Erza and the Others

Erza and the others had spent the day in the inn, laying low. Natsu and Gray had taken turns to go out into the slave market, posing as potential buyers so that they could get a good idea of the layout of the market and keep an eye on Marielle and her crew. After what felt like forever, night finally arrived and they went out into the streets, ready to cause some chaos. The streets were still busy, people drinking and looking into the cages. Lucy walked behind Gray and Natsu, the hood of her cloak pulled around her face. When they reached the edge of the hold cages, Erza stopped.

"Ok, we all have our roles. We go in, we hit hard and we get out," she said.

Natsu, Gray and Lucy nodded and as Gray and Lucy went off to start freeing the slaves, Natsu and Erza headed deeper into the market looking for Marielle. Erza did not speak as she walked through the cages and Natsu could see from the look in her eyes that she was not in the mood for conversation. They approached the area where they had seen Marielle earlier and saw that they were still sitting outside the tents. Erza looked and held up a hand to stop Natsu from rushing forward.

"Wait for Gray and Lucy to start causing a commotion and then we can grab her in the confusion. I want this to be a quick as possible before her crew notice we have her," she said.

Natsu nodded and together they stood waiting for the first sounds that meant that Lucy and Gray had begun to free the slaves. It didn't take long. A few minutes later, a huge sheet of ice shot up into the sky and the shouting began. Erza looked and sighed,

"I said not to overdo it! Never mind, let's do this!" she said.

As the shouting continued, Marielle stood up and started barking orders to her men to protect their slaves. The crew ran off in different directions and Marielle stood alone, looking around. From the distance, the sounds of shouting got louder and the streets got busier as freed slaves mixed with locals. Erza walked forward, paying attention to nothing other than Marielle. Natsu hung back sensing this was something Erza needed to do. Marielle noticed Erza walking towards and drew her sword, taking up a fighting stance. Erza smiled slightly as she muttered "Requip" and walked forward wearing her Clear Heart Clothing, sword held by her side. Marielle smiled slightly,

"I should have known the Fairies would come when we took the others. You are too late, they are not here," she said.

"I am aware of that," Erza said, "Although Lucy is closer than you would think. Now I want to know where Wendy and Carla are."

Marielle stood looking at Erza, "You came looking for a fight, didn't you? Well I am going to have to disappoint you. There is no benefit to me in getting into a fight with you. I know who you are, I can't beat you, I am realistic enough to know that."

Natsu stood off to the side, suddenly moved and punched one of Marielle's crew in the head as he tried to creep up behind Erza. Marielle watched and shook her head.

"I'll make a deal with you. You don't kill me and I will tell you who bought the other two members of your guild," Marielle said.

Erza stood quietly, although she wanted nothing more than to beat this woman, she knew that realistically it was getter to get the information they needed and leave as soon as they could.

"I agree that we will not kill anyone but we want the truth." Erza said.

"I don't owe the slime bag who bought them anything, he is a creep even by my standards. His name is Auboron and he owns a guild in the next city to the west of here." Marielle said.

Just then Gray and Lucy walked around the corner.

"All the cages are open," Gray said.

Lucy did not say anything she just took her hood down and stared at Marielle.

"Wendy and Carla better be safe or I swear I will spend my life tracking you down," Lucy said,

Marielle answered, "I don't doubt that you will. I have given your friend the name and location of the man who bought them. The rest is up to you."

Erza nodded at the others, "Let's go, we have travelling ahead of us."

As they walked away from the market, the sounds of fighting came from all around them. Erza looked back at Natsu.

"Burn the cages, all of them, and when we get to the docks, I want you to burn that bitch's ship to a cinder," she said.

Natsu grinned and set about setting the cages on fire as he walked past. Once they reached the dock, he decided as he didn't know which was the right ship, he would just burn them all. As the group walked away into the night, they were silhouetted by the sight of ships burning. No one spoke, but they all considered it a good night's work as they headed closer to rescuing Wendy and Carla.

Carla

Carla looked around the room that she was cleaning and sighed. She assumed that a problem would be found as it seemed that the other slaves seemed to take great delight in picking fault with everything she did. Lilia had told her it was because the others resented her. She was being kept at the brothel without being put to work and so they thought she was being treated better than any of them and so they were taking that out on her. Carla wondered how Wendy was but she shook her head, it did not good to think about it as she always ended up with the worst-case scenario! She looked around the room once more and then walked out into the corridor. As she did, the owner of the brothel walked to the door of her room and beckoned Carla inside. Carla sighed again and went in, expecting the worse.

Narissa walked over to sit behind her desk and motioned for Carla to take a seat opposite her. Carla was not expecting that and so she sat down slowly, waiting to see where this was going.

"I went to the guild today and saw your friend," Narissa said.

"Is she ok?" Carla asked, her need to know overcoming her fear of speaking out of place.

"As well as can be expected in that pervert's guild but I don't know how long that will last," Narissa said. "You are both with the Fairy Tail guild, are you not?"

Wendy raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Yes we are, why?"

Narissa laughed slightly, "Even here we have heard about your guild's reputation and I am not stupid enough to think that they will not be coming for you and bringing hell with them. I am going to tell you some things but this has to stay between us and if I hear any word of it outside this office, you will pay. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Carla answered.

Narissa took a deep breath, "I came here the same as everyone else, I was brought in on a slave ship when I was a young girl. I have worked hard to get where I am and although you may find this hard to believe, I hate Auboron with a passion. I hate the slave trade and I hate the fact the girls here have to work as prostitutes to stay alive. I try and protect them as much as I can but it is getting harder."

"So why don't you just leave or do something more?" Carla asked.

Narissa snorted, "Do you want to know what Auboron does to anyone who tries to leave or stands up to him? He has torture rooms under the guild and then your head ends up on a spike as a warning to others. I protect as many girls as I can but there are so many, I can't protect them all."

"So, what do you want from me? I am a slave. There is nothing I can do," Carla said.

"I am aware of that. But your guild can and do you think I don't know who that little girl up in the guild is? She is a dragon slayer, is she not?" Narissa said, eyebrow raised.

"She is but with her collar on, she can't do anything," Carla said, trusting the older woman.

Narissa smiled, "Well, we are going to work on that but first things first. We need to get a message out to your guild mates. For the first time since I got her, I really think we have a chance to take him down. You have no idea how happy that makes me." Narissa paused. "Once a long time ago, my daughter was chained by his side and he got tired of her and killed her and there was nothing I could do. But that has changed. Will you help me?"

Carla listened to the older woman, feeling her pain. "We will help you, for Wendy and your daughter and everyone else. I know who will be coming and they will make him pay."

Narissa nodded, "I am risking a lot trusting you but I need to do this. Let's get started and get a message out!"