answers out of her."

Natsu looked at his best friend and smiled. "Thank you." And with that, the two split into four split up into two groups.

"Wait!" The woman said as Zeke and Lucy passed by her cell. The two wizards looked and saw her approaching the cell doors. But what got their attention was the silver hair and the wings on her back. "You know my Ven, right?"

"Yes." Lucy answered. "Who are you?"

"My name is Gale. I'm his mother. Is he okay?!" She frantically asked.

"He's alright, Mam." Zeke said to calm her down. "He's with our friend, Happy."

"Thank the winds." She said with a calm sigh. "Please, help me escape. Take me to my son." She begged.

Zeke and Lucy looked to each other and nodded. "We will. Just wait until we come back with a working Transport Stone." The archer stated.

"Thank you." Gale said, calm and hopeful for the first time in weeks. But as the four wizards left the prison block, the being in the cell between Natsu and Gale's had been uncharacteristically quiet as all this was occurring.

"Interesting."

In another part of the base, Fuyu was once more kneeling in front of the cathedral. "Mighty Creator, give me guidance." She prayed. "I have the monster that destroyed my family in my grasp. Should I dirty my hands and end his life."

Something...answered her. To an average human, it sounded like a cross between a wail and a strong gust of wind.

"Yes, I understand. He must pay for his primes." The salmon-haired Crusader answered. Another strange sound was heard by her. "What?! He's escaped?! How?!"

And another...sound replied to her.

"So his allies have defiled our sanctuary with a stolen relic." Fuyu stated as she put her signature garnet mask. "They must pay for this sin."

Back with Zeke and Lucy, the two hid behind a wall while a bunch of guards past by. As soon as the guards had backs facing the two wizards, the archer and the celestial wizard struck, quickly knocking them out and searching them for Transport Stones.

"No stones." Lucy said after looking.

"They must only be given to high ranking members." Zeke guessed.

"You're right on the nose." A familiar voice answered, freaking out the two wizards as they quickly turned around and saw Effie skipping towards them with a smile, twirling two pistols as she did so. "Now, what to do with you trespassers?"

At the same time, Natsu and Alyssa were passing by what looked like a dining area. But before they could bend around the corner, the amazonian woman was forced to block an armored fist attack by Talia.

"Intruders." The gothic gauntlet-wielder said before glaring at Natsu. "And you're going to back to your cell."

"Not a chance!" The two yelled out as Alyssa tossed the crusader away, only for her to land on her feet and tap her gauntlets together.

"You are so dead." She stated before holding her fists out.

And back with Fuyu, the masked crusader opened a secret door within the cathedral and stepped down the stairs. Within the secret chamber was a blade mounted on the wall. The blade in general was a sheathed broadsword with a golden hilt. In the center of the hilt was an empty jem. The scarred woman grabbed the weapon from the wall.

"Let this blade fly true and strike down those who upset the natural order." She prayed as she waved her hand over the jem. And in a quick flash of light, the jem was filled with an image of a moving golden eye. "Yes. They will burn in the eternal pit."

To be continued…

Author's Note 2: I know you guys might be tired of short chapters. But I just wanted to get a new chapter out there after almost two months of no Fairy Tail content. And rest assured, the next chapter is gonna be a big one!

Also, yes, there is something freaky happening with this happy little cult. And make no mistake, I've written the Holy Crusaders to be a militant cult. No grey areas here.

What answered back to Fuyu and what is up with that broadsword at the end? Well, let's just say the answer is...out there. WAAAAAAAY out there.

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