Hey guys, sorry it's been forever and a half but i'm here now! TBH this was a really fun chapter to write. Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

Erza

It had been a good four hours on horseback. Gray was still in the front with a compass in his hands. We were traveling north toward the border of Edolas and Caelum. There, we would change into our disguises and head into Caelum territory to head toward Caelum City, the capital of the country. Gildarts figured it would be the place where the prince would most likely be taken.

There, we would have to somehow infiltrate the castle and save the prince without setting off any alarms. Then we would have to return Prince Jellal to his fiancée before the week was over. Only then would Edolas be prepared for war, which was now inevitable no matter which way it swung.

The terrain had been pretty smooth so far, allowing us to ride in a smooth gallop for most of the journey. However, Caelum's landscape was much more treacherous than the plain fields and meadows of Edolas. That meant that further in the journey, we may end up walking our horses and carrying on the journey on foot. Gildarts asked us to avoid the main roads in as much as possible so as not to produce any rumors or cause trouble.

Heavenly was really living up to her name. She was smooth and stable in her gallop and it was not hard for me to maintain my balance. Natsu on the other hand was having a more difficult time. He was being thrown around and was slipping all through the ride. He was crying out and making a bunch of painful noises, keeping me awake. However, most of his misfortune was his own fault. His horse seemed to be taking very good care of him, even if he didn't think so.

As we neared the edge of a large wood, Gray slowed down to ride in step with me. He pointed at the wood in front of us.

"That's the border!" He cried out over the wind. "We should camp there for the night!" the orange sky agreed with his statement and I nodded. He took his pace in the front again as Natsu let out another shriek and Lucy laughed.

Finally, we reached the edge of the wood and Gray slowed to a stop with the rest of us following suit. I slid off Heavenly's body and groaned in relief. The inside of my thighs and my behind were aching tremendously. Natsu all but fell off his horse and crawled toward the wood, ducking behind a tree to throw up. I wrinkled my nose and turned away as the smell reached my nose.

"Gross." Lucy said, pinching her nose. Natsu's face reappeared to glare at her, only to duck behind the tree again.

"At least he held it in until we stopped." I said, crossing my arms. Lucy giggled and then wrinkled her nose again, probably realizing that if he hadn't held it in, it would probably be all over her.

"I found a clearing." I turned toward Gray who had just stepped out of the wood. I already tied Silver there. We should camp there for tonight. Tomorrow we should spend traveling to Caelum city. Then we need to come up with a plan."

"First we have to make sure the prince is actually in Caelum City." I said, taking Heavenly's bridle and following Gray into the forest. Lucy led both her horse and Natsu's horse as Natsu trailed behind weakly.

"Where else would he be?" Gray asked. I frowned and narrowed my eyes at him as we entered the clearing. I tied Heavenly next to Gray's horse and grabbed the pack off her back.

"Just like Edolas has a separate prison that's kept away from the citadel, Caelum may have the same thing. I'm just saying we shouldn't assume he's there. I think we should ask around, find out where the common people think they would take them." I said matter-of-factly, pulling out my sleeping bag.

"Why would ordinary citizens know anything about prison?" Gray asked, tossing bits of firewood in the middle of a clearing to make a fire. Natsu was leaning against a tree as Gray approached him and snatched his box of matches away from his belt.

"I think they'd know better than anyone. They're the ones that have to worry about prison the most. Especially in an oppressive environment like Caelum." Gray narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything as he lit the fire and tossed the box of matched back at Natsu.

"What do you think we should do, Erza?" Lucy asked, plopping down in front of the fire. Natsu slowly sat down next to her, holding his stomach weakly. She whirled on him and brandished his finger in front of his face.

"If you're going to throw up again, you better sit somewhere else because I will cut off your tongue if it gets on me." She threatened sharply. Natsu's eyes widened and his snapped his finger to his mouth, covering it with his palm. He slowly inched away from her, hands trembling.

"I think we need to ask the citizens about all the prisons in the area and then decide based on what we hear about them. I don't think he would be sent to some remote place because Zeref would want to keep him close. Which means that if the only prisons separate from the capital are far away, then our best bet is Caelum City. We just need to be careful. If we pick the wrong place, we might not get there in time. Edolas could fall and the prince could be killed because we made the wrong choice."

"Edolas won't fall, even if we fail." Gray came out into the clearing, stripped of his armor. He was now wearing a plain white shirt and some brown trousers. He sat down in front of the fire and crossed his arms. "Brogo will help. Edolas may be weak, but Brogo is strong. We will help defend this country. It was one of the reasons I was sent here."

"You're from Brogo?" Natsu asked, his voice coming out slightly hoarse from throwing up. Gray barely gave him an acknowledging glance and nodded.

"Were you not paying attention?" Lucy snapped, causing Natsu to glare at her and turn away to pout.

"I was sent to help with this cause because I am the fastest rider Brogo has. Queen Ur has promised to send her troops to help Edolas. We are strong and Edolas will not fall with Brogo as its ally." Gray said confidently.

"What if they kill him?" I asked. "Edolas won't have a leader. The country will fall without a leader."

"The King is still alive." Lucy protested. I rolled my eyes.

"Barely. He couldn't lead even if he wanted to. And the Royal Advisor? There is a reason he so desperately wants to make sure the prince is safe. He's not a ruler. He can only advise; not make the decisions a King has to make."

"And what would you know?" Gray shot, causing me to whip my head toward him. "You're a peasant, what would you know about the responsibilities of royalty?" I narrowed my eyes, but kept myself from bursting out with an answer. Instead, I calmed myself and thought rationally.

"I may be a peasant, but I watched my village burn in front of my eyes. I watched the prince try to save us with extra troops, but it only resulted in them dying as well. He had to make a decision. Send troops to try to save us, or let us burn and keep his troops. He made the wrong choice. We would have burned either way." I said quietly, wrapping my arms around my legs.

The thought hadn't even passed my mind until I'd said it out loud. It didn't matter if the prince wanted to save us at al. We would have died anyway. Simon and Kagura would have died no matter what. There was nothing the prince or anyone could do.

"I'm sorry." Lucy said quietly. I looked up and saw all of them looking at me with respect and sympathy.

"I had no idea." Gray whispered. I looked at him and saw that the hardness in his eyes had vanished slightly.

"I guess we don't really know anything about each other." Lucy said, crossing her legs. "I guess I'll go first. My name is Lucy and I'm a jewel thief. I decided to do this job because they offered a reward and a reward coming from a palace should be pretty hefty, if you know what I mean." She smiled and tossed a stone in the air.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel and I work in the mines."

"Figures." Lucy said, smiling. He glared at her, but didn't snap at her.

"I'm actually originally from Fiore. But I came to Edolas because I may have accidently blew up one of Fiore's capital buildings." He smiled sheepishly as we stared at him shock. "What? It wasn't really my fault. I was delivering oil and it may have accidently caught on fire when I went to light my cigarette."

"Crazy pyromaniac." Gray snarled, causing Natsu the whip his head around at him.

"Who are you to judge? At least I'm honest. And I don't smoke anymore so don't worry, you're perfectly safe." He growled. Gray snorted.

"I doubt that." He said brusquely. Natsu bared his teeth and Lucy had to step in.

"Guys! Really? It's the first night. You guys need to chill and just get along because we still have an entire mission to do together." The boys rolled their eyes and looked away from each other in a very immature fashion. Lucy sighed. "I bet neither of you have girlfriends." She prodded.

"Who needs a girlfriend?" Natsu shot. "They're loud and cranky and always want something from you. I don't want a girlfriend anyway." He pointed at her and smiled mischievously. "You probably don't even have a boyfriend." Lucy's cheeks reddened and she stomped her foot.

"Hey, I'm single by choice! I haven't found anyone that would be okay with my way of life. And even if they were, they'd still have to be handsome and have a good personality. I know what I want." She said crossing her arms.

"Hah, shallow much?" Natsu said, smirking. Lucy crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Remember that thing I said about cutting your tongue off? I hope you know I meant it." She growled, causing Natsu to laugh and raise his hands in surrender.

"You're both pathetic." Gray said, scoffing. Natsu glared at him.

"Oh yeah, like you're going to tell us that you have a girlfriend."

"I don't, actually, I have a wife." Gray said, smiling in triumph. Natsu glared.

"Wow, I'm surprised anyone could put up with you enough to marry you. I feel very bad for her, whoever she is. Can I offer my condolences?" He said, feigning sympathy. Gray clenched his fists and made to stand up.

"Shut up, freak. You can say what you want about me, but you don't insult my wife." He growled.

"That's funny, since you have such a low opinion of women." I said, speaking up for the first time. Gray paused and looked at me. I tilted my head at him and challenged him to argue with me. "You were so convinced that women shouldn't be a part of this mission so I'm surprised that you have any respect at all for your wife."

Gray narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"I protect her. She's not a fighter and she knows that. But she's smart enough to put the top physicians to shame. She's not a fighter, I am. I protect her and she accepts that. That is all I meant." He said, sitting back down.

"Really? So if your wife wanted to learn the ways of a sword, you'd let her?" I asked, gripping my knees tighter. Gray pursed his lips.

"Of course not. It's too dangerous for her." He let out quietly.

"It's too dangerous for her to learn to protect herself?"

"I protect her."

"And what if you're not around?" Gray paused, looking at me curiously. "What if she gets attacked while you're away? Don't you want her to be able to fend for herself without you around?" Gray looked away and I sighed, tightening my arms around my knees.

"What about you, Erza?" Lucy asked quietly. "Do have a special someone?" I felt my throat tighten and I buried my face in my knees.

"I had someone. He died." I said, almost choking on my saliva. I closed my eyes and tried to keep the tears from leaking from the corners of my eyes. I had already cried enough. There was no point in crying any more.

"I'm really sorry, Erza." Gray said, causing me to look up in surprise. He was giving me a look of total understanding. "I'm sorry you had to go through what you did. I never should have doubted you. I don't know what I'd do if my Juvia died. I don't think I'd be able to be as strong as you are."

"Aren't you a little young to be married?" Natsu said abruptly, causing Gray to focus his attention back on the salmon-haired idiot.

"At least I have someone. And no, I'm not too young. I'm a captain of Brogo's army and have lived on my own since I was thirteen."

"How old are you now? Sixteen?"

"Twenty, actually. So you can shut your trap."

"Dang, a whole twenty years old? I'm only nineteen, but still you're old."

"I am not old, you insolent freak."

"You're like a decrepit grandpa."

"Shut up!"

I smiled slightly at their shenanigans, watching as Gray dove on top of Natsu and the two started to brawl. Lucy jumped on top of them to try and stop them but only managed to entangle herself as well.

I sighed and shook my head, turning my attention to the fire. As much as I wanted to be angry with them for not taking this seriously, but I couldn't. I didn't know when they would have the chance to be this light-hearted again. Tomorrow came the real test. Tomorrow we would be entering the lion's den. God help us.

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