Yay! Chapter Two is almost a week early!

On another note, minna, I got 0 reviews for chapter one—which made me really sad, but it's probably also because this fandom updates so damn fast.

Anyway, I did get three followers, so how about 3 reviews for an update? Not like, the moment I get three reviews, but three will definitely speed up the process for you ;) Also, please read the tarot card description at the bottom!

On with the show!

Prabha

"And like a colorful bloom of temporary lights in the sky, you will shine."

"Hali…where…back…"

"…can't see…so dark…"

"…ome back…Hali, COME BACK—"

"Well? Are you coming or what?"

Wendy opened her eyes, only to shut them quickly again as she was assaulted by harsh winds, full of sand and grit. Throwing her hands up to cover her face, she cautiously peered out from under her lashes. Surrounding her on all sides was a barren, empty desert that seemed to stretch out into infinity, meeting and surpassing the horizon. The sky was an ugly, muddy gray—covered with heavy clouds and without sun.

"Are you coming or not?" The light, feminine voice that spoke up behind her contrasted the angry malice dripping from her tone. It spoke slowly, as if talking to a very dumb child.

Whipping around, Wendy stared at the figure that stood behind her, shrouded in darkness. Hands on hips cocked to the right, the shadow stood at about her height, long hair flowing in the winds. The shadow stood completely unaffected by the winds, silent, emitting malevolence.

"You're late, Wendy Marvell," the figure tapped one finger against her wrist, as if at an imaginary watch. "People are dying. Your friends are dying."

"What are you talking about?" Wendy cried out, trying to be heard over the hissing winds. "My friends are fine! They're strong—they'd never die so easily!"

"What is life? What is death?" the figure continued, steamrolling over Wendy's response. "You're dying as we speak. Everything that lives is dying—we only live to die."

"That's insane!" Wendy gasped. "People live because—well, because they're living, and because they have precious—"

"We eat to die. We sleep to die," the shadow continued, ignoring Wendy completely. "We work to die. We speak to die."

Wendy shuddered. "No! We speak to help each other stand up! We save our friends, as true Fairy Tail mages!" Her eyes began to water as she thought back to her Cait Shelter family, all the wonderful people who had taken care of her for so long—

"We create to die. We make energy to die. We form bonds only to die—"

"You're wrong!" Wendy cried, clapping her hands over her ears, a tear streaming down her face. "You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!"

The figure stopped momentarily. "If I'm so wrong, why don't you come and prove it, Wendy Marvell?" she said, voice dripping with contempt. Raising her hand, she curled one finger challengingly in Wendy's direction. "Come, try and save your friends, if you can. They die as we speak, so it won't make a difference."

"Wendy?" A new, familiar voice spoke up weakly from behind her. Whirling around, Wendy gasped. "Natsu-san?"

"Wendy, help—" Natsu stopped, choking and putting one hand over his heart. Wendy cried out in horror as blood erupted in his chest, a hole opening up out of nowhere, sundering his body into pieces until he hit the ground, eyes lifeless.

"Natsu-san!" Wendy sobbed. "Wait a minute!" She tried desperately to move, but found she could not move her legs. "Please don't go!"

"Wendy, it's okay!" Wendy turned her head, struggling to make out Lucy's figure through tear filled eyes. "I'm here to save you—"

"Don't come!" Wendy screamed. "Go back—"

Lucy stopped dead, staring at her hands. Slowly, from the fingertips downward she began to unravel into strings, her legs unwinding from underneath her. She took a few tottering steps forward, ultimately stumbling to her knees as the threads of her existence came apart before her eyes, stained bright red.

"Wendy," she choked out, reaching out what was left of her arm in an appeal—for what? Help? Mercy? Wendy thrust out her hand, crying incoherently as Lucy, who had always been so kind to her, dissolved into nothing.

"We sing to die. We dance to die. We are born to die. We are to die—"

Wendy turned her face away, dropping her head into her hands. "Wake up, Wendy," she muttered to herself. "It's just a dream. Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP—"

"Wendy, wake up!" Wendy's brown eyes shot open to stare directly into Romeo's face, leaning over her curiously. Wendy shrieked, scrambling away, heedless of the way her elbow carelessly knocked him in the forehead.

"R-Romeo-kun!" Wendy shrieked, pulling the blankets up to her chin, whipping her eyes frantically around the darkened room. Soaking in the sight, she recognized the place—it was her home, her bedroom in Fairy Hills, small and comforting with the shades drawn and the lights off. Wendy let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, unconsciously relaxing now that she was back in familiar territory. So it was just a dream, she thought faintly. Everyone's fine. She turned her attention back to Romeo, nervously inquiring, "What in the world are you doing here?"

Romeo glared half-heartedly out of one eye, still rubbing his forehead. "I'm here to get you, of course. Charle sent me in to wake you up. Or did you forget that we're leaving today?"

Wendy started, dropping the blankets to get out of bed, revealing the long sleeved button up pajama top and shorts she wore. Romeo blushed, looking away. "That's right, we are leaving today!"

She jumped out of bed, drawing open the curtains and wincing at the sudden onslaught of sunlight. Whirling around to glance at the clock, she gasped in shock. "It's already so late? Romeo-kun, why didn't you wake me sooner?!" She pattered over to her chest of drawers, throwing an already half-packed blue duffel bag onto the floor and stuffing more clothes inside.

Romeo pouted, crossing his arms. "I couldn't help it! You didn't get up." He frowned pensively, unwinding his arms to lean back on his hands. "You didn't look so good—you were tossing and turning, and mumbling something." He peered closely at her suddenly still form, frozen in the action of dropping a shirt into the bag. "Are you sure you're okay? It looked like you were having a nightmare or something."

Wendy stayed stationary, long hair shadowing her face for just a moment before she popped back up with her customary sunny smile. "No, I'm fine, Romeo-kun. To be honest, I really can't even remember what I was dreaming about now, hehe."

Romeo snorted. "Yeah, that sounds just like you, scatterbrain," he teased lightly, a smile playing across his lips.

Wendy pouted, tossing back a mock-offended look. "Jeez, you're so mean, Romeo-kun!" She zipped up her duffle bag and glanced once more at the clock, shrieking as she realized the time. "Romeo-kun! We're going to be late! We have to hurry, or we're going to miss the train, and then what'll we do…"

Wendy turned back to the dresser and away from Romeo, grabbing frantically at the top buttons of her shirt and unfastening them quickly, almost unconsciously, as if she had forgotten he was even there. Romeo sucked in a breath, face turning the color of a ripe tomato as he slapped a hand up to cover his eyes and rushing to his feet.

"O-Oi! At least wait until I'm out of the room to do that!"

"What on Earth are you talking abou—" Wendy spun around before freezing, stock-still. Very slowly she glanced down at her shirt (which only had the top few buttons open, thank goodness) and back up at Romeo. Nervously he peeked through his fingers, jaw dropping at the image of a very short Sky Dragonslayer doing her best impression of a red steam train.

.

.

.

"GET OUT!"

"Luuuuuuuuce, do we have to go on the train? Can't we just walk?"

"TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, NATSU? REALLY?"

"Gihihi, guess the sparkle princess can't handle a simple train ride—"

"Like you're one to talk, scrap heap!"

"—what was that, ya fire freak?"

"You wanna go, metal head? Hah?"

"Bring it, flame brain—"

"Gajeel! Knock it off, or I won't write you any more IRON for the next week!"

"That's it! LUCY KICK!"

"Charle, would you like a fish?"

"No, I most certainly would not! Will you remove that disgusting thing from my sight!"

"Now, now, Charle, do be reasonable…"

Wendy and Romeo stared, awestruck at the screeching (figurative) train wreck that stood before them in the form of four Fairy Tail mages and three Exceeds.

Wendy sweat dropped, face twitching as her hands clutched her bag.

"When did we get so many people…?"

Flashback: Yesterday at the Guild Hall

Wendy stared incomprehensibly at Gajeel. "S-Sorry, Gajeel-kun, what was that?"

Gajeel glared gruffly. "I said, what's with the dragon on the request form?" he rumbled, inclining his head towards the mysterious piece of paper.

Wendy perked up, now understanding his sudden inquiry. "Oh! That dragon, I see."

She stared thoughtfully at the paper, one finger to her lips. "To tell you the truth, I don't really understand it, but…" She trailed off, glancing nervously at Gajeel's uncharacteristically serious face. "Don't make fun of me, but it's the reason I wanted to take the request in the first place! I don't really get it, but it's got this weird kind of feeling to it, and it looks almost like—"

"Metalicana."

"Grandeeney."

Wendy and Gajeel started, having spoken simultaneously. They both frowned, Gajeel leaning forward to rest his hand on the table.

"No way that thing looks like Grandeeney, kid! You blind, or what?" He jabbed his finger roughly at the page, indicating the dragon's flank. "Metalicana had a scar here, same as this dragon. It's definitely him. Besides, there's no way a female dragon could be that big!"

"I-I'm sorry to disagree with you, Gajeel-san, but on the contrary there is no way Metalicana-san would be so slender!" Wendy argued back, anxious but determined in her perception. "Besides, it's clearly blue, not gray."

Gajeel snorted. "So you're colorblind, too, is that what you're saying?"

"Hey!" snapped Romeo. He opened his mouth, but was abruptly interrupted when—

"What about Gray? Is the ice princess picking a fight? And who's talking about dragons?"

Natsu screeched onto the scene, nearly bowling Romeo over in the process. He stared at the paper for a few seconds, before his eyes widened in wonder at the bottom corner of the page.

"Whoa! Isn't that Igneel?"

"NO!" Wendy and Gajeel shouted at the same time.

"What the hell are you two yelling for?" Natsu shouted back. "Look at it! It's red, so it's clearly Igneel, unless you two know any other red flame dragons!"

"You're such a moron, damn pyro! It's gray and it's got the scar, so clearly it's Metalicana!"

Wendy struggled to make her voice heard over the ruckus as Natsu and Gajeel cracked their knuckles, preparing for a fight.

"GAJEEL!"

"LUCY KICK!"

Out of nowhere, a large, heavy red purse smacked Gajeel dead in the face, bowling him onto his back so hard he shook the floor. At the same time a force of enormous magnitude smashed into Natsu's back, sending him face down into the hard wooden planks.

One foot firmly planted on Natsu's pink head, Lucy smiled (somewhat viciously) at her nakama, sweetly asking, "Anything interesting going on over here?" A curious Happy fluttered around her head, seemingly unconcerned for his "father's" current condition.

"Hell yeah, there is!" Gajeel picked himself up, scowling at the smug blue-haired midget before him. Picking up the request (and coming dangerously close to knocking his precious Pantherlily off the table, he thrust it into Lucy's face. Stumbling, she backpedaled off Natsu's head, who groaned as he lifted it off the floor. "These idiots won't acknowledge that this GRAY dragon is Metalicana, which it clearly is—!"

"I keep telling you, dumbass, it's Igneel!" Natsu snarled, jumping up off the floor.

"You're both wrong! It's Grandeeney! I know her when I see her!" Wendy nearly shrieked, now near tears.

"Cut it out, both of you! Can't you see you're upsetting her?" Romeo glared, putting protective hand on Wendy's shoulder are she struggled to hold back her sadness.

Natsu did a double take at her teary-eyed face, leaning back uncomfortably. "Hey, Wendy, don't cry…"

"Now look what ya did, ya moron," Gajeel grumbled disconcertedly.

"Are you saying this is my fault, scrap-for-brains? You're the one that started this whole mess!" Natsu rounded on Gajeel, face twisted in anger.

"Why you little—" Gajeel growled back.

"EVERYBODY STOP."

Everybody stopped.

Levy stood on top of the table. "This is the stupidest argument I have ever heard in my entire life. And do you want to know why?" she inquired calmly.

Gajeel twitched. "Is the right answer to that question yes?"

Levy nodded, beaming a smile that screamed homicide. "That's exactly right, Gajeel."

She thrust forward the very request that had brought so much trouble (when did she get that?).

"It's stupid," Levy continued, "for the simple reason that there is no dragon on this paper."

Suddenly Natsu came back to life with a roar of passion. "Of course there is! Look, it's right there, clear as day!" He pointed triumphantly at the bottom left corner, where the as of yet unidentifiable dragon reared and bared its teeth.

Lucy, Happy, Lily, and Romeo peered closely at the page, squinting their eyes to make out any such form.

"I don't see anything, Natsu," Lucy frowned.

"Yeah, me neither!" enthused Happy, chewing on a fish.

Jaw dropping open, Natsu stared at the page. "B-But it's right there."

"There isn't, Natsu, I even checked for magic runes," Levy said gently but firmly. "The honest truth is that there is no—"

"I see it."

The three Dragonslayers and their companions turned, shocked, to stare at Romeo's resolute face.

"Romeo…kun?" Wendy said wonderingly, hands over her mouth.

Romeo sighed, scratching his head. "I couldn't tell you which it looks like," he mumbled, "since I never met any of your dragons. It just looks like an ink drawing to me, without color, but it's definitely there." The young teen stared stoutly into the faces of the elder mages.

Natsu looked at Romeo's determined face for just a moment longer, before breaking out into his customary fiery grin. "See, I told you! It must be a signal to Dragonslayers!"

"And apparently Romeo," Levy narrowed her eyes at the young Rainbow Fire mage, but he refused to back down, meeting her stare head on.

"This request must be something real special, and since we're the only ones who can see the symbol, that makes us the chosen ones!" He struck a dramatic pose. "I'm all fired up!"

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered enthusiastically.

"Come on, Happy, let's get packing!" Natsu punched one fist into his hand, grinning madly. "This could be our chance to find Igneel once and for all!"

"Now wait just a minute!" Lucy cried out, grabbing the back of Natsu's scarf and choking him in the process. "You can't just go wherever you please! In the first place, you were just coming over here to pick US a mission! I need my rent money, Natsu!"

"Well, then, let's just join Romeo and Wendy's mission!"

"NO!"

"But Luuuuuucyyyyyyyy—"

"Sounds good to me, gihi," Gajeel grinned roughly.

"Now hold on just a second!" Romeo cried out from his place next to Wendy. "This is our mission! You can't all just barge in as you please—"

Gajeel stood up, palms flat on the table. "I don't know about lava head here, but I'm definitely going, and ain't nothing going to stop me. Lily, let's get packing."

Pantherlily smiled wryly, stretching and flying up to follow Gajeel. "This seems like quite the adventure, doesn't it?"

Gajeel ambled slowly away from the table, stopping briefly by the place where Wendy and Romeo stood. Wendy scrubbed her eyes furiously, sniffling. She opened her mouth to apologize, but was stopped by a large, warm hand on top of her head.

"My bad, kid," Gajeel mumbled embarrassedly, unused to apologizing even now.

"That's alright, Gajeel-san," Wendy smiled up at the older Dragonslayer, someone she had always considered an older brother. "It was my fault too."

Gajeel huffed, ruffling her hair once and smirking at Romeo's jealous.

"Alright, Lily, let's—"

"I'm going too!" Gajeel stopped and turned his head around at Levy's sudden outburst.

"Nuh-uh, shrimp," he frowned, "this is way too dangerous. You're better off staying at the guild."

"Don't blow me off, Gajeel Redfox," she snapped, blushing at his overprotective attitude. Hopping off the table, she folded her arms. "Besides, do any of you even speak the language?" Levy nodded approvingly at the ensuing silence. "That's what I thought. You'll need a translator," she spoke to Romeo and Wendy, who had by now entirely lost control of the situation.

"Well, if the metal head's going, I'm going too, no questions necessary!" Natsu declared, grabbing Lucy's hand (seemingly oblivious to her furious blush). "Let's go, Lucy! We need to get ready!"

"Aye sir!"

"WHY AM I BEING INCLUDED IN THIS?"

Wendy winced, recalling the fiasco that had led to the motley crew before her. And it looked like Romeo agreed with her opinion of the situation, judging from his telltale shudder.

"Well, the train will be here any minute, so hopefully we'll get some peace and quiet," Romeo grumbled, glancing at the station clock.

"Hey, look who it is! The chibi-couple!"

Wendy and Romeo turned around in surprise. "C-Cana-san?"

"We're not a couple, Cana!" Romeo growled. Wendy nodded vigorously, ignoring the sad ripple in her chest at Romeo's quick denial.

"Alright, alright, settle down, tiger," Cana laughed easily. And yet, if Wendy looked a little closer she could see a tightness around the edges of her mouth, and the beginning of bags under her eyes that spoke of—no, screamed false cheer.

"Wendy, you got a minute?" Cana inquired, beckoning her over.

Wendy nodded confusedly, lightly making her way over to the Card Mage.

"Let's go over here," the older woman said, leading Wendy subtly away from a clearly eavesdropping Rainbow Fire wizard.

Cana placed both hands on Wendy's shoulders, eyes roving over her face, unusually serious. "Wendy, I think it might be best if you didn't go on this mission."

Immediately Wendy protested. "C-Cana-san, I appreciate the concern but this is a mission I chose—"

"I know!" Cana interrupted her forcefully. Her grip tightened minutely. "I know, but the cards have been giving me bad messages, and…some other things have happened," Cana trailed off ambiguously. "The point is, it is not safe for you. You can't—"

"I must," Wendy said softly. "It is my duty as a Fairy Tail mage to help people in need. Besides," she raised her head, "this mission…called to me. Like I was meant to take it."

Cana sighed, dropping her head in defeat. "If that is the path you choose, then I can give only some advice," she intoned in a low, almost weary voice.

Standing up straight, Cana began to speak as if she had memorized her words a long time ago—or like she was reciting from a script.

"The Fool has sparked your journey. You are the High Priestess—your potential grows every passing minute, until it threatens to swallow you whole. Beware the Hermit: the doubts about the nature of your existence will eat away at you until you are nothing. The Wheel of Fortune controls your destiny—Fate shapes this quest for you and for the others. The Hierophant will cause you trouble. The Lovers will betray you. The Tower will test your adaptability. Many trials await you."

Cana looked down at Wendy, who stared, uncomprehending of all the magical information coming towards her.

"And above all," Cana continued with an air of finality about her, "don't be afraid to rely on the King of Wands." She looked behind Wendy, eyes locking on to something.

"In fact," she went on almost wistfully, "You may need him most of all."

Wendy turned slowly, following Cana's direct line of sight—

-and landing on Romeo's smiling face.

"Yeah," she found herself whispering without her own consent. "You might be right."

The familiar choo-choo of the train grew near, making Natsu and Gajeel (though he'd never admit it) groan with dread.

"Thank you, Cana-san," Wendy said, eyes firmly fixed on Romeo. "I'll do my best to make Fairy Tail proud."

One foot after another, the Sky Dragonslayer made her way back to her precious team—the first steps of a new adventure.

Cana clutched her cards in hand, letting out a long breath.

"Didn't you know, Wendy? You already have."

TO BE CONTINUED

EXPLANATION OF TAROT CARDS

-The Fool: Representation of Zero—the spark that sets everything into motion.

-The High Priestess: Representation of inner mystery; unlimited basic potential of The Magician

-The Hermit: Representation of he who seeks answers alone, shrouded in the dark.

-The Wheel of Fortune: Representation of fate or destiny's interference.

-The Hierophant: The "card of beliefs"; represents a very spiritual (possibly religious) person or event.

-The Lovers: Duality, necessity of proper choice (possibly between two people)

-The Tower: A destructive and creative force—represents being able to change old beliefs.

-The King of Wands: Pure fire energy. A natural leader, able to change the world to match his vision.

And that's a wrap! I thought King of Wands was pretty accurate for Romeo, a fire mage. And yeah, some people might say that's more Natsu, and it kind of is, but this story focuses on the younger mages, so it's Romeo.

Please, please, please, let's try three reviews!

Song: Dreaming Shout—Livetune ft. Nirgilis