Dawn of August 8th

"Seriously, man! Where have you been?"

"Not the time, Warren."

"And why would you make us forget you?"

"Can you focus?"

"How could Gramps have let you do that?"

"Still not the time."

"When will be the time!?"

"After we get the teams for the rescue!"

"Rescue who and which teams!"

"Erza! I said that!"

"What…"

"Cana gave us a smaller search area for Mystogan's Team so we will go after them first."

"Since when is Mystogan easy to find…And since when does he have a team?"

"Then we'll hunt down the dragon slayers."

"The…PLURAL!? WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON WHILE I WAS GONE!?"

"Stop shouting into my head!"

Late morning

"When Galuna's Chief said this area reeked of death I thought…he was being dramatic again."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Dark magic." Bacchus crouched at the edge of the boat, eyes narrowed at the needless death around them. "They're sucking the life out of everything in the area. This is going to get ugly."

"Um…guys? Is that the thing we are looking for?" The entire team turned to look at where Max was pointing.

"That's not a tower! Alanza said Tower OF Heaven, not tower TO heaven! Are we going to be able to breathe at the top?" The card mage seemed to be panicking a little.

"Well…You and I should be okay. You're used to functioning…impaired, and I'll have a lot of starlight to work with. Not sure about the others."

"I'll be fine." Gray was glaring up at the Tower, growling through clenched teeth. "Bacchus?"

"Yep."

"Does that mean I have to switch buddies?"

"Babe, why are you avoiding me so hard?" Bacchus gave the card mage a smirk, eyes dropping to her bikini top. "We had fun back at Cerberus."

"Yeah, and things went to shit while I was drunk. I'm working now and my friends' lives are on the line. Somebody d-" She cut herself off when the blonde celestial mage touched her arm. "I'm good. I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Let's kick some ass."

Afternoon

Mest was very confused. They'd located Mystogan's Team rather easily, despite the fact that they were camped in a tree, and he was currently staring into the eyes of a member of the magic council. Granted there were slight differences. A softness around those eyes, a touch more navy in color than Seigrain's hazel. An almost relaxed dignity in the way he carried himself instead of a sense of superiority and power. This answered so many questions and raised so many more.

"So…the reason you hid from the guild was that you look like Seigrain?"

"Jellal."

"His twin brother."

"No. Himself and myself."

"What?"

"Seigrain isn't real."

"I beg to differ."

"That was apparently his plan."

"What?"

"Nevermind. The point is I'll get there as fast as I can, but I can't take the team. Sorry."

"No biggies." Bisca shrugged. "We'll finish up here and head back to the guild."

"An entourage would exclusively be an encumbrance in this exigency." Laki was still as confusing as ever. Some things never changed.

Evening

"It's a dog! It's just doing its job!"

"Ice Make Lance!"

"It's a magic construct, Elfman! That's why they all look the same!"

"Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

"Pull it together dude!" Mickey grabbed Elfman's face with her mittened hands and shook his head violently. "Punch the fucking flesh puppets before they bite a chunk out of somebody!"

"Water Slicer!"

"Stop distracting him!" Cana placed her back to Elfman's, tossing an exploding card at the 'dog' he was refusing to punch. It wasn't strong enough to put it down for good, but it did knock it back.

"Sand Slash!" Max caught the dog in the throat, flipping it backwards and farther away as he joined them. "Just let Elfman handle the human mages and let's move!"

"Such a wild party!" Bacchus slapped a cultist across the room and Mickey cackled, launching herself off Elfman to punch the flying man in the face.

"Right!" Elfman stood up and punched his palm, grinning as his arm transformed. "Fairy Tail fights like men!"

Late that night

"He still isn't within range."

"Are you sure it's not just that Natsu's head is so empty you can't hear him?"

"That's not how it works."

"Maybe he's asleep?"

"That's…possible."

"Well I can't do any more of these jumps." Mest collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. "I need at least an hour before another line jump or I'll accidentally put us in a tree or something."

"I don't understand how Cana was so exact with the other team, but we can't find this one."

"Something about chess and baby dragons. I don't know. Mira and Lucy understood what she was talking about, but hell if I know."

"Natsu and Chess and babies. That sounds terrible."

"Yep."

"How many people are we looking for again?"

"Two and two and three and two so…nine?"

"...what?"

"Natsu, Mystogan's little sister, two Phantom dragons, four exceeds, and the kid they are looking for."

"...wow."

"...the Council is going to hate us even more now."

"Sounds like it. HEY!"

"Stop shouting in my head!"

"Sorry. But I had an idea. Natsu has enhanced senses and Happy is a cat. So if we shouted for them they might hear us even from really far away right?"

"...uhh…Natsu!"

"Happy, can you hear us?!""

"Hey guys! We're over here!"

Basically the middle of the night

"Erza!"

"Of course you rescued yourself."

"Who's the unconscious kid?"

"Lucy, Gray, Cana. Where is Natsu?"

"I located the slayer team and we sent a messenger, but they don't have a way to contact us."

"Juvia expects Mystogan will arrive before Gajeel and Natsu."

"Mystogan. Of course. Hello Juvia. I see plans changed. Max, Mickey, Elfman…Drunken Hawk."

"Titania."

"Yo. Erza. The kid?"

"Oh!" Erza lifted the limp, pale haired boy by the back of his shirt. "This is my little brother Sho."

"Your brother!" Gray made a wheezing sound.

"Not my actual brother. We grew up together…here in the tower." Erza's eyes started welling up with tears and Gray panicked.

Late the next morning

"Oh no!" Lector started flailing as his wings vanished and he dropped out of formation. Sting was quick to flip around, catching his partner and cushioning their landing with a blast of blinding magic. The light forced Ryos out of the shadows, leaving him groaning on the ground while Gajeel, his passenger in said shadows, stood over him laughing. "I'm sorry Sting…"

"It's okay. You pushed yourself hard." Sting rubbed behind Lector's ears as the rest of the group landed.

"I could have…gone on…" Happy gasped as Natsu tucked the blue cat into his scarf.

"I know, buddy. It's okay. I was getting bored anyway."

"Are you okay, Ryos? I can-" Ryos hissed and tried to scramble away from the little healer, failing when Gajeel planted a foot in his back.

"Stop yer wiggling. He's fine, Bluebird. Nothin' wounded but his pride." The largest slayer swung the teen up onto his back and laughed when he whined and went limp.

"If it was wounded before, it's bleeding out now."

"Shut yer trap and take a damn nap. That was a long fucking dive, kid."

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch plopped her tiny body down onto Gajeel's head. She didn't have the strength to carry a slayer, but it had been a long flight for her anyway.

"Please… refrain from cursing around the young ones." Carla already had her eyes closed and was well on her way to being asleep in Wendy's arms.

"Alright! Let's go rescue Erza before the Ice Prick does!" The other slayers echoed Natsu's cry as they took off through the forest.

Noon

"Monsters." Max sank down to the ground, head dropping forward till his bangs met in the middle and hid his face. The monsters didn't notice their party flagging behind them. "How can they keep going like this with the amount of sleep we got last night?"

"Juvia thinks it was morning before we slept…"

"Erza isn't even sweating. Bitch." Cana collapsed onto her face.

"Lucy is." Mickey took a seat, shucking her boots and rubbing her feet.

"Lucy is a man…of a woman." Elfman watched golden hair disappear around the corner.

"Lucy is remarkably resilient." Juvia stood next to Elfman, the only one who looked like she could actually handle another encounter at the moment. "Juvia is impressed with Sho's determination to remain at Erza's side as well, especially considering the head injury she dealt him earlier." The whole group sweat dropped.

"Bacchus is an ass."

"Everybody already knows that."

"Yeah, but he's supposed to be my sexy buddy. I don't think he even noticed he left me behind."

"Bacchus is a man of action. He sees Erza's presence as a challenge." Elfman finally let himself sit down, eyes still on the hallway in front of them.

"So…like Natsu and Gray?" Max looked less pathetic now that he knew he wasn't the only one reaching his limits.

"Erza and Mira used to be that way too." Cana rolled onto her back and scowled at the ceiling. "A lot of strong wizards seem to enjoy that sort of competition."

"Juvia enjoys the thrill of a worthy adversary, but not as much as Gajeel. A test of his strength was one of the few things that brought him joy during our years in the Phantom Lord Guild."

"...I'm still mad at him for leaving me behind."

Afternoon

"Er…Erza. We have to stop!"

"Please sister?"

"What's the rush, Erza?"

"You're gonna run the tits off Heartfilia. Wrong kind of wild, Titania."

"Hey!"

"You dare speak of her like that!"

"Not cool man!"

"Well at least he appreciates me…"

"It seems disrespectful though."

"Thank you, Sho. I am proud of the man you are growing up to be."

"Th-thank you, big sister."

"Boring."

"Mind your tongue!"

Evening

"I'm so sorry Sting!" The blond boy moaned and curled into a tighter ball. "You aren't sick so I can't actually help!"

"This is why we walk or fly everywhere. Sting is amazing, but everyone has a weakness." Lector gently pet his slayer's hair.

"Natsu's worse." Happy smirked as if he'd won some sort of victory.

"Morons." Gajeel eyed one of the bolts in the wall and leaned closer before Ryos hissed and poked his side

"Both of them will be fine once we arrive in Akane." Carla took a sip of her tea and tried not to look concerned over the state the new boy was in.

"Frosch thinks they need a nap!" The little exceed smiled innocently from Ryos's shoulder.. Gajeel grinned and lunged for Natsu only to get tackled by Wendy and Ryos both.

"Not that kind!"

"Gajeel stop it!"

"Get off ya little squirts!"

"They always like this?"

"It does seem to fit the usual behavior pattern."

"They're worse when Natsu isn't about to puke his guts out."

"Make it stoooooop…"

Late at night

"Juvia thinks we will catch them soon. As long as they stop for the night."

"Juvia…sorry to bust your bubble," Max kept his eyes on the sand he was blocking their resting place with. "But I doubt Erza knows that real humans have to sleep."

"This place sucks ass." Cana reached into her purse automatically, then whined when she pulled out a canteen of water instead of a flask of whiskey.

"You know who sucks?" Mickey pulled off her gloves to inspected her knuckles for damage. "Bacchus."

"Bacchus is a man!"

"Who left me behind!"

"Not this again."

"Juvia thinks it doesn't matter anymore."

"Well Mickey disagrees!"

"Uh…Mickey?"

"Shut it. I noticed. I need a nap. Wake me for second watch."

Erza's third morning in the tower. August 10th.

"...Simon." Gray shifted uncomfortably at the softness Erza spoke with.

"Erza. I see Sho has decided to fight at your side."

"Of course I did! They told me the truth! Jellal lied to us!"

"I know."

"And you're okay with that bullshit!"

"Gray. Calm yourself."

"They kidnapped you!"

"Gray! Stop! Let Erza handle this." Lucy fingered her keys as she eyed the huge man blocking their way forward.

"You getting even softer, Titania?" Bacchus sank farther into his crouch and leaned forward, eyes glinting with excitement at the prospect of a challenging opponent. "Never knew you to talk so much."

"I doubt Simon is here to hinder us."

"That depends. What are you planning to do, Erza?"

"Fairy Tail is here to stop Jellal…" She took a shuddering breath before continuing. "By any means necessary."

"I'm sad to say that extreme measures are likely to be required. I'm sorry, Erza. He isn't the boy you knew."

"He is not…and yet he still is."

"Thinking like that will get you killed."