Chapter 4

It has been almost three days since the group was attacked by the bandits. To reach Wendy, they must climb to the summit of the mountain Wendy and Grandine live on. Anna has her arm in a sling, making it all the more difficult to climb the mountain.

"Must she live so far up?" Erza complains.

"Gonna be honest, getting kind of hard to breath." Natsu confesses.

"That's what happens at higher altitudes, air gets thinner." Anna explains, "For Wendy, it's probably good practice to train in this kind of environment."

Erza cranes her head to see Anna better, "By the way, how are you holding up?"

"It still hurts, a lot. I hope it isn't infected."

"Then I hope Wendy can treat infections."

"I'm sure she can, she's really good at healing." Natsu says.

"She better…" Erza mutters.

"Trust me, she can."

Erza jumps at Natsu's response. She did not mean to be heard.

Finally, they reach the summit. The air is as thin as ever, yet there is a calming feeling about the place. It feels nice. The summit is a wide-open plane with a single wooden shack. From within the shack, the group observes a blue haired girl peer out the window.

"Hey Wendy, it's me, Natsu!" Natsu waves at the girl in the shack and wears a warm, welcoming smile, "We need your help with something!"

Suddenly, Natsu begins to feel lightheaded and he stumbles. Erza is quick to catch him and help him regain his footing.

"Breath. In through your nose, out your mouth." Erza repeats at him.

"Natsu! Are you okay!" a young blue haired girl bursts out of the shack and races over to the group. Erza is taken aback by this girl. She was expecting a girl their age, but this girl looked like she's 12.

"Yeah, just…woah it's hard to breath up here."

"I'm sorry!" the girl bows to Natsu.

"Hey, it isn't your fault." Natsu places his hand on Wendy's head and ruffles her hair, "Think you can help us out with something?"

"Um…maybe? What is it?"

Natsu points back to Anna who has sit down at this point. She was clutching her arm and trying to focus on breathing.

"We were attacked a few days ago by bandits and she got hurt. Can you heal her arm?"

"I-I can try." Wendy walks over to Anna and kneels next to her. She stretches out her hand and calls magic to the wound. Clean air circulates around Anna's arm and under her bandage. It feels soothing to her skin and she feels the pain recede away. After a few seconds, her arm feels as good as new. She unwraps the bandage and observes her arm. There isn't so much as a scar to suggest she was injured.

"As good as new." Anna remarks, stretching her arm out, "Was there any infection?"

"Um…I don't think so…" Wendy says as she shies away from the older woman.

"Are you alright, Wendy?" Anna asks, "Oh, my name is Anna Heartfilia."

"E-everything's okay!"

Anna stood up and brought her hands to her hips, "You probably don't remember, but I helped Grandine take care of you when you were much younger."

"You did?"

Anna nodded her head, "I helped raise all of five of you."

"Wait, even Gajeel?" Natsu asks.

"Yes, even Gajeel." She answers, "But that's besides the point. You don't have much experience dealing with new people, do you?"

"N-no."

Anna sighs, "I was afraid of that. Listen, we are on a journey to meet with Zeref on Mount Zonia. We were hoping that you might join us."

"But…what if Grandine gets back and I'm not here."

"I am sure that she will understand. Plus, she's at Mount Zonia as well. We should get there before she leaves."

"Come on Wendy! Come with us!" Natsu begs.

Wendy looks around nervously. It's clear she isn't comfortable with travelling with the group, or rather with Anna and Erza, but she responds, "Okay, fine" nonetheless.

"This will also be a good learning experience for you." Anna added, patting the younger girl on the back.

"I'll go…pack my things." Wendy turns around and begins to run towards the shack. She doesn't make it far before she trips over her own shoes and lands face first in the soil. She remains there for a few seconds in embarrassment.

Erza rushes over to her and helps her up, asking if she is okay.

"Yeah, uh sorry!" She apologizes quickly.

With Erza's help, the young girl gets up and dashes to her home. While she works on packing her things, the rest of the group sits down and takes in the calming atmosphere. They all silently agree that the only thing that could make this better is of the air was not so thin. The three sit so that Erza is sitting relatively close to Natsu, with Anna sitting across from them.

"Are you sure it's safe to bring her with us?" Erza asks, with genuine concern in her voice, "She seems really nervous."

"She's always like that." Natsu informs her, "She'll be fine. She's a Dragon Slayer like me. Trust me, she's really strong!"

"I wasn't really worried about how strong she is, but if you say it's fine…"

"Regardless, this will be good experience for her." Anna adds in, "We shouldn't see an combat that would put her in danger, plus with you two here, we don't have anything to worry about on the offensive side of things."

Natsu and Erza grin at the praise being showered upon them by Anna. They fist bump each other. At that moment, Wendy steps out of the shack with a satchel slung around her shoulder. It is bulging slightly.

"I…I'm ready."

The group stands up and Erza takes Wendy's satchel. She places it in her wagon with everyone else's stuff. With everything all set, the four mages climb down the mountain. They make it to the base just as the sun is setting where there is a large town. The town appears to be slightly run down.

"It's getting late." Anna observes, "Maybe we should stay here for the night?"

"Oh, good idea!" Erza says, "We can stay at an Inn."

Anna nods her head in agreement, and they make their way to the nearest Inn. The Inn they find doesn't appear to be very busy. There are only a few patrons loitering about the lobby. Anna and Erza step up to the main desk.

"Two rooms please." Anna says to the man at the desk.

"For one night?"

"Yes."

"Okay, that will be one thousand jewels."

"One thousand jewels!" Anna cries out.

"Wait, that's a lot." Erza argues.

"Those are the prices ma'am." The man tells the two girls.

"Hold on, do you know who I am?" Erza stands tall and proud, evoking the image of someone important.

"Should I?"

"I am Erza Belserion. The Princess of this great Kingdom that we live in!"

"Yeah, and I'm King Rung." The man replies dryly, "Listen, unless you have proof that you are Princess Erza, full price."

Erza smiles deviously and requips into her standard armor. The man raises an eyebrow at the crest on her armor.

"You know you can be arrested for trying to impersonate royalty." The man explains, "If the princess really was coming to town, we would have been notified of it."

Erza falls face first onto the ground at hearing that. Meanwhile, an exhausted Anna pulls out her purse and fishes for some jewels.

"Professor no, I'll pay." Erza says, throwing her arm in front of Anna, before mumbling, "Don't believe me will you…"

Erza pulled out the required jewels and slammed them on the counter. The man takes the jewels and pulls out two keys. He places them on the counter and the girls take them.

"Okay," Anna says as they walk over to the two Dragon Slayers, "Wendy, Erza and I will share a room. Natsu will have his own."

"Aw, cool!" Natsu celebrates.

"Aw…" Wendy complains.

"Professor, that sounds a little cramped don't you think? Three girls sharing a room? How about I share a room with Natsu?"

Natsu looks up surprised and grins. He wouldn't mind sharing a room with the princess.

Anna chuckles to herself, "Nice try Erza. I'd have to be stupid to let two teenagers of the opposite sex share a room together."

"Wait, why?" asks Wendy, with genuine confusion.

Anna pats Wendy's head as she says, "Oh Wendy, you pure, innocent little thing. Don't worry about it."

Erza groans and looks beady eyed at her Professor. Anna however shows no signs of budging, forcing Erza to accept the decree. Everyone heads to their rooms for the night.

Thank you for reading

Please Review