Another night had passed, and several members of Fairy Tail were already active this morning. Gajeel, Flare, and Juvia had brought Wally back to the guild with them. At the time, they didn't have any specific plans for what to do with him. Taking him just seemed like the thing to do, especially since none of them really trusted the magic council at that point.
At the moment, Gajeel, Juvia and Flare were gathered together in a room to talk. Not with each other though. They were there to talk with Wally, who was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. To be more accurate, he was tied to the chair. Even though he didn't appear very dangerous on his own, they decided to be cautious. The three mages watched him.
Juvia stood near the door, slightly leaning against the wall. Flare sat on a large crate, taking turns watching everyone else in the room. Gajeel stood nearer Wally in the middle of the room, looking down at him with arms folded.
"Hey, wake up." Gajeel said, kicking the chair. Wally had been sleeping, despite the morning sun coming in through a window in the room.
"Wah?" Wally said. He looked up at Gajeel.
"Yeah, its me again." Gajeel said. "You get a good sleep last night? Hope so, because we've got to talk now." Wally didn't answer. He just looked from Gajeel to the other two, but without seeming like he was directly focusing on any of them.
"So…" Gajeel said. "Undead, demon, whatever the hell you are. What's your story? Tell us about how you got mixed up with these people from Bosco. You and your brother." Wally didn't answer. He didn't seem to be paying attention to Gajeel. At least, until his brother was mentioned. Wally jerked his head a little at that.
"Yeah, your brother." Gajeel said. "Why are you two working with them? I'm guessing its got something to do with the way you look right now. Is that right?" Wally glanced at Gajeel for a moment, grunted, and then turned away again.
"Maybe he can't answer." Juvia said.
"He can talk." Gajeel said. "We heard him before, remember? He just doesn't want to talk. I guess we need to persuade him." Gajeel took a step closer to Wally, and cracked his knuckles.
"Oooh, can I help?" Flare said. She hopped off the crate onto the floor, and stretched a little. "I was starting to get bored, so I wouldn't mind having something to do."
"Sure, why not?" Gajeel said.
"I'm starting to think the two of you bring out the worst in each other." Juvia said. "You're not actually going to do something heinous, are you?"
"Maybe just a little." Flare said, walking over next to Gajeel. "I mean, its not like we're going to kill him or anything. We're just going to show him how serious we are. Right?" Flare turned to Gajeel. He nodded.
"You said it. He's got to have at least a few answers."
"It still sounds… questionable." Juvia said. Gajeel turned to look at her.
"We did a lot of 'questionable' things when we were in Phantom Lord." He said.
"We're not in Phantom Lord anymore." Juvia said. "Or Raven Tail." She looked at Flare as she said this. "Fairy Tail is supposed to be better than that."
"Wasn't this one of the guys who kidnapped Erza?" Gajeel said. "He ain't exactly innocent."
"Yes, but…" Juvia said. "He's not the same now. He's been changed. He doesn't seem all there."
"Really?" Gajeel said. "Do you know that for sure? These guys aren't always what they seem to be. Remember that little girl who pretended to be all innocent, and then brought down an attack on the guild?"
"Yes, but that's not…" Juvia started to say. She was interrupted by Flare.
"Hey, I know how to settle this." She loosened her hair. She walked closer to Wally and put a hand on his shoulder. Her hair lifted in thick strands, and the tips ignited. Wally visibly recoiled, at least as much as he could while tied to the chair. "Just give me a few minutes, and we'll see what he knows. Fire is very effective. Promise it won't be permanent though."
Wally didn't seem comforted by that last thought, his eyes now focusing on the fire. His mouth gaped. The fire came closer. At that moment, the door to the room flew open. The sound startled everyone, and they all turned to look. Mirajane walked into the room unannounced.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Nothing bad I hope." Mirajane said cheerfully. Gajeel and Flare, her hair still aflame, looked over at Mirajane without saying anything. "You know, I heard you guys took in a prisoner from your little adventure." Mirajane continued. "So, I decided the best thing to do was tell the master, since I'm sure he'd want to handle that personally." Makarov entered the room from behind Mirajane. Flare's flame died out, and she began awkwardly retying her hair. None of them had told the master what happened. They hadn't intended to keep it from him, but it was late by the time they got back, and most of the guild was asleep. Gajeel had suggested they talk to the master after they spoke to Wally privately. Mirajane had obviously beaten them to it.
"I want to congratulate the three of you on completing your mission, and bringing back a prisoner. Good job." Makarov said. His tone was light, but his expression was serious. "Mirajane and I will take over from here, you three can go now. That being said, I'm going to have to have a talk with all of you later." He said this last part humorlessly. Gajeel, Flare, and Juvia all took this as a sign to leave, and filed out of the room, leaving Mirajane and Makarov alone with Wally. Mirajane shut the door. She then pulled up a chair and sat down across from him.
"Hi. Wally, right?" she said. "Do you remember me? I'm Mirajane. We met once. After… the Tower of Heaven." Wally winced at her mentioning the tower, but otherwise did not answer her. He struggled against the ropes, obviously wanting to be untied.
"I'm sorry, but we can't untie you." She said. "Too risky." While she didn't agree with whatever Flare and Gajeel were about to do, she still didn't trust Wally enough in his present state to untie him. "Look, we can help you, but first you need to help us." She continued. "We just want some answers." He looked up at her, looking a little less guarded.
"Wally, can you tell us what happened to you? I mean, how you got like this?" she asked.
Wally looked at Mirajane vaguely. "Life bond." He said.
"Life bond?" Mirajane said, raising her eyebrows.
"With Richard." He said. "Keeps me alive. Make me stronger."
"Really?" Mirajane said. "Is that how Lisanna…" she muttered. "But, why are you… changed? You're part demon. And… you had died, right?" She said this last part softly, trying to put it delicately, but finding it difficult to do so. "How did that happen?"
Wally looked down at the ground. He grunted, and then said, "Don't know."
"You don't know?" she asked.
"Don't remember." He said. "I don' t re… member." He looked like he wanted to cry. For a long moment, no one said anything.
"I'm sorry…" Mirajane said. At that point Makarov stepped forward.
"Let's try a different approach." He said. "I know this is hard, but I want to ask you about Boudica."
Wally looked up. "Boudica." He said.
"Yes. Can you tell us what she's planning? Do you know anything?"
Wally scrunched his face, either in confusion or frustration.
"Let me ask you again." Makarov said.
"Master, maybe we should…" Mirajane began, but Makarov held up a hand to cut her off.
"Listen to me, Wally. What does Boudica want? Do you know?"
Wally's face changed again, but this time looking like he was trying to think, but maybe not doing the best job. "She told Richard." He said.
"What did she tell Richard?" Makarov said.
"She… she wants to be…"
Just then, the door to the room opened. It was Jet. "Hey master, there's someone here to see you." Makarov turned around, annoyed.
"Is it someone from the Shadow Kings group?" he said.
"Well no, but its-" Jet started to say.
"Then tell them to come back later." Makarov said. "I'm in the middle of something."
"But master…" Jet said.
"Leave, now." Makarov said in a tone that indicated he was not going to argue.
"Yes master." Jet said, and shut the door again. Makarov sighed. He turned back to Wally.
"Wally, what were you about to say?" he said. Wally looked confused.
"Say?" Wally said. Makarov rubbed his head. Wally had apparently lost his train of thought.
"Yes, about Boudica, what she wants?"
"Uh…" Wally said. "Boudica…"
The door to the room suddenly opened again. Makarov turned around.
"Damnit, Jet!" he said. But it wasn't Jet standing in the door. It was Lahar from the magic council. As he stepped into the room, a few rune knights accompanied him.
"Its not polite to keep a guest waiting, master Makarov." Lahar said.
"What do you want this time?" Makarov said. Mirajane stood up and took her place at his side.
"That's simple." Lahar said. He pointed to Wally. "We want him."
"For what?" Makarov said.
"He is a criminal, and a danger to society, and we intend to take him into custody."
"I don't really think that's necessary." Mirajane said.
"Then why do you have him tied up?" Lahar asked. Mirajane had no response.
"You can have him after we're done with him." Makarov said. "He might have information we can use."
"Frankly, I don't care." Lahar said. "This is not a negotiation. Step aside."
Makarov was becoming angry. "You said the council wasn't going to get involved with our affairs."
Lahar sighed. "I said the council wasn't going to do anything to help your guild. We're not here to help you."
"Obviously not." Makarov said.
"Are you going to comply, or are you going to make this difficult?" Lahar said. The were several rune knights gathered around, and likely more outside. Makarov knew that if he chose to defy them, then the rest of the guild would join him in fighting them. However, he also knew that this wasn't the time to make that sort of stand.
"…Fine." Makarov said. He stepped aside, and Mirajane followed suit. The rune knights gathered around the prisoner, removed him from the chair, restrained him again, and then escorted him out of the room and out of the guild, without saying another word. It was all quick and efficient. After they had left, Makarov and Mirajane stood there at the entrance, other mages looking on.
"That could have gone better." Mirajane said. Makarov nodded.
"We'll have to be more careful about the council from now on." He said.
"I have to find him." Hoteye said. He stood in the war room with Boudica. It was later that same day, now in the afternoon. The two of them were alone for the moment. Hoteye had insisted that Boudica speak with him, and here they were. He was uncharacteristically agitated and upset, while Boudica remained more calm, standing across from him with arms folded.
"We can look for him together." He continued. "We can take one of the airships, and some extra people, and we'll find him. One of those guilds we fought must have him now."
Boudica answered him calmly. "Yes, they do. Or rather, they did. He's now in the hands of the magic council of Fiore."
Hoteye was surprised. "How do you know that?"
"We have ways of finding these things out. Trust me, they have him."
"Then let's go get him." Hoteye said.
"I'm afraid not." Boudica responded. "They have an army of rune knights. Rescuing him would take time and resources, which frankly we can't spare at the moment."
"What are you talking about?" he said. "He's my brother. And there's the life bond. He'll die without me. You know that. I can't just leave him. You can't just leave him. Not after everything I've done for you."
"What you've done? I gave your brother new life. You owe me. Besides, you knew there would be risks involved. This is a war, after all. You agreed to have him be a soldier." She said this all in a matter-of-fact manner.
"I don't think you would be talking like this if it was your family instead." Hoteye said. He was becoming visibly upset.
"If one of my family were captured, I wouldn't expect Arnok or Yoshimoto to rescue them. I would take care of it myself." She continued to stand impassively while he fumed. Hoteye paced back and forth.
"You won't even give me an airship?" he said.
"We only have the one at the moment, and can't spare it. I can give you a few of the experiments, if that will help. That's the best I can do right now."
"A few of the experiments?" he said incredulously. "Forget it. I'll do it myself!" He stormed out of the room without saying another word. Boudica sighed. She walked over to a window and looked out on the landscape. After a minute, she could see Hoteye leaving the building and running off somewhere.
"Can we come in?" a voice from behind Boudica said. She turned around, and saw Seraiisa and Torq at the doorway. Boudica smiled a little.
"Hey." Seraiisa said. Torq bowed his head respectfully.
"Hello yourself." Boudica said.
"Still busy?" Seraiisa said. Boudica shook her head, and gestured for them to enter.
"You said earlier there was something important you wanted to tell me?" Boudica said.
"Yeah, I know you've been busy." Seraiisa said. "But I think you'll want to hear this. It's about Alrace."
"What about Alrace?" Boudica said, folding her arms again.
"Well…" Seraiisa told Boudica what had happened the night before, and the interaction she and Torq had with Alrace. Torq nodded and gestured at certain points to go along with her. Boudica listened, less than pleased.
"He's still interfering with Lisanna." She said. "I have so many things to deal with right now. We're going to be expanding further into Bosco soon, and need everything organized for that. I need to focus my attention there. Nonetheless, I'll need to have a talk with him. Thank you both for letting me know, and for watching out. I'll take care of this right now."
"See you later, Mom." Seraiisa said as Boudica left the room.
Alrace sat on a bench in a communal space on the first floor of the grey building. There were more than a dozen other people around, sitting and standing. They were all listening to an elder of the followers speaking about Boudica, and their lives and goals.
"Together we'll make the world a better place." The man said. "We can all work together to make the world into a better place, like it always should have been." He wasn't as charismatic as Boudica, but the others seemed to enjoy listening to him. Alrace sat and slowly nodded at what the man was saying.
"Through Boudica's wisdom, mercy, and compassion, we will all live happy and healthy lives." The man continued. Right after he said that, Boudica herself entered the room unannounced. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked to her. She quickly locked eyes with Alrace, and walked over to him. He stopped breathing. She stood over him.
"Stand up." She said. He did as he was told. Even as he stood, she towered over him. "Alrace, you were with Lisanna last night."
He wasn't sure if she intended that as a statement or a question. Either way, she stared at him, making him uncomfortable. "I… yes." He said, looking away.
"You went to Natsu's quarters." She said.
He nodded, avoiding eye contact. "Yes." He said. To his surprise, she put a hand to his cheek and started stroking it, gently.
"Your reason?" she said.
Alrace fidgeted. "Well, I like Lisanna, and l-like s-spending time with her."
Boudica was sure that he did like her. If she thought that there was something romantic going on between Alrace and Lisanna, and nothing more, she would let it drop. However, she was aware that Lisanna had feelings for Natsu, and Alrace was not at all desirable as a romantic partner. Besides, she was also aware that Alrace had been speaking with Natsu, and trying, with varying success, to keep it secret.
"The three of you are trying to hide things from me." She said. "I don't like that." She continued stroking his cheek, in a motherly fashion.
"I, no I…" he said. She put a hand on his shoulder. She gripped it hard. He was frail, and it began to hurt.
"Alrace, listen to me. I am very busy right now, and don't have time for this. Do you enjoy living here? Look around. I've fed you, clothed you, given you safety and comfort. I ask little from you in return. Just loyalty. And you can't even give me that?" She didn't raise her voice, but spoke in a firm, almost hard tone. "I have given you all this, and can take it all away from you just as well. But because I'm so generous, I'll give you one last chance. Focus on your simple tasks, and your simple life. If I need you for anything else, then I'll call on you. Until then, stay away from Natsu and Lisanna. Their affairs are not yours. Do you understand?"
She gripped his shoulder even harder, but while also still stroking his head gently with her other hand. He quickly nodded and stammered that he understood.
"Good." She said. She released him. She then turned to the elder who had been speaking. "Forgive me for interrupting you, child." He bowed to her.
"There is nothing to forgive, mother." He said. Boudica then turned and left the room, leaving Alrace standing there, shaken. He looked around the room. The others were all watching him, glaring. He felt that he was no longer welcome, and stumbled out of the room.
The day passed by quickly, and it was dark again. Lisanna sat alone in her room, preparing herself to meet Natsu. Her clothes and other personal items were scattered about the room. That wasn't part of any preparation though. She had recently been going through her things, trying to figure out how much of it fit who she really was, and how much didn't. She was getting a better idea of who she was, and consequently who she was becoming. But she wasn't all the way there yet.
The hour to meet with Natsu was near. He had said he wanted to see her at a specific time, in a specific place. Which was unlike him, now that she thought about it. Then again, Natsu had been doing a number of things that she would have considered to be unlike him in the past. She wondered if he was trying to figure himself out too. She also wondered exactly how much he had changed. She remembered him describing his encounter in the cave with that… thing. It asked Natsu if he would be willing to risk the lives of innocent people to bring his friends back. A grim question. He said yes. Natsu knew Boudica and the others were dangerous. Or at least, he had no reason to believe he should trust them at that time. But he made his choice. A grim choice. Lisanna could understand Natsu making that choice in the heat of the moment. But he didn't seem to express any real remorse or conflict over it.
Natsu was never good at expressing his feelings though. Other than anger. She thought to herself. She recalled there were a few parts in the text where he couldn't articulate what he was feeling in certain moments. Maybe that was why he didn't talk about regretting his choice. And yet, there was still a nagging doubt… She shook her head. I'll ask him about it later. Right now, I need to get ready. Can't waste any more time.
She stood up, and mentally focused. She knew that if she simply walked out of her room to meet Natsu then there was a decent chance someone would see her. So, she had to be sneaky. She had prepared for this. Even before Natsu's message, she had been trying to figure out a way to sneak out of her room when she needed to. She had noticed there was a hole in the corner of her room. A small hole, that mice sometimes came through. And on a couple occasions a rat. The normal thing to do would be to fix the hole. But it could serve her purpose. She had seen the rat going in and out, and got an idea. Many of her forms were big, or at least her own human size. But she did have a couple that were small. A small rat form would be good for sneaking. She recently acquired a new form from the rat, hoping it would be small enough. After trying it the first time, it was indeed much smaller than herself, but still a little bigger than a normal rat. She didn't bother looking at herself in a mirror, assuming that her new animal form would be somehow creepy or unsettling like most of her other forms. Regardless, it was time to really put it to the test.
Lisanna quickly transformed, getting on all fours. She was now a rat-thing. She had taken the precaution of widening the hole a little, which helped. She still had to squeeze through though. Inside was a somewhat larger area inside the structure, between the floors and walls. It was naturally quite dark, but she could use her whiskers to feel her way around. She began finding her way to where Natsu would be waiting for her below.
Boudica sat in the gloomy war room, Angel and Cobra standing before her. They had come to see her over what they considered to be an urgent matter.
"Hoteye is gone." Cobra said.
"He barely said two words before he left." Angel added. "He only said that he was going to get his brother back. I didn't even know he was missing."
"I know where he is." Boudica said. "The magic council of Fiore has him now."
Angel looked surprised. "Well… shouldn't we help him? Send troops, and an airship?"
"We're not ready to make that kind of move yet." Boudica said. "We are powerful, but we still need more time to fully gather our strength. Then we'll take care of all our enemies."
Angel shifted slightly. "Well, that does make sense. But still…"
"Richard is one of us." Cobra said. "I don't like letting him go on a suicide mission like this."
"He's an adult, and can make his own choices." Boudica said simply. "I advised him not to go, and he didn't listen. Whatever happens is his own fault."
Angel and Cobra stood there, absorbing this. After a moment, Cobra said, "Is his brother even still alive? They need to be close to each other, right? Otherwise Hoteye's brother dies."
"He is probably still alive for the moment, albeit weakened." Boudica said. "By the time Hoteye reaches him though, it will likely be too late."
The two former Oracion Seis didn't look pleased to hear that. "So, we're just writing them both off then? That's it?" Cobra said.
"You all knew there would be risks, as there is in any war." Boudica said.
"Yeah. Right." Cobra said. He walked out of the room, leaving Angel and Boudica. Angel watched him leave, and then turned back to Boudica.
"You did the right thing." Angel said. "I believe in you."
"That's good." Boudica said. "Its important to look at the bigger picture, instead of always focusing on what's right in front of you. The others don't understand that, but you do. That's why I always trusted you more than them. Never change that."
Angel smiled at the praise, and seemed to forget about Hoteye. "Of course."
After crawling through the insides of the building for a longer time than she intended, Lisanna arrived at the room Natsu had mentioned in his note to her. She was still in her rat form as she entered the room. She was being cautious in case there was someone other than Natsu there. As she walked into the room on all fours, she noticed someone standing against the pulpit. They were leaning against it, looking down at her. She froze, not able to make out who it was in the dim light.
"That you, Lisanna?" the other person said. Lisanna quickly recognized Natsu's voice. She sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness its you." She said.
"A green rat this time, huh?" he said. "I kind of like it."
"I'm green?" she said, not pleased to hear that. I bet I look ugly. She thought to herself. She quickly changed back to her human/demon form. Natsu stepped away from the pulpit and moved towards her. She took a step forward, but stopped herself. There was a part of her that wanted to hug him. But this wasn't the time for that. Besides, after some of the things she had read in Natsu's journal, questionable things he had done, she needed some time to decide how she felt about that.
"I'm glad you came." Natsu said.
"Of course I did." Lisanna said. "We really need to talk."
"Yeah." He said. He looked unsure for a moment, but then resolved. "Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'll just say it. I've been thinking about killing Boudica."
This was what Lisanna had suspected. She understood why Natsu felt that way, but…
"Honestly, Lisanna." He continued. "To tell the truth, I probably would have done it already if it wasn't for you. You and Erza. I don't want to lose you again, and I haven't even gotten Erza back yet. And… you don't want to die, right?"
"Of course not." Lisanna said.
"Right. So, what do you think I should do? I can't keep going on like this. It's been too long, and I'm just fed up with it. If I wait a little longer, will I get Erza back? Will Fairy Tail get her back, I mean? And you… how do you feel about it?" Natsu held his head, obviously trying to contain his emotions. Lisanna sighed heavily.
"I'm sorry about everything you've gone through, Natsu. I'm sorry you had to make the choices you did. I can only imagine what you're feeling. But right now, you want to know what I think? I think we need to get out of here, and go home."
Natsu looked at her, with a pained expression. "Go home." He said quietly.
"Back to Fairy Tail." She said. "Where our family is waiting for us."
"Our family…" Natsu said sullenly. "I don't think they're waiting for me. I think I could do more good for them fighting here than going back there. I feel like its time for me to do what I should have done a while ago."
Lisanna felt her chest tightening. It seemed like she wasn't getting through to Natsu. She didn't have Mirajane's way with words. She didn't think Natsu wanted to die. Not really. And she knew he didn't want her to die either. But his mental and emotional state was so screwed up that he was starting to lose sight of things. I need to get him to listen to me. How? She didn't think she would be able to just use reason and logic to get through to him. Natsu wasn't that kind of guy. He was very emotional. Emotional. Maybe…
"I have to do this." He said, becoming more determined. "Too many people are getting hurt, and its all my fault. I've got to fix this. I'm sorry, Lisanna." He started to turn.
"I don't want to die, Natsu." Lisanna said in a desperate voice. Natsu froze. "Please Natsu, I don't want to die. I want to see Mirajane and Elfman again. And they want to see me again. They'll be heartbroken if I died again."
Natsu slowly turned. He looked pained, and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could say anything, Lisanna persisted. "And I don't want you to die either! I care about you, very much. I'm sure Happy wants to see you again, too." Natsu put his head in his hands. He looked distraught. Lisanna knew that appealing to his emotions was the best way to get through to him. Not that she didn't mean what she was saying. It was true that she didn't want to die, and didn't want him to die either. Truthfully, the thought of Natsu dying pained her more than the though of herself dying. After all, she had already died once. She still felt like she was manipulating him a little. Which she did feel bad about, but if it prevents Natsu from committing a murder-suicide, then she'd live with it.
She walked up to Natsu and lightly grabbed his arms. He looked at her, obviously conflicted. "Listen to me, please." She said. "Even if you killed Boudica, there would still be the other Shadow Kings, and the whole army they've gathered. And she might end up killing you, and me, before you can even do anything. But if we go back to Fairy Tail, we'll be able to stop them. Fairy Tail was always stronger fighting together, remember?"
Natsu closed his eyes. He said nothing. "Natsu, trust me on this." She continued. "I've always trusted you, and I'm asking you to trust me now. I believe with all my heart this is the right thing to do. I want to go home." That last part was said with full conviction. Natsu slouched, looking like he was losing a fight. And yet…
"If I said yes to this, then how long would it take?" he asked. "How long until we can get out of here? Weeks? Months? Because I've got to tell you, I can't wait that long. I just can't."
As Natsu said this, Lisanna recalled how distracted Boudica had been lately. She was planning to go on another attack in a few days, and for this mission she hadn't asked Lisanna to come along for some reason. Maybe because it would mean Lisanna being farther away from Natsu for a longer period, and Boudica didn't want to risk it. Lisanna looked Natsu in the eyes. "What if I said a few days?" she said. She briefly explained Boudica's immediate plans.
"When she's gone, that will be the perfect time to escape." She said. She said this confidently, even though internally she wasn't really confident about this plan at all.
"So, how are we getting out of here?" he said.
"I'll work on that." She said, her uncertainty starting to show through a little.
"We could always just fight our way out." He said.
Lisanna looked to the side. She knew that since Fairy Tail's foray into the valley, the few exits in the valley were more heavily guarded and harder to access. "I'd like to try something different." She said. "Just trust me, I'll think of something. If my plan doesn't work, then we'll do it your way. Okay?" Natsu nodded.
"Okay." He looked her in the eye. She looked back. For a moment she thought he would kiss her. Instead, he hugged her, tight. She reciprocated. She had been uneasy about hugging him, but it still felt good. After a long moment, he pulled away a little, and looked at her again.
"In case things go bad, I want to tell you something." He said. "I have to tell you-"
Lisanna put a finger to his mouth. "Tell me after we escape." She said softly. Natsu looked uncertain, but then said, "Okay." They hugged again, this time more softly. She still had questions to ask him, but those would wait for another time. Escaping was the top priority. Internally, Lisanna knew that she would have to come up with a good plan very fast. It would be one of the hardest things she ever had to do. She prayed to whatever gods were out there that they would both make it out alive, and back to Fairy Tail.
End Notes: Things have been busy. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.
