Wishfull-star: ヽ(o^ ^o)ﾉ

Time for a new arc and the return of the birdy! Enjoy~

When Ace woke up, it was four days later. He felt heavy, and looked at his bandaged body. He tried sitting up, and this woke Sabo, who was at his bedside. "Ace, you're awake!" Sabo said, but it was close to a whisper.

"What happened?" His hand flicked on fire but then went out. Sabo said he'd saved Magnolia from Laxus's thunder palace. And he was gravely injured. It was only the appearances of Mystogan and Porlyusica that saved him. "I'm okay?" Ace asked, coughing and getting some water from his brother. He was holding Ace's bandaged hand.

"You're safe. Laxus is gone, he got expelled. You're healing up at a good pace and should be good in another couple days. You really were reckless. Absorbing all that. Even I can't do that." Ace didn't acknowledge this, and asked if Thatch was okay. "He hit it off with everyone real well, and decided to leave the restaurant he's worked at to be our chef here." Ace was too tired for his eyes to widen. "You possibly saved his life. And the lives of everyone. Laxus wasn't going to stop it. Everyone would have gotten hurt taking them down, too."

Ace relaxed, and smiled. "Is everyone else okay?" he asked.

Sabo nodded, saying they all sustained minor wounds. "Natsu and Gajeel were more injured going after Laxus, though. But they'll heal up, Natsu always does and Gajeel is a dragon slayer, too. Everyone will be so happy you're awake."

Then the freckled, injured teen grew sad. "I missed the cool festival, didn't I?" He had been looking forward to it a lot. Never seeing it before and all. But Sabo smiled and shook his head. Ace didn't understand, and felt easily confused. This time, he was injured because he did something good, he wasn't turned useless by a magic leech.

"Everyone postponed it until you can see it, too. Everyone in the city is thankful that you did what you did, so of course they'd wait for you to be able to see it." Ace smiled tearily.

"I… always felt like people hated me. They hated me, back there, didn't they?" Sabo nodded sadly, but then reminded him that nobody hated them here. "I'm happy I died and came here, to you and this happy life," Ace said with a smile. "I'ma sleep a bit, and then I wanna see the party," he said, and drifted to sleep.

When he next woke up, it was when Fantasia was ready. Ace couldn't go outside safely, so he was given a lacrima that showed him the whole thing. There was a rune around the infirmary that no magic was allowed to enter or exit. So he couldn't risk accidentally absorbing any more magic from the air or others.

He enjoyed watching it from the lacrima if that's all he could handle. Sabo was using his magic to make it bright and flashy, and he was glad nobody stayed behind to watch it with him, so they could all participate. But there was a big plate of sweets by his bedside that he ate, knowing they were from Thatch.

They got to be together more often! He'd saved Thatch, and he saved Ace. Their friendship was no doubt strengthened by this. His older friend was more like family now. He was sure he'd be happy in this environment, as Thatch was like a kid at heart. Once the event was over, the lacrima shut off, and Ace went back to sleep.

-x-

"It sure is nice to wake up to money," Ace said, looking at his prize for winning the Fairy Tail contest for the guys. Though it wasn't so strange since he helped everyone. Who know what would have happened if he didn't risk his life for that? Thatch walked over and served him spiced apple cider, just a batch for him. Ace liked it much more than any alcoholic drink.

He heard complaining from behind. "I should have won, not Erza! Stupid Titania," Evergreen said. Ace scowled at her hatefully. Everyone was able to move on from it but Ace. He hated them so much. What they did to his friends and family, what they did to him. Sabo sat next to him and put his arm around his shoulders.

"It's okay to be angry. But Laxus was the Mastermind in this. If Master though they were behind it, they'd be gone, too," Sabo said. "I'm not saying you have to forgive them, and it's hard for you because this was your first impression. But they're our family, too."

"I hate them. They hurt Thatch and everyone else and they laughed about it. They're evil," Ace said in a grumble, almost a growl. Freed walked up to him, everyone no longer injured, not even Ace, though it had been eight days of him in bedrest. Ace glared at him.

He bowed his head. "I'm sorry for what we did. I'm not going to pin everything on Laxus, that wouldn't be fair. But we will never hurt our guildmates again. We made a terrible first impression, but are grateful that you stopped the thunder palace."

"If apologies fixed everything there'd be no wars. You can prove to me you aren't pieces of garbage," Ace snapped. Everyone around was surprised by the amount of vitriol in his voice. Ace wasn't usually angry like this. Nobody said a thing about it but Freed, who told him they'd do their best to prove to everyone they were still Fairy Tail members. Ace nodded and went back to his drink.

It was awkward, but he was glad when chatter started up again. He didn't like this feeling of bitterness and anger, but felt it would fade eventually. It would be fine as long as he distanced himself from them. They were Fairy Tail. He wondered if Marco felt this strong dislike to his guild. He hoped he was doing okay, and enjoyed his life at Blue Pegasus, now.

Being in a guild where you hate three people was bad enough. Disliking the majority… it just wouldn't be worth it. That's how Ace felt.

-x-

"Whoa," Gray said when he and the other three were approaching Ace while he was training. He had his hands pressed to the ground, sitting cross legged, focusing his fire to make words and dancing pictures. It was hard, but absorbing assistance from the air and earth helped him gain more control. It was a super cheat.

He let out a deep sigh, and the fire sunk back into his body. "Sorry to interrupt you," Lucy apologized. "Did you hear about the dark guilds? We were talking about them just now." Ace shook his head.

"Sorry, I fell asleep again. I don't know what you talked about." Ace was falling asleep often lately. If he was laying down, you can bet he'd sleep instantly. Even sitting too comfortably in chairs made him sleep. He tried to not sit on comfortable surfaces during the day anymore so it didn't affect his work or anything like that.

When Ace went inside, tired from sucking up the magic particles, they started to explain, but Ace stopped them. "Erza already told me all about them when I asked after the Phantom Lord incident. But what about them?" Erza told him they were forming an alliance to take down Oracion Seis. The dark guilds were fewer than legal guilds, but they were still big and strong on their own. And an alliance between them was pretty dangerous.

Ace remembered Erza speak of Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart, but nobody knew anything about the third group, Tartarus.

Gray explained the current status. "The alliance will be of Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Cait Shelter members. We can't take them down alone or it would look bad. So we're sharing the blame with some other guilds, too," Gray said bluntly.

"Don't say it like that, it's an alliance to help one another. Not just take the blame," Erza scolded. Ace assumed that the S-Class wizards and some of the stronger ones in Fairy Tail could take down just six people, as Oracion Seis were really only a group of six, but he did agree with Gray that it would be easier to share the blame wit other guilds. Fairy Tail looked bad enough as it was to the counsel and the issue with Laxus didn't do them any better.

Ace asked why they were telling him. "Uh, Master said he wants our team to go."

"Oh. Good luck."

"No, including you, Ace," Erza said, not sounding annoyed. Ace was surprised. He was having a lot of problems right now. He said that. About the sleep issue as well as when he over absorbed too many ethernano particles. "Master thinks you're up for the job. And after the thunder palace incident, it really shows you have powerful resolve."

Ace turned red. "Please, everyone stop bringing that up and making me seem like some savior," he mumbled.

"But you were super awesome!" Natsu said, Happy agreeing. "You gotta go with us, we're a good team! Besides, Sabo isn't here right now, he's out on a job." Ace asked what rank this job was. Sabo left him behind because he felt he wasn't ready to start S-Class jobs anymore. So why would they take him on one, too. "Master trusts you to be fine. We trust you."

Ace couldn't really decline. And if there were three other guilds to help them out, maybe Ace wouldn't be depended on so much. Sabo would definitely be better for the job, but he also didn't get along well with Ace's part-time group. He and Natsu and Gray… they mixed like oil and water. "Okay…" Ace said.

He went inside, and planned on heading to get his backpack, but Thatch was at the counter with his backpack for him. "Gotcha covered. If Marco goes, tell him I love 'im." Ace smiled, and said he would. He was glad Thatch said nothing of Marco supposedly thinking Ace was adorable. It was kind of weird. But Marco had been nice and not creepy at all. Though they hadn't actually spent much time together at the apartment. Oh well, Ace knew he wasn't a bad person just because Thatch loved him. That was proof enough.

They took the train to the last stop and then a carriage. Ace was asleep the whole, five hour train ride, and then fell asleep on the carriage too due to the fluffy seat. Nobody woke him up, and they were mostly complaining about it or chastising the others for complaining. Lucy didn't want to come, either. But they were all there since they worked very well together.

Ace wasn't a failure anymore. He was actually a help most of the time lately. Ace's hands started to glow, and the ethernano in the air was being absorbed until the gloves were put on his limp hands, being asleep, but sweating as he had unwillingly and unintentionally started to collect them.

"Are you sure he'll be okay?"

"I believe in Master's decision," Erza replied. Natsu was too nauseous to stand up for Ace, and Gray just looked out the window. When they got there, and the carriage stopped, Erza dragged Ace out and set him down on his feet. He shook him a bit, and he woke up. Unlike he used to, he didn't apologize for being asleep, just as Natsu didn't apologize for feeling sick.

"This sure is a… unique building," Ace said, looking at all the heart shapes decorations of the cathedral in front of them.

"It's a retreat house for Master Bob." He was the Master of Blue Pegasus. It sure was a big vacation house jeez. They were the first ones there. Couches were in the corner, but Ace refused to sit. He was on a job now, he'd stay awake. Plus, it was such an important job. Happy flew to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a frown. Happy had been one of the members who seemed the most affected by the state of Ace when he was brought to the guild by Thatch. Happy was still seemingly always worried about him, and often went over to him to ask how he was doing. It was very different than when they first met, and he just mocked Ace. Though he never meant to be cruel.

Ace smiled and said, "I'll be okay. I'm fine right now. Don't worry about it or the others might think I'm useless. I don't want to be that." Happy nodded, and landed on the floor, his wings disappearing without any sort of fancy transformation. They were just there one moment and gone the next.

Looking up, suddenly a spot light appeared, and there were three young men there. All in suits. But Ace noticed first Marco standing against the wall, looking awkward, and bored. So much different than how he acted with Thatch, when they laughed and joked, and included Ace. He… looked very bored, and unhappy. It looked like things hadn't improved since he returned after his break at Thatch and Ace's place.

Ace walked to him, ignoring the flirtatious three younger people not distracting the others. Well, Marco was young too, only 20. He said, "Hey. I don't have any photos for you, but I'm here in person." Marco's face went blazing red, and he put it in one hand. "It's okay, I'm joking." Marco sighed, and smiled at him lightly.

While the others talked with Hibiki, Eve and Ren, the three pretty boys, Marco bowed to Ace in thanks. "What-?"

"You saved Thatch." Ace laughed awkwardly, and said it was his fault he was in that position. If he hadn't known Ace, he wouldn't be there. Plus, Thatch also saved him. "I heard. He wrote me about it. I can't believe you absorbed hundreds of lacrimas full of lightning."

"It nearly killed me-"

"Can you not take a compliment?" Marco asked, sounding amused. Ace admitted he was never good at accepting them. "How about you didn't fuck up. That's a statement." Ace smiled, and said that was fine to say. He hated how everyone thought he was so amazing and brilliant and powerful. "I can see where the attention would get to you."

Ace turned around when he heard another male voice, and saw a small man, very short, who was… different. Not in a good way, but not necessarily in a bad way. Ren introduced him as Ichiya, and Erza's immediate response to him was to kick in his face, so it told Ace this guy wasn't good in her eyes. Marco looked at him in distaste.

Wow. While Fairy Tail's team was picked due to teamwork, it seemed Blue Pegasus hadn't gone with that route. Marco realized the face he was making, and wiped it clean, looking indifferent again. Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus started to argue about trivial things, and Ace was concerned about this mission. This job was a big one. He wasn't one to talk about disliking someone, but this was important, and they should all get along, even if Ace found Ichiya kind of creepy, too.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Ace whispered. Marco discreetly shook his head and muttered that he was creepy. "Does he ask for secret photos of the people he thinks are adorable?" Ace whispered. Marco apoligzed again, and Ace just laughed. This brought the attention of the other four to him.

"You're the one that saved Magnolia, right?" Eve asked.

"Alright, first and foremost: nobody is going to mention the thunder palace situation. Nobody, not even my nakama from Fairy Tail. That doesn't matter right now so stop asking about it," he said in a commanding voice. Erza smirked about it, and the Blue Pegasus members awkwardly promised to not speak of it.

A deep male voice said, "I don't know why you'd like to cover such a feat up, but commanding they not talk about it is a bold move. I respect it." Ace turned around and saw those from Lamia Scale. Only three of them. His nakama seemed to already know two of them, but Ace wasn't there for that adventure.

Lyon, Sherry, and Jura. "Hey, my brother said he met you," Ace couldn't help but say. Jura wondeed who his brother was. "Sabo."

"Ah, yes, we once had tea together," Jura said. Natsu and Gray made annoyed noises. "Such a polite fellow for a fifteen year old." The three heart throbs (Hibiki, Ren, and Eve) we're all shocked that a fifteen year old had been respected by someone like Jura. Ace grinned in pride for his powerful brother.

A wizard saint acknowledged his brother… Ace was more than pride. He wanted to brag about his strength, but wouldn't annoy everyone. But he did turn to Marco. "My brother's a badass," he said firmly. Marco smiled and nodded.

"Well, my brother is a great chef." Ace said they all knew that. He fit in perfectly with the guild. Ace simply said Marco could switch if he wanted. But the man's face fell, and he looked guilty. Ace pat his shoulder with a smile and walked to his friends. The three heart throbs, as he'd now be addressing them in his mind, all were giving nasty looks to Ace, Gray and Natsu.

"Now all we have to wait for is Cait Shelter," Jura said.

Ace honestly commented that he'd never heard of that guild's name. But before anyone could reply, a young girl hurried inside, and fell on her face. Tripping over nothing in her way. She was very small, likely eleven or twelve. She had long blue hair. "That hurt… Um, I'm sorry I'm so late!" she said. "I'm here from Cait Shelter. It's nice to meet you guys. My name is Wendy."

Everybody but Ace were shocked. Sabo became an S-Class wizard at the age of Wendy. But it was odd to send her all by herself. You'd think someone would accompany a child, even if it wasn't necessary in a way. It was just what you did. Maybe - Ace wasn't sure. Sabo said they had no parents or guardians, so maybe he had no right to say such things.

"Hi, Wendy. I'm Ace." It broke the awkward and shocked atmosphere. She smiled a small smile, and they introduced themselves as well, so everyone knew one another's names. Jura said they should plan now that all participants had gathered in one place. And Wendy wasn't actually that late.

Sherry disapprove of this. "They sent a single child on their own. What were they thinking?"

"But she isn't alone, you garish young woman," a female voice said. They looked over and saw a walking, talking white cat. She was wearing clothes, but was just like Happy, who was also in shock. The Fairy Tail bunch weren't so surprised that a talking cat existed, but that they came face to face with a second. Everyone thought Happy was the only one.

This cat seemed completely the opposite of Happy. He wondered if they could both be friends. Wendy was surprised her cat followed them, her name being Carla. "Of course I did! I'd be overcome with worry." She sounded like an old woman. Well, not old, but an adult woman who wouldn't put up with bullshit from others. That would describe her demeanor in Ace's eyes.

"Um… I'm not that good at fighting, but I'm good with support. So please don't leave me out," she said. "I can be useful, I know it." Poor girl. Well, she was a young girl in a group with people like Erza and a wizard saint. Erza promised her they didn't plan on leaving her out. They were only surprised by her appearance.

Happy's first attempt at being friends failed. It wasn't look good when Carla avoided even looking at him when they hadn't spoken a single word to one another. Ace would do his best not to give her nasty looks if she upset innocent little Happy.

Ace could not help his response when the three teenagers started to flirt with her, waiting on her like they'd done with the older women in the room. "You know Wendy is a child, right?" he asked loudly. They all turned and glared at him. Carla made a noise of approval.

"Wendy, go to that male. He seems sensible," she said, sounding quite bossy. Wendy hurried over to him and hid behind him. Great. Ichiya ignored this all, and proceeded to explain the plan before taking a sudden bathroom break, only to return a couple minutes later. Ace bet he didn't wash his hands.

"If you go north of here, there's a huge expanse of the Warss forest. The ancients sealed an amazingly powerful magic in that forest. That magic's name was Nirvana!" Nobody else had ever heard of it, it wasn't just Ace being clueless. It must have been sealed a long time if not even the wizard saint knew of it. Sabo never said anything about that, either.

Ren said, "Whatever it was, it must be incredibly powerful to be sealed away and have it last so long."

"It's safe to assume Oracion Seis is after Nirvana to get to themselves," Hibiki agreed. That was why they were there. To stop the dark guild, small though it may be, from taking that powerful magic weapon. What kind of weapon needed to be sealed away like that? Was it like Erza's weapons? Or was it something huge, like the Jupiter canon had been from the Phantom Lord walking guild.

Ichiya continued to speak. "We have fourteen compared to their six, but we shouldn't underestimate them for a second! All six are unbelievably strong!" He listed them off briefly. Cobra controlled poisonous snakes. Not a very unique name to that. Racer had speed based magic, which Ace had as well if he tried hard enough. Maybe he could catch that one if nobody else could.

Though running through the forest with his feet on fire would probably be dangerous. Actually, him using his fire at all could be catastrophic. Shit, he had to seriously control his flames. Angel was the only girl in the dark guild, and could see into your heart. Ace had no idea what that meant. There was little information on the one named Midnight, and the leader of them all was called Brain.

None of those names sounded creative when compared to their abilities. Racer and Cobra were the worst. "Each one has enough magic power co crush a guild on their own. We must use our numbers to our advantage." Lucy and Wendy didn't want to take part. Ace as well, felt him fighting would be dangerous. Carla scolded Wendy for showing insecurity.

"I'll protect you two - three. My power wouldn't be good for mostly fighting." Hibiki asked why. Ace lit his hand on fire. "I control fire. Fighting with fire in a forest might be a bad idea," he said honestly.

Ichiya said, "We don't all need to be fighters. As long as we simply find their base, we'll be fine." Ren expanded that they had no idea where in the forest their base was, but it was their stronghold. Getting there would be their first priority. "We should all gather at their base." Marco stayed silent. Natsu was staring at Wendy, looking suspicious. Nobody else noticed this.

"So how do we take on their base, anyways?" Ace asked.

Marco finally spoke. "The Christina will bury them if we find their base. It's a flying ship with some weapons on it," he explained. Lucy wondered if that was necessary. But they had to be strong to go to these extreme measures. Jura said just that. Then, Natsu exclaimed that he'd take on all six of them. He ran off on his own. Ace wasn't shocked.

The other four ran out, Ace pulling Wendy along, too. Marco was right behind them, all of them running out and to do their best to complete this job. They made it to the edge of the forest, and Ace knew this was going to be stressful no matter if the job started off smoothly or not. He couldn't light the forest on fire, and he also had to make sure he didn't absorb too much ethernano and disrupt his own flow of magic.

He would be walking on eggshells the whole time. And even more so when the Christina flying above them blew up and crashed. Ace stopped where he was and Marco ran into his back, making him stumble forward. Nobody said a thing about this. They were all focused on the enemy walking right out in front of them. How'd they get on the airship in this short amount of time?

Was it possible one of them could teleport? They said they had no idea about the power of Midnight. But they attacked suddenly, instantly defeating all the members, even Ace and Marco. They didn't even have a chance to use their magic. How humiliating. Ace stood up, knowing he couldn't risk laying down, on his back or stomach.

"Oh, one stands."

"Because I must," Ace said back. They all attacked Ace but he couldn't afford to fall or he'd fall asleep! Though some of them were already knocked out. He had to risk it. He couldn't get severely injured this soon! So he finally fell, and fell asleep. He didn't hear Wendy get kidnapped, along with Happy, leaving Carla with them. Erza was sick, now, but Ace was fast asleep. He was woken by Marco, and stood up. Nobody had noticed his weakness. They had all been hit, it wasn't surprising. He was safe!

But he was worried over Wendy, though more so about Erza. The poison was spreading up her arm, and she grabbed Lucy's belt to secure around his upper arm. "I can't fight like this. Cut it off!" Everyone but for Lyon was in some varying degree of disagreement with this course of action.

"I can cauterize the wound," Ace added when Lyon took the sword.

"Ace! You can't be serious!" Lucy said. Ace frowned, and said, if Erza was going to chop it off, he'd do his own part to help. He wouldn't just let her bleed to death over a stupid decision. "Sorry," she said. Lyon raised his sword, and Ace closed his eyes.

"We cannot afford for this woman to die here and now!" And Erza could fight with one arm and probably both feet as well. She'd be okay. But the others but for Ace were saying protests still, and arguing broke out. Ace didn't know how things could go this wrong already. Gray stopped Lyon from the sword making contact with Erza's now shaking arm. "Do you value her arm more than her life?!" Lyon demanded of Gray angrily.

Erza fell to the side, and Ace barely caught her, laying her down to rest. "She's gonna die at this rate," Sherry said.

Carla interrupted their arguing and desperation by claiming that Wendy could save her, could heal her. She summed it up pretty well. Telling them all to stop arguing and work to save Wendy. After all, where she was, the enemy was. Ace felt bad he said he'd protect her and then she was taken just like that. But everyone had failed one another.

It was shameful how easily they were defeated. Honestly, Ace had little hope for this operation to run even a bit smoothly based on how badly it started.

Carla explained Wendy's healing magic, by saying she was a sky dragon slayer. Ace's eyes flicked to Natsu, who was just as shocked. What were the odds? Now they knew three dragon slayers. The world was a small place. "I won't explain more, it doesn't matter. We need Wendy and they need her for some reason. The thing we all need to do now is to save her."

"For Erza's sake, as well."

"They took Happy, too," Lucy added. Finally, they were united in something. That was to find Wendy and bring her to Erza safely. But Ace had a plan, yet all of them went speeding off in their own directions. All that was left was Ace and Marco and the two taking care of Erza. He asked why he didn't run.

Ace said, "I have an idea." Then he sat down on the ground. He pressed his hands to the ground, palms flat. "I can absorb ethernano from places. Maybe I could find out where they are… or something," he said, less sure at the end. He closed his eyes, making sure to only take a teeny-tiny bit. He yanked his hands away when he felt something nasty. He shuddered. "Looks like that plan won't work."

"What, why?" Lucy asked. She and Hibiki were taking care of Erza. Ace hadn't even moved. He said there was something evil about the forest. He didn't even want to go near that, let alone take any magic energy from it. "So now what?"

"Search manually," Ace said, standing up. "Are you staying with Erza? Do you want me to stay behind?" Hibiki said he would take care of them both, and Ace nodded. "Come with me, Marco." They sprinted in a different direction than the others. Ace finally asked what Marco's magic was. They all knew his now, but Ace had no idea about most of those he was now allied with, whether they got along or not didn't matter.

Marco said he could create illusions. "Like moving images?"

"No, I can affect the brain and make them hallucinate things." Ace thought that was a scary ability. "I haven't used it much yet. There's no purpose in every day life to use it, and I don't come across enemies that much," he explained openly. "I don't have any team work with those guys, I only came because my magic is strong."

Ace nodded, and couldn't speak before they came across a large group of people. All of them were dark guilds. "Marco, time to use it. I'll burn the forest down if I use my magic irresponsibly." Marco wordlessly did nothing. Didn't say anything, didn't move. Ace thought he wasn't doing anything before the dark guild in front of them all started to attack one another.

Marco grabbed Ace's hand and they ran out of that area. "So, you're pretty much useless here?"

"I'm good at hand to hand, but my magic is pretty useless, yeah," Ace replied honesty. "But Natsu is also useless as well, he'll just be more reckless with his fire than me. I hope he's smart and won't do anything too dangerous." But he didn't belive that was the case. At least some amount of this forest would be burnt to nothing soon enough.

Ace and Marco came across a battle already, and Ace wasn't fast enough to not be hit by a motorcycle. The enemy was on it, and Ace was hanging onto them for dear life as he sped along. "Get off!" Ace charred his back, but stopped once he saw sparks flying away. Then and idea popped into his head. If he could gather magic energy from the ground and air… why not people? He hadn't thought about it before now.

He imagined depleting the guy of all magic, and it worked, as the bike stopped functioning, and the guy passed out. Their bike slammed into the cliff face and blew to pieces. "Ace!" Marco called in worry. But Ace was fine from both the impact and explosion. He didn't feel any stronger after taking a human's magic energy, so that was a relief. There was no reason for him to steal others' magic, so he could never become power hungry or something.

"What did you do to him?" Gray asked. "Wait… no way."

Ace nodded. "I don't feel any different, though."

"Tie him up while he's like this." Gray got a vine from a tree and tied him up, with Lyon freezing his legs and arms together. Marco asked what he did, and Gray said it didn't matter. It was a good call. Ace's newfound ability could scare off or make their allies wary. "Natsu has Wendy just fine right now. They should be on their way to Erza right now."

"For now, we should go after the enemy," Marco said firmly. They looked to the single bike left that Gray was riding. Marco got on, and Ace climbed on after him. Gray told them to wait, but Ace said he knew what direction Nirvana had to be in.

"If we find it first, we may be able to stop them from finding it!" Ace shouted. Shelly demanded to know how he knew this, but they were off already, with Ace telling Marco where to go. Where he sensed the horrible magic. He had to be extra careful not to absorb any bad ethernano. He had no idea what the reaction would be, but he assumed it wouldn't be good.

When they got close, they were both thrown off of the bike from a blast of energy like a magic bomb, and both he and Marco landed in trees, thankfully breaking their falls. "They found it first," Ace huffed. "Finding Wendy is over, now we have to do something about the Seis or Nirvana."

Marco told him, if he protected him, he could probably reach everyone in the area and give them some varying degree of hallucinations. It sounded like a plan. They had to run now, though. They had no convenient vehicle to get them there. The waves of nasty energy washed over them, and Ace felt he was going to vomit.

When he opened his eyes, he saw just how bright that black light was. It should be an oxymoron. But it was very bright. "Marco, what do we do now?" Ace asked. He dropped down, but was then pinned to the ground by his friend. They had been friends since they lived at Thatch's place together but never very close. Just friends.

He pressed his hands to Ace's neck. "I hate you!" Marco shouted, looking furious and insane. Of course this didn't harm Ace because he was made of fire. He shoved him off and backed away. Marco said nothing else, but made to attack him. Ace wasn't stupid enough to tell him to stop. Dark magic was doing this. Most likely from that beam of bad light and energy.

Marco went dark… or something. Ace tried maybe breaking him out of the dark if he couldn't see, lighting up flames in his face, but he still attacked. Ace knew it was only a matter of time before Marco gave up on hurting him physically and went to use his magic on him. Ace couldn't afford to hallucinate and fall, only to drift off to sleep at the worst time.

So he started to run from Marco, but when he realized he couldn't get out of range, he sped forward grabbed a vine and tied himself around a tree trunk. He had his arms free, but he was unable to fall down now. He would try and wait it out until Marco came to his senses. Ace knew he was about to see some very unpleasant things.