A/N: And we're back again with a new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 6: New Scars

May 7th, X784

It was a bright and warm spring morning in Jaborosa Town, the sun was shining over the horizon, turning the sky a brilliant shade of yellow mixed with blue as the people of the town began to go about their morning business, Lulu included.

The tall woman hummed a soft and warm tune as she stepped out of the small chapel she called home, having already said goodbye to the priest inside before she set off towards the edge of town and the Phantom Lord guildhall. She'd often hear the people of the town call out to her, "Good morning, Sister Lulu!" and she'd respond in kind, a warm smile on her face the entire way as she continued to walk across the cobblestone paths of the town, nimbly walking through and twisting and turning her way through the crowds until she reached the edge of town and started down the quiet forested path towards the guild. She took her time walking down the path, marveling at the sun shining through the leafy canopy above her.

"A truly beautiful day," she said quietly to herself before stopping, "Perhaps a prayer to the Khalai is in order," she mused before kneeling down and saying a quick prayer before standing back up and resuming her trek to the guildhall. As she approached, she spotted Raoul in his normal spot, leaning back in a chair with his feet up on the banister in front of him, a toothpick in his mouth.

"Morning, Lulu," he greeted as she grew close to him.

"Good morning, Raoul. Are you waiting for Miyako to arrive?" Lulu asked as she stepped up onto the porch next to Raoul.

"Yep. It's Sunday, so she'll be here soon," Raoul mused before a smirk crossed his face, "She's probably trying to sneak up on us now," he added before waving a hand in the air before Miyako fell from scaffolding above them, two bits of metal in her hands, "Same trick won't work twice, Squirt," he snickered.

"Oh my," Lulu gasped as Miyako peeled herself off of the ground.

"But it worked last time," Miyako whined.

"Yeah, last time. You can't rely on the same old tricks against someone who's already seen them," Raoul explained as he sat up, Miyako listening to him very intensely.

"Well, I have an appointment to go and help Izzy with the garden, so I'll be going now. It was good to see you both," Lulu explained.

"Yeah, yeah, later Lulu," Raoul said with a lazy wave.

"Buh-bye Lulu!" Miyako added, waving energetically as Lulu stepped into the guild, the early birds of the guild going about their business already, going to and fro through the main hall, Lulu briefly spotting Irma and her team heading upstairs before her eyes settled on another figure, a short young woman sitting all alone at a table with messy, patchwork, pale green hair of different lengths, with some patches being completely bald due to burn scarring.

"If it isn't Yuri! How are you today?" Lulu asked happily as she approached the older, but far shorter girl.

"Lulu… I'm doing all right today, pain's not too bad for now," Yuri mumbled in return, turning her head to look up at Lulu so she'd be in sight of her good eye.

"That's wonderful, Yuri. Seeing as how I've run into you, I was going to help Izzy in the garden this morning and I wanted to know if you'd like to join us?" Lulu asked as Yuri's face briefly lit up, excitement in her eyes.

"I'd love to join you!" Yuri answered as she hobbled to her feet, her gloved hands grabbing the duffle bag she always had with her off of the table.

"Wonderful! I'm sure Izzy will be elated to have your help as well," Lulu added as the two began to walk towards the courtyard and the garden within, the two of them stepping down into the grass and walking towards the small bridge in the center before crossing it and heading over towards the garden, paying no mind to Izzy's threatening signs to ward off troublemakers.

"Izzy! I'm here and I've brought Yuri with me, if that's alright," Lulu announced as the two girls arrived.

Elizaveta briefly looked over her shoulder to great them, "Oh hey! Yeah, the more the merrier! I'll take any help I can get after all!"

"See? More than happy," Lulu said while looking down at Yuri with a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm just weeding right now, so you two can just pick a spot and start working wherever you like!" Izzy explained before Lulu and Yuri began their tedious work, making sure to pull out each and every weed by the root as they went.

. : + : .

"So, the spirit had gone mad?" Nika asked, looking between Irma, Kord and JV who were all standing across from Nika on the other side of her desk in her office, "But why? Why now? What changed for a spirit to suddenly lose itself?"

"I wish I knew for certain. I know the spirit was a fire mage in life and it had been quiet since it was sealed away," Irma began to explain, "But when I looked around for the seals, they were… damaged, distorted."

"So they just weakened over time enough for it to start causing trouble?" Nika questioned as she scribbled notes down in a report.

"Nah, the damage was recent from the looks of things," JV answered, waving his hand dismissively.

"The real question is who did the damage," Irma added.

"No recently deceased bodies were found either, but we found evidence of someone entering the tomb fairly recently," Kord reported, "But it was few and far between, too many things were disturbed in the fighting and by the undead shuffling about."

"Unfortunately I have one more question you probably don't have an answer for," Nika stated while nervously tapping her pen on her desk, the other three mages looking at her quizzically, "Why would someone free the spirit, raise the dead and then just leave them locked in the tomb? Why not leave the door open so they could escape and cause chaos immediately?"

"Shit," JV cursed at the implications of the question.

"Someone's building an army of the dead most likely," Irma scowled, biting down on her thumb as she fell deep into thought.

"A real necromancer is a huge problem," JV muttered as Kord continued to stand in silence, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"I'm not saying that's what it is, but we need answers and I need you to find them, Irma," Nika stated.

"So we're going to go looking for more of these tombs crawling with zombies and crazy ghosts then?" JV asked.

"I would like to say yes, but unfortunately, we can only proceed if Master Jose says we can," Nika sighed, "While he might say yes because of the prestige stopping something like this would earn the guild, it's for zero profit and it may not even be what we think it is, so it could be seen as a waste of the guild's time to him."

"Well, I'd like to investigate by myself even if he says no. I've too many reasons not to stop investigating this," Irma explained.

"Well… I guess I'll send him a letter then," Nika groaned as she pulled out a piece of paper that was blank, save for a small, blue magic circle in the middle of it, "You three are dismissed for now, I'll let you know when I hear back from him."

"Thank you, Nika," Irma said before the three of them left her to her privacy so she could compose the letter.

"He's gonna say no," JV huffed as soon as the door was shut.

"I know," Irma agreed quickly as she headed towards the stairs.

"You really don't care, do you?" JV asked as Irma continued on.

"No, I don't. I'll do what I think I have to, Jose be damned," Irma snapped back before marching off.

"Yeesh, what crawled up her ass?" JV muttered.

"You rubbing it into her face," Kord sighed, "There's something she's not saying and she's taken this whole matter personally."

"Wow! Who could have guessed that the spooky ghost girl took spooky ghost things personally," JV mocked, earning a sharp look from Kord, "Look, if she wants to go against Jose's inevitable orders not to keep looking into this, that's her prerogative, but I don't really want anything to do with it. I've had enough of dank swamps and dark tombs for now, thanks."

"Hmph," Kord let out a huff before walking off, not willing to give JV any more of his time, briefly laying eyes on Irma in the main bar area, but choosing not to go and say anything before walking off.

Irma let out a sigh as she sat down at the bar, the bartender sliding a breakfast menu across the bar towards her, Irma looked at it for a just a moment before letting out another sigh, deciding to get what she always did, "A plate of the waffles and some sliced apples please."

"Coming right up, miss," the bartender replied as he wrote down the order and slid it across a counter and into the kitchen that was hidden away behind the bar.

Irma sat there in thought for a few moments before she heard someone climbing into the stool next to her, a young boy with black hair tied into a pointed ponytail and red eyes. She had never really spoken to him before, but something about him always caught her eye.

"What'll ya have?" the bartender asked as he slid the boy a menu like he did Irma. The boy patted around his pockets, pulling out a notebook and a pencil, but kept looking for something, growing more frantic by the moment.

"I'm sorry… I forgot my wallet," the boy apologized as the bartender began to nod.

"Wait," Irma called out, "Get him a plate of what I got, I'll pay."

"Right away, miss," the bartender answered.

"Oh, thank you… um…" the boy began frantically searching through his notebook as he struggled to come up with her name, "Irma?"

"That's right," she answered, "What's your name, kid?"

"Zavid. Zavid Strydr," he answered.

"Ah, another one of Jose's little side projects if I'm remembering right," Irma said as she remembered what she heard about him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Just a joke. But Jose has a bad habit of throwing young mages in this guild branch until they're stronger," Irma sighed.

"Master Jose, you mean," Zavid corrected her, Irma's eyes growing a bit wide with surprise.

"Sure, sure," Irma chuckled.

"Sorry," Zavid began as he started flipping through his notebook again, quickly reading some pages, "It's just that, he's done a lot for some of us, especially for me… And… He deserves our respect because of that."

"Yeah, I can get that. But I can't say I'm too happy with him right now," Irma replied as two plates of waffles and two small bowls of apple slices were set down in front of them, "But I can't really talk about why and we have waffles that need eating, so lets just focus on that important task for now," she suggested as she picked up a bottle of syrup as Zavid scribbled something down in his notebook, the two of them beginning to eat their breakfast in silence.

. : + : .

Iva let out another huff as she sat on top of a medical bed in Dr. Darling's infirmary. Her shirt was off, so she was left with nothing but a black sports bra and her bandages covering her torso as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"We really have to do this every morning, doc?" Iva growled as she watched Dr. Darling go about his business.

"We do," the doctor answered, "Master Porla wanted daily reports and he's already beginning to grow impatient with your slow recovery," he explained.

"Yeah, well, sorry I can't magically make myself heal any faster. I thought that was your schtick," Iva huffed.

"Not really, Miss Dragomirov. I just bandage wounds, apply anesthetic, do surgery, etcetera etcetera without magic," Darling admitted as he began unwrapping Iva's bandages.

"I thought you were a mage," Iva grimaced as the doctor went about his work.

"I am. But that's not what my magic revolves around," he explained as a light knocking could be heard on the infirmary door, "Come in!" he called out as Rena nervously opened the door and stepped in.

"The hell is with all these brats in this branch?" Iva gawked.

"Now, now. Miss Miret here is going to help you recover a bit more quickly," Darling explained as he finished unwrapping Iva's bandages, exposing her wound to the air, the injury still rather nasty looking and oozing with pus from the healing process, "Miss Miret," Darling began before Lilly made herself known by flying in front of the doctor's face, "And Miss Lilly here, can use a type of magic called Eos. It's a healing magic."

"Then why didn't we start with this if we had it here all along!?" Iva snapped, Rena flinching backwards.

"I'm sorry! I… My magic isn't that great… It kills to heal," Rena stammered as she explained.

"The hell does that mean?" Iva gawked.

"Her healing magic merely accelerates the healing process, shortening the cells lifespan in the affected area and therefore, reducing the lifespan of the person being healed," Darling explained in more detail as Iva deflated a bit.

"That's… kind of awful," Iva sighed.

"And that's why we waited for your wound to heal a bit naturally first. While it's not going to take maybe more than a few minutes off your life to heal the wound now. It could have taken years off of your life to heal the wound when Mr. Redfox first gave it to you," Darling continued.

"Yeah… I can see why we waited now," Iva grimaced before laying down on the medical bed, "Well, let's get this over with then."

"Miss Miret, if you would," Darling said as he gestured towards Iva, the young girl stepping next to the bed as Lilly fluttered above Iva.

"Here goes then," Rena mumbled as her hands and Lilly began to glow with a brilliant light that seeped into the wound on Iva's stomach, the Dragon Slayer letting out a gasp of pain as the wound began to close, Rena flinching a bit in response.

"Keep going sweetie, you're doing great," Darling whispered in encouragement as Rena stabilized and kept going, focusing on Iva's wound began seal up completely. Once it was done, Rena stepped back and took a deep breath as Darling stepped in and cleaned up Iva's skin, wiping away any remaining pus or blood from the wound. In its place, was a large, jagged scar that stretched from just above her right hip bone to just below her ribs.

"That wasn't… a very pleasant experience," Iva groaned as she sat up.

"The wound has completely healed, though scar tissue remains," Darling stated as he grabbed a mirror and held it to where Iva could see the scar on her stomach.

"Well, at least it's badass looking," Iva huffed as she admired the jagged scar, "Matches the one on my face even," she mused as her fingers traced the scar on the left side of her face, "Guess that makes sense though since they're from the same guy."

"Well, with that, you're clear to return to active duty," Darling stated as he handed Iva some paperwork, "You'll just need to present that to Miss Anastasia to finalize things."

"Always with the paperwork and you people," Iva sighed before looking down at a nervous Rena, "Hey kid!" she said in a bit harsher tone than she meant to, stopping herself for a moment when she saw Rena flinch at the tone of her voice, "Erm… Sorry. You… You did good," she huffed as a blush appeared on her face, Rena looking a bit shocked at receiving words of praise from the older girl, but Iva didn't wait around any and quickly threw on her crop top and her jacket before running out of the infirmary and out through the main hall and up the stairs, straight into Nika's office. Though her face fell when she saw that Rocco and Vincent were in the room.

"Yo!" Vince called out as she stepped into the room.

"Great… Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb are here," Iva huffed as she stepped up to Nika's desk.

"Oi!" Rocco began to shout back before a sharp look from Nika silenced him.

"Now that all three of you are here," Nika began as Iva set her paperwork down on Nika's desk, "We can discuss that mission you'll all be going on together.

"Right… I tried my best to forget about that," Iva groaned as Vince snickered and Rocco let out a sigh.

"You think I'm happy about it either? I normally go solo," Rocco huffed.

"We heard about it a little while ago though," Vincent added, a smug grin plastered onto his face as he watched the irritation in Iva grow.

"The short of it, is this," Nika began as she placed a mission flyer on the desk in front of her, "A deranged cult has taken control of the nearby Salvia Village, you three are going to go and save the villagers and capture the cultists alive."

"They just rolled over and let it happen?" Rocco questioned as he looked at the flyer.

"Apparently the Cult Leader can use Plant Magic and won their trust by granting them a plentiful harvest. Now he holds their harvests hostage unless they bow to his whims," Nika explained as a large grin appeared on Iva's face.

"Plant Magic, eh?" Iva snickered.

"Well, this is going to be easy then," Vincent chuckled, "We got someone who eats that magic for breakfast with us for this one."

"Several other cultists are still dangerous mages though and from what we know, they practice a variety of magics, so be careful and don't get carried away," Nika sighed, "Master Jose's going to be heavily examining the performance of this mission, so try and leave a good impression."

"Yeah, yeah," Rocco huffed, "We get it, go in, bust some heads together, don't kill any of them and do it good."

"I'm hoping for something a bit more graceful than that, but yes," Nika replied.

"Got it, Boss Lady, they won't even see it coming then," Vincent chuckled.

"Do not rob the village!" Nika shouted, knowing full well what was going through the violet-haired man's mind.

"You really do take out all the fun sometimes," Vincent sighed.

"She really has to tell you not to steal from our clients?" Iva asked, squinting her eyes at the man, only receiving a shrug in response.

"Just keep an eye on your wallet," Rocco suggested as the three of them began to leave the office, Nika letting out a long sigh as soon as they closed the door behind them.

"I really hope putting those three together won't be a mistake," she groaned into her hands, not knowing that the groups biggest hurdle would approach them before they even left the town.

. : + : .

"The fuck are we doing here?" Iva asked in a panicked voice, practically shaking in her boots as they stood in front of the train station.

"We're taking a train to a town closer to the village, of course," Vincent stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Scared of trains or something?" Rocco asked as Iva grew even paler.

"N-noooooo," Iva mumbled as she started to back away slowly from the station, "C-can't we walk? I hear that's healthier… And better for the trees! Yes! The trees! Don't you know how much I care for the trees as a Plant Dragon Slayer!?"

Rocco and Vincent exchanged a look for a brief moment before malicious grins appeared on their faces, Vincent quickly disappearing in a cloud of sand and reappearing behind Iva as Rocco darted towards her and grabbed her by the feet as Vincent grabbed her by the shoulders and they lifted her up into the air.

"We've got to take the train to see why you're so freaked out now!" Rocco exclaimed as Iva squirmed in their grip.

"No! No trains! I hate them so much! Please!" she pleaded as she squirmed back and forth in their grip to no avail, earning them several odd looks as they approached their train, Rocco handing off their three tickets before attempting to board, though Iva managed to get a grip on the doorway onto the train as they entered, "Noooooooo! I'm not getting on this devil machine!" she screamed as they tried to pull her on board, eventually pulling hard enough that she was forced to let go just in time for the train to begin moving as they placed her on a seat in a cabin and she instantly turned a vile shade of green, keeling over as all the energy from moments ago seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"Well, whaddaya know. She has terrible motion sickness," Vincent chuckled as he opened up the window as Jinjo flew inside the cabin and landed on his shoulder.

"I hate you… I hate you both," Iva moaned as she slumped further into her seat, bracing herself for a long and miserable time.

Credits:

Yuri Hanabira – TechnicolorAxolotl

Zavid Strydr – alucard deathsinger

A/N: And there we go! Chapter 6 is finished! With this chapter, we only have two more characters left to introduce and then the starting cast is complete! I don't have anything real important to say after this one, but I've got some time off work coming up in February, so I'm hoping to get a couple more chapters out then.

But I'd like to thank XLil MEkoX, wjolix98, musicaldreams89, Benthino, Grimnack, MyDearWatson and Elements08 for the reviews! They are all appreciated!

But that's all from me for now.

Your host,

Dreadburner94.