A/N: And here we are with a new chapter! Fun fact! My wrist is broken! Writing is pain!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 7: The Night Witches

May 7th, X784

It had been a long train ride for the three of them, Lillian, Sasha and Zeke, they had all been cramped into a small cabin on their train for the better part of a whole day, Lillian's mood growing worse and worse as she and Sasha had watched Zeke comfortably sleep, stretched out across one of the whole bench on the opposite side of the cabin from them, the having not moved an inch before or after the two of them had gone to sleep and woken up themselves.

"He… really sleeps a lot doesn't he?" Sasha asked, timidly, looking between Lillian and Zeke while Martin happily bounced back and forth in her lap.

"Way too much," Lillian sighed, "Pretty sure this is all he does in his spare time. Maybe it's all he does. Can't say I see him awake too much to be honest."

"Well… He does take missions at least," Sasha said, looking back towards Zeke as he slept, "You know, considering he's here and all."

"Psh… He usually just takes the easiest jobs he can find. He wouldn't be on this one if Nika hadn't made him," Lillian huffed, "He gets called Lazybones for a reason."

Sasha let out a hum as she looked at the sleeping man, blissfully unaware of the conversation about him happening right next to him, though her train of thought was derailed as she heard the whistle of the train call out as the breaks began to screech.

"Sounds like we're pulling into the station," Lillian pointed out as she stood up, grabbing onto the luggage rack above her to keep her steady as she pulled her bag down, and slung it over her shoulder before planting a kick right into Zeke's stomach, the man letting out a grunt as he was abruptly woken up, "Get up Lazybones, we're here," she commanded as the train came to a complete stop.

"Good morning to you too," Zeke huffed as he rubbed his eyes before stretching out for a yawn as Lillian left the cabin.

"Sorry," Sasha said in apology before following after Lillian, leaving Zeke surprised for just a moment before standing up.

"Polite kid," he mumbled as a small smile appeared on his face before grabbing his own bag and following the two girls out of the train and into the station, he quickly caught up to them as they were standing next to the exit into the town.

"Sasha, I want to warn you about something," Lillian stated as Zeke stopped next to them.

"What?" the young girl asked as a solemn look appeared on the older woman's face.

"It's about this town, Oxalis Town," Lillian began, "I don't know what kind of history you have or where you're from, but Oxalis Town is dangerous. It's poor and filled with crime, people who won't hesitate to screw you over for just one Jewel."

"Not to mention how they'll try and steal your shoes off your feet," Zeke sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Been here, before, eh?" Lillian asked.

"Once or twice at my old job, stopped taking those routes real quick," he explained.

"Is it really that bad?" Sasha asked, "I come from a pretty poor town, but no one really resorted to stealing or anything like that."

"This is probably the poorest town in Fiore… It's… not an easy sight to take in when you see it and experience it for the first time. And it's probably why Nika didn't want just one or two people taking this mission," Lillian continued.

"Okay… thanks for warning me," Sasha said before the three of them exited the train station they stepped into a scene very unlike their home in Jaborosa Town, dilapidated buildings, starving people begging for scraps on the sides of the street, even a man getting shanked in the back in broad daylight. The scene horrified Sasha to the core as she brought a hand up to cover in mouth in shock, Martin looking up at her in worry.

"Puun…" the small spirit said as he tried to comfort her, patting her arms.

"Is it too much for you?" Lillian asked with worry, "Do you need to go home?"

"No…" Sasha whispered, "I can do this. We're here to try and make their lives just a little bit better, right?"

"Yeah, we're here to take out a least one of the gangs that've gone too far," Zeke answered, "Dunno how much it'll help though. It might just make things worse when a power vacuum opens up."

"But it'll make things better, even if just for a little bit, yeah?" Sasha asked again.

"I hope so," Lillian replied.

"Then that's good enough for me," Sasha stated, a look of steely determination in her eyes.

"All right then… Let's get started and find the client," Lillian declared before the three of them set out to begin their mission.

. : + : .

Connor laid hidden atop a cliff, hidden underneath a bush that lined its edge as he looked down towards his targets, three women, all dressed like your stereotypical image of a witch. The three of them were standing around a stopped cart, presumably loaded up with all the stolen art pieces, but more importantly, the sword belonging to the Duke. Connor tried to listen in as best as he could from the far away distance he was at, but he couldn't really understand anything being said, though he could tell that the three of them were bickering among themselves.

"This'll be easy," Connor mumbled to himself as he pulled his flask of his hip, taking a swig of whiskey from it before securing it back in place, "Just gotta hope those idiots stick to my plan. It'll be just like robbing a wagon train," he continued to mutter before pulling out a small mirror, holding it into the sun to make the light glare off of it.

Down below, in the trees on the opposite side of the cliff, the light was spotted by Layla, Emrys and Jaku.

"That was the signal," Jaku whispered, "He's in position."

"Looks like he kept to his word and didn't run off then," Emrys mumbled as he began weaving together two bracelets made of orange and red flowers, "Better get those chimps ready, Layla."

"Right," Layla agreed as she pulled out two blank cards and began drawing the images of monkeys on them, "Picto Magic: Monkey Madness," she whispered as the cards briefly glowed before two monkeys, one purple and one aqua in color and looking eerily similar to Rocco and Vincent, appeared in front of them, Emrys quickly tying the flower bracelets onto their wrists.

"All right, they're ready!" Emrys announced as he backed away from the two monkeys.

"Go steal their stuff guys!" Layla commanded, pointing at the three witches by the cart as the two monkeys began hooping and howling with excitement before dashing out of the trees, screeching and screaming as they drew the witches attention towards them.

"What are those!?" they heard one of the witches shout.

"They look like really weird colored monkeys!" another called out before the two chimps climbed atop the cart and pulled away the sheet covering the witches haul, revealing the treasures hidden beneath.

"Hey! Get away from there you damn chimps!" the third one yelled as the monkeys each picked out a shiny object that caught their attention before running off with them, "Put those down!" the third witch shouted again as the monkeys continued running away before the witch summoned a broomstick from the earth below her, it seeming to form from the roots in the ground below her before she took off flying after the monkeys.

"Hey! Wait for me!" another one of the witches shouted as dark clouds appeared before her, the witch hopping on top of them before flying after her friend.

"But what about the treasure!" the last witch shouted as she watched her friends fly after the chimps.

"Dammit," Connor cursed quietly to himself, "All three of them were supposed to leave so we could do this quietly," he continued to mutter before holding up the mirror again, flashing another signal to the mages below.

"Guess we're to continue then," Jaku mumbled.

"Layla, make another distraction for us," Emrys said as he began weaving another bracelet of flowers, this time of red and green flowers.

"Right!" Layla replied as she began drawing a myriad of rats, bugs and spiders onto several different cards, "Picto Magic: Biting Critters!" she announced as once again the cards glowed, this time having several rats, bugs and spiders coming to life and immediately crawling towards the one remaining witch, who remained blissfully unaware of them as she was trying to look for her friends in the distance, only noticing them once the first rat began crawling up her leg, biting her as she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Jaku! Now!" Emrys said as he finished placing the new bracelet on his wrist, the flower accessory filling Jaku with strength and vitality as he burst forth from the foliage as he drew his axe and charged at the witch, who was too busy trying to shake off the various critters to notice his rapid approach or the axe he was swinging down at her, slashing her right through the torso diagonally, a spray of blood rushing out of her as her body collapsed to the ground, dead, as all of the drawn critters disappeared.

"Just gonna have to hope that was quiet enough," Connor mumbled as Emrys and Layla emerged from the woods, Layla growing a bit pale at the sight of the dead witch, but quickly looked away to clamber up the cart and begin looking through it, digging around for the sword that was deemed to be the most important thing to make sure was recovered.

"C'mon… C'mon… Where is it?" Layla continued to mutter as she dug through the carriage, "Oooh! What a pretty painting!"

"Layla! The sword?" Emrys called out, getting the girl's focus back on track.

"Right! Right! Sorry!" she apologized as she continued to dig as Jaku walked around the cart, trying to wipe the blood off of himself with a cloth as best as he could before he noticed that the seat Layla was on top of had hinges.

"Hey Layla, mind standing up for a moment?" Jaku asked as Layla looked down at him curiously.

"Okay…" she mumbled as Jaku reached for the seat, lifting it up and revealing the sword hiding underneath, "The sword!" Layla exclaimed happily as picked up the sword, though the moment of celebration would be cut short by a loud shout.

"Glinda! Oh my god! They killed Glinda!" they heard one of the witches shout from above them.

"You bastards!" the other witch shouted from atop her cloud as it grew dark beneath her before holding out her arm, a lightning bolt shooting down towards Layla and Jaku on the cart, the two of them barely being able to scramble out of the way before it struck the cart, instantly igniting it in a blaze of fire.

"Our bonus!" Layla shouted as she looked up at the fireball, the sword still wrapped in her arms, though she was cut off as three gunshots rang out and blood sprayed out of the cloud witch's body as she fell off the cloud and down to the ground below. Everyone looking to the top of the cliff to see Connor standing there, the barrel of his revolver smoking before he pointed it at the remaining witch who quickly darted out of the way atop her broomstick, waving her hand about as several small jack-o-lanterns appeared and fell to the ground.

"Run dammit!" Connor shouted as the three mages below scrambled out of the way as the pumpkins landed, exploding on contact as Connor took aim at the witch, attempting to shoot her out of the sky, but missing every shot as the witch proved to be too nimble for him to hit.

The witch would quickly fly around the battlefield, swooping in near the lift and casting a spell on it as she flew by, causing several roots to burst forth from the ground beneath Connor and destroying the cliff as he scrambled away.

"Emrys!" Jaku shouted, noticing that Emrys was still beneath the falling rocks as he rushed over, his axe beginning to glow with a brilliant light, "Forsetti Burst Wave!" he roared as he swung his axe, a magic wave shooting forth from it, destroying the falling debris threatening Emrys.

"Thanks!" Emrys called out as the remaining debris fell around him, Jaku giving him a brief nod before the witch flew towards him, landing a hard kick against his jaw as she flew past, knocking him to the ground.

"Jaku!" Layla called out as she began frantically scribbling on several cards, having gotten on her knees and setting the sword on the ground in front of her as she did so before standing back up and throwing the cards out, "Arrow Barrage!" she shouted as the cards glowed briefly before a storm of arrows was sent flying towards the witch, though a sudden tree branch-like arm burst out of her broomstick and grow large enough to protect her from the hail of arrows.

The witch held still for a moment and scowl at the mages below her, "Remember the name Evanora Adrestia! You've all made a dangerous enemy today, of both myself and the entirety of the Night Witches!" she declared before flying off, earning a sigh of relief from all of them.

"Oi! You lot all still alive!" they heard Connor call out from above.

"We're all fine! For the most part at least!" Emrys shouted back before looking at Jaku, who was nursing his bruised jaw before looking at his own small cuts and bruises from bits of rubble.

"At least we're getting paid for this still," Jaku huffed as he continued to rub his jaw, "Sucks about that bonus though."

"Nothing we could've done about it," Emrys sighed as they all turned and watched the cart and all of the art inside burn away, along with their bonus reward.

. : + : .

"So that's the story," a large, bald man said in conclusion, wiping a nervous sweat off of his brow with a handkerchief.

"Never fear, my good man!" a boisterous, pink haired man dressed as a magician declared, "I swear on our honor as Phantom Lord mages that we will find and rescue your daughter from these dastardly kidnappers!

"Thank you, Asher," Cleo said as a bit of an embarrassed blush appeared on her face from the man's outburst.

"Don't get his hopes too much, there's always a chance things could get hairy," the other man, a tall man with dark brown hair added, "I've seen too many missions go sour because people got too overconfident.

"Not that that will happen, right, Alek?" Cleo stated, practically growling through her teeth.

Alek looked at Cleo and then to the client, the man's worried expression suddenly clicking what was wrong with what he had said in his head, "Oh, right. Yeah. That won't happen. Not with us on the job."

"Indeed! For we are the quite magnificent and skilled mages of Phantom Lord! You need not worry for one moment longer! For! As I said, we shall rescue your daughter posthaste! And not one hair on her head shall be harmed!" Asher declared while posing quite flamboyantly.

"Provided that they haven't harmed her in some way already," Alek added.

"Alek!" Cleo snapped.

"What? Just don't want to get his hopes up too high. If they've, say, slapped her already, ain't nothing we can do about that," Alek explained.

"Yes, well, I'd appreciate if you could make sure no further harm comes to her at the very least," the client stated, wiping his nervous sweat away again.

"I promise you we'll have her back safe and sound soon," Cleo said before standing up and grabbing both Asher and Alek by the forearms and pulling them out of the room before they could say anything else to worry the client or get his hopes up too high.

"You two are really giving me a headache today," Cleo groaned as she pulled them out of the building and onto the streets of Crocus, "We're working for the nobility! Nobility! You know how upset Master Jose gets when missions for nobles go wrong or when they get upset with us!"

"Just trying to bring Asher's promises down to a reasonable level," Alek stated.

"And I am merely trying to inspire hope and relief in our poor, worried client!" Asher countered.

"Yeah, that's great. Mind turning it down a notch? Both of you?" Cleo sighed as she let go of them, "Ugh… just follow me," she groaned before turning to walk off, Alek and Asher exchanging a look and a shrug before following the woman.

"So we're heading to the lower ring of Crocus, right?" Alek asked as they walked through the busy streets of the upper ring, the three of them fully within the shadow of the royal palace, Mercurius as they walked.

"Yep. It's the most likely place where the kidnappers will be hiding," Cleo confirmed.

"Such a large and vast portion of the city! I dare say it'll take ages and ages to comb it and find our quarry," Asher stated, a worried look on his face.

"That's where I come in, I imagine," Alek began to explain, "I've got a lot of experience finding people."

"Bingo," Cleo replied, "The lower ring is huge, but I trust Alek to be able to find her quickly."

"Marvelous! I see a plan for extraction has already formed in that head of yours!" Asher said happily, "Verily! I shall entrust myself to you and your schemes!"

"Schemes?" Cleo repeated, but seeing that she was getting no reply or explanation, quickly dropped it as they continued onward to the lower ring of the city.

. : + : .

"The train ride really did a number on her huh?" Vincent said with a bit of awe in his voice as the train came to a stop as Iva continued to lay in the seat, green from head to toe and completely limp.

"She ain't never gonna hear the end of this," Rocco chuckled as Vincent stood up and opened the window back up, Jinjo quickly taking the opportunity to stretch his wings and fly out the window, "Kinda thought she would have perked back up by now though."

"Guess it takes a lot longer for her to recover than it does for her to get sick," Vincent shrugged before grabbing his bag and exiting the cabin.

"You just gonna leave her here?" Rocco asked.

"No, you're going to carry her," Vincent replied.

"Why the hell should I have to carry her?" Rocco growled.

"Cause you have bigger muscles than I do," Vincent stated as a matter of factly before leaving Rocco alone with Iva.

"Can't argue with that," Rocco sighed before grabbing Iva by the arm, the girl flopping about as if she really was boneless as Rocco slung her over his shoulder and walked out of the cabin, bonking Iva's head on the doorframe on the way out, "Oops… Well, she won't remember it," he shrugged before continuing on his way. As he exited the train entirely, he saw that the train had indeed stopped a good ways away from Salvia Village before he turned his attention to Vincent, who was looking up into the sky at Jinjo who was circling overhead, "That featherbrain gonna keep an eye out for us?"

"Yep. He'll let out three cries if he sees someone approaching us," Vincent answered before setting out towards the village, Rocco close behind while Iva continued to flop about uselessly on his shoulder.

It was a long, quiet walk as they followed the train tracks towards Salvia Village, the two men not really having anything to say between them as the grew closer towards their destination, though as they continued, Rocco grew more and more agitated with the woman on his shoulder.

"All right! Screw this!" Rocco snapped as he pulled Iva off his shoulder and roughly set her on the ground, leaning up against a tree before he began to shake her back and forth, "Wake! Up! You! Dumb! Gecko!" though his own face would pale as he saw her checks swell up for a moment like she was trying to hold something in just long enough for him to stand up and get out of the way while she emptied the contents of her stomach where he just was.

"You… assholes…" she muttered, "Putting me through that vehicular hell…. And then putting me through more of that hell…"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Vincent asked as he began to try and fail to hold in a laugh, "Is Rocco a vehicle? Is that why you've been sick so long?"

"Like hell am I a vehicle!" Rocco shouted.

"To be fair Blue… I think I would've gotten sick even if Mr. Course, Rough and Irritating was the one carrying me," Iva groaned as she tried to stand up turning around to face the tree and taking a large bite out of it with ease.

"That keeps surprising me," Vincent muttered.

"That's really weird to watch," Rocco added.

"Shut your yaps," Iva grumbled as she chewed on the wood and bark before swallowing, feeling her strength return.

"It's just… I certainly can't just take a bite out of a tree that easily. I'd be lucky to get through the bark," Vincent explained.

"Neither of you have watched the Metalhead bite through solid iron, have you?" Iva asked, seeing both of them shake their head, "That's the freaky one to watch. At least some of the things I eat are normal to other people."

"I just don't get how you Dragon Slayers bite through it or digest all this weird stuff," Vincent shrugged.

"Magic? I guess?" Iva replied, unsure of the answer herself.

"As good of an answer as any," Rocco said, but three cries from Jinjo would cut the conversation short with only one more word being said from Vincent.

"Hide."

Credits:

Evanora Adrestia – Dreadburner94

Asher King – rokebuto

Alek Blakely – Darker than Grey

A/N: The first milestone of the story has been met with this chapter! The entire starting cast has now been introduced! Also! We've met our first reoccurring villain in the form of Evanora! Now, I just have to wrap up all these remaining missions and we can begin with wrapping up the first arc of the story! Exciting times!

I'd like to thank Grimnack, musicaldreams89, Benthino, RedMoonRabbit, wjolix98, MyDearWatson and Elements08 for the reviews! They mean a lot and are all appreciated!

Hoping to get at least one more chapter out this week since I'm on vacation, but we'll see how that goes since my wrist is broken right now.

But that's all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Your host,

Dreadburner94.