Fairy Tail S

by ZenkaiPower

For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ

15. Chapter 14

Chapter XIV: A Dream of Late, Part 2

Meanwhile, on Earth…

In a field barely a mile from the Son family homes, a lightly bruised Natsu Dragneel plopped down onto the grass with a tired yet satisfied sigh.

"Hah, you weren't kidding when you said you kept up with your training, Luce. I actually broke a sweat."

Hunched over slightly just before him, a similarly bruised and exhausted Aquarius-form Lucy Heartfilia was still catching her breath as she replied dejectedly.

"You say that… like it's a compliment…"

"That's 'cause it was." He assured her sincerely, "Your technique has gotten a whole lot better, and you're way stronger than you were a couple years ago. If I hadn't been learning how to keep up with ridiculously strong guys like Goten and Trunks, you might've given me some serious trouble."

Turning back into the celestial spirit clothing she borrowed from Horologium, Lucy quickly joined her partner in flopping down onto the grass just as Happy landed before them, retracting his wings as he added his own remarks.

"Well, from what I saw, Natsu was clearly holding back."

"Yeah, but that's the whole point of sparring." The pinkette replied plainly, "You don't have to go all out to learn something from it."

"I'm just glad you haven't learned how to use that ki stuff like Wendy has." The blonde commented next, smirking as she did, "'Cause if you had, poor Happy here'd be pretty much useless."

Laying all the way back the next second, she ignored her feline friend's annoyed glare while Natsu chuckled at their interaction.

"Hah, don't worry little buddy, I don't care if you're useless or not."

"Thanks," Happy replied with a vaguely sour tone, "I guess…"

Patting his tomcat companion reassuringly the next second, Natsu's gaze happened to wander towards Lucy; and he found himself scanning her over the next second, starting from the first part his eyes landed on before working his way back. Her dirt and grass-stained boots covered most of her legs, except for the small portion of her thighs her blue and white short skirt left exposed. After that was her belt with the Fleuve des étoiles handle and key pouch fixed at either side, and then there was her strapless white and blue dress, which hugged her whole frame tightly as she finally brought her breathing under control; and he absentmindedly watched her chest rise and lower a few times before finally glancing further upward. Once Lucy laid down, she had lazily dropped one hand behind her while she put the other under her head for support; and although he wasn't thinking anything perverted as he looked her over, the sight of her still slightly red-faced with her eyes closed, hair undone, and her arms splayed out was enough to spark a mental image or two. As soon as she opened her eyes again just to meet his gaze, she smiled; and the simple act was enough for him to look away with a pink tinge to his own face.

"Huh?" She wondered quietly, "Natsu, were you just-"

"N-Nope, not at all!" He answered a bit too quickly, "I dunno what you're talkin' about."

"Then how did you know what I was gonna ask?" She questioned him with an evil grin.

"He was totally checking you out." Happy sold him out.

"Now who's the traitor?!" He whined immediately while Lucy giggled at the flustered expression on his face.

"Your face is almost as pink as your hair, Natsu." The tomcat noted amusedly, "You must've been thinkin' some really dirty thoughts…"

"Yeah? Well," The dragon slayer replied defensively, crossing his arms and looking away as he did, "You keep tryin' to get me in trouble, and I ain't gonna take you fishing later!"

Giggling again as Happy began to sputter at that response, Lucy listened to the two argue back and forth for a minute before she realized she had actually started to cry.

"Aw, now look what ya did!" Natsu complained at Happy as soon as he saw their partner attempting to dry her eyes, "You made Lucy upset!"

"No, Natsu, that's not it." She explained as she sat up and crossed her legs, "It was just… Seeing you two argue like this again, it brought up some really good memories. That's all."

"So they were the good kinda tears?" The fire mage double-checked cautiously, "I didn't say anything bad, or nothin'?"

"Not at all." She assured him with a warm smile.

"Even though he was eyeing you up like a total perv?" Happy added curiously, prompting a warning glare from the pinkette while Lucy simply giggled once more.

"Hehe, no. Even that, I don't mind." She admitted honestly, "As long as it's Natsu, anyway…"

"Gross." The feline groaned while Natsu gave her a slightly surprised look, "Just don't start making out in front of me or something. I dunno if my stomach could take the abuse…"

"Ha, well," Natsu chuckled amusedly, subtly leaning to his right and reaching for Lucy's left hand as he did, "I make no promises, little buddy."

Accepting Natsu's hand and scooting closer to him the next moment, the celestial mage visibly brightened a bit as she smiled and giggled at Happy's disgusted expression; but before she could add her own comment on the matter, she and Happy ended up almost jumping in surprise as Son Gohan suddenly appeared before them.

"Hey, guys." The demi-Saiyan greeted them amiably, "Sorry if I scared you."

"I-It's fine," Lucy quickly reassured him, "That ability of yours is just gonna take some getting used to. Again…"

"Do you ever accidently catch people coming out the shower and stuff?" Happy wondered aloud, "'Cause I feel like that could happen a lot."

"Heheh, fortunately, I haven't." Gohan chuckled with a scratch of the back of his head, "I think my dad's had a few awkward run-ins, though."

"But I don't think you came here to tell us about those, did you?" Natsu remarked rhetorically before actually asking him, "Videl send you to tell us lunch is ready?"

"Pretty much," He answered with a nod before moving to sit cross-legged before them and adding, "But we've still got a few minutes to kill, if you guys don't want to walk back, anyway. I was hoping we'd take the time to catch up. I realize I hadn't really asked how you've been after all that mess with Cosmos and all."

"I'm doing pretty great, and especially with these two bein' here." The Salamander replied happily, "And it looks like things are goin' great for you too, with that halo not hanging over your head anymore."

"Ha. Yeah, I'm back to growing old like everyone else is." Gohan affirmed amusedly.

"Old? Whaddaya talkin' 'bout?" Natsu matched his humor playfully, "You're not even in your thirties yet, Gohan."

"And yet he and Videl're working on their second kid," Happy added jokingly, "Considering all that talk we heard at dinner last night."

"Haha… yeah…" the demi-Saiyan laughed weakly, awkwardly scratching the back of his head again as he did, "Sorry if that put you off or anything. "

"It was fine. I mean, you two had to make Pan somehow." Lucy assured him considerately, "And besides, we're all adults here. Except for Happy, anyway."

"Hey," the feline pouted in response, "I'm past the legal drinking age, in cat years!"

"Heh," Gohan chuckled again, "Well, you three have certainly grown up a bit too, in your own ways. Actually, maybe just you two… Happy, you're almost exactly how I remember you from a couple years ago."

"Erhm…" the tomcat groaned faintly, "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not…"

"Honestly, I think he was just stating a fact." Lucy suggested with a smirk, "But don't worry Happy, I'm sure Carla thinks you've grown up a bit, at least."

"Oh?" Natsu's ears almost twitched with interest as he noticed his feline friend tense up, "And what does that mean, Luce? Did he finally work up the guts to ask her out again, while I was gone?"

"H-Hey, Natsu!" Happy whined aloud, "You promised you'd never tell anyone about that!"

"Oh come on, little buddy," the fire mage nudged him playfully in response, "It's not like your crush on her is a big secret or anything. So come on, gimme the details."

"There's no 'details' to share." The tomcat admitted bashfully, "For all I know, Carla's probably more into Lily than she is me…"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you." Lucy pointed out thoughtfully, "I mean, it's Lily she's spent a lot of her free time with. What, with you two running errands and cleaning house together… All that was her idea, wasn't it?"

"Sounds like 'loooove' to me." Natsu imitated Happy teasingly, prompting the feline to cross his arms and look away defensively.

"Oh, would you two quit it?" He insisted quietly, "You guys are just messin' with me, and I know it."

"Alright, believe what you want, I guess." Lucy gave up tauntingly before Gohan tried to encourage Happy as well.

"Well, I dunno how much my opinion would be worth here, but Carla's got a real motherly attitude towards Wendy; and she's not gonna relax until she's sure Wendy is safe and can take care of herself."

"And what does that gotta do with me?" Happy wondered naively.

"Think about it, dum-dum," Lucy chimed in with playful sincerity, "The more Wendy grows up, the more free time Carla's gonna find herself with. And the more free time Carla has…"

"The more my chances to go out with her… go up." Happy concluded consideringly before suddenly realizing he was a bit surprised, "But waitaminute… you gotta be leading me on here or something. You've never tried to give me actual dating advice before, Lushi…"

"That's not true at all." She corrected him, "I've tried to help you out tons of times, but you just always assume I'm making fun of you."

"R-Really?" The feline asked, sounding as hopeful as he was surprised.

"She sounds pretty serious to me, little buddy." Natsu observed aloud.

"So…" Happy deduced tentatively, "You're saying that I might actually have a chance?"

"As far as I can tell." Lucy affirmed honestly, "Just keep doing what you've been doing, and with a little bit more time, I'm sure she'll come around."

Wanting to thank her for her encouraging words, yet still wary of a possible teasing to follow, Happy ended up simply giving Lucy an appreciative smile before Gohan changed the subject, this time catching both Natsu and Lucy by surprise.

"And speaking of people going out, did something happen between you two last night? I didn't want to say it front of Videl when we were eating breakfast, 'cause she might've made a big deal out of it; but your scents were all over each other this morning."

"So you noticed, huh?" Natsu replied, blushing and scratching his neck as he did, "I shoulda figured we couldn't keep it secret around here."

"Secret?" Gohan repeated the word curiously, "So, you two finally got together after all. But why are you trying to keep it a secret? I'm pretty sure half the guild thought you two were a couple already…"

"Oh. Well, that's…" Lucy tried explaining, only to quickly realize Happy was sitting right between them all, "We've got our reasons…"

Natsu made eye contact with Gohan before subtly gesturing towards Happy, and the demi-Saiyan soon connected the dots.

"Oh… Okay, I think I get it. You can consider your secret safe with me."

"Thank you, Gohan." Lucy replied gratefully, "But uh, just so you know… if a few things work out like we hope, you won't have to worry about keepin' this to yourself for long."

"And I'm sure they will." the demi-Saiyan smiled with well-concealed relief, "But until then, you three are more than welcome to stick around for as long as you need. Guildmates or not, you guys'll always be like family to us."

Wanting to thank Gohan again, yet feeling he didn't have enough words to properly describe his gratitude, Natsu could only join Happy and Lucy in smiling back at the demi-Saiyan for a moment before the raven-haired warrior started to stand up as he changed the subject again.

"Now with all that said, how's about we grab some lunch?"

Meanwhile, in West City…

Trunks Briefs was on his way out the door of his mother's lab when he jumped a bit in surprise, having walked right into his fiancé almost halfway through the door; and the two ended up grabbing each other by the arms as soon as they had bumped into each other.

"Ah, Trunks!" Lisanna started with a pleasantly surprised tone, "Perfect timing, I was just coming to get you."

"And I was just stepping out to look for you." He replied while briefly enjoying the feel of her arms in his, "So what's up? Something come up, or…?"

"No, it's nothing like that." She informed him before adding, "Although, I haven't heard from Master Iga in a while, so that's a little worrying…"

"If something's happened, I'm sure he can handle it." He assured her before leading her just outside the doorway, which closed automatically behind him as they continued to speak.

"I know. And I wasn't looking to talk about him anyway." She agreed as they went from holding each other close to simply holding hands instead, "Actually, I was just thinking we should go out and get some lunch. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Without you? No way." He confirmed with a warm tone, "Until we head back to Fairy Tail, today's our day, remember?"

"Hm," Trunks quickly kissed her on the lips before she replied with a playfully skeptical tone, "And is that why you were just working in the lab with Bulma again?"

"I only stopped to help her for minute." He explained honestly, "That teleporter she's trying to design is quite a doozy. But actually, I spent most of the time working on this."

Seeing him dip his right hand into a front pocket of his blue C.C. jacket only to reveal a small silver ring the next moment, Lisanna instantly grabbed his hand with both of hers as she quietly gasped with surprise.

"I played around with a few fancy looks for it," He continued to explain his efforts while she sniffed and struggled to hold back tears, "In the end though, I decided something simple would be best. I mean, everything else we have around here is so expensive and flashy, and I imagine our wedding is gonna be like that too… But it just felt kinda wrong to give this the same treatment. So… I'm sorry if you were hoping for something… a bit more-"

"No, Trunks, this…" She quickly cut off that train of thought, "This is perfect. You even made it from scratch, didn't you?"

"That's right," He confirmed with a sigh of relief, "Mom helped me get the sizing right, but otherwise, it was all me. I even cooked up the diamond right here in the lab. Here, check the inside."

Finally letting him go only to let him turn the smooth and brightly polished single-stone ring slightly over between his index and thumb, Lisanna once again had to bite back some tears as she saw the inside, where she read a tiny inscription just under the diamond that read 'Trunks+Lisanna' in script font.

"Oh, Trunks…" She sighed quietly as she finally failed to keep her tears from falling, and she immediately wrapped both arms around her fiancé's neck to reel him in for one deep and meaningful hug, "I love you so, so much!"

"And I you, Lisanna." He replied after securing the ring in his hand and happily returning the hug, "Way more than you could ever know…"

Standing there together in the hallway for a few seconds, the two slowly parted just for Trunks to nimbly reach for her left hand and hold it up between them.

"And now for the moment of truth," He thought aloud with vague nervousness, "Let's see if it actually fits…"

Watching and feeling him carefully slip the ring over her finger, the takeover mage was smiling from ear-to-ear well before she noted that it was a perfect fit; and as she looked back up to her lover the next moment, she had to stifle a giggle at the cute and slightly worried expression on his face.

"How is it?" He asked carefully, "It's not too tight, is it?"

"Not at all." She assured him with a quick shake of her head, "It's perfect in every way."

"R-Really?" He asked again nervously.

"Really, really." She nodded fervently as she wiped her face clean with her free hand, only to quickly take that hand and place it on his chest the next moment, "Now, come here and kiss me again, you big, brilliant, goofball."

Not needing anymore of an invitation, Trunks brought his free hand to the back of her head just as he brought his lips against hers; and the two kissed each other passionately for a few seconds before the sound of someone clearing their throat pulled them out their reverie.

"Oh, hi Dad." A slightly embarrassed Trunks quickly greeted the frowning Saiyan Prince, "I-I-I mean, Father… Are you looking for Mom?"

Nodding curtly and quietly, Vegeta seemed to be staring directly through the young couple as he glanced over his pink-faced son and his teary-eyed, smiling, soon-to-be daughter-in-law; and Trunks couldn't help but feel a bit nervous with the whole interaction.

"W-Well, she's still in there, working on the teleporter…" He explained to Vegeta before politely offering, "But uh, if you need help with some repairs to the G.R. or something, I could help you out, all the same…"

"That's unnecessary." The Saiyan grunted in response, "And even if it were, it would appear you have your hands full anyway."

"Hehehe, yeah… you're not wrong there." Trunks rubbed his neck awkwardly while Lisanna simply smirked and squeezed his free hand that she held between them, "But um, you'll be glad to know: I already got to work on mastering that new technique you showed me. I just gotta test it on Master Iga, the next time I see him."

"Mm." Vegeta grunted again, this time adding no other words to indict his opinion on the matter, "And aside from that, is there any other reason you're still in my way?"

"O-Oh, right! Sorry." Trunks quickly recovered from his stutter, and he and Lisanna quickly turned aside to stand with their backs to the wall just left of the door, "But while you're in there at some point, can you tell Mom I said thanks for the help, and that everything worked out just fine? I know it sounds kinda vague, but she'll know what you're talking about right away."

"I suppose I could pass it along." His father agreed curtly, and Trunks seemed to relax visibly upon hearing those words.

"Thank you, Father." He replied gratefully before adding, "And um, we'll be heading back to Earthland in a few hours, so if we don't see you before then… Consider this a pre-emptive goodbye for now."

"Hopefully, the next time we meet," Lisanna added positively, "It'll be after you've taught those Keepers a lesson or two, like I'm sure you will.

"Now come on, Trunks." She quickly turned to her fiancé the next second, "We gotta get cleaned up if we wanna go somewhere nice for lunch; and we've already wasted enough time as it is."

"Right," He agreed with a quick nod, "Lead on, babe."

Pulling Trunks by the hand past Vegeta the next second, Lisanna waved a quick goodbye to the Saiyan Prince before both quickly strode down the hall and around the corner. And having watched the pair depart all the while, Vegeta waited for them to be clearly out of earshot before finally letting up his usual tough-guy façade.

"Hmph," He chuckled with a proud, amused, and faintly annoyed smirk, "Damn brat just had to go and one-up me, making a gift like that for his mate…"

Making a mental note to prepare for his wife to throw that exact thought in his face at some point in the near future, Vegeta pushed a button on the right side of the door, prompting it to slide open before stepping through and letting it close behind him.

Meanwhile, on Earthland…

The Flame God Slayer Zancrow was currently laying stretched out semi-comfortably atop the king-sized, obsidian-framed bed of his private quarters within the Domus Flau; but despite however relaxed he felt, he still couldn't help but feel a bit lonely without his pink-haired paramour lying beside him, as Merudy had left nearly an hour ago once they shared a lunch. Since that point, he had quickly checked on the changing of the current guard before returning here to relax and finish digesting his meal; and he was only a few minutes away from getting up and going off to train on his own when a portal suddenly opened up on the wall to the right of his bed.

"Well, you certainly seem to be getting comfy here." Edo observed amusedly as he stepped out of his closing portal and into the room, "You even furnished the place and everything…"

"And good afternoon to you too, Master." Zancrow greeted him with a vaguely annoyed tone as he slowly sat up, "Now what the hell do you want from me?"

"Hm, as direct and to the point as ever." The dark god chuckled back, "Very well, I'll get right to it then.

"First off," He continued as he casually explored the room, "I came to tell you ahead of time that we'll need to gather what's left of the Twelve together tonight. There's a few things we need to clarify for them, apparently; and I'll be depending on you to ensure they all make it to this little meeting we'll be having.

"Second, I came here to inform you that we'll be making a few changes to the Twelve's roster in the coming days. Two of the originals are now dead, and there's one or two more problem children that'll require replacing in due time; so I recommend not getting too attached to any of them.

"And thirdly, speaking of problem children… I was hoping you'd do me a favor and 'entertain' this one for me."

Waving a hand lazily as he spoke, Edo opened a new rift in the ceiling, out of which a severely broken and badly beaten Larcade Dragneel came falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"As you can see," Edo pointed out as he resumed making his request, "Time in the Shadow hasn't done poor Larcade here any favors; so I figured he'd enjoy a change of pace for a bit. Instead of continuing to be Cel's training dummy, I thought he might be more useful in your hands."

"You did?" The fire wizard replied curiously, "This poor half-dead bastard didn't even have the strength to cover his face before it smashed into the floor just now. What makes you think he'll be of any help around here?"

"He is weak, that is true; but his physical strength is irrelevant here." His master explained next, "A puppet doesn't need muscle to move under its master's strings; and frankly, I don't care how rough you get with this particular pet, as long as you don't kill him before our meeting tonight, that is…"

"And this meeting you keep mentioning," Zancrow wondered aloud, "Is it going to be a public execution or something?"

"It's possible." Edo answered coyly, "Why? You're not feeling sorry for this miserable creature, are you?"

"Heh, very funny, Master." The god slayer chuckled, "No, I was merely wondering if I should bring along some popcorn for tonight."

"I see." His master smirked again before carrying on with the conversation, "Well, entertaining execution or no, I'd like for you to take this little pet of ours out for a walk or two. And make sure the others here see it when you do. It'll serve as both a warning for them, and a little bit of a litmus test for us."

"Hmph, let me guess," Zancrow chuckled again, "We'll gauge the reaction of the others once they see this sad insubordinate sack of meat; and hopefully, that'll hint at how many more of these 'problem children' we have."

"Huh, so you have been learning from me after all." Edo noted with vague pride, "In all honesty, I'd been worried you weren't listening to me as of late. And you know how much I hate forcing people to listen…"

"Indeed," Zancrow chuckled in response, "That's not the sort of 'captive audience' you prefer."

"Heh. You're even making the jokes before I can." Edo noted with clear amusement, "Now I'm worried I've started to become too predictable. Or maybe complacent…"

Saying nothing as he didn't feel like brown-nosing, Zancrow simply returned Edo's smirk before the dark god continued to speak.

"But alas, that's a 'me' problem, as they say; and I'm sure you've more than enough issues on your plate as it is. Especially considering I just dropped all this right onto your lap."

"It's more than Precht ever gave me," The yellow-haired man admitted plainly, "Both in respect and responsibilities, I mean."

"And your gratitude is appreciated." Edo replied in turn, "Even if our arrangement includes your trying to kill me when you get the chance, I still know I couldn't have picked a better right-hand man."

Once again Zancrow chuckled and allowed his master to continue talking.

"And having said that, I'd like you to know that you will be the one running this little 'meeting' of ours tonight. All the killings, judgements, accusations… I want you to be the one to do them. These fools need to learn that it's not just me they need to fear. I am the Master of the God Slayers, to be sure; but you, for all intents and purposes, are the new Emperor Spriggan. After tonight, even the great Black Wizard Zeref will be reduced to nothing but merely another addition to the list of our playthings."

That trailing thought alone was enough to make Zancrow grin like an evil idiot. He had buried it deep down, but he still felt a strong desire to avenge his own death. And although total revenge was off the table, given Zeref's cursed immortality, the idea of being able to toy with and torture the man to his heart's content was certainly quite the consolation prize. He knew his lover would likely be ashamed of him for thinking it, but there was still more than enough hate and resentment towards his killer for him to stuff that thought further into the back of his mind.

"So," Edo asked amusedly, "I take it that you'll be looking forward to tonight, now?"

"You bet your ass I am, Master." The god slayer affirmed with a brief nod.

"Perfect." The dark immortal replied pleasantly, waving a hand and reopening the portal he had entered the room from as he did, "And now with all that out of the way, I can turn my attention to other pressing matters. Like reiterating to our dearest Cel the importance of having patience…"

"Heh, good luck with that one." Zancrow scoffed, and Edo smirked once more as he stepped towards his reopened portal.

"Indeed, I'm sure I shall need it." He admitted honestly, "My entertaining her advances has seemingly gone to her head quite a bit. It seems even dark gods aren't immune to dating issues…"

"Love bites us all on the ass eventually." The fire mage remarked musingly, "Even if some of us can't feel it when it does."

"Yes… I suppose you're right." Edo agreed after putting his back to the portal, "That a lesson learned from that lovely pink-haired woman of yours?"

"I was paraphrasing," Zancrow revealed with a shrug, "But yes, Meldy has said something similar before."

"Well then," Edo replied politely, "Do be sure to pass along my thanks to her, for teaching you such comforting words."

"No offense, Master," Zancrow pointed out amusedly, "But I'm pretty sure your gratitude would actually just annoy her."

"Ha, you're probably right. Her and the rest of Jellal's band seem to despise me the most." Edo admitted again before finally stepping back into his portal the next moment, "But nevertheless, these are the roles we were all meant to play. Have good luck with yours, Zancrow; and I'll see you later tonight."

"Until then, Master." The god slayer bowed slightly, and he held that posture until the dark rift before him closed. Turning around the next second, Zancrow looked past his bed to notice that Larcade had already drug himself halfway to the door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" He demanded pointedly, and the demon named Dragneel instantly froze on the spot, "Come here, now."

Not waiting for his captive to listen, Zancrow raised his right hand towards Larcade as he ordered him; and the powerless White Magic user suddenly found himself standing up and walking backwards with a strength that clearly wasn't his own. A couple seconds passed before Larcade had reached the foot of the bed, and he was forcibly brought down to both knees just as Zancrow smugly sat down right before him.

"Re… Release… me…" He begged his captor quietly, "Please…"

"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen." A darkly amused fire mage told him flatly, "We've got important plans for you; and for that pissant 'father' of yours. Letting you go now would put everything I hold dear in jeopardy. And let's be honest… living for four-hundred years is a pretty good run, all things considered. You've been more than happy with sending souls to the other side for quite some time now, so what's the point in hesitating now?"

Unable to find an answer that wouldn't make him sound pathetic, Larcade could only stay silent in response.

"Hmph, at least you're smart enough to realize it." Zancrow concluded with a smirk, "The shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it? You've killed so many people, all to obtain the love and respect of one that will never love you… It's quite pitiful, if you ask me. But don't worry, once all of my master's plan is completed… you, your father, and every other Zeref-worshipping bootlicker will all be reunited in Hell soon enough."

Standing up and stretching a bit the next moment, Zancrow forced Larcade back onto his feet before speaking again, starting to walk to the door as he did.

"Now, how's about we go on that walk, little doggy? Let's try and see just how many of your colleagues actually feel about ya, once they learn how low the great Etherious, Larcade Dragneel, has fallen…"

About thirty minutes later, in the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…

"I'm telling ya, this kid is so manly!" Elfman half cried drunkenly as he held up a mug full of ale, patting Son Goten on the back and sloshing his drink around as he spoke, "The guy's strong enough to save the whole town all on his own, and yet he's still not satisfied with the results of his training!"

Sitting with Elfman to his left and Wendy to his right, Goten did his best not to look embarrassed with being the center of attention; but despite his best effort, he realized he failed as soon as his girlfriend giggled at the cute and bashful expression on his face.

"Don't get me wrong though, I am very happy with how far I've come." He politely downplayed the uber-muscled wizard's praise, "But I was just saying, there's always gonna be someone that's stronger than I am."

"Hah! Stronger than you?" Elfman scoffed honestly, "Outside of your family, I seriously doubt that, kid."

"I think what Ten-kun means," The Sky Maiden chipped in helpfully, "Is that there's a difference between feeling satisfied and becoming complacent."

"Exactly." Goten agreed gratefully, "Thank you, Wendy."

Watching the two share a brief smile, Kinana passed Cana another drink just off to their right as she spoke up next.

"And now I see why you two are Mira's OTP… You've been together again for a little over a day, and you're already putting words to each other's thoughts."

"It's adorable, honestly." Cana agreed before tilting back her new drink and downing it all in a few gulps while the others quietly laughed at the couple's embarrassed expressions.

"But speaking of Mira," The card mage wondered as she silently signaled for another refill, "Where has she been hiding all day?"

At the far left end of the bar, Laxus seemingly flinched at the topic; but he was lucky enough to be surrounded by his teammates as he did. In particular, he was grateful for Freed and Evergreen, who just so happened to be sitting between him and Elfman when the topic of Mirajane was brought up. The only one who noticed the flinch was Bickslow, who was currently leaning onto the left side of the bar; and no one could see it, but he was currently giving his team leader a curious stare as the conversation continued around them.

"She's at home, probably." The bartender guessed as she took Cana's mug back again, "All I know is that she left a note here, saying she needed the day off for some reason."

"Weird." The card mage replied curiously before looking to Elfman, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know if your sister's back at your house, would ya?"

"Not really." He answered with an honest shrug, "I know she left the house before I did this morning, but I've been busy training up until that big-ass meteor fell outta the sky."

"And you didn't go check on her after seeing all that go down?" Cana wondered accusingly, "What kinda little brother are ya?"

"Hey, I was worried!" He quickly defended himself, "But when Erza blew that thing up, I didn't see any of the debris flying toward our house; and, I remember what happened the last time I bothered her on a day off without a good reason."

"A frickin' meteor nearly obliterating us sounds like a damn good reason to me." The card mage remarked pointedly, "And besides, we all know Mira doesn't usually take off work so suddenly like this. She could be sick or something."

Finally having heard enough of Cana's worrying to feel the need to speak up, Laxus surprised most of the group by doing exactly that.

"She's not sick, but she probably is still at their house." He explained as casually as he could, "I spent the night here last night, and I talked with her when she came in this morning. She said she had trouble sleeping last night; and she clearly wasn't lying, 'cause she ended up falling asleep right in front of me. I woke her up, helped her write the note; and then I walked her back home, since she was too stubborn to stay here and rest up in the Recovery Room."

"So that explains why I can still smell her scent here." Wendy observed aloud as she quietly examined the inside of the mug between her hands, "It's very faint, and covered up by a lot of booze, but I could tell it was on you."

"You walked Mira back to our house?" Elfman repeated for clarification.

"That is what I said." The lightning wizard replied dismissively, "Isn't it?"

Feeling a bit intimated, Elfman backed off; but Cana on the other hand, was a still a bit more curious.

"Still though, you walkin' her home wouldn't be enough to keep her smell on you for this long, would it? She'd have to have been like, leanin' on you the whole way or something. Ain't that right, Wendy?"

"Maybe…" The bluenette speculated, with her first word prompting Elfman to stare at Laxus with some suspicion before she continued to speak, "But if he was downwind, she could've just been walking close to him, too."

"Yeah?" the brunette replied with interest, "How close?"

"What does it matter how close we were walking?" Laxus demanded annoyedly, "I was worried about my friend, so I made sure she got home alright; and that's all there was to it."

By this point, Bickslow had quit leaning onto the bar so he could scratch his chin in thought while he and Cana continued trying to read Laxus' expressions; but the rest of the group seemed to be a bit more ready to move on from the conversation.

"You're being too nosy, Cana." Gildarts finally spoke up from his seat to his daughter's right, "And besides, we've got much bigger issues to worry about anyway."

"Like how we're gonna get Gray and Juvia back." Goten added thoughtfully.

"And didn't you hear what that strange and shirtless man had said about them?" Evergreen questioned him skeptically, "It sounded like they really don't want our help."

"Maybe," Wendy conceded before pointing out, "But even if they won't say it aloud, they still want our help. If they wanted to really cut ties with us, they'd have taken off their guild marks by now."

"But from how this Iga explained it," Freed added worryingly, "Gray's mental state started to unravel when Edo forcibly activated his Demon Slayer magic, and Juvia's moral compass has seemed to have been flipped, as it were… The longer it takes for us to find a way to defeat Edo, the less likely we are to convince Gray and Juvia to return to us."

"That doesn't matter either." The Sky Maiden insisted calmly, "If it comes to that, we'll handle it just like Natsu-nii or Erza-san would: We'll beat some sense into them."

"Now that's a plan I can get behind." Gildarts agreed while lifting his mug up as if he were toasting to that very idea.

"Wendy's grown up to be so manly…" Elfman remarked proudly while both her and Goten awkwardly sank in their seats to the amusement of the others beside them.

"Thanks… Elf-san." She forced herself to sigh politely while Goten finished scratching the back of his own head awkwardly.

Wanting to correct him for his over-use of the word 'manly' for the umpteenth time, but also realizing the futility of such an act, Evergreen only rolled her eyes at the takeover wizard before Cana slightly changed the subject.

"And speaking of people taking a beating… Shouldn't you be resting up in the Recovery Room with Erza? Porlyusica only just got you all bandaged up, and yet you're already talking about the next crazy fight you'll be diving into."

"Goten and I already had this conversation," Wendy informed her honestly, "He and Miss Porlyusica both tried to get me to stay in there, too. But I'm not gonna stop until everyone in this guild is back home, together, and safe."

"She is gonna relax when it's time to eat and sleep, though." Her boyfriend added pointedly, "Because she knows we won't be much use to Gray and Juvia if we haven't taken care of ourselves first."

"I know, Ten-kun." She replied while placing a hand over his forearm reassuringly, "I was just…"

"Don't worry, Wendy," Laxus interrupted her helpfully, "We all feel the same way about this."

"Exactly." Cana agreed with him, "And besides… right now, you shouldn't be sipping on that mead just to self-medicate for those nasty wounds on your waist… We're drinking to celebrate you and Goten being back together, remember?"

"Well yeah, but," the bluenette began to insist, "It still feels a bit-"

"Uh, uh, uh… Stop right there," the card mage countered quickly, "I know exactly what you're about to say, but we're not gonna have it, ya hear me? Just think of it like this: what's the point of trying to bring Gray and Juvia back if we stop being the happy-go-lucky guild that they know and love in the process? We celebrate the wins just as much as we mourn our losses."

"And it's like you said, Wendy," Kinana added next, "Those two didn't take their guild marks off, so there's still hope for them to come around on their own."

"And that's a thought I'll be more than happy to drink to!" Cana agreed with a quick toasting motion of her own drink.

Everyone else that had a drink joined her before taking various sips or gulps from their cups, leaving Goten a chance to speak while the others drank around him.

"Hey, speaking of taking care of Wendy, has anybody seen Carla around? Or Romeo?"

"Mnm, not since yesterday." Cana answered first as she finished her drink again, "Apparently, they skipped town not long after Wendy went off to find you."

"They did?" Wendy asked after setting her mug down, "Do you know why?"

"Not a clue." The card mage replied as she passed Kinana her drink again; but instead of having to refill it again, the bartender took the vessel away before quickly replacing it with a whole barrel instead.

"That's much better." Cana half-joked as she one-hand lifted the barrel, turned in her seat, and dropped it gently beside her, "Thanks Kinana."

The purple-haired woman smiled and nodded before moving to refill Laxus' drink while Wendy began to wonder aloud about the status of her teammates.

"They didn't go off on a job, did they?"

"Without you? I doubt it." Cana remarked thoughtfully.

"I haven't heard about them taking a job, either." Kinana offered, "But I can double-check our records, if you'd like."

"It's fine, Kinana-san," Wendy politely declined, "I doubt they'd have taken a job without me, too. Just gimme a minute, and I'll track them down."

Closing her eyes the next second, she scrunched her eyebrows as soon as she was unable to find Romeo or Carla's ki anywhere near Magnolia Town; and she quickly started to expand the search radius of her ki sense in response.

"That's weird…" She observed aloud after a few more seconds of relative quiet, "Unless my senses are out of whack, they're not far from Mt. Hakobe… And, I think I sense Sherria there, too…"

"Oh, so that's whose ki that is…" Goten realized aloud, prompting Wendy to open her eyes and see that her boyfriend was also using his ki sense; and as usual, he made it look frustratingly easy. Although it took a mental effort, she could search the entire planet if needed; but Goten on the other hand, was basically multitasking as he slowly spun in his seat to read Wendy's expressions, all the while pinpointing three vaguely familiar energies in the process.

"Sherria's with 'em?" Cana wondered aloud, "Then, they're definitely not on a job, right?"

"Or, better question," Laxus offered, "How has it taken them nearly a day to go to Mt. Hakobe and back? Even stuck in the slowest of wagons, that's only half a day's trip at worst…"

"That's another thing," Wendy quickly clarified, "It didn't seem like they're headed there from Magnolia. They're somewhere southwest of there…"

"Maybe they went to Crocus first?" Goten asked no one in particular, "That's a ways west of here, isn't it?"

"That would make a bit more sense," Cana agreed consideringly, "That's pretty much a whole day's ride. If they spent the night in Crocus, then cut through the mountains to the north in the morning, they would be somewhere around Mt. Hakobe by now."

"That would add up," Wendy agreed in thought, "But that still doesn't explain why they're there…"

"Maybe I should just go and ask 'em." Goten volunteered as he prepared to hop out his seat, but he stopped as soon as his girlfriend questioned him.

"On your own? But Ten-kun, what about what Iga just told us? Edo knows you're here now, and he doesn't need to see you to sense your energy. If he catches you out on your own…"

"Then I'll beat him up." He replied confidently, "Gohan almost beat him with Super Saiyan Blue, right? Well, I wonder what'll happen if I fought him at two levels above that…"

"'Super Saiyan Blue'?" Evergreen repeated the words with a dissatisfied tone, "Who comes up with these god awful names?"

"My family mostly," Goten chuckled and scratched the back of his neck as he answered, "And usually, we just make 'em up on the spot."

"Clearly." The stone eye mage rolled her eyes before Cana spoke up.

"Still though, 'Super Blue' thing or whatever… Your girlfriend kinda has a point, Goten. And besides, this is supposed to be your party we're throwin' here. It'd be kinda lame if either of you left before it even got to really kick off. Whatever Romeo and Carla are up to, I'm sure they knew they could handle it without Wendy, otherwise Carla wouldn't've gone along with it."

"And there's a God Slayer with them, apparently." Laxus added, "So it sounds like they've got all their bases covered."

As soon as the lighting wizard uttered the words 'god slayer', gears began to turn in Goten's head; and as Gildarts added another reassuring comment to the pile, the demi-Saiyan ended up tuning him out in thought, only to suddenly interrupt the Crush mage with a gasp.

"So yeah, there's that to-"

"A God Slayer! Gah, how could I be so stupid!?"

Leaping to his feet the next instant, Goten turned to his girlfriend apologetically.

"Wendy, I'm sorry; but I really gotta go and help them. If Edo tried to recruit Juvia, he's probably gonna try to recruit the other God Slayers next!"

Feeling the same sense of urgency he was, Wendy was a split second away from offering to come with him when he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm and continuing to speak the next second.

"But don't worry! Whatever they're busy with, I'll help 'em get it done; and then I'll bring all three of them back here in time for dinner, I promise!"

Kissing Wendy on the cheek then zipping away from the bar, over a railing, past the request boards, and flying through the front door the next instant, the demi-Saiyan left a trail of shocked guildmates and scattered job flyers in his wake; and it took almost everyone a couple seconds to process his disappearance while Wendy simply sighed with a mix of pride, dejection, and apprehension. Aside from her, the only person to have an immediate reaction was Nab in the background, who was now grumbling about having to pick up all the job requests that were still falling to the floor around him like snow.

"And just like that, he's gone…" Laxus observed plainly after blinking a few times in surprise.

"What incredible speed…" Freed remarked honestly.

"And he didn't even crash through anything in the process…" Cana added, turning to her father the next second, "He's crazy strong and in control of it all… He even makes you seem kinda useless, doesn't he?"

A few people chuckled or giggled at Gildarts' pained gasp in response to his daughter's harsh words before Wendy spoke again.

"Still, I don't like it… somebody should've gone with him…"

"Trust me, Wendy," Cana told her realistically, "If anyone here went along with him, we'd only end him slowing him down."

"Cana's right." Laxus agreed aloud, "And think about it: if Edo shows up for him or Sherria, he's already gonna have to worry about protecting those three. Adding one of us to the list is only gonna add to his problems out there."

"I guess…" Wendy replied hesitantly, turning back to the bar to hold her drink a bit too tightly with both hands as she did, "But this is the second day in a row that he's done something like this…"

"Maybe," Cana remarked bluntly, "But it's not really his fault that you've got a thing for impulsive idiots, is it? C'mon, him running off and playing hero like that; it's why you're so into him, isn't it?"

"We-W-Well.,." The Sky Maiden blushed immediately, "You're not wrong…"

"And besides," The card mage playfully poked Wendy's shoulder as she changed the subject with a mischievous tone, "With him and Carla both outta the way, we can ask you for all the juicy details now. Like how you two got that same little love-mark just under your chin here… Iga didn't happen to interrupt something before he dragged you here, did he?"

Knowing immediately where this conversation was headed, the men by the bar were quick to stand up and walk away, knowing they were about to be shooed off anyway.

"N-No, he didn't." The bluenette was beet red as she stuttered, "We were visiting a friend of his when Iga showed up…"

"So it happened just before that, then. How interesting…" The brunette deduced easily, leaning closer to Wendy's ear and asking next, "So… how far did you go?"

Briefly gagging on her drink, even Evergreen was visibly surprised by how directly that question came out.

"U-Uh… um," Wendy continued to stutter, "That's not… really…"

"It's obvious you made it to first base before you got here," Cana refused to let up, "But how about second? Or… maybe third?"

Gauging Wendy's flinching and blushing as she questioned her friend, Cana chuckled as she made her observations aloud.

"Ha, so third base it is! You work pretty quick, for someone called a Sky Maiden…"

"Canaaa!" Wendy whined in embarrassment.

"Hey, I ain't judgin'!" She reassured her friend while throwing and arm over Wendy's shoulder, "And just between us girls, you should know: you've already made it way further than I have with any guy."

"I have?" the sky mage replied with genuine surprise, "But, all those dates you've gone on… And all that… stuff… you know…"

"Knowledge doesn't equate to experience, ya know." The card mage informed her playfully, "Sure, I let the rumors fly; they're pretty handy at keeping the idiots around here intimidated. But in reality, all the guys I go out with pass out drunk way before I ever get to do anything with 'em."

"Maybe you shouldn't drink with them then." Kinana offered a bit of obvious advice.

"And get laid sober? Please…" Cana replied dismissively, "Honestly, I thought about asking that guy Bacchus out; but I don't even know where to find Quatro Cerberus, let alone wherever he might be…"

"You do realize the last time you met that man," Evergreen asked pointedly, "He stole your bra and tried to walk out of a bar with it?"

"He did?" the brunette remarked honestly, "Oh yeah, that's right… Eh, he kinda earned it, anyway."

"You have no shame." Evergreen sighed sadly while Wendy quietly simmered under their friend's grasp.

"This is true." Cana readily agreed, "But still, that ain't gonna stop me from tryin' to live vicariously here. So c'mon and tell us, Wendy… What's it like going down on a god?"

"I- I… I don't…I mean, I didn't…"

"Wendy," Kinana interrupted her helpfully, "You don't really have to answer that, you know…"

"Oh, but she already is." Cana pointed out devilishly, "Our guild's adorable rising star has always been easy to read."

Wanting to debate the point, Wendy was struggling to come up with some form of clever response when she was suddenly relieved to hear one of the hall's front doors opening; and the whole conversation briefly came to a pause as a hungover Mirajane Strauss walked in.

"Ah, so she is alive after all." Cana joked with her arm still resting across Wendy's shoulders, "Welcome back, Mira, you're just in time for the party!"

"A party?" The takeover mage replied quietly as she walked down the stairs, heading towards the bar, "Why now?"

"Because this girl's back, for one!" The card mage forced Wendy to lean in closer as she put the Sky Maiden on display, "And even better, she came back with her first boyfriend this time!"

"Goten came back with her?" Mirajane wondered curiously, with all signs of sluggishness seemingly vanishing the next instant, "But I don't see him anywhere…"

"He took off to help out Carla and Romeo." Cana explained next, "Apparently her bestie and her stand-in boyfriend might've gotten themselves in a bit of trouble…"

"Stand-in? I was seriously dating Romeo too, you know…" the bluenette pointed out bashfully.

"Yeah," Cana conceded before adding bluntly, "But you never let Romeo go down on you, did ya?"

This time, Evergreen was joined in spitting out her drink by Laxus, who couldn't avoid hearing that remark despite being a few tables away from the bar by now; but all Wendy could do was attempt to shrink in her seat as her bright red face gave Cana the very answer she was asking for.

"Kinana-san…" the bluenette quietly begged the current bartender, "Can I get a refill?"

"That's the spirit!" Cana cheered, finally releasing Wendy while Mirajane took Goten's empty seat, "Man, Erza's gonna be pissed she slept through this conversation!"

"Of course, Wendy." Kinana affirmed with a soft smile, "It's pretty clear you're gonna need a few of them anyway."

"Thanks." The sky mage mumbled as she set her mostly finished drink aside.

"You still didn't answer my question, ya know…" Cana pointed out before turning sideways to lift up her barrel and drink from it, speaking again after taking a few gulps, wiping her mouth, and starting to set the barrel down, "About what you and Goten got up to, I mean… Like seriously, how could you let him do that for you without returnin' the favor? I'm pretty sure I taught you better than that."

Accepting a full mug of mead from Kinana the next second, Wendy didn't respond until she took an unusually large swig of liquid courage. She knew Cana wasn't going to let her leave until she gave in and answered, but there was also a small part of her that did want to talk about what happened, especially when considering that she'd rather have this conversation now than whenever after Carla would be back.

"Mn… I… I tried to…" She hesitantly revealed at volume much lower than a whisper, staring into her cup the whole time she did, "But there wasn't a lot of time to, well… you know…"

"So he insisted on putting you first." Cana deduced easily, "Heh, he's a hottie and a gentleman, huh? Careful Wendy, if ya tell me he can hold his liquor, I just might try an' steal him from ya."

"He's a hottie?" Mirajane repeated curiously.

"He is rather attractive." Evergreen stated honestly, "He's a little scrawny and immature for my taste, but he does have the tall, dark, and handsome look down pat."

"He's about half-a-head taller than Wendy, just so ya know." Cana informed Mira as an aside, "And you also missed seeing them make-out already… They look real good together."

"This is so embarrassing…" The Sky Maiden mumbled again before taking another sip of her drink.

"Aw, c'mon…" the brunette teased her with another playful nudge, "You knew this conversation was inevitable… Especially after you went and kissed him like that in front a' half the guild."

"I know…" Wendy admitted honestly, "But… when I'm around him, I just…"

"You're not your usual self?" Kinana helped her finish her sentence, prompting Wendy to nod sheepishly in response.

"Love will do that to you." Mirajane hummed cheerily.

Whether it was the effects of her drink finally kicking in or not, she was unsure; but either way, Wendy had more than enough courage to smile fondly at that line. Cana on the other hand, was simply amused at the exchange.

"Ha!" She chuckled almost immediately, "No offense, Mira, but what do you know about it? And I mean really know about it…"

"Heh-hm," The takeover mage replied with her signature giggle, "More than you'd think."

"Oh?" Cana remarked with a hint of surprise, "And uh, that wouldn't have somethin' to do with you missin' out on your sleep last night, would it?"

"It's possible." She answered cryptically, to Cana's amused frustration.

"Ah, you're as tight-lipped as ever, Mira." She complained half-heartedly as she picked up her barrel again, "But mark my words, I'm gonna get you to fess up eventually."

"Heh-hm, and when there's something to share," the white-haired woman quipped humorously, "I'm sure I will. Eventually."

"Hey, is your girl-talk over yet?" Laxus chimed in with vague annoyance, "My drink's lookin' pretty empty about now…"

"Oh, sorry!" Kinana quickly apologized politely, "I'll be right there!"

Filling up a new mug with the lightning mage's previous beverage of choice, she was moments from stepping away when Mirajane spoke up.

"Actually, Kinana, I can bring it to him, if you won't mind."

"S-Sure, I don't mind." The purple haired woman replied after quickly getting over her surprise, and she soon passed the drink to Mirajane while Cana spoke next.

"Wait… Is Mirajane Strauss really about to walk away from girl-talk? This is Wendy and Goten we're talkin' about here… Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"I am," She conceded honestly as she stood up, "But I can ask Wendy about her boyfriend anytime I want. Right now though, it'd be rude if I didn't properly thank Laxus for helping me out this morning."

"I suppose that's fair." Cana gave in with a shrug, after which Mirajane began to walk away; and it took the experienced hostess only a couple seconds to safely navigate the ever-lively series of crowded tables until she was standing before three quarters of the Thunder God Tribe.

"Here you go, Laxus. One drink as requested." She greeted him with her usual bubbly attitude, "And don't worry about paying for this one. I'll tell Kinana it's on me."

"Oh. Thank you, Mirajane…" He replied gratefully, but he was a bit surprised to find himself growing nervous the longer she made eye contact with him, "But uh, are you sure? You don't have to buy it for me…"

"I know." She assured him kindly, "But consider it a 'thank you' for walking me home, and stuff. You're quite the gentleman, when you want to be."

"Heheh… thanks, Mira." Laxus chuckled weakly; and the takeover mage nodded with some satisfaction in response before casually walking away the next second, leaving Laxus with an uneasy feeling that at least one of his teammates was currently eyeing him curiously.

"Hey, Laxus?" And sure enough, this time it was Bickslow, "Did somethin' happen between you and Mirajane this mornin'?"

"Eh?" The man feigned ignorance with his typically stoic demeanor, "What do ya mean?"

Meanwhile, by the bar, Wendy had just spoken up again, having suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She realized aloud, quickly setting down her drink and hopping off her seat as soon as she had, "I have something for Levy! Where's Gajeel? I can ask him to hold onto it until she wakes up…"

"He's still in the recovery room, isn't he?" Cana answered unsurely.

"You're right, I can still smell him from here." Wendy quickly agreed, "Thanks, Cana!"

Moving at a brisk pace, it took the Sky Maiden a few seconds to go up the front set of stairs and left past the request boards, where she quickly apologized to Nab as she stepped around him and the last few stray pieces of paper he was still cleaning up; and after only another second or two, she was taking the second door on her right and walking into room as quietly as she could.

Meanwhile, about two miles south of Mt. Hakobe…

"Romeo," A humanoid Carla addressed her teammate with a bitter tone as she shivered, "Do you remember how I mentioned that moment of regret, for going along with this silly scheme of yours? Well, it's finally happened."

Walking just ahead of her with Sherria standing a bit too close to his right, Romeo simply smirked as he gestured toward the red-orange flame that was currently hovering over his right hand.

"Why? Because you're cold?" He countered honestly, "It's not my fault you don't wanna walk close to me."

"Like this little lecherous lady that's practically climbing all over you?" The Exceed crossed her arms defiantly, "I don't think so."

"Oh, don't be like that, Carla." The God Slayer replied teasingly, "I'm just as much a Sky Maiden as Wendy is, and you know it. That is, unless, this guy knows something we don't."

"Yeah, no." A blushing Romeo quickly shut the thought down, "Me and Wendy kissed, and that's all there was to it."

"See?" Sherria added quickly, "Now what's so wrong about my wanting to aid and comfort such a cute, innocent, and heartbroken handsome young man in his hour of need?"

"When you frame it like that, I can't argue." Carla replied pointedly, "But I'm still going to question exactly what 'needs' you're hoping to fulfill."

If Romeo had a drink, he would have choked on it at that very moment; and his fire briefly flickered as his concentration lapsed, only for Sherria to end up giggling as she noticed his surprised reaction.

"Aw, you're just mad you're back to being the third-wheel again." She retorted playfully, about to add a snappy line about Happy when the trio was suddenly interrupted by the sound of something flying towards them at speed much quicker than sound. And that very fact was highlighted as young man with shaggy black hair and an orange keikogi landed right between them well before the noise of his arrival had come to a stop.

"Hey guys!" Goten greeted them amiably, "Long time no see, huh?"

Blinking in silent surprise, the three wizards were unable to respond as they quickly figured out who had just flown in out of nowhere; and the demi-Saiyan quickly took advantage of that silence to glance around.

"Whoa, Carla, is that really you?" He questioned her as soon as he finished his scan of their surroundings, "Wendy told me you got a human form, but I gotta admit, I thought you'd look bit older."

"Goten?" Romeo replied while Carla quietly scowled at the new arrival, "Damn, you're taller than me now…"

"Does that fact really matter at the moment?" Their Exceed companion quickly complained, "Where the heck is Wendy, and why aren't you with her?"

"She's back at the guild." Goten answered neutrally, "You should know: she and Erza got into a fight with one of Zeref's people when we got here, but they won; and only Erza ended up having to stay in the recovery room."

"That's terrifying and relieving to hear, all at once…" Sherria remarked honestly.

"And what about Wendy?" Carla wondered immediately, "How bad were her injuries? And why weren't you there to help her?"

"I was helping," Goten defended himself as he explained, "Cel Rhea was there too, and I had to help Sting fight her off while Wendy helped Erza fight her mom."

"Her mom?" Romeo blinked in shock again, "Erza's mom is one of the Spriggan Twelve?"

"She was." The demi-Saiyan quickly answered before changing the subject, "But you can ask Wendy all about it once we're back at the guild. Right now, I'm here to help you guys out, and to take all three of you back to the guild as quickly as possible."

"All three of us?" Sherria pointed out curiously, "You do realize I'm not part of your guild, don't you?"

"I know," Goten swiftly confirmed, "But right now, all the God Slayers are in danger. Edo's trying to recruit them again, and the only place that's safe from him is Fairy Tail."

"O-Okay, that does sound pretty bad," Romeo remarked honestly, "But I can't go back to the guild just yet. There's something really important I gotta take care of, and it can't really afford to wait."

"Well we can't just leave you out here, Romeo-kun," Sherria addressed him seriously, "Even if you're not a God Slayer, you'd make for a pretty good hostage."

Romeo made a face that said he was debating whether or not he should be offended by that fact, but it was Goten that quickly spoke up in his stead.

"And that's why I said I'm here to help. With my speed and strength, we'll be able to wrap up whatever you're doing and be back at the guild in a couple of hours."

"A couple of hours?" Carla repeated skeptically.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna turn down your offer or anything," Romeo added with similar skepticism, "But I'm not sure what we're up to is really gonna be that easy. We've got a lot of ground to cover, and I don't mean that in just the distance from where we're headed…"

"We're working on something for Wendy, actually." Sherria revealed next, and she was unable to contain a brief smirk as she noticed how quickly her Sky Sister's name had caught Goten's attention, "It's something really important, and it's also super, super, secret. Wendy can't know anything about this until it's all worked out."

"You're working on a surprise for Wendy?" He said with immense and immediate interest.

"That's right," The pinkette nodded resoundingly, "Carla's got some stake in this too, but it really is mainly for Wendy."

"Okay, well, I'm already planning to help." Goten reminded her before adding, "But if this is something that'll make Wendy happy, then I'm definitely all in. So, what exactly is this surprise you're planning?"

Meanwhile, inside the Shadow of the World…

"Damn, they caught on quicker than I thought they would." Edo sighed with playful frustration as he closed the portal before him, and he flopped back onto the foot of his bed the next instant as he quickly got over his unpleasant surprise, "Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to capture her later, like I will with Orga and Juvia, if they all wanna decide to force my hand…"

"Or you and I could just take them now." Cel suggested as she leaned against the right side of the room's entryway, "We can see those three weaklings no problem; and we don't need to be able to see that Saiyan brat to be able to kill him, especially if we fight him together."

"True, but ganging up on him like that just wouldn't be as fun." Her master replied honestly, "And besides, I still need him to do his part, in dealing with the Keepers."

"The Keepers?" the Titan remarked questioningly, "But he's here, on Earthland, fighting us. He's not busy fighting the Keepers anymore."

"Correction," Edo added mockingly, waving a finger in the air as he did, "He's not busy fighting the Keepers at the moment, is what you mean to say. When the time comes, he will be forced to face those god-killers again."

"And until then?" His pupil asked next, "We're just gotta let him keep hindering our plans the whole time between?"

"Hindering?" He repeated amusedly, "Heheh, yes… he's as bothersome as ant, nibbling on the heel of my boot."

Looking her dead in the eyes the next second, he added a serious warning.

"But what's been more bothersome as of late, is the alarming number of times I've had to remind you of your place. Question me with that tone again, and you'll regret having ever spoken to me at all."

"I sincerely doubt that, Eddie," She apologized honestly, "But I am sorry that I've offended you. I was only trying to help."

"With regards to making the plans, I don't need your help, Cel-dearest." He reminded her pointedly, "But the reason I'm scolding you has nothing to do with your offending me or not. You need to learn patience, my dear; and you need to learn it soon. My fondness for you aside, it would outright humiliate me if you were to fall victim to some foolish and easily avoidable fate."

"Aw, Eddie," She replied flirtatiously, moving slowly towards his bed as she did, "That might be the second-most sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

"Take this seriously, Miss Rhea." He told her pointedly, despite letting her put her hands atop his shoulders as soon as she had gotten close.

"I am, Master." She assured him seriously before playfully squeezing his shoulders and adding, "But it's not really my fault that your lectures turn me on…"

Unable to avoid chuckling at that remark, the dark immortal allowed her to massage his shoulders as he continued their conversation.

"Hm. Your stubborn persistence is commendable, at the very least… But if you die like an idiot out there, I will track you down in Hell, just to erase you from existence myself. Are we clear?"

"Clear as crunchy, crystal quartz, Eddie." She affirmed in a sing-song manner, prompting her beloved to roll his eyes and shake his head as she sat cross-legged behind him and quickly changed the subject, "But for real… can we talk about all these knots in your muscles? It's no wonder you've been acting so serious lately; your body is so tense right now."

Running her right hand down the back of his black, skin-tight undershirt, she lightly rubbed a few spots curiously before adding.

"You know, you really should lie down and let me help you loosen up a bit. I'm no masseuse or anything, but Juvia once told me that I give really good massages, apparently."

"I'll wager that was beginner's luck." He joked with a shrug, "You haven't really had many friends that let you get so close."

"Harsh, but true." She admitted with an awkward wince that she quickly recovered from, "And just how many people have you had, touching you like this?"

"Sadly, not a soul." He conceded honestly, "But the lack of desire fortunately doubles as a convenient excuse, in that regard."

"Desire, maybe…" She replied teasingly, "But you still feel pleasure, amiright? Pain? Discomfort?"

"Indeed I do." He also admitted plainly, "And waking up with you beside me has become part of a rather pleasant routine we've set here; but I still can't allow you to distract me from this game I am forever bound to play. Every scar on Igneel's body is a mark of my unending series of triumphs over him; and it was already humiliating enough that his champion managed to leave a scar on me…"

Running a hand over his abdomen wistfully, he continued with a snarl.

"So I'll be damned if either of them leave another. I will win this round as I have the rest of them; and I'll bury every damn fool that tries to say otherwise! Even if all the universes must be cast into darkness, I will sink it all into the abyss! Igneel, Son Gohan, and all those fools that run around, playing the hero… They will all either bow down to me, or they will die like the rest! Tonight, we are starting with Zeref. But someday soon, the entire Multi-Verse will be ours to command!"

Meanwhile, at the Tien-Shin Style Dojo, on Earth…

Uub and the first founder of the martial arts complex were in the middle of shaking hands, having just ended a brief sparring session inside the dojo's main hall when four people suddenly appeared between them; and only one of them was immediately familiar.

"Hey Uub," Son Gohan greeted the two politely, "And Tien-san, of course. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"No kidding." Tien Shinhan agreed honestly, "I was kinda surprised though, when I heard about you getting killed. The guy you fought must've been one hell of a monster."

"He is," The demi-Saiyan admitted with similar honesty, "But I'm back, and I'm better than ever before. I even gave my dad a run for his money, Ultra Instinct and all."

"Well, your confidence has certainly increased," the three-eyed man observed plainly, "That much is certain; but what is this little entourage you've brought before me? And when did Pu'ar grow wings?"

Seeing that Tien was pointing at him, the floating Exceed quickly spoke up.

"What the heck's a 'Pu'ar'? My name is Happy, the Cat! But you can just call me Happy for short."

Sensing now was as good a time as any, the other two new arrivals quickly spoke next.

"A-And I'm Lucy Heartfilia!" the blonde announced nervously, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Natsu Dragneel!" The pink-haired young man declared with his hands on his hips, "The most badass fire wizard in the whole eighth universe!"

"Heh. I remember you," Tien chuckled before he quickly recalled, "You showed up on Goten's birthday, at the Capsule Corporation. That man Gohan fought, he had brought you here…"

"T-That's right," Natsu quickly interrupted with a nod, putting on a confident act as he did, "I didn't really get an entrance that I'd have liked, but don't let that have ya underestimating me. I'm one of the strongest wizards they have, back on our world!"

"A fire wizard, huh?" A hovering Chiaotzu made the three jump as he commented from behind them, "Sounds pretty lame to me."

"Lame?!" Natsu growled with an immediate about-face, "Whaddaya mean lame?! I can eat freakin' fire, just so you know!"

"And?" the telekinetic replied unimpressed, "We've fought wizards that use all kinds of cool and powerful tricks. But if I wanted to see someone eat fire, I'd just go to a circus or something."

"Gah!" the fire mage gasped irritably while Lucy and Happy burst into quiet laughter, "I'm not just some run-of-the-mill wizard either, ya damn brat! I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, and the people on my world call me the Salamander! Hey, who the hell is this kid anyway?!"

"That kid is Chiaotzu," Tien answered with vague amusement, "He's the co-creator of this dojo, and my oldest friend."

"What?!" Natsu questioned him seriously, "That pasty half-pint helped you build all this?"

"And he's definitely older than you." Gohan added, sounding also clearly amused as he watched Chiaotzu stick his tongue out at Natsu, "He and Tien have helped to protect this world a lot more often than I have."

"Maybe," Tien remarked humbly, "But I didn't realize anyone was keeping score, either."

"I certainly hope we aren't…" Uub added humorously, "Otherwise, I'd be considered the least helpful of you all… I'm Uub by the way, I'm studying under Goku…"

"Actually, Uub, it's your help that we came here for." Gohan began to explain until Natsu cut him off.

"Goten's dad has been trying to teach you Ultra Instinct, hasn't he?" The Salamander stepped forward excitedly.

"Oh, u-um, yes…" Uub replied nervously, "But um, I'm not sure if should really be-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it; trade secrets and stuff." Natsu quickly assured him, "Actually, I was just hoping that you'd fight me."

"F-Fight you?" The preteen islander repeated with some surprise, "You asked Gohan to bring you here… just so you could fight… me?"

"Pretty much." The Dragon Slayer affirmed with a quick nod, "I kinda wanna trade notes on this Ultra Instinct stuff too; but honestly, I don't really plan on asking ya anything if ya aren't as strong as Gohan and Goten say ya are."

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy chimed in unsurely, "Maybe you should go a little easy on him? He is just a kid, I mean…"

"Don't let that deceive you though, ma'am." Tien spoke up in Uub's defense, "This kid might be not even a fraction of my age, but he is, quite literally, a demon reincarnate."

"A demon, huh?" Natsu smirked at Uub with eager amusement, "Well… now I really wanna see what you can do."

After a little more encouragement, and a few minutes later, Son Goku's young apprentice had finally agreed to entertain Natsu's request; and the two were already testing each other's defenses in the center of the room's thirty-yard square, tatami-floored sparring ring, with their spectators currently watching from the far right side of the appropriately even larger and similarly square-shaped main hall. Who was physically stronger was still far from being determined, but already Natsu had found himself to be quite satisfied with Uub's current speed and agility; and his foe's much smaller stature made the kid an even more elusive opponent to boot. Occasionally, Natsu thought he would manage to land a blow, only for it to be blocked within the next instant; and the Dragon Slayer might've genuinely felt humiliated if he hadn't known who his sparring partner was currently studying under. It was clear Goku hadn't lied when he bragged about Uub being a quick learner, as within minutes the boy had almost effortlessly begun to adapt to Natsu's methods of attack; and so far, the only obvious sign that Uub was flawed was in his counterattacks, which seemed to lack confidence upon delivery.

But just as Natsu was struggling to hit his opponent, Uub was failing in a similar fashion as well. The fire mage did not know how to conceal his own ki; and that fact alone gave the young islander a huge advantage, since he never needed to see his opponent move before trying to guess how to react. But despite that, Natsu's speed and dexterity was right on par with Uub's, if not slightly better; and considering how he could barely feel any force behind the attacks that he did block, it was very clear to Uub that the Salamander was holding back quite a bit of strength and effort.

Ducking and dipping past a quick series of seven punches before somersaulting backwards once Natsu tried to sweep his legs with a kick, Uub smoothly landed in a defensive posture merely yards from his opponent; and the fire mage couldn't help but chuckle with a contently amused tone.

"Damn, kid, you are pretty good. I'd feel pretty silly if I didn't know that Goku is your teacher."

"Thanks, Mr. Natsu." He returned the compliment politely, "And you're pretty amazing yourself. If you knew how to use ki though, you probably would've won by now."

"Heh, maybe." The fire mage chuckled again, "But it's a point of pride that I've refused to learn about that ki stuff."

"Yeah right. I bet it's just 'cause he's too dumb to learn it." Happy muttered to Lucy while halfway covering his mouth, and the celestial mage had to stop herself from giggling as Natsu quickly retorted.

"I heard that, you know!" He called back to them before quickly looking to his opponent again, "Jeez, the friggin' peanut gallery over here, amiright?"

Matching Natsu's chuckled with one of his own, Uub let his opponent continue to speak instead of taking advantage of the clear openings the distracted wizard had briefly given him.

"But ignoring my skills for a second, I can tell that you're holding back a good bit against me, Uub. I dunno if you're worried you'll hurt me, or if maybe you're hesitating for some other reason… But it's pretty obvious that your heart isn't in your attacks."

Smirking a bit as Natsu and Uub continued their brief conversation, Gohan turned to one of his fellow spectators the next moment.

"Hey, Lucy, you meditate a lot in order to train your magic, don't you?"

"That's right, I do." She nodded with vague curiosity, "Why?"

"Well, I try to meditate two or three times a day, you see." The demi-Saiyan explained casually, "Today though, I've kinda fallen a bit behind schedule, playing host and tour guide and all that. But now that it's clear these two are gonna be here for a while, I was thinking now would be a good time to catch up on that."

"And you want me to go and meditate with you?" She easily guessed.

"That's right." He affirmed with a nod before explaining, "I'm always interested in learning more about different styles of meditation; but aside from that, I've also found that meditating is just really helpful when there's certain problems that I've gotta sit down and figure out."

Wondering if Gohan was alluding to what she suspected, Lucy was still connecting the dots as the demi-Saiyan turned to their current hosts with another question.

"Hey Tien, Chiaotzu? Excluding this room, what area around here would be the quietest at this time of day?"

"The quietest, huh? Let's see…" The three-eyed man replied first, "The temple itself is normally pretty empty around this time… most of our students will be outside practicing their kata for another hour or two; and most of the villagers'll be getting ready to head home and make dinner. The only place I don't really recommend would be anywhere near our dining hall. Blonde Launch's pretty much taken over the kitchen staff ever since she managed to track me down a few months ago; and she almost always ends up arguing with Yurin every time they run into each other. Apparently, some of the villagers that work there ended up quitting due to thrown chef's knives and unwilling human possessions…"

"It sounds like you've got girl-troubles, Tien-Sensei." Happy joked bluntly, though most of his attention was still focused on Natsu and Uub, who had finally resumed their sparring match.

"Yeah," Tien admitted honestly while also still eyeing the fight, "I've tried avoiding them for the longest time, but I was forced to realize that they were gonna catch up to me eventually…"

"D'ya mean the women, or the problems themselves?" The feline added curiously.

"Do the two ever appear separately?" Tien sighed dejectedly.

"Occasionally." Lucy answered with a slight smirk and an honest shrug, "It's just that those problems aren't the kind you're used to, is all. Serious and focused guys like you don't waste time looking for a girlfriend like most guys usually do. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll experience their kinda problems eventually."

"I will?" The man asked tentatively, finally looking towards his guests as he did, "And what makes you say that?"

"Because you're already halfway to them." She pointed out while still watching the fight, "One day, like everyone else, you're gonna wanna settle down, start a family, raise some kids, and grow old and die happy. And if you don't end up following that path, you'll probably end up just becoming some kinda old pervert or something. The good news for you is that you've already kinda chosen that first option here. Building a place like this, and starting a whole school… You're already like a parent, in some ways."

"I see…" Tien replied in deep thought, "Well, I can tell your meditation has given you plenty of time to think, that's for sure. You've either got quite a vivid imagination, or you're just simply wise beyond your years."

"Heh-hm, trust me," Lucy giggled faintly, "As an aspiring novelist, either of those is a compliment."

Unable to avoid chuckling at that, Tien soon turned to his best friend the next moment.

"Hey Chiaotzu, can you show them to the temple for me? I'd like to stay here and talk to the other two once their little sparring session is over."

"I sure can, Tien." The psychic replied naturally.

"Thanks." The sensei said gratefully before quickly adding, "But when you get there, ask the monks to clear out of there for a bit, as a favor for me."

"Oh, you don't really have to do that…" Lucy attempted to politely decline, "We don't want to be imposing on anyone…"

"Don't be silly," Tien insisted politely, "Most of the monks there are the veteran students of ours, and I'm pretty well acquainted with the others as well. And… there's also the fact that you can use magic, too. There's plenty of people around here that know the world's true history, which is full of stories of evil wizards, demon kings, and all other kinds of corrupted men and monsters…"

"Then we might make some people nervous," Lucy concluded for him, "If we happen to be overhead talking about magic, you mean."

"He's got a point." Gohan remarked informatively, "When I met everyone back on Earthland, I knew you were all good people right away; but that still didn't stop me from feeling just a little bit nervous when the word 'wizard' had suddenly come up."

"So then it's decided." Tien ended the discussion amiably, "Just tell Chiaotzu when you're ready to go."

"Well, there's no time like the present, I guess." Lucy replied gratefully, glancing between her two hosts as she did, "And thank you ahead of time, for the hospitality."

"Don't mention it." Tien matched her politeness before nodding a temporary farewell to the three of them just before Happy spoke up.

"You sure you're not gonna stay and watch the fight, Lucy?" He wondered innocently.

"I'm sure." The blonde confirmed casually, "I've seen Natsu fight plenty of times. And anyways, it'd be kinda dumb if I passed up on such a generous offer, wouldn't it?"

"Well, yeah, I guess…" Happy agreed half-heartedly; but half-hearted or not, his response was more than enough to give Lucy her chance to take her leave along with Gohan and Chiaotzu.

"Great, so you have learned something about manners after all." She quipped teasingly before starting to follow their newly appointed guide after adding, "Just stay here and take notes on the fight for me, Happy. And if we're not finished our training by the time Natsu is with his, come and meet us at the temple."

"Aye, sir." Happy obeyed distractedly, having already shifted most of his focus back towards Natsu; and within a few seconds later, the departing trio had finally exited the hall.

Meanwhile, on Earthland…

Jellal Fernandez had just exited Fairy Tail's recovery room, with Wendy Marvell just behind him, when he suddenly heard his phone lacrima begin to chime; and the pair of blue-haired wizards both stopped just outside the doorway as Jellal withdrew his communication device and swiftly activated it.

"Meldy?" He greeted his friend curiously as soon as her face appeared on the tiny screen, "What are you doing, calling me at his hour? You're usually with Zancrow by now."

"Yeah, well, I was gonna try and spend more of the day with him at first…" She explained with only the slightest hint of embarrassment, "But there's actually a whole lot going on right now. The first reason I'm calling though, is to check on you. I heard about what happened in Magnolia. Are you and Erza alright? Or Wendy, or Sting?"

"We're all okay, Merudy-san!" Wendy quickly spoke up, prompting Jellal to briefly turn his phone towards Wendy in order for the two to properly greet each other, "Erza's injuries were the worst, but she'll be fully healed by the time she finishes getting her rest."

"That's good to hear." The pinkette replied with some relief before adding, "And um, about Gray and Juvia… We're already working on studying the combined effects you and Sting's magics have on Edo's; and we're also trying to come up with a few ways to safely capture them, if things ever really get to that point. Whatever happens, we'll bring them back home safe and sound, I'm sure of it. Even Zancrow's helping us out, in a way…"

"He is?" Jellal quickly turned the screen back to himself as he questioned her with a furrowed brow, "How exactly? If he hears anything about our plans, there's a strong chance Edo will discover them through him; so there's no way he could help us directly."

"That's 'cause he doesn't know he's helping us." She revealed before awkwardly scratching her head and continuing, "But after I um, spent the night with Zancrow… I ended up waking up before he did, and I kinda took advantage of that by planting a bug inside his room."

"You're spying on your own boyfriend?" Wendy wondered aloud.

"Aw, please don't phrase it like that!" Merudy quietly whined, "I already feel bad about betraying his trust like this as it is… But it's not really him I'm trying to spy on. The Spriggan Twelve report to him now, with that room being the main place they've talked strategy so far; and on top of that, I've already managed to learn some things about Edo's plans, as well."

"You have?" Jellal replied eagerly, "What did you learn?"

"Quite a few things, actually. First, I learned what happened to Larcade after he tried to attack Gildarts: Edo has Zancrow keeping him prisoner, and it sounds like they plan to kill him tonight, during some sorta public execution."

"That man is the second most powerful demon in the Book of Zeref, and he's a monster that's gone on killing people for hundreds of years." Jellal remarked darkly, "So frankly, I don't care how they kill him, as long as they do. But still, do you know who exactly they're killing him in front of? Is it just the Twelve, or does he plan to show everyone what happens tonight?"

Wendy squirmed awkwardly when Jellal mentioned the Book of Zeref, but she kept her immediate thoughts to herself as she politely decided against interrupting her friends' conversation.

"I'm not entirely sure," Merudy answered next, "But it does sound like Zeref will be there, along with the rest of the Twelve. And that's what brings me to the second thing that I learned: Edo mentioned that he plans to make some a 'few changes to the Twelve's roster', or something like that. He referred to some of the current members as 'problem children', and he also hinted at the fact that he's got a few replacements in mind."

"Well, we do know he's offered Gray a seat at the table." Jellal thought aloud, "If he accepts, it's almost guaranteed Juvia will join up with him; but I wonder who else Edo might have in mind, as replacements…"

"Orga and Sherria are possibly on that list." Merudy pointed out grimly, "If he manages to capture them, that is… But I think Zeref might even be one of these candidates as well. From what Edo said, it sounds like he plans to replace Zeref with Zancrow; and since he can't kill Zeref, he's either gonna keep him prisoner somewhere, or he's gonna force the guy to do his bidding, like he's tried to do with everyone else he's caught."

"Um, actually…" Wendy finally chipped in with a hesitant tone, "I might know of another replacement Edo has in mind, but I can't really talk about it here; and I'm kinda already breaking a promise by mentioning it like this as it is…"

"I understand." Jellal quickly assured her, "Can you tell which rooms here are empty right now? In hindsight, we should've gone to one of them before we started this conversation anyway."

"You're probably right," Wendy agreed before starting to use her ki sense, with this time taking her a bit longer as she attempted to keep her eyes open as she had seen Goten doing when he tracked down her teammates, "Let's see… I think the waiting room would be best… Unless you wanna talk about this on the S-Class floor, no one's up there at the moment, either…"

"No, your first choice sounds best." Jellal replied in thought, tucking his lacrima away as he did, "There's a lot less of a chance someone will interrupt us there. Lead the way when you're ready."

"Sure thing," Wendy nodded swiftly before adding, "But um, I think we should bring Mira in on this too. I kinda have a question for her that's related to this person anyway…"

"That's also a good idea." Jellal added as he quickly agreed, "She is the one in charge of your guild's research team, after all…"

"Right." Wendy replied with another nod before turning to the her right and starting to lead Jellal down the nearest set of stairs and on towards the bar, by which the very subject of their conversation was still seated and chatting with the others around her.

"Wendy! Welcome back to the party!" Cana was the first to greet them, "You even managed to talk Jellal into joinin' us… Now that's impressive!"

"Hm. Sorry, Cana, but we're not joining in just yet." Jellal chuckled before clarifying, "There's been a development regarding Edo and Zeref's followers. It's nothing urgent yet, but I did think it was worth mentioning to your teams' leaders."

"And Wendy is Erza's second," Mirajane deduced, promptly getting out her seat as she did, "So I suppose it's just me that you're waiting for…"

"No one's in the waiting room right now," Wendy quickly explained, "So we thought that would be the best place to talk."

"Sounds comfy enough." The takeover mage mused agreeably, "Lead the way."

Meanwhile, on Earth…

With Chiaotzu having just left to rejoin Tien and Happy in watching the sparring match, a shoeless-Gohan and a barefooted Lucy were sitting cross-legged a few feet aside from each other atop a soft red carpet floor; and they were both facing the center of a long series of grey stone statues that depicted various religious figures praying and fabled warriors likewise posing or praying, all of which ran along the far wall of the massive place of worship. Having only just settled in, Lucy was currently, and slightly awkwardly, waiting for Gohan to speak up while the demi-Saiyan made sure they were actually alone. She was anxious to hear what Gohan and to say, and she tried briefly to keep herself from guessing by starting to glance over the statue before her, which was of a monk in robes knelt down in prayer; but before Lucy could actually start to take in further details of the statue, Gohan quickly spoke up as he finished using his ki sense.

"Alright, we should be clear for now. I don't think even Igneel's watching right now…."

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" Lucy cut to the chase, "It's about Natsu, right? Everyone here that knows him… they also know he's E.N.D., don't they?"

"They do." Gohan confirmed with a nod, "Edo dropped him off in the middle of the party, and he just kinda said it in front of everyone. They don't all know what he was talking about, but pretty much all of our friends here on Earth have some idea of what happened to him. I know it would offend Natsu if he heard this, but we've all been worried about him, to one degree or another. We wanna find some way to help him, too; but there's not many people here that even understand magic in general, let alone the type of magic that Zeref used on Natsu."

"That's understandable." Lucy remarked thoughtfully, "I mean… it is magic from, literally, a whole other universe."

"Right, but that's not gonna be enough to discourage us." Gohan quickly assured her, "Igneel's shown me everything he can relating to Natsu and Zeref; and there's a few things we learned about them in the process."

"Like what?" the blonde asked curiously, "I know that Zeref is Natsu's older brother, and that he somehow brought Natsu back by turning him into E.N.D.; but he didn't really explain how that worked, other than mentioning that they were connected. Natsu is probably the only one that can defeat Zeref; but if Zeref dies in the process, Natsu will die too."

"Yeah, that's the bad news." The demi-Saiyan sighed sadly before quickly trying to change the mood, "But let's start from the beginning, so maybe you can understand the situation better. But instead of just telling it all to you, I'm just gonna show it instead."

"Using telepathy?" She quickly guessed.

"That's right." He said with a nod, "But my ability is nothing like Warren's, and I can't just send the knowledge to you like Hibiki would. In order for me to share memories, I have to briefly connect your mind with mine, and with that comes a few risks; so I'm gonna have to ask for your permission before we continue, and for your forgiveness ahead of time, in case I end up seeing some of your memories by accident."

"It's fine," She assured him seriously, "I want to know everything anyway, so just do it."

"Okay," He obeyed as he prepared his mind with a quick warning for her, "But just another heads-up: there is a good bit of information here. I'll try passing it along as smoothly as I can, and the best advice I can give is that you should try processing it all one memory at a time; but there is still a risk you may experience a kind of sensory overload."

"One memory at a time, huh?" She replied as she mustered up the confidence, "Sounds simple enough."

"It's certainly easy to say." He remarked honestly, wanting to sound optimistic while also not wanting to sugarcoat the situation either, "But since you're someone who's routinely trained their mind, and built up quite the defense; you're more likely to pull this off without incident.

"Now, when you're ready," He finished his statement by ger her one last set of instructions, "Close your eyes and empty your mind as much as you can; and once you hear me talking in your head, I want you to start trying to focus on nothing but what I communicate to you. You pick the first memory you see, watch it, and then move on to the next. You're not a telepath yourself, so I'm gonna have to juggle keeping our connection active with also trying to make sure that I pass along the correct memories. But connecting our minds will temporarily give you the mental abilities that I have, and that means you could be able to dig through all of my memories just like I can yours."

"So in short," the celestial wizard concluded, "We've both got to really focus on seeing these exact memories, or else bad things, or just… really embarrassing things… might happen?"

"That's exactly right." He added before revealing one more thing, "And um, only Videl knows this; but… after I had my full potential as a Super Saiyan God unlocked… my mental abilities increased to the point that I have a perfect recall. It leads to some pretty weird dreams, and some pretty bad nightmares too; but I can remember everything that's happened to me, even from before I was even born."

"Hence your warning of a possible mental overload." Lucy promptly deduced, getting another nod from Gohan before closing her eyes and adding, "But I'm sure I can handle it. Let's do this."

Nodding again despite knowing she could see it, Gohan soon also closed his eyes before finally focusing on just the state of his mind; and after a few seconds of taking deep, calming breathes as he cleared his mind, Gohan then began to use his sixth sense.

Lucy, He asked tentatively, Can you hear me?

I can. She answered with well-concealed surprise, Does that mean our minds have merged?

Not entirely. He explained quickly, It'll be pretty obvious when the link is complete; but when it does happen, you'll need to stay even more focused than you are now. Think of nothing but the memories involving my knowledge of Natsu, and you should be able to avoid poking around in places you don't want to.

Okay… She complied slowly, yet without hesitation, Focus on just your memories of Natsu, understood.

Great, He replied positively, Now get ready, I'm about to complete the connection.

Do it. Lucy prompted him, making sure she was fully focused on the intent to learn only what Gohan knew about Natsu; and within the next instant, a whole catalogue of images began to spring to her mind. Natsu's voice began to ring through her head a dozen times over, with a mashup of different sentences overlapping each other as Lucy slightly struggled to pick any particular one to latch onto; and the other stimuli to her senses was only just as disorienting, if not more so. The images of Natsu that corresponded the sounds also overlapped, looking something akin to a reel that had dozens of movies spliced together in one film; but these sights and sounds were also accompanied by everything Gohan had felt at each time, or what he had smelled, or even tasted, as a large number of the memories included the times Natsu and Gohan had talked over meals. Lucy knew this was the sensory overload Gohan had warned her about, and she was struggling to slow the rate of these memories' appearances; but then suddenly, and she guessed with a little help from Gohan, her mind managed to lock onto one memory that didn't directly involve Natsu, as it was actually about a meeting Gohan and Iga had inside the Sanctuary to discuss Natsu.

Through the demi-Saiyan's eyes, she watched one of the immortal's magic rift as it displayed Natsu and Zeref's lives; and she listened as Iga narrated it all. First was the death of Natsu and his family, then the moment Zeref was cursed. After that, she witnessed as Iga's magic jumped forward through time, showing each step in Zeref's process of designing the Etherious; and she listened as Igneel explained how the 'Book of Zeref' was more accurately a volume, with every single demon being bound to their own individual books. After witnessing the completion of the book of E.N.D., Lucy watched as the light god then showed Gohan the moment Natsu was revived. After then, the demi-Saiyan was shown how Natsu and four other orphans were raised together both by five dragons and a woman named Anna Heartfilia.

Once again, the shock of the revelation almost drew Lucy's focus, but her intrigued curiosity managed to keep her mind on track; and she was once again watching and listening as Iga gave Gohan a brief synopsis of Zeref and the dragon's plan to eliminate Acnologia. She watched as the dragons hid themselves inside their respective ward, only for Anna to lead them all inside the Eclipse Gate; and next Lucy watched as her own mother aided in the completion the time-travelling spell, an act that would eventually lead to Layla's death as she opened the Gate without using the full set of golden keys.

After that, Iga had shown Gohan the results of the botched time-travel; and they quickly skimmed over both the lives of the five Dragon Slayers. Once that was complete, the god Igneel briefly explained to Gohan Fairy Tail's background and founding, which was a story Mavis had already recounted to Lucy once Zeref had become an impending threat. Once that tale was also recounted, Igneel had ended his magic; and the meeting between him and Gohan ended with the same conclusion Lucy reached, with her saying it aloud as soon as she felt her connection to Gohan's mind come to a close.

"I can't believe it… Dragon Slayers travelling hundreds of years from the past… And Natsu… all of Natsu's life, kept in one book like that, it's… it's just not right! We need to get that book."

"Exactly." Gohan readily agreed as they both reopened their eyes, "But the problem is that Edo stole it; and we can only assume that he's keeping it on his person."

"How do you know that?" She asked with clear surprise after clearing the tears from her eyes.

"Because of what happened at Akane Beach." He explained next, "When Igneel entered the Shadow and rescued our friends, he used a spell that briefly collapsed the entire magic dimension. Anything that wasn't made from Edo's magic was forced out into the open; and yet even Claris, the Keeper of Light, a person that can see anything light touches, wasn't able to find the Book of E.N.D. when it happened."

"The Keeper of Light?" Lucy repeated the moniker curiously, "Is that one of these people you've been fighting here?"

"Yes, and no." Gohan explained next, "Vesta, her real name, turned traitor against the rest of the Keepers and is helping us instead. These Keepers are god-killers; and by using the divided magics of their master, Sound and Light, Life and Death, and Space and Time… their job was to maintain what their leader determined to be the natural order. Dead people stay dead, and the living are kept on worlds created as far from the Otherworld as possible. The universes are divided, and the Keepers are the ones that plan on keeping them divided. You being here would be an affront to them, but our friend Broly defeated the Keeper of Space yesterday; so you should be safe. There is a chance you'll be in danger again, if one of the other Keepers defeat us; but I can assure you right now that I'm not gonna let that happen."

"So these Keepers," Lucy wondered next, "They're the reason you guys had stayed away for so long? You were training to fight them?"

"Them, and Edo." Gohan answered with a quick nod, "When I fought Edo over Magnolia, I wasn't strong enough to defeat him; so I came up with the crazy idea to die on purpose. That way, I could go to Otherworld and receive training from an old god of creation, an ancestor of the Supreme Kai. But just before all that went down, an angel named Whis, who's a kind of family friend, forced Trunks and everyone else to stay in our own universe. After that, we looked into why, and that was how we ended up learning about the Keepers. Goten beat Cerberus, the Keeper of Death; and I've defeated Casus, the Keeper of Sound."

"And so all that's left to beat are the Keepers of Life and Time, and then maybe their leader?" Lucy deduced quickly, adding another question once Gohan nodded again, "But if the Keeper of Light can see or control all light, everywhere… doesn't that mean the Keeper of Time controls all of time? Or the Keeper of Life and all living things? How do you plan on winning against people with that kinda magic? The Dragon Balls? Natsu and I saw that dragon last night; and he kinda explained to me what it was."

"Shenron is his name." He informed her with a smirk, "And yeah, our plan did involve him. With Shenron's power, Videl wished me back to life; and then we wished for immunity from the Keepers' powers right after that. So now when the Keepers fight us, they could still use their magic to hurt us indirectly; but they're gonna have to physically overpower us if they actually want to eliminate us."

"So the fight's on even terms now?" She concluded aloud.

"That's right." He nodded once more, "And so that leads us to here. Right now, Goten's already gone back to your world with Wendy; and Trunks and Lisanna will be heading back too, soon enough. We might not be done with the Keepers, but defeating the Keeper of Space has given us the freedom to return to the fight against Edo as well. And I promise you, the only fight you need to be worried about, is the one to save Natsu, and your world along with him. If Goten and Trunks aren't enough to help Fairy Tail beat Edo on their own, then me, Igneel, and anyone else that'll help, we'll go right to your world; and we're gonna put Edo in his place once and for all."

"I'm already looking forward to it." Lucy remarked honestly.

"As am I," He agreed with another smirk that quickly faded as he added, "But before that can happen, we're gonna do everything we can to help our friends along the way. Trunks and Goten both know about the Book of E.N.D., and they're both gonna try to steal it from Edo when the opportunity arises. When that does happen, and they get their hands on it, they're gonna give the book to you."

"To me?" She repeated with a wide-eyed expression.

"And to Levy," He affirmed with another nod, "You two, besides First Master Mavis, are the smartest wizards our guild currently has. If there's anyone that could find a way to undo Natsu's connection to Zeref, it'd be you two."

Fully realizing now why Gohan wanted to speak with her, Lucy only had one major lingering question regarding what she saw.

"W-Well, I'm glad you think that; but there's still something I need to know. I knew the Eclipse Gate wasn't just some weapon, but I never would've thought it was my ancestor that built it… And my mom, she gave up her life to open it; all because she didn't have Aquarius' key… Do you know where Anna is? She came through the Eclipse Gate with Natsu and the others, right?"

"She did," Gohan nodded once more, "She's kept an eye on the Dragon Slayers from a distance, but lately, her attention's been focused on some sort of time-rift. We think the Eclipse Gate might've caused it, but unfortunately, we can't ask her. Once Edo interrupted Zeref's plan, Anna must've gone into hiding; and wherever she is must have some serious kinda magic protection, because not even Vesta can find her at the moment."

"I see…" Lucy replied with clear disappointment, "That's a shame. There's so many questions I'd like to ask her…"

"And one day you'll get those answers, I'm sure." He responded confidently, "Igneel will find her eventually, and he's gonna bring her onboard with our plans just like I'm doing now with you. I mean, she's already worked with one Igneel; so I doubt she'll be afraid to work with the other."

Feeling she didn't need to make her agreement more obvious with that assumption, Lucy quickly agreed before moving on with her thoughts.

"Yeah, but still… It's so weird to think that Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel are technically hundreds of years older than me. Even Sting and Rogue… my ancestor raised them…"

"With the dragons' help, of course." Gohan helped her recall, "She's actually the one that knitted that scarf of Natsu's, as well. It's pretty weird how things work out, though…"

"No kidding…" Lucy agreed readily, "I ran away from home just to get away from all of my family drama, and I thought Fairy Tail was a pretty solid escape from it all… To say I was wrong is such an understatement."

"It sounds like good inspiration for a novel, if you'd ask me." Gohan commented with a knowing smirk, prompting Lucy to blush a bit before responding.

"So you saw some of my memories too, huh?" She asked hesitantly, "Like me writing my novel?"

"I did," He confirmed casually, "But I promise I won't tell anyone about what I saw. As an aspiring author myself, I know how you feel."

"You're writing a novel, too?" Lucy blinked with some surprise.

"Well, not so much a novel." He quickly clarified with an awkward scratch of the back of his head, "Compared to what you're writing, my book will be pretty boring. But it should help the people of this world immensely; if I can make it sound interesting enough for anyone to wanna read it, that is…"

"Well, I can definitely understand that last part all too well…" She sighed depressingly, only to blush again as another thought came to mind, "And um, you didn't see anything… else… did you?"

"Only some dreams about Natsu." He admitted bluntly before quickly reassuring her, "But don't worry, they weren't any of the embarrassing kind. And honestly, even those wouldn't have surprised me."

"Really?" She replied bashfully, glowing a bit redder than before as she did, "W-What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you are in love with him, aren't you?" He remarked tactlessly, "Even a boring guy like me can tell how obvious it is."

"I… Well," She began to stutter, "I mean…"

"Also, in all honesty," He decided to interrupt her, hoping to give her something else to talk about, "Videl's gonna be pretty happy when she finds out you two are actually a thing now, even if you're trying to keep it secret and all… Ever since he started living here, she's really started to see Natsu as a kinda little brother figure; and she's been real pushy about trying to make him into some kinda gentleman, or something…"

"Heheh, I noticed." Lucy giggled a bit in response, "She's been teaching him how to cook, and I noticed that house he's been staying in is way cleaner than the one he has back home. His manners still need some work, though."

"Yeah," Gohan sighed amusedly, "Videl gave up on that one."

"Heh," She chuckled in agreement, "I can't say I blame her."

Smiling back at her with amusement, the demi-Saiyan remained quiet, as he could tell Lucy had more to say.

"But seriously, Gohan. Thank you, for doing all this. I know it's just kinda your thing, to go around helping people; but still… You're in the middle of a fight where literally every universe's fate is at stake, and yet you're still taking the time to stop and help all these people on this one tiny little planet…"

"You know, I got a similar lecture from the Supreme Kais, actually…" He deflected her praise with a hint of bashfulness, "But really, the whole reason we're fighting the Keepers is to help out your world in the first place…"

"I wasn't just talking about Earthland, though." She pointed out with vague amusement, "Helping people just seems to be one of your hobbies, Gohan; and I don't think it'd matter what world you're on."

"Heh, well, you're probably right about that." He conceded humbly before changing the subject, "So anyway, since you're all caught up, how about we try and do some actual meditating now?"

Meanwhile, about five minutes ago, inside Igneel's Sanctuary…

"Hey Ves, get over here!" the redheaded god called back playfully from just inside his training room, "Trunks and I are about to do something pretty dumb!"

Walking just behind the ever bare-chested immortal, Lisanna could only shake her head dejectedly while Trunks facepalmed as he lead them both into the center of the room; and he stopped just before the central console as he turned around to reply to his sensei.

"Master, this isn't dumb at all, it's actually a very complicated technique!"

"I know," Igneel conceded with dismissive humor as his wife suddenly appeared standing just to his right, "But my letting you do this, when you're saying it's complicated, is exactly what makes this really dumb."

"Okay, all I heard was 'something dumb'." Vesta spoke up next just before Trunks could continue arguing with her husband, "But I'm already intrigued, unless this 'something' ends up killing him somehow… Can this kill him?"

"N-No!" The demi-Saiyan argued defensively, "I-I mean, I'm pretty sure it won't, as long as I don't go all out with it, anyway…"

"Good." She countered back warningly, "'Cause if you kill him in front of me without a heads-up, and you know what's gonna happen."

"Yes, ma'am, we've discussed this at length before." He replied with tired timidity before quickly perking up and repeating his confident defense, "But you really don't have to worry. Even if I would get it wrong, the worst thing that could happen is nothing!"

"Why don't you just show her, Trunks?" Lisanna prompted him from just beside the exit.

"My thoughts exactly." He agreed rather quickly before stepping close to Iga and raising a hand and speaking again as he did, "Now, apologies, ahead of time, Master; but…"

Flicking Igneel right on the tip of his nose, Trunks accidently smirked as he continued to defend his actions.

"I needed to hit you in some way to make it work."

"Yeah, but you flicked my nose?" The god whined after having jumped and grabbed his nose in surprise, "You could've at least hit the center of it…"

"Stop complaining and look up, Master…" Lisanna teased him as respectfully as she could; and once he did glance upwards as instructed, his offended façade soon quickly fell for his true interest in his protégé's skill. Floating just a few feet above Igneel's head was a small, white, incandescent orb that was no larger than a golf ball; and without even needed the explanation Trunks was about to deliver, the immortal had begun to smirk knowingly just before his student resumed the argument.

"See? Look at that, no problem." He told both Igneel and Vesta before moving on, "Anyway, do you know what that is, floating above us?"

"It's a piece of Master Iga's god, isn't it?" Lisanna concluded for her fiancé's audience, "The spirit that's possessing him, right?"

"That's right." Trunks nodded, giving her a grateful smile before continuing, "With just that tap on the nose, I managed to remove that much of the god's spirit from your body."

"Wait, what?" The Light Keeper had no problem displaying her shock, "You've actually some way to do that? Like some kinda exorcism?"

"No, it's not an exorcism," The demi-Saiyan immediately resented her reaction, "What kind of exorcism involves beating the victim up to get the spirits out of them?"

"Well, I'm glad you're honest about what you're doing, at least…" Igneel remarked, though no one actually listened.

"It's called Forced Spirit Fission," Trunks said mainly to Vesta as he continued to lecture her, "And I could probably, and safely, remove that magic seal of yours too, if I tweaked the technique just a little bit…"

"You could make us both mortal?" She concluded aloud with a heavy mix of half-heartedly concealed emotions, "V-Vegeta… really taught you this? That's kinda terrifying, actually…"

"Regret talking down to him now?" Iga asked his wife tauntingly.

"Eh, not really." She deflected semi-seriously before looking to Igneel's star pupil again, "But um, now that we know that your move works; can you please put that spirit energy back into my husband for now? I'd prefer him fully-charged, thank you."

"You talk about me like I'm some kinda toy or somethin'…" Igneel sighed depressingly while Trunks quietly complied, smirking proudly as the white orb swiftly returned to its source the next instant.

"Please don't start flirting in front of us again." Lisanna interjected with feigned desperation, "I'm already lucky I'm not feeling nauseous as it is…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." The redheaded Keeper quipped dismissively again, "Now why don't ya take your boytoy here and run off to that little guild of yours like we planned?"

"Heh, you mean like how Trunks planned," The takeover mage corrected her coyly, "And yes, now that our little strategy meeting is over, we will be on our way, thank you very much."

Sticking her tongue out at Vesta mockingly as she ended her response, Lisanna withdrew her newly-replaced remote lacrima before swiftly activating it to create a portal on the wall behind her as she did.

"Lisanna," Trunks questioned her seriously, "You promised you're gonna stay at the guild for now, remember?"

"Hrmhm… I do…" She reluctantly groaned a reassurance before more confidently acknowledging his concern the next second, "But thanks for worrying, babe. I'll see you at the guild when you're done."

"And make sure you don't let one of thoseremotes get stolen again!" The redheaded woman taunted one last time as Trunks shared another passing smile with his fiancé before creating a portal of his own underneath him; and the couple both quietly laughed off Vesta's remark as they vanished the next second, leaving the Keeper with a vaguely irritated expression that she could only turn on her husband as a result.

"Tch, that was annoying." She vented before grabbing her lover by the wrist and leading him out the room the next second, "C'mon, Igneel, all this talkin's made me hungry again."

Meanwhile, on the closing side of Lisanna's portal, Cana and a few of the others by the bar led the guild in cheering for their guildmate's return as she appeared from just beside the guild's front doors.

"Hey, look who's finally made it!" The card wizard joked as the volume of the crowd began to lower again, "It's barely been a day, but it still feels like forever since we seen ya!"

"Hehe, thanks Cana." Lisanna giggled in a manner similar to her sister's usual laugh, "And it's great to see everyone's doing okay, especially after what happened earlier today."

"What? You mean that little dust-up?" the brunette scoffed lightly, "Pfft, Wendy and Erza had it handled; and watchin' Wendy make-out with her incredibly hot boyfriend after made for quite the cherry on top."

"Heh-hm," Lisanna giggled once again with another imitation of Mirajane, "You're almost as dirty-minded as my sister, you know."

"And I take that as I compliment!" Cana half-cheered with amused defiance before lifting her barrel up, tilting it back, and taking another few gulps. In the resulting silence that followed, Lisanna's male sibling quickly took the chance to greet her properly.

"And you're lucky Big Sis wasn't around to hear that, Lisanna." Elfman remarked with timid amusement.

"Luck's got nothin' to do with it Elf-nii-chan," She quipped playfully, "I know Mira's in the waiting room, big bro. Master Iga's magic is pretty useful like that."

"It certainly seems so." Evergreen agreed quietly before the Beast Soul wizard replied to his sister again.

"Still, poking fun at Mira like that just 'cause you know you'd get away with it… That's so unmanly, Sis."

"Why thank you, nii-chan." The Animal Soul mage quipped humorously, "That's the first time you've said that right, you know."

"Hey, I hate to break up another reunion and all," Cana chimed in again, "But weren't you supposed to show up accompanied by a certain someone?"

"You mean Trunks?" Lisanna quickly clarified before answering, "He went to help Goten and Romeo too. But whatever they're up to, he'll be getting done with it quick if he knows what's good for him."

"Hah," Gildarts chuckled musingly, "It almost sounds like the poor guy is in trouble already."

"No, he isn't just yet." Lisanna remarked honestly, "But if he isn't back here before dinner, he will be.

"It's great to see you, though, Gildarts." She quickly changed to a friendlier tone as she moved to stand behind him and his daughter, "So much has happened since I last saw you, I wouldn't even know where to begin…"

"Well, lemme give you a good startin' point, Lisanna," Cana whined annoyedly, "The damn useless old fart didn't even know Fairy Tail had disbanded!"

"So as you can tell," Evergreen recalled the conversation for Lisanna with a mildly sarcastic tone, "We've had quite the time so far, regaling Gildarts with all our tales from the past few years…"

"I'm sure you have." Lisanna remarked with an amused tone before looking back to Gildarts, "But, I can't help being a little worried. I heard you were saved by Edo, of all people… Are you sure he didn't do anything to you? Like, nothing at all?"

"I feel fine." He assured her before adding, "Although I get why you're worried. Those Alvarez goons are one kinda awful for sure, but that guy Edo even had me creeped out. When you feel his power, it's not just really intense; it's… It was almost like staring into a walking pit of darkness; but it went beyond that, too. There's this ice-cold sort of… pressure… that surrounds you and pulls at you; and it gets worse the closer he gets. I don't even wanna imagine what it must feel like, being at the center of it all…"

"Maybe you should ask him, next time ya see him." Cana told her father sarcastically, "He's apparently quite the talker, from what I heard."

"Yeah, the crazy ones usually are." He sighed with a sad humor before changing the subject, "But hey, we're not gonna talk about the bad guys all day, I hope. This is supposed to be a party after all…"

"It's a shame Master Makarov hasn't joined us yet." Kinana thought aloud next, prompting Freed to speak up from his end of the bar.

"I agree, but someone had to go to the mayor and make amends again. The southern road outta town was blasted out of existence, and nearly half the town was struck by debris just before that."

"Odds are we're gonna have to help clean up the town again, aren't we?" Cana concluded with vague bitterness.

"That won't be a totally bad thing, though." Laxus added next, gesturing to the small crowd behind them the next moment as he added, "Rebuilding that road'll make a great excuse to get the slackers back there off their asses for a change."

"Hah," Cana chuckled in agreement, "That's true."

"You're included in that, you know." Evergreen pointed out to her bluntly, "The only time you work is when you need to pay for your drinks or your rent."

"And that… is also true." The card mage agreed as she lifted her barrel up and drank from it again.

"Heh-hm…" Lisanna giggled before speaking to the group, "Well, you guys keep helping Gildarts with catching up, and I'll be back in a minute."

"Where ya goin, Sis?" Elfman inquired curiously as she began to turn and walk away.

"Nowhere far." She assured him, not bothering to stop as she continued to answer, "I'm just gonna pop in on that little meeting Jellal's holding real quick, to get those three up to speed and all."

A few seconds passed before the takeover mage had halted in front of the waiting room door as soon as she realized that it was locked.

"Huh." She commented to herself, taking out Iga's magic remote once again as she did, "Must be important, whatever's going on in there…"

Creating a pair of portals leading through the door, the first sound she was greeted with was the words of Jellal, as it seemed he was just bringing the meeting to an end.

"Great. I'll take Erik and go to Crocus as soon as he's ready. If we get there in time, we just might have a chance to finally be a step ahead of that evil bastard."

"Oh great," Lisanna announced her arrival amusedly, "It sounds like my timing is perfect."

"Lisanna! You're back!" Mirajane replied with quiet surprise before moving quickly to meet her little sister halfway, "And you've got a new lacrima, it seems."

Smiling to greet Lisanna as she walked in, Wendy ended up looking aside awkwardly at Mira's trailing remark while the younger of the takeover wizards replied to her sister's greeting.

"Well yeah, I can't rely on Trunks to ferry me around all the time. And replacing the last remote was super easy to do anyway…"

"That's good to know, I guess." Her big sister replied with a curious tone, "And is that another one of my dresses you're wearing? I don't recognize it; it's missing all the cute ribbons…"

"And that god awful lace, too." She explained amusedly, "I had to update the look if I was gonna blend in as an Earthling, y'know."

"W-Well, yeah," Mirajane remarked with a hint of defensiveness, "But, that outfit was so cute though…"

"Maybe, but I wasn't trying to look 'cute'." Lisanna quipped with a casual smirk, about to say more until Jellal cleared his throat to regain everyone's attention.

"Oh, right." The younger takeover mage quickly, "Jellal, this is for you."

Tossing him the small white lacrima she was still holding out, Lisanna continued to talk as soon as Jellal caught the magic item midair.

"Don't worry about bringing it back to me. I brought a handful of them from the Sanctuary this time."

"So this is…" Jellal's voice initially trailed off, knowing he was about to ask a dumb question, "But, how do I use it?"

"It's easy," She answered casually, "All you gotta do is imagine a place or person you wanna go to, and the remote will take you there if it can. But um, one pro tip: point the thing at a wall before you activate it. If you're not aiming it, it'll just make a portal underneath you; and I'm sure you can imagine what happens from there."

"Yeah…" Wendy sighed with vague embarrassment, "Wish I'd have known that sooner…"

Giggling at her friend's remark, Lisanna smiled faintly as she spoke again.

"Well, now that you've learned, I've got another remote for you too, Wendy."

"You do?" the bluenette asked humbly, "Even though I got the last one-"

"Yeah, I don't think anyone was gonna save that one." Lisanna assured her humorously before switching to a bit softer tone, "But still, I'm not giving you the next one until we get you cleaned up and into a fresh set of clothes. We can't having you wearing that bloody mess for the whole party, now can we?"

"No," Wendy agreed tentatively, "I suppose not..."

"Great!" Lisanna replied with enough eagerness to surprise Wendy, "Let me know when you're ready, and we'll head back to your place."

"You're coming with me?" The Sky Maiden wondered aloud.

"Well yeah," The younger takeover mage quipped half-seriously, "With your side all bandaged up like that, it'd probably be good if you had some help, wouldn't it? And besides, it'd make a good chance for us to catch-up. And to trade notes…"

"'Trade notes'?" Wendy inquired naively, "On what?"

"W-Well then," Jellal cut in awkwardly, feeling not entirely sure he needed to hear the end of their conversation, "It sounds like we're done here, so… I'll be leaving now. Unless there's anything else that requires my attention…?"

"I've got nothing," Lisanna affirmed amiably, "But be careful with heading to Crocus, Jellal. Edo might sense that lacrima if you use it too close to him."

"Trust me," He replied gravely, "I have no desire to get close to that man, in any sense of the word."

While those two conversed, Mirajane quickly and quietly unlocked the door before returning to Lisanna's side and speaking up as she did.

"Well, while you all get to it, I'm going to be here, resting up for a few minutes."

Quietly signaling a goodbye, Jellal nodded to the three women and promptly left the room while the others continued to chat.

"'Resting up'?" Lisanna repeated curiously, "That's not like you. You're not sick or anything, are you? You do look kinda dehydrated…"

"I think she might be hungover," Wendy observed helpfully, "But I haven't smelled any alcohol on her though, so I might be wrong."

"I'm fine," Mirajane said with her usual smile, hiding the fact she was nervous from being nearly called out, "I just need a quick power-nap, is all."

"Okay," Her sister replied with skeptical humor, "Just make sure you drink some water at some point, alright?"

"I will." She promised before changing the subject, "But first, I'm gonna have to clean this room up a bit more. I didn't realize it'd gotten so dusty in here…"

Shaking her head dejectedly, Lisanna turned back to her other guildmate as she spoke.

"Never change, Mira-nee. Are you ready to go, Wendy?"

Seeing Wendy nod the next moment, Lisanna withdrew a Hoi Poi Capsule this time before activating it and tossing it onto the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Awesome," She replied, watching the resulting smoke clear briefly before adding a quick explanation, "I don't really remember what your place looks like though, so you're gonna have to be the one that takes us there."

Noticing that there was now a large square case sitting atop the table, Wendy was quick to guess the container's contents.

"With one of those lacrima, right?" She wondered aloud while Lisanna pressed one button atop the case to make it slide open.

"That's right," The takeover wizard affirmed as she pulled two more of the magic remotes from out the case, "Master Iga wanted me to give you one anyway."

"He did?" The Sky Maiden questioned her curiously, watching her reseal the case before clicking the second button atop it, "Why?"

"For a ton of reasons, honestly." Lisanna answered as the case turned to smoke with a 'poof', "You're a pretty important person around here, you know."

"That's what people keep telling me…" the bluenette remarked bashfully, prompting Lisanna to giggle lightly as she tucked away the capsule; and she handed Wendy one of the two remotes as she spoke again.

"That's 'cause it's true, Wendy. And if you want my advice, I'd say that you better get used to it, 'cause you're gonna hear it pretty often."

"Lisanna's right, y'know." Mirajane chimed in from behind the couch that was between them, seemingly having paused some sort of search as soon as she heard the capsule' explosion.

"Thanks, Mira." Wendy told her gratefully.

"Any time." She replied quickly before starting to look around the room again, "Now, where did I leave that duster?"

Twenty-five minutes later, on Earth…

"Man, you guys aren't done yet?" Natsu's playfully impatient voice echoed from the entrance of the near-empty temple.

"No, but I guess we are now." Lucy muttered sourly, prompting Gohan to chuckle as they both opened their eyes and turned to face the front entrance, "You do know you're supposed to be quiet in places like this, don't you?"

"I do," He replied to her as he walked behind Tien and Chiaotzu, with Happy and Uub following just behind him, "But no one's using the place, so we're all good."

"What? And I don't count?" She quipped pointedly, crossing her arms indignantly as she did.

"Well yeah, you do," He assured her casually before the group stopped before the two that were still seated, "But I mean, it's you; so, it's different."

"'Different'? The heck does that mean?" She argued annoyedly, "And what about Gohan?"

"Oh, he's definitely different." Happy commented bluntly; and the demi-Saiyan simply chuckled weakly while awkwardly scratching the back of his head, feeling not entirely sure the feline's remark was a compliment.

"And besides," Natsu reminded her confidently, "You said ya wanted us to come and get ya anyway, remember?"

"Yeah," She briefly conceded before arguing more as she and Gohan finally stood up, "But that doesn't mean you can forget your manners in the process!"

"Lucy-san does have a point…" Uub added quietly, leaning towards Happy as he said it.

"Eh, maybe if it were someone else." The floating cat shrugged honestly, "But this is Natsu were talking about here. Manners have never really been his specialty."

"That's right, little buddy," The Salamander gave his cat companion a thumbs-up in response, "And don't you forget it!"

"I'm not sure that was a compliment either…" Gohan observed aloud with a sigh that made Tien smirk.

Laughing it off as always, Natsu quickly changed the conversation the next second.

"So anyway… what's next? Is it time for dinner yet? 'Cause I kinda worked up a bit of an appetite back there."

"Surprisingly, I kinda did too," Lucy admitted before adding, "But it's nowhere near dinnertime yet."

"Aw…" Happy sighed sadly.

"C'mon, a quick snack wouldn't hurt." Natsu replied to her casually, "We could go fishing. Goten showed me a few spots that aren't too far from my place, and a couple fish from one of those places'd hold me over 'til dinner for sure."

As soon as the word 'fishing' was brought up, Happy instantly perked up again; and he was now staring at the celestial mage expectantly as he waited for her agreement with Natsu's suggestion.

"Hm, I guess we could do that…" She thought aloud, "It would be a decent way to relax and kill some time while we're at it."

"So it's settled!" Happy declared eagerly, "Let's go catch some fish!"

"Now hang on," The Salamander quickly added, "There's still one thing to add here: this little guy's gonna be taggin' along."

Seeing Natsu gesture to Uub as he spoke, Lucy was a bit surprised at first.

"He is?" She asked curiously.

"I-I won't though, if I you don't want me too…" the young islander replied shyly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," Lucy quickly clarified, "I was just wondering why."

"Because, well," Uub answered nervously, "I was hoping that maybe Natsu-san would help me train…"

"And what does this have to do with fishing?" She asked Natsu next.

"Heh, nothin' at all." He chuckled before explaining, "But he is gonna be stayin' with us for a few days."

"Huh?" She questioned with surprise and hesitation, "In that tiny house?"

"That's right," He nodded with a smirk.

"He's bunking with me," Happy revealed as if on cue.

"But only for the first night." Natsu cryptically finished his friend's sentence before noticing Lucy's obviously-growing confusion and quickly adding, "After that, we'll be camping for a few days; so we'll all have plenty of room to ourselves."

"Clearly I've missed some lengthy conversation…" Lucy concluded aloud, prompting Natsu to smile amusedly as she added, "But I'm sure I could guess how it went. And is there any particular destination for this camping trip?"

"There is, but we can chat about it later." He changed the subject as soon as he realized she had just agreed to go along with them, "Right now, I'm really cravin' for some fish. Gohan?"

"Way ahead of you, pal." The demi-Saiyan informed him with similar amusement before turning to their hosts, "Tien, Chiaotzu, thank you for your hospitality. Dad told me this place was 'pretty neat'; but you know him…"

"A master of understatements, I know." Tien agreed with mix of pride and amusement, "But we were also glad to have you. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get to see a hint of this new power you've got, though, but I'm sure I'll get to see it eventually."

"Probably whenever your father nearly gets us all killed again." Chiaotzu guessed with a flatly grim humor; and once again Gohan found himself chuckling and scratching his head awkwardly, this time partly out of guilt on his dad's behalf.

"Sounds like you and Goku have another thing in common…" Happy muttered towards Natsu, though not quietly enough to keep the others from hearing; and the group silently laughed as the two quickly bickered.

"Hey!"

"What? It's kinda true."

"Yeah, maybe, but you don't gotta- Ah, whatever… Let's go catch some fish already. You ready to go Luce?"

"Uh-hm." She hummed with a nod, and her amused smile broadened a bit as Natsu deftly took her right hand into his left, after which he turned to Tien to thank him for his hospitality one more time before Gohan, Uub, and Happy finished the mostly-human chain; and by the time Tien could finish returning Natsu's farewell, the whole group had vanished the next second.