1 December X774

"So, where do you think you want to go?", Laxus said, as he looked at the job flyer. "There's a job in Stella."

"Stella? That's way too far.", Kane said. "Don't you need to get back for the S-Class exams?"

Fairy Tail, like many other guilds held a yearly examination, where the up and coming Mages would compete for the opportunity to become S-Class Mages. S-Class Mages were allowed the privilege of going on S-Class jobs, considered much more dangerous, but also much more rewarding than normal jobs. It was no surprise that the opportunity to become an S-Class Mage was as demanding as the missions themselves.

"No, I don't think I'll make it just yet.", Laxus said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm far too young and inexperienced."

"I mean, age shouldn't be a problem if you just happen to be that good?"

"I don't think I am."

"Well, what if someone needs to bring you along as their partner?", Kane asked.

"That's unlikely, but yeah, you're right. Let's pick a closer one."

"Yeah.", Kane said. "Well, all of these look to be pretty far away."

"This one's pretty close.", Laxus said, as he picked a flyer.

"Nope. Way too easy.", Kane said, as he pinned it back.

"What's wrong with easy?", Laxus sighed.

"It's boring.", Kane said. "I can get this stuff done in like an hour. I've done like seven or eight of these since I joined the Guild.", he scoffed.

"Well, I mean, you were the one who said we should get this done quickly."

"Eh, I didn't say I wanted this crap. I mean, come on, help some bum get his farm in order? That's a piece of cake, and you know that too.", the blue haired boy said. "You know what was challenging? Escaping from the cult that Evergreen lived in? Or the heist in Cedar? That was challenging as hell. That was fun."

"Is your idea of 'challenging and fun', jobs that land you in the infirmary?", the taller boy chuckled.

"You win some, you lose some.", Kane shrugged.

"I think you might like this one.", Fried said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Where the hell did you come from? Man, you popped up like a damn mole rat!", Kane laughed. "Holy crap, dude."

"You're a doofus, you know.", Fried replied, soured by the joke.

"Oooh, shiver me timbers, little Fried just called me a doofus.", the blue haired boy said, ruffling his hair. Fried pulled away, annoyed.

"Knock it off, Kane.", Laxus said, warning his friend despite the grin on his face.

"Come on, dude, you know I'm kidding.", Kane said. "I'm just messing around, Fried. You don't have to be this touchy about stuff."

"Whatever.", Fried said, setting his hair back in place.

"So, what was the job?", Laxus said, as he took the flyer from the board. "Says here this is from Ghiakori."

"Where's that?"

"Couple hours from train. I've never been there, but it's a mountain town. Pretty great place, from what I've heard."

"Man, it must be freezing there.", Kane said. While Magnolia could be a bit cold itself, it was much warmer than a small town surrounded by snow covered peaks.

"Yeah. But you're the one who was talking about jobs not being 'challenging' enough, weren't you?"

"Yes I was."

"The job offers 120 thousand jewels, and requires the search of some treasure", Laxus said. "Well, that sounds fun."

"Are you going on a treasure hunt? Can I come along too?", Evergreen asked, excitedly, having heard the boys discuss their plan.

"I mean, there's already three of us, and this job looks to be a bit tougher than others.", Fried said. "I don't think that someone should do this as their first mission."

"Did I ask you?", Evergreen said, scornfully. A month back, Fried had been accidentally responsible for shattering Evergreen's belief about the guild, and telling her that the members were in fact, humans and not fairies. She had held a grudge against the boy ever since.

"He's right, as much as I hate to admit it.", Kane said. "Ever, how about this. I come back, and then we can immediately take a nice, easy job so you can show your new skills off." Not satisfied with having a very strong ability, Evergreen had started learning a new kind of magic called 'Fairy Magic'.

"But those are boring! You said so yourself!", she protested.

"Yeah, but sometimes we need to balance the boring with the fun.", Kane explained.

"I've been bored here long enough."

"I'll be back in a couple days at most."

"Please."

"Hey Kane, we can take care of her.", Laxus said. "She can come along with us."

"She's nine, Lax. That's way too young. You started at ten."

"Well, what age did you start at, Kane?"

"This year. I mean, I don't know how old I exactly am, but you know I'm older than you."

"How are you so sure? Maybe you're just a really tall five year old."

"That's not a bad guess. You really do be-", Fried said, but caught Kane glaring at him. He hesitated for a second, but decided to go ahead with his quip anyway. "-have like one."

"Don't listen to him. Evergreen, your Mama said I have to take care of you, and I can't have you getting hurt, okay?"

"Pleeeeeeeease.", she said, as her eyes began to water up.

"Come on..", Kane said, before caving in. "Okay, fine.", he sighed, as Evergreen's spirits immediately lifted.

"But you have to be next to Fried, okay? Me and Laxus are gonna have to do the heavy lifting here."

"With HIM? No!", she said, pouting. "I don't need him to watch over me. I can take care of myself."

"Kane, I'm not going to babysit some dumb brat just because you told me to!"

"Okay, guys, we haven't even left yet. Let's just calm ourselves down.", Laxus said, calmly but forcefully. He knew that his three friends could get out of hand while arguing, and someone would need to step up. But Laxus was optimistic that despite the little flareups, they could work well as a team.

"You guys heard him.", Kane said.

Soon enough, they were back on the train, again. A Mage often had to travel around the country, and sometimes overseas for their jobs, returning to their Guilds for some short rest, before heading out again, and the young Fairy Tail members were no different. They would usually spend half the week on jobs, and the others at home.

"Well, those are our seats.", Kane said, sliding in. Laxus and Evergreen sat in front of him, while Fried sat beside him. Soon enough, the train's engine roared, indicating the start of the journey.

"So, Kane-", Laxus asked, but the blue haired boy was already asleep.

"How does he even manage that?", Fried said, nudging Kane, who refused to wake up. "This happens everytime we're in a train!"

"Or in a 4 wheeler.", Laxus added. "Or any moving vehicle, I guess."

"That's..so strange."

"Eh, well, I guess.", Laxus shrugged. "So, Evergreen, how has Fairy Tail been?"

"It's been okay."

"Just okay?"

"It's good enough for a guild, to be fair.", she said. "Not quite up to my standards."

"Oh.", Laxus chuckled, surprised by the girl's standoffishness. "What don't you like about it?"

"I know what she doesn't like.", Fried interrupted. "What she hates about this guild is that-"

"The people are literal savages who spend the day fighting and drinking. It's noisy, it's irritating, and it's definitely no place for someone who's in the least bit serious about being a mage. But at least everyone here is nice enough despite their wild behavior.", she said, crossing her arms. "I bet none of that crossed your mind, Fred."

"I..actually agree with most of that.", a slightly dumbstruck Fried said. "And my name's Fried. NOT Fred."

"That's surprising, you happen to have a level headed opinion."

"What does that mean?"

"Guys, guys. You don't have to fight.", Laxus said, trying to play the part of peacemaker, hoping they would listen.

They in fact, did not.

"She started it!", Fried yelled.

"Me? You did! No one was talking to you, because no one likes you!", Evergreen yelled back.

Unfortunately, Laxus's attempts at trying to subdue the squabbling kids had no avail, and after an hour of the two yelling, other passengers staring a hole into the Lightning Mage's soul, and Kane sleeping blissfully unaware of the situation, Laxus finally snapped.

"I SWEAR IF YOU TWO DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW, I WILL THROW YOU BOTH OUT OF THIS WINDOW RIGHT HERE. AM I CLEAR? NOT ANOTHER WORD.", he yelled. angrily striking his hand back and tearing a small hole in the wall behind him. "I'VE BEEN PATIENT FOR TWO HOURS, BUT IF YOU THINK THAT I'M JUST GONNA SIT HERE, AND LET YOU TWO SCREAM YOUR LUNGS OUT, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!"

The soft spoken, friendly teenager's angry tirade was enough to shut them up. And while his usually easygoing nature often belied his size, and while he was a bit lean, his five foot six frame was clearly much, much larger than that of a boy his age.

"O..Okay, Laxus.", Fried squeaked.

"What did I say about shutting up?", Laxus said, rising to his feet

When Kane woke up three hours later, he rubbed his reddened eyes, as he looked at Laxus, who was staring at the two, kids, who were glaring at each other, but scared to say something out loud.

"Long journey, huh?", he said groggily. "Bet they bickered all the way."

"Just what makes you think that?", Laxus asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, kids can be little shits. Bet these two really pissed you off, eh?", Kane shrugged. "Also, those are grown up words, Ever. You're not supposed to say them."

"You're not grown up, either.", Fried remarked in a small voice, while Ever simply nodded.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I guess we should get off the train now.", Laxus said, as he got up. "We need to get to the job done."

As Laxus walked out, Kane looked at him, slightly puzzled. It wasn't like his best friend to be so angry. But it was probably some mild irritation. Getting up, he looked at the two younger mages, who were still frightened.

"Wonder what happened to these two.", he mused, as he followed Laxus. "Are you two good?"

"Y..Yeah.", they both said.

"Wow, did you guys seriously manage to piss him off?", Kane laughed. "How?"

"It was nothing.", Evergreen said.

"God, that's hilarious.", Kane continued laughing. "What did you say, Fried?"

"I didn-Why is it automatically my fault?", Fried asked.

"Well, I just happened to notice that back in the train, you were the first to break your silence when I woke up, and Laxus glared at you. So I guess your obsession with trying to get the last word just happened to get on Lax's nerves.", Kane said in a smug, matter of factly way.

"I don't have an obsession with ANYTHING!", Fried yelled. And at that very moment, Laxus turned around, with a an angry frown on his face. Fried immediately shut up. This caused Kane to laugh more, and his laughter only added to Laxus's irritation, who said nothing, mainly because he didn't want to ruin his mood, and the job.

"Frickin' amazing, dude.", Kane chuckled, slapping Laxus's back. "You see the look on her faces?"

"Let's just focus on the job.", Laxus said, feeling a little guilty for yelling at the kids, but having decided not to apologize just yet, leaving them to stew for a while.

"So, should we hire a 4 wheeler or something?", Kane asked, looking at the flyer again. " The place is a couple hours from here."

"I'll go find one.", Laxus said, as he left for the parking lot.

The others would wait for half an hour, when Laxus returned, with a disappointed look on his face.

"None available?", Kane asked.

"None at all."

"Damn.", the blue haired boy said. "I guess we'll have to walk there all the way. I wonder how these two are gonna manage that."

"I know a way.", Laxus said with what could only be described as a deadpan frown.

"Oh my gosh, this was exhausting.", Kane panted, as Fried and Evergreen jumped off. "Why didn't you carry one of them on your back?"

"I wasn't the one sleeping on the train, conserving energy.", Laxus said dryly.

"You know that 'sleep' doesn't help me at all.", Kane protested.

"You'll be good, don't worry."

"No, I don't think I-", Kane was interrupted by Laxus hitting him with a thunderbolt.

"Better?"

"Yeah.", Kane said.

"Good.", Laxus shrugged, and headed to the village. However, Kane stopped him.

"Are you good?", Kane asked. "You haven't been normal, you know."

"What do you mean, I haven't been normal?"

"I don't know, you feel on edge, kind of."

"That's some crap.", Laxus assured him. "I'm fine."

"You don't feel fine, br-"

"I am fine. That's it. Let's get to the job."

Kane stared at Laxus, then shifted his gaze to the kids. There was no way that THEY were responsible for his terrible mood, right? Something seemed fishy. But Kane couldn't quite put his finger on the pulse.

The client was the mayor of the mountain town of Ghiakori. As Laxus knocked on his door, he expected some security guards to open the door. Instead, it was a middle aged man in a well fitting suit.

"How can I help you?", the man asked.

"Yeah, we're uh, the Mages from Fairy Tail. ", Kane said.

"Oh, do come on in, please.", the man said.

The four entered the humble abode. While the town was once a prominent mining town, the deposits of iron had depleted, leaving it impoverished in a matter of decades. And the mayor himself living in a tiny cottage was no surprise.

"I must say, I did not expect all of you to be so...young.", the man said. "I don't mean that you won't be able to complete this job, but it is dangerous."

"Don't worry about it, we can take care of ourselves.", Kane said confidently.

"My friend's right. It's just a treasure hunt, isn't it, Mr..."

"Gellani. Joss Gellani.", the man said. "And it isn't just a treasure hunt. I also need you to look for someone, and if possible, find him."

"Who?", Laxus asked.

"My son. You see, we had heard rumors of there being a fabulous treasure hidden in the mountains by one of my ancestors. After the town began to fall into disrepair, my son, deciding to help cover our debts, set off with a group of friends to find the treasure." He spoke, as the children looked on, intrigued.

"This was seven months ago. My son, Emen, would be celebrating his 25th birthday today, in fact."

"But he went missing soon after. He got separated from the rest of the group. Soon, they could neither find my son, nor the treasure he was looking for.", the man said, with a grave expression. "I don't know if he's still alive. But if there's even a small chance, please do find him and bring him back."

The young mages sat on the couch, stunned. Laxus looked at his comrades, then the grieving father.

"Please, don't be disheartened, Mr Gellani. We'll find your son and the treasure."

"Thank you..but if there's any significant danger you children face, please, turn back and return. I'll compensate all of you as best as I can. A young life is worth more than all the money in the world, and I can't be responsible for directing the same misfortune to others, as has happened to me."

"Okay."

"Also, it's nearly sunset now. I'd like to tell you that the mountains are unsafe at this time of the day.", the man said.

The next day

"Get up, Kane.", Laxus said, motioning the boy to get out of bed.

"Is it morning already, damn."

"It's sunrise. We should probably get in and out of those mountains as soon as possible.", Laxus said.

"Sure.", Kane said. "Anyway, I had something to ask you, Lax."

"What?"

"You seem to be on edge, kind of. Are you good?"

"This again?", Laxus grimaced. "I said I'm fine."

"Are you sure about that? You don't lose your temper, and whatever Fried and Ever did, I don't think that-"

"So what are you saying, huh? I can't get mad about anything?", Laxus said, getting more aggressive. "It's not my job to be a mascot because everybody else can't get their shit together!"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm the hell down, dude.", Kane said. "You don't act like this normally, man."

"Okay, look, I'm sorry I lost my temper, it's just that- Just forget it."

"Sure. Keep your head screwed on tight, man.", Kane said, as he went out of the room. He didn't know what was up with Laxus, but he hoped his friend would get over it soon enough.

A little while later, the four were ready to leave, as the mayor began giving them directions.

"Now, we believe that the treasure should be somewhere in a cave a few thousand feet above. You should be careful around that particular area, the tiny rock path is very, very narrow.", he said. "And I remember that my son left something behind to act as a marker during his expedition. It was this red flag, that would help us identify his path if he didn't come back home."

"Okay.", Laxus said. "You guys got that right? Let's go."

"Also, please take some more warm clothing with you. Those mountains are freezing."

"No, we don't need any of that.", Kane said.

"Are you sure? You're not wearing anything at all."

"I mean, a scarf and a light coat would do.", he shrugged.

A while later, they were all out at the foot of the mountain, staring upwards. Kane looked upwards, in awe of the size.

"Whoa."

"How long do you think it's gonna be?", Evergreen said.

"I don't know.. several hours?", Kane said. "I'm not carrying you up a whole mountain."

"Aww..",she said, visibly disheartened.

"Nope. I like you, but I like my spinal cord more.", he said. "Anyway, if you don't think you're up for it, you can go back."

"Of course not!", she snapped back. "I'm gonna do this job, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah, I would like it if you did.", Laxus said, regretting taking his anger out on Evergreen and Fried, and trying to cheer them up. "We could use some help."

"Yeah, sure.", she said.

"So, you got the map with you, right, Fried?"

"Yeah. Says here we're about...two miles from the mountain top, and one and a half miles from the cave.", Fried said. "We need to head north-east-east."

"Which would be?"

"Right in front."

"Just say that. Who even knows North-east-east?", Kane quipped sarcastically. "Anyway, are you guys good to go? Charge me up, Laxus."

"Sure.", Laxus said, hitting Kane with a particularly large thunderbolt, causing him to stagger. But Kane was back on his feet soon enough, and ready to find the gold hidden in the mountains.

"Are you good, Kane?"

"Yeah."

"Let's do this.", Laxus said, extending his hand in for a fist bump. Kane smirked, and the others joined in too, seeing him.

"Also, I'm sorry about what happened yesterday.", Laxus said. "I was in a bad mood, I shouldn't have taken it out on you guys."

"Are you sure you're okay?", Kane asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay, so let's make our way up there."

"Also, make sure you guys keep your eyes shielded. The sun gets in your eyes bad when you're climbing up."

The three nodded, and began their ascent. Soon enough, it became apparent that the climb upwards was a long one, and they may, or may not have underpacked for their journey. 'At least we have enough warm clothes, and no one's gonna catch a cold.', Laxus thought, relieved. And then he heard Kane sneeze.

"Bless you.", Evergreen said, as Fried cringed.

"The man told you to take some more clothes."

"I don't need one. We'll all sneeze a bit, but it's gonna be fine."

"Kane, we haven't gone up too far. You can run back and get something to wear."

"It's only gonna slow me down."

"You're gonna get sick, and then-"

"I'm not, trust me.", Kane said, before sneezing again. "Sorry, don't worry. You guys won't see

"Well, okay then. You're responsible for your health, if you're so adamant on ruining it."

Another hour of walking had tired them out, and Fried laid down on the snow, cold and exhausted. Laxus sat down beside him, as they saw an obviously shivering Kane, and a frustrated Evergreen follow them.

"How f..far are we?", Kane asked.

"We're just an hour or so away.", Fried said, trying to get himself to get up again. "At the rate we've been going."

"An hour?", Evergreen cried, collapsing on the snow herself. "This stinks!"

"Don't worry, we're gonna get there.", Laxus said. "All we need is a little res-Kane, where are you going?"

"I think I saw something.", Kane said, before kneeling downwards, and revealing a little red flag. "That's our landmark."

"Are you sure? That's not what it says on the map.", Fried called, jumping to his feet because of the sudden news.

"Well, why did he leave the flag here?"

"It might have blown off! You can't be sure!"

"Hey, looking for it might help.", Kane said. "I mean, what's the worst that could ha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The boy's screams echoed, as he fell down into the abyss. The three young mages ran towards him, only to see him rolling down, out of their site.

"KANE!", Evergreen screamed.

"Who was that? Who the hell was that?", a deep voice spoke. Laxus turned around, and saw a grotesque, simian figure with white fur come out of the shadows.

"Vulcan?", he whispered, holding Fried and Evergreen close.

"Make that VULCANS.", a second voice said, as two more Vulcans appeared.

"Oh shit.", Laxus said.

Well, the kids are in a very tight spot, and that is excluding Kane himself! Find out what happens on the next chapter of-

Wait, sorry. I don't have the cool voice for this.

But anyway, we've been through 12 whole chapters! Thanks to everyone who followed, faved and reviewed so far. It means so much! As is the case, do leave some much needed constructive criticism!

AB Out!