The morning after Phantom Lord was disbanded, Gajeel, Panther Lily, Juvia, and Rogue were already standing outside the half-constructed halls of Fairy Tail.

Makarov wasn't too surprised to see the four of them if he was honest. He figured that they were the ones from Phantom Lord who spoke up for him in front of the Council. As he and Jellal both walked towards the hall to begin their day, he put on a jovial smile.

"Well, this is a surprise! What can I do for you children so early in the morning?" He already knew why they were there, of course, and why they had decided to show up at such an ungodly hour. While those who were present during his confrontation with Jose seemed to think positively of them, the rest of the guild likely saw them as enemies still. Having the ones who trashed their home show up in the middle of building it might cause a misunderstanding.

"Um, I was wondering if… I mean, if it's okay with you then if possible…" Rogue stuttered out, trying to work up the nerve to talk. He was hiding in his cloak, trying his best to look the Guild Master in the face. Makarov kept his gentle smile, but he couldn't help but worry about the child's confidence.

"C'mon, kid. If you don't want to say it, then I can!" Gajeel eventually interrupted, ruffling the younger boy's hair.

"No!" Rogue shouted, shaking his head. He turned to Makarov, putting on his best brave face. "I… I want to join Fairy Tail!"

Makarov smirked, glancing around at the rest of the group. "I see! And is that sentiment shared by the rest of you?"

Juvia's cheeks reddened, and she glanced away shyly. "Yes. There's a certain someone in this guild that asked if Juvia wanted to join and, well, Juvia could never say no to her…"

"Man, seeing you like a swooning schoolgirl is way better than that previous gloom and doom act!" Gajeel laughed at his former guildmates bashfulness. As she turned to him to deny the claim, he turned back to Makarov and set a hand on Rogue's head. "I'm going where this brat is going. Us Dragon Slayers gotta stick together, and I'm not leaving him alone with Salamander of all people."

Lily floated up next to Gajeel, the tiny size that the other Exceeds were always in instead of his bulked-up form. "And I go wherever Gajeel goes, so there you have it."

Makarov stared at them with a deeply serious look. He had already made his decision, but still wanted to see their reaction. When none of them, not even Rogue, wavered in their decision, he put his trademark grin back on. "Well then, welcome to Fairy Tail!"

"Wait, seriously?! Just like that?!" Gajeel almost seemed insulted that he accepted the offer so quickly. "I can understand accepting the others, but me? In case you've forgotten, I'm responsible for that!" He swept out a hand towards the incomplete guild hall.

Before Makarov could respond, Jellal finally spoke up from beside him. "I won't lie, there will be many in the guild who may disparage you for joining us. You brought a hand against their friends and home, and it will take time for them to accept you. But joining Fairy Tail is about having a new start, no matter what kind of past you've had." He gestured to the guild hall behind him. "But if you're worried about what they'll think of you for putting a few holes in the guild hall, then you can really shock them by filling them in again."

Gajeel stared at him for a few moments, before shrugging. "I guess you're right. Hell, I think I'll patch this place up just for the look on Salamander's face when he see's I've done more work than him!"

"Alright then, let's go find wherever our guild mark stamp is! We've got four new members to add to the guild!" Makarov stated.

Rogue suddenly perked up. "Oh, I forgot to mention! There's one more joining, if that's fine with you."

"Hm?" Makarov raised an eyebrow at the boy's statement. He didn't see anybody else. But Rogue swept his cloak away, revealing him to be holding the cutest creature Makarov had ever seen. It appeared to be a green cat-like being, much like Happy and Charla, but wearing a pink frog onesie. They were napping, but when the light hit their face, two beady eyes opened as they let out a meow. Makarov felt his heart stop at the sight.

"Rogue, are we there yet?" The Exceed asked in a tired voice.

"Yeah, we're here Frosch!" Rogue said happily. "Their Master said we can all join Fairy Tail. You wanted to join too, right?"

"Yeah! Fro wants to join too!"

"Another Exceed?" Makarov heard Jellal mutter under his breath. He turned up to the boy questioningly, and Jellal quickly elaborated. "It's nothing important Master. It just seems that every Dragon Slayer we meet has one of these creatures."

"Yes, it's quite a coincidence." Lily said. "So, how about we get those guild marks and get building. This place isn't going to build itself, Your Hi-"

Jellal let out a loud cough, "That sounds like a good idea. By the way, I don't believe I've introduced myself to some of you. My name is Jellal."

"Ah, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Jellal." Lily responded funnily.

"What the hell is up with you?" Gajeel asked, looking back at his partner floating over his head.

"Nothing, let's go already." Lily flew off into the guild hall, leaving Gajeel to run after him. As the rest of the former Phantom Lord members followed them, Jellal turned to Makarov.

"Well, that went better than I expected." Jellal said.

"Agreed. I figured that they would come to our guild, but your words definitely helped with their worries. Making the guild feel safe for all you enter it is one of the most important jobs of a Guild Master." Makarov explained to Jellal. "Speaking of jobs, I have something I need you to do after this."

"This is going to be a disaster." Lucy stood at the edge of the riverbank leading out of Magnolia, watching as Lisanna and Natsu took positions across from each other.

"Have some faith Luce!" Natsu said, turning back to her. "We promise not to set too many things on fire!"

"Natsu, we're trying to set nothing on fire!" Lisanna complained, shaking her head. "Unfortunately, this is the best way I can think of to test out my new ability."

All three of them had decided to take the day off to relax, which for Natsu went spending the entire day training. He had somehow convinced Lisanna to join him this time, to try out the magic she used while fighting Gajeel. Lucy had tagged along because she honestly didn't trust them to not accidentally burn down half of the town.

"Yeah, let's see it! I want to see how it compares to my own magic!" Natsu raised a fist, flames already flowing from it.

"Alright, I get it! Just give me a moment. I haven't used it since the first time, so this might take a moment." Lisanna closed her eyes, looking within herself for the fire that she had summoned that day. After a moment of searching the imprints of the souls within herself, she grabbed hold of the flames and drew them out. With a flash of fire, her entire body transformed. Her arms and legs gained the reddish scales from before, and her hair glowed the same pink as Natsu's. She looked herself over in wonder. "Man, this feels crazy. There's so much more magical power in this form than my Animal Souls. I wonder if this is how Mira feels when she uses Demon Soul."

Lucy looked over Lisanna curiously. Thinking about the magic Lisanna was able to use, she felt a question form. "Is that all you can do? I know you can transform into entire animals with your magic. If that's the case, can you transform into a dragon?"

"Can you?!" Natsu asked as well, running over and gripping Lisanna's shoulders.

"Ah! Natsu, calm down!" Lisanna shouted as the excitable man suddenly got in her face. "And no, I can't do a full body Take-Over for some reason. I feel like it should be possible, but when I call upon the soul's magic this is as much as it allows."

"Oh, that would have been cool if you could." Natsu pouted, but his nose began twitching, and he suddenly leaned over to Lisanna and started sniffing. The girl pushed him away with a yelp of surprise.

"Natsu, what did I tell you about doing that!" It was Lisanna's turn to pout, giving the Dragon Slayer an unimpressed look.

Natsu at least had the decency to look apologetic. "I'm sorry Lisanna, it's just that… You smell like Igneel like that." Both girls were surprised by Natsu's announcement.

Lucy eventually turned to Lisanna. "That can't be possible Natsu. I mean, wouldn't Lisanna have to meet Igneel at some point in order to use his magic? That's how your magic works, right?"

"It's complicated. Honestly, I don't understand it entirely, but Soul Magic is weird, especially Take-Over. Not many people use it, and the fact that me and my siblings were able to learn it so easily was pretty lucky." Lisanna said, thinking how best to explain her magic. "The way it works is that the user takes a part of the targets soul in order to use it's power for themselves."

"Wait, do you like, eat other animals to gain their power?!" Lucy stared in horror.

"What?! No! Nonono, I don't eat animals to gain their souls. Mira and Elfman fight monsters and take them over entirely, but there are risks to that. It's a battle of wills, and if the being you are trying to take over is stronger than you, then… you'll get taken over instead." Lisanna looked down at her scarred arms, seeing the flames dance underneath them. "I went about things differently. By forming a strong bond with an animal, they can effectively share a part of their soul with me. But it's obviously not as strong as the other method. Due to that, I'm still not sure how I got this power from Natsu."

"From me?" Natsu looked confused. Lisanna just put a hand to her face and sighed.

"Yes, you! Where else would I have got the ability to use the magic of a Fire Dragon?" Lisanna said in exasperation. "But I couldn't have gotten it from you directly. My magic doesn't work on humans. If you say I smell like Igneel, then maybe I copied his soul? But from where? This soul has so much magic that I can't even manifest it all currently. "

Natsu stared down at the ground furiously thinking. Eventually he looked up at Lisanna and shrugged. "If none of us have any ideas right now, we can worry about it later! I want to see how much of my abilities you copied! Come on, show me a roar!"

Lucy turned to Lisanna, who she could see was still deep in thought. "I think Natsu is right for once. There's no point working yourself up over something we can't figure out. Maybe learning to use the powers will give you more answers in time?"

"Yeah, you two are right. Let's give this magic a try!" Lisanna turned to her training partner. "Hope you're ready Natsu! Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"That's more like it!" Natsu grinned as the fire breath came towards him. "Let's see how mine compares! Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Lucy scrambled away from the epicenter of the two streams of fire and felt a wave of heat as the attacks collided. She looked back to see a giant flume of flames shoot up, and fireballs fell all around her. While most of the explosive flames landed harmlessly in the river, one rogue fireball landed over the bank and onto a tree.

"Natsu! Lisanna! One of you need to eat those flames before they spread!" Lucy shouted at the two, pointing frantically as the flames danced across the leaves.

"Lucy, I can't eat my own flames." Natsu reminded her in a far too calm voice.

"I don't even know yet if I can eat flames yet!" Lisanna shouted in far more appropriate panic.

"Oh, come on! I really don't want to have to do this!" Lucy whined as she ran to the edge of the river and thrust one of her golden keys into it. The Spirit she wanted to summon explicitly told her she was busy today, but this had the potential to become an emergency. "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"

Aquarius emerged from the water with grace, then turned to Lucy with a scowl. "I thought I told you-oh." She glanced up towards the flaming tree, and back to the two fire mages trying to look innocent. With a sigh and a lift of her urn, a wave appeared out of the river, washing over them and up to the tree. It was quickly doused, and she turned to the soaked Natsu and Lisanna with a terrifying grin. "I'd appreciate it if you two caused less damage. You know how much I hate it when people waste my time."

"Yes Ma'am!" They both saluted, before walking away to practice some smaller magic. As the two began to summon fire from their fists, she prepared to close her gate.

"I'm really sorry, Aquarius!" Lucy shouted out. She was practically bowing to the Celestial Spirit. "I know you said you had a date with your boyfriend, but that could have been bad and… I'm sorry!"

"… Don't worry about it. You didn't interrupt anything." Aquarius eventually responded.

"What?!" Lucy gasped. "Don't tell me that you two broke up!"

"Of course not, you idiot!" Aquarius yelled as she shot a glare at her key's owner. The glare didn't stick though, and she turned away to look into the river sadly. "It's just that things are… complicated right now. It's all his damn master's fault!"

Lucy looked at Aquarius in surprise. The Spirit almost never gossiped about her love life unless it was to get under Lucy's skin. Whatever was going on must be pretty serious. "What happened?"

"We were in the middle of our date, right. Everything was fine, until he was suddenly called away by her holder right when things were getting good! He popped back ten minutes later looking like he'd walked through a pit of spikes! Completely killed the mood." Aquarius said in a huff. "I know for a fact he told his holder that he was busy, and that they have plenty of other spirits to use. I keep asking for their name so I can give them a piece of mind, put my boyfriend's to proud to tell me. Men…"

"That's terrible." Lucy knew how much Aquarius loved spending time with her partner and was aware how hard it was for the two spirits to find any time together. It's why she let her take any time off she wanted, much to her own annoyance. "I don't know how a Celestial Spirit Mage can work if they don't listen to their Spirits. It's just not right."

"Honestly, you and your mother are more the exception than the rule. I'm thankful that my key ended up with you instead of some untrustworthy brute. Layla would be proud of you."

Lucy felt her eyes tear up at the sudden praise. She almost never heard Aquarius talk like this. It was kinda weird, but she liked it. She wondered what brought on this sudden heartfelt speech.

"Which is why I know you'll be fine with me taking the week off to make up the time with my boyfriend! See you then and try not to let your partners burn down the forest while I'm gone."

Ah, there it was. Before Lucy could even protest, the Water Bearer disappeared back through the gate in a flash of golden light. She let out a sigh but didn't really see a problem with the request. She was mostly helping rebuild the guild hall, and if she went out on a job, she had plenty of other Spirits to ask for help nowadays.

"Is everything alright over here?"

"Huh?" Lucy looked up to see Jellal floating above her in a golden glow. He landed in front of her and glanced over to the others.

"I saw a column of flames and wanted to make sure Natsu hadn't burned anything important down." He stared at Natsu and Lisanna as they exchanged blows. "Is that her new form I've heard about? It seems impressively powerful."

"Yeah! Hopefully she'll learn enough control to not set anything else on fire."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing! Not a problem anymore, promise!" Lucy quickly clarified. "Honestly, I feel a little jealous. I wish my magic could help during a fight more than simply summon Celestial Spirits. I have a whip, but it doesn't really do much to the opponents I've been running into lately."

"Don't sell yourself short, those Spirit of yours are incredibly versatile. But you are correct, and your Spirits can only fight if you yourself are well." Jellal said.

"Yeah. If I can't even keep my keys on me, I'm as good as dead weight." Lucy thought back to both times her keys were taken during the fights with Phantom Lord. If she had some way to defend herself outside of them, maybe there wouldn't have been so much trouble. "I'm just not sure how to go about it. I've always been great with Celestial Spirit Magic but attempts at other schools usually ended up poorly. Do you think someone in the guild could teach me? No, what am I saying? Everyone's too busy to help me with everything going on right now, forget I asked."

Jellal simply stared at her in contemplation, completely ignoring her request. "Hmm, I wonder if you could… They're both in similar fields, and you certainly have enough magical reserves…"

"Um, Jellal?"

"Would you like me to teach you a couple things about my magic?"

"What?!" Lucy flinched at the sudden request. "I… Surely you have better things to do than try and teach me whatever complex magic you use."

"Heavenly Body Magic isn't that hard, it just requires a certain innate talent. Seeing as you already use astronomical based magic, it shouldn't be too hard for you to pick up the basics." Jellal explained. "I must deliver something to Blue Pegasus, and the trip should take a day there and back. How about coming along with me? I'd much rather spend the time on the train helping my fellow guildmate than sitting alone."

"When you explain it like that, I suppose it would be rude of me to turn down exactly what I asked for." Lucy admitted. Internally, she was freaking out. The Rising Star of Fairy Tail was going to teach her magic! "I'll just go tell Natsu and Lisanna where I'm going. And make sure they don't burn down Magnolia in my absence."

The two turned to them just in time to see Natsu stamping out a growing patch of flames near his feat as Lisanna tried hopelessly to make the flames on her fists smaller.

Jellal made a small hum at their antics, looking at them in concern. "Maybe I should have Juvia keep an eye on them."

Erza stood in the center of one of Magnolia's parks with her eyes closed. She was wearing her usual armor and held a sword in her hands, focusing on it while in a battle position. She tried to focus for a feeling she didn't know how to describe, and after a few moments of nothing, she let out a tired breath of annoyance.

She had been attempting to call upon the feeling she had during her fight with Aria. The way she had been able to sense the very magic in the air, and fight against his own Metsu spell. Thinking back, she had the feeling back in Galuna, when fighting that bunny woman and when that freak storm swallowed the island.

It was some sort of sixth sense that was attuned to magic, but the fight with Aria was the first time she had actually done anything with the ability other than observe. She had controlled the ethernano in her body into rejecting the spells attempt to remove them. Her leading theory was that Aria's spells directly manipulated the magic in the air, and when that magic was turned to inside her body, it allowed her to focus on manipulating ethernano more easily.

But now she needed to learn how to call upon that ability at any time. While it was true that all mages manipulated ethernano, it was mostly a subconscious action as they transformed it into the spell of their choice. Consciously being aware of such power and directly observing and manipulating it would be a huge advantage. As far as she knew, only her mother had such fine control over magic, and it is one of the many talents that made her a Wizard Saint.

She tried once more to call upon the feeling, closing her eyes and ignoring all her standard senses. Magic existed in all things, and even with her eyes closed she could faintly feel all that was around her. She focused on the magic within herself, and it was like a closed loop of energy flowing through her. Changing targets, she now focused on the sword in her hand. Unlike her living self, the weapon appeared to her as an inert block of magic particles. She watched as the magic in the air flowed around it as she moved her hand. Now for the real test.

She could use many abilities, like beam cuts, by putting magic into her weapons. If she could directly control that effect, then perhaps her entire arsenal could become stronger. She tried to open the closed circuit of her magic and connect it to her sword and felt the ethernano in the sword more clearly now. As the power powered into the sword, she raised it up and opened her eyes.

"Hah!" She swung the sword down but found that when it finished its arc the blade had crumbled to dust, leaving her holding just a handle. She stared at the handle for a moment, before tossing it to the ground along with the rest of them. "Must have used to much magic that time." She Requipped an identical sword into her hands, but before she could begin the process again, a voice spoke out from behind her.

"Um, Erza? What are you doing?" Kagura stood behind her, looking nervously at the swords lying in various states of destruction around her. She was wearing her usual white blazer and hair ribbon, along with black pants that a katana was attached to. The sword was familiar to Erza, as it was the same one she had given the younger girl when she started learning the blade under her.

"Just practicing a new technique. Is there something I can help you with Kagura?"

"Oh, well, I wanted to ask if we could do some sparring again. With everything that's been going on lately, we haven't gotten a chance to practice for a while. But if you are busy, I can just go practice my Gravity Magic with Simon."

"Of course, we can spar. I'm sorry for not putting the time aside to train together lately." Erza did feel truly sorry. She tried to treat Kagura like family, as her and Simon were two of the people she had known the longest. Ever since she had saved the younger sibling from the cultists back in Rosemary, the girl had followed Erza around trying to be just like her. But as Erza took on more responsibilities as a S-Class Mage, they had spent less time together.

Maybe she needed to take a break for now. She can worry about getting stronger later. Right now, it's more important to help the others around her stand up tall.

"Let me clean up my mess here and we can start."

Elfman stared out the window to his living room in boredom. He had agreed to be the one to watch the house in case Mira woke up again but found that there wasn't much for him to do here. There wasn't enough room for him to exercise or train, and he didn't want to read any of Lisanna's or Mira's books. Maybe this was the worlds way of telling him to find a simpler hobby.

Perhaps he could try cooking again. Make something for Mira when she wakes up?

Before he could make the worst mistake of his life, a certain blue feline flew up to his window. "Elfman! Just the person I was looking for!" Happy cried as he floated into the living room.

"Hey Happy! I figured you'd be out with the others with training."

Happy just shook his head as he floated down onto one of the sofa's. "No thanks. Lisanna and Natsu are throwing around more fire than my fur can handle. I wanted to hang out with Lucy, but she went off on some job with Jellal."

"Jellal?" Elfman was surprised. He usually only went on jobs with Erza or his team.

"They're just dropping of some package, so it would have been boring if I went along. I kept flying around town looking for people to hang out with, but everyone is training." Happy turned over to Elfman with a determined look on his face. "Seeing everyone working hard is making me want to get stronger too. And I thought I'd ask you for help."

"Me? Sorry Happy, but I'm not much good at flying." Most of his Beast Souls were terrestrial creatures, much too heavy too fly.

"No, not with flying. I need your help with a different kind of magic." Happy said mysteriously. "You remember that black cat that flew Wendy to Porlyusica's?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He could transform to be as buff as you are!" Happy announced.

"Seriously?!" Elfman thought back to the tiny form of Lily. The feline certainly acted like he was older than Happy and Charla, but to think he could be as big as him! "I kinda want to ask for a spar next time we meet! Wait, does that mean you want to learn…"

"Aye!" Happy let out his trademark affirmation. "I want to keep it a surprise from the others for now, so you're the perfect teacher. Will you help me?"

Elfman grinned at his small friend's determination. "Alright then Happy, I hope you're ready. I'm going to show you how to use some Manly Magic!"

"Sis please! Help me!"

"It's too much Sis! I can't keep going!"

Magic coursed through every inch of their bodies, flowing throughout the suit attached to them. Screams echoed out as the energy ripped into their veins, but their spasms were held down by the many restraints.

"Turn them off! I'll do more in their place, just stop!"

She shouted out to the ones watching them, but the red-haired woman just stared coldly at her from behind a pane of glass, before turning away to look at the men nearby.

"Don't turn off the suits until the entire process is complete. We won't need these ones after this session anyways, so get all you can from them."

As the red-haired woman walked out of the room, she pulled against the restraints, shattering them and punching the glass between herself and the red-haired woman, sending spiderweb cracks across it.

"No! Turn it off, you witch! TURN IT OFF!"

"Quick, administer the sedatives!"

When the glass finally shattered, she felt her body weakening as the drugs coursed through her system. She reached for the panels controlling her family, but as she reached out, the strength left her body and she fell.

"No… Lisanna… Elfman…"

Lying on the floor and staring at her sibling's writhe in pain, she heard the red-haired woman speak up from behind her.

"Impressive. This child shows promise, keep her alive for now."

"Of course, your Majesty!"

As her consciousness finally faded, the last thing Mirajane saw was her siblings contort in agony as the experiment continued. When her eyes fluttered shut their screams still reached her ears, until for one reason or another, she no longer heard anything at all.

"NO!"

Mirajane's eyes shot open, adrenaline rushing. She threw the sheets off herself and staggered to her feet. She glanced around the room in a panic, only to realize she had no idea where she was. Adrenaline fading, she realized she wasn't standing in that bleached white testing lab, but a rather typical bedroom. Seeing a nearby window, she walked over and pushed it open. Sticking her head out to get a look, she couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

The sky was completely black, filled with nothing but the stars off in the distance. It was beautiful, but something in the back of her mind screamed that it was wrong. Looking lower down she saw the sprawling townscape around her, and she stared at the architecture with fascination. Everything just looked so… alien.

Where was she? What was she even doing? She couldn't remember anything. Only the screams…

She heard the door to the room open behind her, and she swiveled around with her fists raised. As it creaked open however, she couldn't believe who entered through it.

"… Impossible."

The man looked up at her in surprise. He looked many years older than the boy in her memory that had been, but somehow, she could tell. This was her little brother, Elfman.

"You're up! Thank goodness!" Elfman said in relief, leaning back out the hall to shout down it. "Hey Lisanna, Sis is finally awake!"

"Really?!" A female voice shouted out. Moments later a white-haired woman covered in scars appeared in the doorway, staring at her. Despite the scars and age difference, she could tell in an instance who this was. This was her little sister, Lisanna.

"No! No, this is impossible! What is going on here!" Mira shouted, pushing herself against the wall. They couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of trick. "Who are you people?!"

"Mira, it's us. Everything is fine." Elfman said calmly. "Porlyusica said you were confused when you woke up earlier. Just take a moment, you went through a lot."

"What?!"

"You went on an S-Class quest by yourself and got kidnapped by some very scary people." Lisanna explained. "But we brought you back safe and sound. You've been recovering for a few days now."

"Quest? No, I don't… I can't remember anything." Mirajane admitted staring down at the floor, unable to look her supposed siblings in the eyes. "The only thing I remember is the two of you screaming in pain. I tried to protect you, but I wasn't strong enough, and the two of you…" She brought her hands to her head as it pounded in pain. "Y-You died! I was too weak, and you died because of it! This isn't real, it can't be!"

"Mira!" Lisanna cried, grabbing one of her sister's hands. As she intertwined their fingers together, she spoke in a soft voice. "It's okay Sis. We're all alive and well. See?"

"Yeah, we're all tough as hell!" Elfman mirrored Lisanna's actions, gripping Mirajane's other hand. "We're not going anywhere on you. It was all just a nightmare."

As she felt the warmth of her siblings' hands in hers, she felt her eyes tear up. She was wrapped up in a hug from them and she couldn't help but begin wailing in their arms. For some reason, holding them like this felt like a dream come true.

That's right. That had all been a nightmare, some silly dream. It didn't matter if she couldn't remember anything else. She knew that her family was alive, and that's all that mattered.

She wasn't alone anymore.

She couldn't be alone anymore.

Next Chapter: The Lion, the Witch, and the Pegasus