"Okay, do you have any idea what we should do?", Kane asked as the cloaked cultists walked closer to them. "Or did you come here with no clue what to do?"

"Well, you're acting like you have any idea what to do.", Fried fired back.

"Should you really be fighting each other right now?", Bickslow asked, before continuing. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Bickslow."

"Aren't you the kid from the train?", Kane asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just thought I owed it to you. You saved my life, after all.", the boy replied.

'And so you showed up to get yourself killed.', Kane thought, as he wracked his brains. "Okay, we need to do some long range attacks. Can I trust you with those?"

"Y..Yeah, I think."

"Good, let's go.", Kane said, as he looked at Fried. "Okay, uh, take care of them, and before that, hit me."

"Hit you?", Fried asked.

"I could use a charge.", Kane said, as Fried obliged. "Let's do this. Miss Clara, can you protect yourself and Ever?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me. Just keep yourselves safe.", the woman said.

"Let's go.", Kane said, as he leapt towards an advancing cultist, punching him away. "Okay, these guys seem easy."

"Baryon Formation!", Bickslow yelled, as he revealed five wooden dolls, all forming a pentagonal formation, before unleashing a blast of energy, sending the goons flying. Fried used his sword, deciding to use his trusted spell, Slay. Using the speed provided to his sword by the runes, Fried quickly ran through the opponents, making sure he wasn't grievously injuring them, even as he tried to incapacitate them.

"There's a lot of these people here, Kane!", Fried yelled. "What do I do?"

"Beat them!", Kane yelled back.

"How?"

"With your magic, dummy!"

Clara tried to make her way through the crowd, holding her daughter close. Unlike the boys, she didn't want to hurt these people, whom she had grown up amongst. To Clara, these people were her family, and her friends. But unfortunately, they didn't see her that way. All the Children of the Mountain saw was a woman who had been raised to lead them to the future, who had betrayed them out of selfishness.

And Clara found her hesitation seep, as a man revealed a knife, heading towards her with the intention of stabbing Evergreen. Summoning a spell, she pushed the man away, as she said the words. "Motion Magic: Procul."

The man was sent reeling backwards, as he crashed in to a woman, taking them both out. Clara found herself surrounded by people, and backing to a corner.

"You can stand down. I don't want to hurt anyone of you.", she said.

"You already have.", a woman said, inching closer. Clara felt lucky that none of the members of the community were trained as well as her family were.

"Motion Magic: Procul Progressio!", she yelled, as they were all knocked off their feet. Fried saw this, and immediately used Jutsu Shiki on the fallen people to trap them. It wasn't a strong spell, but could be used to restrain them for the time being. Having seen Fried expose his back to the cultists, Kane leapt in, grabbing a potential assailant by the neck and driving his face into the ground.

"Watch your back, kid.", Kane quipped, as he felt a sharp kick in the small of his back. "AAARGH!"

"Got you!", the attacker, a large man yelled. But before he could follow up on the attack, he was hit in the face.

"Line Formation!", Bickslow yelled, as his dolls took on the given formation, swinging at the large man like a scythe. The man fell on his back.

"Holy shit, that's awesome.", Kane muttered. "Thanks, dude."

"Yeah, my babies are awesome, aren't they?", Bickslow said, excitedly.

"Your babies?"

"Yeah, that's what I call them."

"Huh, neat.", Kane said.

"Well, we need to get out of here now, and call the Magic Council or something. I think we're way punching way above our level.", Fried said. Kane begrudgingly agreed with the younger boy. After all, he felt a massive exhaustion in himself, and he felt he couldn't drag himself to face them for more than half an hour at best.

"You're right.", Bicklow said. "So, is the lady over there with the little girl on our side, Kane?"

"Yeah, they're pretty much the people the guy in the train was looking for.", Kane said. "We need to get them safely out of here too."

The woman in question, Clara, was dealing with the opposition fairly, but it was clear that fighting them and protecting her daughter was turning out to be too much for her.

"Okay, I think I know what to do.", Kane said. "Me and Bickslow distract the people, then Fried uses those wing things he has to take the girl run. Is that good?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me.", Fried said.

"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three."

Kane and Bickslow charged towards the enemy, and Fried yelled, "Dark Ecriture: Wings!" The green haired boy carved runes in the air, before affixing the magically summoned wings to his back, and flying towards the woman. Extending his hand, he cried, "Take my hand!"

Clara caught Fried, but she proved too heavy for the boy to carry, and after barely flying with her for a yard, she slipped away, falling to the ground with Evergreen. The girl, who had been frozen still with fear, flinched for once.

"Mama, are you alright?", she said, attempting to remove her blindfold, but Clara immediately stopped her.

"No! Don't remove that from your eyes!", the woman said, covering her daughter's eyes with the blindfold and then her palm. "You can't."

Fried himself, lost balance, and barely stuck his landing. He felt he had scraped his arm, but that didn't matter for now. As a sword wielding man ran towards him, Fried took him on in a sword fight, and promptly parried his blows.

"Well, whatever.", he said, hitting a blow below the belt, and knocking the sword out of the man's hand.

"Man, there's too many of these guys.", Kane said. "We need something big to stop them."

"Any ideas?", Fried called out. "I can't think of anything at all!"

"Okay. Let me think.", Kane replied. Unfortunately, he had been banking on his first plan, and couldn't quite think of something that would help them get out of the situation. So he began to do what he could do best, and that was fight. His opponents were barely skilled Mages, which meant they were easy to defeat but he couldn't absorb too much Magic from their attacks, and they had a massive numbers advantage.

"Come on, think of something, you idiot.", he muttered to himself, but only one thing came to his mind. "Fried, Bickslow, hit me with your strongest attacks, right now?"

"Why would we do that?", Bickslow asked.

"Because I say so!", Kane said coldy.

"Oh, okay.", Bickslow replied.

"Just go with it.", Fried said. "I think he knows what he's doing."

"Okay, if you guys say so. Baryon Formation, babies!", Bickslow yelled. Fried nodded, before inscribing runes with his sword and firing them towards Kane. "Dark Ecriture: Pain!"

The attacks both struck Kane, as he fell to his knees. For a second, all the people surrounding them stood there stunned, looking at the boys who had just attacked their comrade. Clara, was just as shocked as everybody else.

"What the-", she muttered under her breath, as the crowd cheered.

"These children have overcome their clouded minds!", a middle aged man yelled. Fried and Bickslow looked at each other, confused, then at Kane, who was reeling at the ground, crawling on all fours.

"Uh, what do we do now?", Bickslow asked.

"I have no idea." Fried replied. "Kane? Are you alright?"

The blue haired boy looked at them, with a pained grin on his face. "Back away, now." The boys obliged, stepping backwards, as a man came forward to Kane.

"I hope you've learnt your lesson. If not-", the man was interrupted, as a fist landed on his jaw. He fell to the ground, as Kane looked at everybody around him. The people surrounding him, and rushed in.

"Guys, try and protect Miss Clara!", Kane yelled. "I can hold the fort here!"

"Okay!", they yelled. As the people and the guards rushed in towards Kane, as Fried and Bickslow ran towards Clara.

"Are you boys alright?", she asked, holding Evergreen close.

"Yeah.", Fried said.

"What about Kane, we can't leave him behind!", Bickslow said.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, I'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU GUYS!", Kane yelled, as the crowd engulfed him. "RUN!"

"DON'T BE AN IDIOT, KANE! LET ME HELP YOU!"

"RUN, YOU STUPID MORON!"

Fried gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe how obstinate Kane was being, but he didn't have a choice. He knew they'd have to run.

"He'll be back.", Fried said, as he took to his feet. "Come on."

All four of them began running, but before long, they stopped dead in their tracks. And standing in front of them was the same man who had led the train hijacking. Clara's twin brother, Marlin. He looked exactly like her and his niece, but with shorter hair, and a scar on his forehead. And behind him was their father, the High Priest of the Children of the Mountains.

"End of the road for you, sister.", Marlin said. "You can stop now, and I let the boys go. Maybe I can salvage what's left of their more insolent friend."

"Clara, as your father, and your High Priest, I command you one last time. Stop this madness. Surrender yourself and Evergreen.", the old man said.

"No. Do whatever you want to me, but you will not lay a hand on my daughter's head."

"Clara, you're involving two innocent children in this.", the Priest said. "Think about it for a moment. If we had let your brother, or my sister live, they would have been shunned, through no fault of theirs. Would you want such a cruel life for your own daughter? Is this how I raised you?"

"You never gave them a chance!", Clara shouted. "You just hid behind the tradition because you feared what they could do!"

"And you think it was wrong of us?", Marlin shouted back. "We did it for our people, and we'd do it again!"

"Not as long as I'm alive.", Clara said. "Boys, take Evergreen with you. And whatever you do, don't remove the blindfold from her eyes."

Bickslow was hesitant, but Fried grabbed his hand and Evergreen's, only to find himself slowing down as he ran. Clara saw them, and realized what was happening.

"Motion Magic: Libero!", she yelled, to free the children, but unfortunately, her father had joined the fray. Angered but not defeated, she squared off against them, while trying to protect the kids.

"DURATUS!", Marlin yelled, as he tried to stop her from using her spells by freezing her movements. "You were always meant to be the next Priestess, Clara. And I was always content with that. Because that meant I could answer to my true calling, that of a warrior!"

And it was clear that Marlin outmatched his sister. Trained all his life to crush any rebels in his community, he was a near perfect warrior. And among his few weakness, familial love was not one of them. He would destroy anyone who stood against his religion, be it his sister.

"Marlin, I don't care that you're better than me. Because unlike you, I'm fighting for something I love! You killed my husband, and you may well kill me, but I won't stop until my child is safe!"

"You're insane.", Marlin said.

On the other side, the High Priest cornered the three children.

"Evergreen, my dearest. Please, listen to your Grandpa. I only want the best for you.", he pleaded. "Come to me."

"B..But you're hurting Mama.", she cried.

"Mama is misguided, my child. Please."

"Don't listen to him, Evergreen.", Fried said.

"SILENCE, Boy!", the High Priest yelled. "How dare you try and interfere between me and my grandchild!"

"Bickslow, shield yourself and her.", Fried said. "I'll try and hold this guy off."

As Fried and the High Priest squared off, the boy felt the nervousness returning. After all, he had only ever been on one mission, and right now, he was stuck in a battle of life and death. And though he wanted to run away, he knew that he had to do the right thing. And the right thing at that moment, was to make sure he could get everybody fighting alongside him to safety.

The man easily managed to stop Fried from unsheathing his sword. As for Bickslow, he had placed his dolls in an X-formation, using them as a Shield. However, one of them was free, and could be used as a distraction. Sending it speeding away at the old man, he hoped it would hit him right in the face. However, the old man managed to stop the doll right in the middle of its path, sending it crashing down.

The distraction was enough for Fried to capitalize, and he managed to unleash a melee attack. "Dark Ecriture: Destruction!"

At a little distance away, Kane knew he was being overwhelmed. He had been given a temporary boost, but now, he felt himself getting overwhelmed. As they further engulfed him, the blue haired boy found it difficult to breathe, both because of the people stampeding to get a piece of him, and their repeated attacks. Although they were simple, and near harmless individually, the multitude of people descending upon him made the blows much more deadlier. And his body was absorbing the magic quickly, but he found himself unable to fight back.

Terrified, he felt like screaming out of fear to his friend, but something stopped him, that he couldn't quite comprehend. And as the people continued attacking him, Kane could feel his body continue to absorb the magic, and begin heating up. The burning sensation spread all across his body, as his vision began to blur.

"Let me breathe!", he cried, but nothing came out of his mouth, as everything went black, and his body went numb. "H-"

"I'm gonna die like this!", he thought, as the darkness began engulfing him.

"No, you won't."

"What?"

"You will die if I need you to, boy."

Kane's eyes opened again, as he saw an iridiscent blue light throughout his body, and the temperature of his body continued to rise. And as a feeling of nausea spread throughout him, Kane felt himself explode. The shock was enough to delay the pain for a few moments, as the people around him were sent flying. He laid on the ground, taking deep breaths, as he struggled to his feet. He felt exhausted, desperate to collapse, but Fried and the others battling the old priest caught his eye.

"Shit. Guys, wait up for me! I'm coming!", Kane cried,wheezing, as he tried to run towards them, despite the burning pain in his limbs. Making his way towards the old man, who had managed to soundly defeat Fried. Falling to his knees, he carried on desperately, as he saw the old man kick Fried away, heading towards Bickslow. Feeling the blood trickle down his face, Kane managed to catch the old man by his ankles. The High Priest turned around to see the young boy grab him by the feet. Unpeturbed, he tried to kick Kane away as he had done with Bickslow, but the boy managed to tackle him down. Struggling, Kane brought his fist down on the frail Priest's face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

"Fried, are you alright?", Kane asked.

"I think I've broken a few fingers.", Fried said, on the verge of tears due to the pain. "Oh my gosh, this hurts so bad!"

"Don't worry, we're almost out of here.", Kane said, as he tried to stand up. "You need my help?"

"Yeah.", Fried said.

"Is my Mama alright?", Evergreen asked. And just as those words left her mouth, the four kids heard a woman's scream. They turned around to see Marlin stand over his sister, with a knife in hand, as she lay bleeding out. Despite the boys's attempts, Evergreen managed to remove her blindfold, and was horrified at the sight.

"Mama,no!", the girl cried, and as Marvin looked at his niece in the eyes, his body was immediately petrified.

"What the-", Kane cried. "Close your eyes, Evergreen!"

But he was too late, as Evergreen made eye contact with her mother as well, and Clara too, was turned into stone. This did not go unnoticed by the cult members, who after seeing the legend they had been warned about come true, ran for their lives. Evergreen tried to run to her mother, but Fried caught her.

"Don't look at her in the eyes, Fried! Close them!", Bickslow yelled. Fried immediately followed his instructions, and shut his eyes.

"Let me go!", Evergreen shrieked, as Fried held on to her for dear life.

"Evergreen, no!", Kane placed his hand over her eyes, as she struggled to get free.

"My Mama, what did I do to her?", the girl struggled against the boys's grips. "She needs to turn back, now!"

"Calm down, we can figure something out.", Kane said. "Your Mama's going to be fine. Trust me, and stop struggling. Bickslow, get the blindfold."

"Okay, here you go.", Bickslow said, tying it around her eyes.

"They were right. I'm a freak!", Evergreen broke down. "I'm going to turn everybody into stone, I've killed my mother, I'm evil."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa.", Kane bent down, with some pain. "Don't say that about yourself. You didn't know this could happen, did you?"

"No, but-"

"Look, trust me. Me, Fried, Bickslow, you, we're gonna figure something out. Your Mama's gonna be alright. Believe me."

"How?"

"Somehow. I know."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really.", Kane said, wracking his brains. "Okay, let's lead you back to your mother."

"O..okay."

"Now,look into her eyes again.", Kane said as he took the blindfold off. He was standing behind her, with Fried and Bickslow at his side.

"Nothing's happening.", Evergreen said,. "She's not turning back!" Evergreen almost turned around, but Kane managed to stop her, just in time.

"Okay, there's no need to do that."

"WhatdoIdo?WhatdoIdo?What..", she began panicking, before Kane remembered something Master Makarov had told him.

"Look, listen. Once, my Master told me this. Magic, is an expression of your soul, and you need to have an incredible concentration to make it work. And if you try, and you really, really, really want it, maybe you can turn your Mama back."

"What if I can't?"

"How would you know, if you're never gonna try?", Kane wheezed. The adrenaline had started wearing off, and the pain was returning to his body. "Just try once."

"Okay."

Putting all her willpower into it, Evergreen opened her eyes again, and to her surprise, the stone engulfing her mother began to chip off, and in a few minutes, Clara was back to normal. Well, if normal included the flesh wound on her torso.

"Mama, you're alright!", Evergreen cried, hugging her mother.

"Ever, you're safe. That's all I need to know.", Clara said, embracing her daughter. "I'm so grateful to all three of you boys."

"Don't ment-", Kane grimaced, as he finally passed out.

"Oh my god, where am I?", Kane said, as he opened his eyes.

"W-Wait, you can't jump out of the bed so fast! You've been unconscious for two whole days!", a nurse ran to him.

"Two days? You can't be serious!", the blue haired boy replied.

"You've been healing surprisingly quickly, but we still need to monitor your health. You had burns around your entire body, "

"What happened, how did I get here?"

"You were accompanied to a Rune Knight outpost by a lady and three children.", she said. "Your Guild Master has been informed. He will be arriving soon."

"How are the rest of them?", Kane asked.

"Well,the lady suffered a massive gash on her chest,but she's stable now and the boy with the green hair has a fractured hand. The other two have minor injuries."

"That's a relief.", Kane said. He did feel some pain, but he couldn't stay in bed, despite the exhaustion.

A few hours later, despite the nurse's protests, Kane was out of the room, and went to check the others out.

"Are you alright?", he asked Fried, whose hand was in a cast.

"Yeah. How are you up and about? You just woke up."

"Someone's got to keep a check on you guys.", Kane smirked.

"Don't treat me like a little kid."

"Who was the one crying because he broke a few bones?", the older boy said with a grin.

"Anybody would!"

"Am I?"

Fried couldn't come up with a suitable response, so he decided to scoff and ignore any further attempts at conversation. Kane shrugged, and left to look for Bickslow.

"Man, I need something to tie my hair with.", he muttered.

"Maybe you should get a haircut so you could look like a civilized person!", Fried yelled.

"You're just jealous I have cooler hair.", Kane said, as he found Bickslow, already getting ready.

"Hey.", he said. "Are you fine?"

"Yeah. I didn't get hurt as bad as you guys.", Bickslow said. "You know, I'm thinking of joining Fairy Tail. You guys seem awesome."

"Why don't you come along with us when we go home?"

"No, I was going to my uncle's. I still have some training to complete."

"Oh, that sucks. But do write me a letter when you're ready."

"Yeah."

Finally, Kane went to the third room, and to his surprise, the Master was already there. But there were also some Rune Knights, along with Clara and Evergreen. Kane noticed that Evergreen was wearing glasses.

"Master? You're here already?", Kane asked, surprised.

"Yes. I just found out what you and Fried did to help Clara here.", Makarov beamed. "I'm proud of you boys."

"Thanks."

"Kane.", Clara said, sombrely. "I wanted to tell you that I want you to look out for Ever. I will be going to prison soon."

"Wh-What?", Kane asked. "But why?"

"She has been involved in the activities of the Children of the Mountain for years, and is listed as an accomplice of her family.", one of the Rune Knights explained. "But she has agreed to turn witness, and will be receiving a reduced sentence."

"Oh."

"I'll be back to get Evergreen when I'm out, of course.", Clara said.

"Damn. So, Evergreen, are you okay with this?", Kane asked.

"Yeah. I want to go to Fairy Tail, I heard that you become a fairy when you join! That's so amazing! Did you become a fairy when you joined too, Kane?", Evergreen asked, excitedly. Kane was about to correct her about her misassumptions about the Guild, but then he saw the Master shake his head, so he decided not to.

"Uh, yeah, I definitely did.", Kane smiled uneasily. "But won't you miss your Mama?"

"I will, but she's gonna get out soon, right? I can wait."

The next day, Kane, Makarov, Fried and Evergreen were returning back to Magnolia. This time, Makarov decided to rent out a premium four wheeler, out of concern for the children, thinking they may be reluctant to go in a train given recent events.

"We're there.", Makarov said, as he stopped the four wheeler. Evergreen hopped out, as Fried and Kane followed. Hiding the fact that the landing irritated his ankle more than it should have, Kane grinned.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful!", Evergreen said, as she ran inside. "I can't believe I'm gonna become a real Fairy!"

"Actually, that's just the name of the Guild, we're normal people here.", Fried said, in an extremely matter-of-fact way. "Fairies don't actually exist in real life,silly."

Evergreen stopped dead in her tracks, as Kane glared at Fried, and Makarov slapped his forehead, having forgotten to tell the boy not to bring that up. Fried stared back, unsure of what he had just done to evoke such a reaction.

"What did I say?"

Well, that's it for this arc, and the Thunder God Tribe are almost assembled! Thank you to everyone who read this. Do tell me what you thought in the reviews, because reviews make me very, very happy!