I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. I don't own the Pradesh Family characters or the idea of Bosco or White Sea, those are Desna's brilliant brain children. I do, however, own Mia and Thoma.

Seeking Sunrise

Chapter Four: A New Goal

Lucy pulled out a magazine from her pack. "You follow Sorcerer's Weekly?" Thoma asked.

"What's that?" Mia was confused.

"It's only the most accurate news magazine regarding everything about the most popular mages," Lucy beamed. "They do cover spreads, interviews and gossip articles."

"They would get more fans if they wrote about me," Thoma smirked.

"Settle down Mister Ego," Mia rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure finding a lost ruin while destroying the landscape at the same time will make you famous."

"More like infamous," Lucy agreed. "Anyway…" Lucy started flipping through the sections of the magazine. "My all-time favorite mage guild has at least one article written in every magazine, they're that popular."

"I didn't know you followed a guild," Thoma looked confused. "So, if you're such a fan, why don't you just join them instead of wandering around?"

"There's some, ah, complications with that," Lucy muttered. "It would be the first place someone I don't want to see would look for me." Lucy's eyes turned a little hazy as she thought of the implications that joining a guild would cause her. She shook her head rid of them and began her explanation again. "This last magazine release wasn't really about the major players of the guild anyway."

"Just so we're all on the same page," Mia started. "Which guild are we talking about, exactly?"

"The Fairy Tail Guild," Lucy smiled from ear to ear.

"Just don't go groupie on us," Thoma leaned away. "Your personality already shines enough as it is."

"Are you a vampire in secret?" Mia teased. "Afraid of a little personality sunshine?"

"Nothing like that," Thoma disagreed. "I just don't do sappy."

"AHEM!" Lucy exaggerated clearing her throat. "Subject? Fairy Tail? Translations? Ancient Ruins? Any of this reading a bell?"

"Please continue," Mia smiled innocently.

"Anyway, this article talks about a brilliant mage that Fairy Tail has in their guild. An archeologist came across a ruin buried in the desert sand, but the writing was so ancient he had a hard time deciphering the translation."

"Sounds familiar," Thoma interrupted.

Lucy continued as if he hadn't spoken. "The sponsor of the dig put out a job request to the major guilds to help translate them. Several answered, but none could figure out what it was with any certainty. The reward was raised a few times before a team in Fairy Tail answered. It was Team Shadow Gear. The members names are Levy, Jet and Droy. The article mentions that Levy brought her own mini-library on translations to help her reference. Using gale force glasses, she went over the writing and her books and cross referenced them. She discovered that they weren't just one ancient language, but several to make discovery more difficult. In the end it was translated and that led the dig to becoming one of the most prominent discoveries in history."

"Sounds like a nerd," Thoma grimaced. Mia elbowed him in the ribs for the remark. "See," he wheezed out, "you're fitting in already."

"We now know the 'who' to ask for help," Mia began. "Now we need to answer the 'how'."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"You just stated not that long ago that there are complications with joining your dream guild," Mia pointed out. "I think I'm safe in assuming that approaching them is also out of the question." Lucy bit her lip as she processed the statement. It was true that going anywhere near the guild could result in her father being able to find her. "Then there's the question of how to get in touch with Shadow Gear itself. How can we guarantee that they'll be the ones to answer a call for help from a group of people that are neither well known or guild members?"

"You have the comm lacrima," Thoma said. "We could call Fairy Tail and put in a request."

"Sounds great," Mia smiled at him. "Do you have their comm number?" Her question was met with silence. Mia turned to Lucy and knelt beside her. "Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea and we do need the help to figure this out. But, if you can't go there in person it's not really an option."

"Maybe it is," Thoma stood with his hand to his chin. "So far, we know the language is ancient in Stella. What we gathered is that it mentions a forgotten celestial spell. We might be able to spark interest in translating it based off that."

"It would be nice, if we were posting it as a job request," Mia sighed. "But how are we going to garner enough funds to pay for it? Team Shadow Gear didn't take that job request until the reward posted was raised several times. I don't mean to sound so pessimistic, but we need to look at reality. We don't have a steady income, we're not well known, this is more a personal quest then business. Unless we go in person and appeal to their generosity, I don't see getting their help."

"It's a risk I'll have to take," Lucy stood in determination.

"Come again?" Thoma asked.

"In the morning, we'll leave for Magnolia." Lucy went over to her cot and turned in for the night, her decision made. Mia shrugged at Thoma and followed Lucy's example. With a roll of his eyes and a sigh, Thoma turned out the light and went to his own cot.

The next day the three began their journey to Shirotsume town. There they hoped to catch a train to Magnolia. It took half the day and they just made the early afternoon train. They all sat around, discussing what would need to happen when they got to town. "I don't think either of you should travel with me to the guild," Lucy admitted.

"What would happen if you were found?" Thoma asked.

Lucy let out a sigh, it was getting difficult to keep everything under wraps. "I would most likely be dragged back to my father, kicking and screaming, then forced into a marriage where I would be expected to breed an heir for my father's business."

"Come again?" Mia sat up straight.

"My father is a successful business man," Lucy explained. "Extremely so. He was in the process of negotiating an arranged marriage for me to expand his business. I overheard him talking the details out. Basically, all he sees me as is a means to further his wealth. I had no say in what I learned, how I dressed, acted or my future. It wasn't what my mother had told me my life would become. I had to leave, so I ran away. My father would most likely have someone search my room for clues. I hid or got rid of as much as I could, but I'm fairly certain some of the staff knew I loved the Fairy Tail Guild and the freedom they represent. My father would find that out one way or another, eventually. He would either send someone to collect me, or an investigator to confirm if I was there or not then he would send someone to get me."

"Let's hope for the second option," Mia stated. Thoma blinked at her while Lucy gave her a soft smile. Mia directed her explanation to Thoma. "It takes time to get a report sent to the right person. Then they have to take the time to hear or read it. It takes even more time to get a person, or group of people, together to act on the information. With luck, we can be in and out of Magnolia before Lucy's father acts on her presence there. However, if someone is stationed at Magnolia and told to collect Lucy upon confirmation of her presence then we'll have a fight on our hands."

Thoma nodded in understanding then turned to Lucy. "In that case, no, you won't be going into the guild alone. We'll accompany you to and from. Safety in numbers, right?"

"Thank you," Lucy was touched. They three of them barely knew each other for a few days and already they were watching over one another.

"So now that Lucy's showed her hand," Mia sat up straight. "I've been excommunicated from my family." Lucy and Thoma looked at her in stunned silence. "I told you I recently came into my magic." Mia pulled one of her gloves down her arm. Lucy gasped at the sight of the crisscrossing of new scars while Thoma narrowed his eyes. "I nearly lost both my arms in a farming accident. My magic manifested and saved me, but at the cost of the expensive farm equipment. I come from a small farming community on the outskirts of Fiore. Still kind of living in the dark ages as far as views of magic are concerned. My family didn't take too kindly to me gaining magic, to put it lightly. I was rescued by a neighbor. While I was in the hospital my 'family' burned all my belongings, cutting off all ties with me. Being of age to be on my own, there wasn't an option of foster families."

"I would say you're lucky then," Thoma commented.

"The Magic Council helped me as much as they could," Mia continued. "As a mage, my protection and all crimes against me fell into their jurisdiction."

"Crimes against you?" Lucy asked.

"Right after the accident my father tried to kill me," Mia admitted. "Then the value of my lost belongings. They also offered to sponsor me to learn my magic. I just would have had to join the Rune Knights in order to do so."

"Smart move declining them," Thoma grimaced.

"I met the two of you not too long after that," Mia smiled. "I think it works out better this way."

"Same here," Lucy agreed.

"I hate adding to the mush," Thoma sighed. "But I'm glad too. Welp, I guess this means it's my turn. I'm an orphan, don't really know who my parents were. Can't even tell you if they're alive or not. I was basically kidnapped within the hour I was born." Both girls blinked at him owlishly. "Hey, this is a good thing. I was told that I came from Pergrande. Anyway, fate decided to play a hand that day. I had a twin that was stillborn. The one present at the birth declared the only child born didn't survive. I was then smuggled out of the country where I was given to the matron of the orphanage I was raised in. As I grew up, I took on the roll of caring for the younger kids that came and went. As orphans, we were bullied by the kids of the village that had their parents. Our matron couldn't do much to defend us. She was older, plus the entire village took the word of their 'well behaved boys' over a bunch of 'parentless brats'. Their words, not mine. I had enough so, I stood up against them. As a reward I was chased out of town by the villagers wanting to see me imprisoned for attacking their innocent kids. That last town, I was working on helping the homeless kids when the two of you started trickling in."

"That explains why you get so furious when those adults were cruel to the kids," Lucy realized.

"Sounds to me we've all had our fair share of bad fate," Mia looked out the window.

"Like attracts like," Thoma shrugged. "Personally, I think it worked out for the best." The two girls nodded their agreement.

After another hour on the train they arrived at Magnolia. Lucy's hand hovered over Horologium's key. "We still have a little time before the guild closes for the day," Lucy announced. "We could go see if Levy is at the guild right now."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Thoma started forward. "The less time spent in this town the better it is for Lucy."

"Let's keep an eye out for people paying too close attention to us," Mia added. "If there is a spy looking for her, we don't want them following us when we leave town."

"Let's hope that Lucy's dad is as egotistical as all the other rich snobs."

"That's not nice Thoma," Lucy snapped. "I don't think I'm a snob."

"You're also not rich," Thoma grinned. "Not anymore." Lucy blinked, he did have a point.

The walk to the guild took a few minutes. Lucy stared up at it in awe. This was one of her dreams come true. The only thing that would make this better would be if she were here to actually join. With a sigh of disappointment, she quickly caught up to Mia and Thoma, who were opening the doors to walk inside.

The three stood in shock just inside the door. A brawl was happening right in front of them. It seemed that nearly everyone in the guild was involved. Thoma noted a group of four on the second floor looking down at the fighting, one of them sneering. Mia steered Lucy towards the bar, where the barmaid was waving them over. Thoma kept an eye on the balcony. He and the sneering blonde made eye contact. The blonde's eyes narrowed and Thoma lifted his head in defiance. He knew a bully tactic when he saw one. He placed himself between the blonde and his companions.

"Hello there," the barmaid greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Y-y-y-you're Mirajane," Lucy stuttered. Mira's head tilted to the side in confusion.

"What my friend means," Mia interjected. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Mia, the starstruck one is Lucy and the apparently shy one is Thoma."

"I'm not shy," Thoma stated. "Just concentrating."

Mia followed his line of sight and laughed. "I see what you're concentrating on."

Thoma's head snapped around so fast Mira could have sworn he gave himself whiplash. "You can't be serious?!" he snapped. From up on the balcony a boisterous laugh could be heard as the blonde male turned blue in the face.

"Did the three of you come to join the guild?" Mira asked.

"No!" both Mia and Thoma spoke at the same time. Mira blinked at the sudden reaction. Mia cleared her throat. "Sorry, but no, we're not here for that. Actually, Lucy needs some help and we're here looking for Team Shadow Gear?"

Mira looked over the thinning brawl on the floor. She started waving her hand over her head and jumping up and down. "LEVY! LEVY!" A woman with blue hair looked up from the book she was reading. "Levy! Come over here for a second!"

As she was getting up, the two that were sitting nearby started to get up as well. She motioned for them to stay as she continued towards the bar. "Did you need something Mira?" she asked.

"Levy, this is Lucy, Mia and Thoma," Mira introduced. "They're looking for your team."

"My team?" Levy tilted her head to the side.

"We've heard that you're good at ancient translations," Thoma explained. "We came across some ruins a half day away from Shirotsume that seem to be from Stella."

Levy's eyes widened at the explanation. "But ruins like that so far in Fiore's border," she mumbled to herself.

"I took some sketching of the writing at the ruin entrance," Mia offered. She pulled the sketch out of her requip space. "Lucy was able translate a little. That's how we know it's from Stella. The other part mentions a forgotten spell. That's as far as she was able to get."

Lucy shook off her starstruck moment and pulled out her notebook. "It's a magical ruin," she continued. "I was able to put magic into the altar under starlight and this message appeared for a short time." She showed Levy the text she managed to copy.

Levy was already engrossed in looking at the writing. She absentmindedly turned back to her table and walked, somehow managing to avoid broken chairs and turned over tables. A gesture from Mira had the three following after Levy. At the table Levy had pulled out a number of books and was already beginning to try and decipher the sketching. Lucy was glancing over the books that were being referenced and one caught her attention. "May I?" her hand hovered over the book. Levy glanced to confirm it wasn't a tome she would need immediately. She nodded and got back to work, sliding on her glasses.

Lucy did the same and began reading the book. Mia and Thoma just sat there and took in the now brawl free guild. Some of the mages were moaning on the floor. Mirajane walked over with a tray of drinks. "I didn't know what you would all like," she announced. "But I brought something I thought that each of you would enjoy." Thoma smiled as he took in the ale in front of him. Mia was a little awestruck that Mira had put together a chocolate shake for her. A sip proved that it had a hint of mint in it as well. Lucy absently sipped at her strawberry shake as she read.

"Thank you," Mia thanked Mirajane. "How much is the bill?"

"Don't worry about it," Mirajane giggled. "Consider it on the house."

"Are you sure?" Thoma asked.

"It's fine," Mira turned and walked away with a smile as Lucy and Levy were both making notes on pieces of paper as they continued to work.

"Astrum Rego!" Levy shouted out as she stood. All eyes were instantly on her. She scooped up Lucy's hands and announced excitedly. "The spell this is mentioning is called 'Astrum Rego'. Translated, it means 'Heaven's Ruler' or 'Stars Guide'."

"Which one?" Thoma asked.

"It depends on the context," Levy explained. "But I haven't gotten that far yet." She instantly sat back down and renewed her work. Lucy was just as excited and got back to her reading with more enthusiasm then before. The noise in the guild turned back to normal, except for Jet and Droy. Once the two of them realized that Levy was doing some actual work they immediately put on cheering decorations and began to cheer for Levy.

Mia and Thoma eyed the two. "So what type of magic do the two of you use?" Thoma asked.

"I use speed magic," Jet stated proudly. "And Droy uses plant magic."

"Does your team take any job aside from translation and book jobs?" Mia asked.

"Nope," Droy puffed up. "Books and translations are Levy's specialty. We've had a one hundred percent success rate because of her natural ability."

"So she does all the work," Thoma clarified.

"We support her," Jet defended.

"But you're basically useless on those jobs," Thoma pointed out. "She's the one doing all of the work and you two are riding her coat tails."

"Do you at least go to any sight that might be dangerous?" Mia tried to help them. "You know, somewhere that Levy needs you to watch her back?"

"We would never take Levy anywhere that might be dangerous," Jet looked almost offended. Mia let out a sigh, she tried to redeem them in Thoma's eyes, but they blew that out of the water before it could set sail.

"Guide the heavens and lead the seeker," Lucy's muttered sentence broke the tense silence. She looked up at Thoma and Mia. "It's the first part of the spell." She pointed to the last line of the text she copied. "And this points to the next ruin location."

Levy stood to look over at Lucy's work. "That's a great job," she praised. "We make a pretty good team. Speaking of, the rest of the text about the spell. It's meant to guide both the stars and the caster."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"It's basically a two-process spell," Levy explained. "As it's active it can lead you to nearby celestial keys that don't hold a contract." None noticed a man with ginger hair stiffening under his pile of women. "The second is kind of sleeping. It doesn't activate without a different spell. There's an attack spell used by Celestial Mages." Levy started leafing through one of her books. "Here, the spell is called Urano Metria. It doesn't give the phrase in the book, but it does describe that it uses the eighty-celestial bodies as a weapon against the opponent. The problem is that the only one that was able to cast it with success was the originator. My theory is that it was intentional. All those that used the spell after he died had their magic drastically drained after using it once, where as he was hardly winded after each use. My theory is that these two spells worked together. A guiding spell would guarantee that the castor wouldn't have to put so much magic towards controlling the eighty-eight stars and that they would seek the target 'Stars Guide' laid out to them." She then eyed the three mages in front of her. "Unless any of you are a celestial mage, it's pretty useless."

"About that," Lucy laughed a little nervously. Her keys clinked together as she shifted. Levy got excited all over again.

"I've never met a celestial mage before," she gushed. "How does your magic work? I heard you have to make contracts with the spirits, how do you keep them all straight? Do you study the constellations? Is that a mandate for Celestial Wizards or is it a personal hobby? How many keys do you have? Is it hard to maintain them? How much magic do you need to use to hold open a silver or gold key? Is there a major difference?"

Mia pulled the translation that Lucy had been working on towards her as she tuned out the two's conversation on celestial magic. Thoma just people watched as he drank. "BOSCO!?" Mia slapped a hand over her mouth at her outburst. She hadn't meant to be that loud. Thoma was eyeing her now instead of others. Mia blushed as she noticed a lot of eyes on her now. "The, uh, ruins say the next set is in Bosco," she muttered to Thoma.

"I guess that means we have a lot of traveling we're going to be doing," Thoma sighed.

"But the fun you'll have once you get there." The two turned to the voice that was addressing them. A very tall man covered head to toe in a type of armor suit stood in front of them. The only thing visible was his chin and mouth. His tongue was lolling off to the side in a grin. Little totems floated around him.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked.

"You don't know?" the man looked shocked. He straddled the bench in front of the two of them. "Bosco has some of the best politics in the world," he started. "It's also one of the freest countries in all of Ishgar, if not the most. It's all about expressing yourself and being comfortable in your own skin."

"How do you know all this?" Thoma asked.

"Isn't it obvious man?" The totems behind him bobbed up and down. "Obvious!" "Totally!" "No denying it!"

"Are you from Bosco?" Mia asked.

The man laughed, gave a clap and pointed to her. "Ten points for you," he grinned. "Yup, born and raised. The name's Bickslow, by the way."

"I'm Thoma, this is Mia and that's Lucy."

"Nice to meet you all," Bickslow nodded. "You all planning to head to Bosco?"

"It looks like we might," Mia chatted. "We're just waiting for Lucy to finish talking with Levy so we can plan the next move. This is all for her, after all."

Bickslow tilted his head to the side. "You three team members? I'm getting that nakama vibe from all of you."

"I don't know about any vibes," Thoma chuckled. "But yeah, we're a team. Mia and I are helping Lucy look for the ruins that contain information on this lost spell related to her magic."

"Sweet," Bickslow tongue hung out again. Mia noted that the guild stamp was placed on his tongue as his totems chanted variations of what he just said. "So what guild are you guys from?"

"We're not affiliated with any guild," Mia answered. "We're all just kind of setting off on our own, just recently."

"You're kidding me? Then how are you a team?"

"We brought down a tyrannical mayor of the town the first ruins are located in together," Thoma smirked. "It was poetic."

"Poetic?" Mia looked at him like he'd lost a head. "You didn't have that giant grease ball hit on you and insinuate you were only good for one thing. If I could have locked him up and removed all oxygen without it being a crime I would have." She paused as she thought about it. "Hey Thoma…"

"No," he didn't let her finish.

"You didn't even hear what I was going to ask."

"You want to spar," Thoma started. "You just had the idea of removing air from someone that you imprison in your magic. Doesn't take a genius to figure out why you want to spar. So again, no."

"What type of magic do you guys use anyway?" Bickslow asked.

"I'm an air/wind mage," Thoma said.

"Which makes you the perfect person to try that on," Mia pleaded. "It would be harder to take the oxygen from you."

"And this one here is a barrier mage, if you hadn't guessed." Thoma continued to talk to Bickslow as if Mia hadn't spoken. "Lucy, still talking to Levy there, is a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Pretty diverse team," Bickslow noticed. "Seen much fighting yet?"

"A bit," Thoma admitted.

"None," Mia said. "I'm still developing my magic."

It went silent as Bickslow stared at her. "Yeah, I can see that," he finally said. "Gotta say though, once you find that rhythm you'll be a good."

"What type of magic do you use?" Thoma asked.

"I'm a Seith Mage," Bickslow puffed out his chest. "I work with and control souls, healing and guiding lost souls and such. As well as taking control of the soul of enemies."

"That sounds fulfilling," Mia smiled.

Bickslow was shocked at her words. Normally people shied away from him when told them he could control souls. "You're not scared?"

"Am I your enemy?" Mia blinked at him.

Bickslow opened his mouth to say something when a voice calling his name stopped him. He turned to see his team getting ready to leave. "That's the boss man," he sighed. "Well, it was nice meeting you two. When you get to Bosco you should look up my family in Pelerno. My old man's name is Arman Pradesh. Just tell them Bixy says 'hi'." He rushed towards the door after his team. "Oh, and you three really should consider joining a guild. Doesn't have to be this one, just saying."

"He seemed nice," Mia said after Bickslow was out the door.

"Can't say much for his team though," Thoma put in. "That blonde guy, real ass hat."

"You didn't even talk to him," Mia chastised.

"Don't have to talk to someone to know that they were judging you before they even got to know you," Thoma answered. "That guy was doing a lot of that. Not just to us though. He was looking down at everyone in the guild. My guess, he's really hyped up on a power kick. The more powerful you are, the more respect he gives. He's shown no respect to anyone except his team since we walked through the door."

"Maybe there's more to him then you think," Mia tried.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Good news guys," Lucy came up to them. Levy was a little behind her. "We've got the location of the next ruins narrowed down. So, it's in Bosco. I don't know about the two of you, but I'm tapped out of jewel for train tickets. Which means we're going to have to take the long way."

"I'm tapped out too," Thoma sighed. "Travel really drains the wallet. At least, if we want to eat something halfway decent."

"I'll stick with you guys," Mia said. "I can pay for some of the travel expenses, but until my settlement kicks in, it won't go very far."

"Absolutely not," Lucy refused. "I left the life of relying on someone else's money behind me. If I can't pay for traveling I'll figure some other way out. If you don't want to walk with us it's fine, you're not under any obligation to."

"Just because I offered to pay?" Mia looked confused. "You didn't need to suggest I didn't want to be with you guys. I said I would join you two and I meant it. So that means you're stuck with me. I'll travel with you guys, maybe keep Thoma out of trouble."

"Oi."

"Plus, he said he'd help me train and get stronger in my magic. You won't get rid of me that easily."

The three said their farewells to Levy, exchanging the guild's comm number and Mia's so they could get in touch again. A redhead walked past them, nodding in greeting as she walked up to two men, one with black hair and the other with pink. They seemed frightened of her and were sweating when she was paying attention to them. When her back was turned they were glaring at each other and nearly started fighting. The three chose to ignore them and headed towards the exit. "Leaving already?" Mira asked.

"We've got an early day tomorrow," Lucy smiled. "Thanks for the shake earlier. It really gave me the boost I needed for that research."

"It was my pleasure," Mira smiled at them. "Come back again sometime. You could join the guild once you're done with your job."

"We'll keep it in mind," Lucy smiled. Although it was something she really wanted, she knew that it wouldn't work out.

The three had spent a few days walking to the Boscan border already. They decided to take a break day or two from traveling. Lucy was practicing with her whip, sparring with Virgo, while Thoma was working with Mia and getting her magic up to snuff.

"You're thinking too basic," Thoma criticized. "You're a barrier mage, so you're thinking you're only good at one thing. It doesn't have to be, expand on that. You've already had the idea of entrapping people in your barrier, it's a good start. But what else can it do? My wind isn't just for generating small to strong breezes. If I wanted it to I can deflect attacks or even make a barrier of my own. The people in the barrier might have a bad hair day for a few weeks, but it still could keep them safe. I'm not restricting to offense. Which means you shouldn't restrict yourself to defense."

"Don't be defensive," Mia muttered to herself. A surprised shout startled the two. When they looked there was Lucy being carried away by a forest Vulcan that was shouting out something about its woman.

"For the love of…" Thoma cursed. "Training's over, time for a crash course in practical application."

"Oh joy," Mia groaned. The two of them chased after the green furred menace.

"These things are basically harmless," Thoma explained. "Unless you get them in a horde, which they usually are. Then they'll take you on by wearing you down. Once you're weak enough, they'll use take over magic and assimilate your body as their own."

"That's disturbing," Mia shuddered.

"Well, that's if you're a guy, like me." Thoma gave Mia a sidelong glance. "Women have it a bit rougher, as you can see with Lucy. Doesn't matter which type it is, all Vulcans are male and extremely perverted."

"And we're letting it get ahead of us because…?" Mia threw her arm out. She was desperate to stop that thing from carrying off her friend. A barrier appeared in front of the Vulcan. It tried to stop, but still ran right into the barrier. Surprisingly, as the Vulcan dropped Lucy the barrier wrapped around the Vulcan completely and restricted all movement.

"Nice," Thoma whistled. "When I said expand on your magic, this isn't what I had in mind, but it definitely works."

Lucy was standing up slowly, rubbing her now sore behind. "You could have been a little gentler," she whined.

"Sorry," Mia said. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing." A rustling in the trees drew their attention. Several large shapes started shambling towards them. Mia leaned in Thoma's direction. "What was you said about Vulcans? They always have a horde?"

"I've got a plan," Thoma ground out. Before he could say more, six more Vulcans leapt at them from the trees. Thoma used his wind and started lifting and pushing them in a circle around them. He worked hard to keep them out of reach. He didn't want any of them to be grabbed up in the hurricane force wind. "Mia, think you can make a solid wall barrier?"

"I've never tried before," Mia admitted. "What are you planning?"

"It might take it's toll on you since you're still new, but I was planning on throwing them all against it to knock them out, including the one you still have trapped." Lucy was toing the still barrier tied Vulcan. Mia's right hand was still glowing as she fed the barrier it's power. "Lucy, think you can kick it in the path of my wind?" Lucy gave him a 'you're kidding' look.

Mia scrunched up her face as she concentrated. The trapped Vulcan wobbled a little. The motion sent Lucy jumping closer to Thoma and Mia. "Is it escaping?" Thoma looked at Mia.

"I'm trying something," Mia said through grit teeth. With a jerk of her wrist, the trapped Vulcan joined the others in the circling wind. Mia let out a tired sigh as she let go of the barrier. "Just give me a sec," she panted.

"That was pretty cool," Lucy praised.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," Thoma warned. Taking a deep inhale, Mia straightened her posture and extended her hand. A barrier formed between a few trees. At her nod, Thoma threw the remaining Vulcans toward it. Several loud thumps later, there was a pile of Vulcans in the forest, all out cold. Mia slumped and her knees hit the forest floor. Lucy was next to her in an instant. Thoma kneeled down in front of her. "Not too shabby," he grinned. "Little more practice, build up your stamina and you'll be taking on hordes of Vulcans on your own in no time."

"Sounds great," Mia tiredly smiled. "But let's take a nap first." That said, Mia promptly fell asleep. Thoma rolled his eyes and laughed. He turned his back to Mia and with Lucy's help he was carrying the exhausted mage back to their camp.

"Should we stay here?" Lucy was asking. "After that first attack, won't they just come back?"

"That's what I was wondering too," Thoma said. "We let Mia rest as we pack up. Then I'll have to carry her to the next campsite."

"I can help carry her," Lucy offered. Thoma raised his eyebrow at her. "My spirit Taurus, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to carry Mia."

"How is your magic supply? You were training before that Vulcan ambushed you and Virgo. What happened to Virgo anyway?"

"Our sparring session was done. She needed to return to the celestial realm to take care of business. I don't know what, before you ask, I don't pry into their private lives. I'm not some overbearing control freak of a mage. As for my energy, I should be fine for a little while still." After packing up the camp, Lucy summoned Taurus to carry Mia. After seeing how perverted the spirit was, Thoma refused and said they'll make camp once he was too tired to carry Mia. He lasted two hours before they had to set up camp once again.

For the next two days, Mia slept. They didn't go anywhere during that time, Lucy and Thoma didn't want to disturb Mia as she rested. Magic exhaustion wasn't something to take too lightly. On the third day Mia's comm went off. Since Mia was still unconscious Lucy answered. "I'm glad I got through," Levy smiled. "How are you Lu?"

"We're doing good," Lucy said. "We had a run in with Vulcans a few days ago, which really exhausted Mia so our traveling has been put on hold while she recovers."

"Sorry to hear that, let her know I hope she feels better. But Lu, I had something really important that I wanted to talk to you about. Are you in or near a town?"

Lucy looked at Thoma as he pulled out a map. "We're about a day away from Oshibana," he announced.

"That's perfect," Levy grinned. "I'll meet you guys there."

"Hold on a second Levy," Lucy cut in. "What is this all about?"

"Well, a couple of our mages went on an unapproved mission. Stole it and proceeded to do the job against regulations. It was an s-class mission, and they're not considered in that rank yet. So one of our other mages, who is s-class, had to go and rescue them. She turned down all of the reward except for one piece. It was only because the village they were at didn't have any celestial mages. Lu, it's one of the zodiacs, Sagittarius. I told Erza, the s-class mage, that I knew a celestial wizard that would be able to use the key. Without asking for payment she hands the key over and said she trusted me to give it to someone of good character."

"That's amazing," Lucy whispered out. "Wait a minute, you mean you're…"

"Bringing you the key," Levy finished for her. "I'll be taking the morning train to Oshibana. I'll see you there." The comm link then went dark.

"Hopefully Mia is up soon," Thoma said. "We really need to start moving if we're going to meet Levy in Oshibana in time."

"Mia's already awake." The voice startled Lucy and Thoma. Mia sat up slowly. "She's got a headache like the Vulcans slammed into her head and not a barrier, but she's awake."

"It would kind of be like they slammed into you," Thoma pointed out. "After all, the barrier was made of your magic. Each hit it took affected you in one way or another. It's not all that surprising you feel like that."

"Let's worry about that later," Lucy said. "You've been out for a few days. I'm sure that you're hungry by now." Lucy presented Mia with a plate and let her eat while she and Thoma packed for the day. They hadn't planned on stopping in Oshibana, but a new key for Lucy was too good to pass up.