With all the last preparations done, and goodbyes were exchanged, Team Exceed set off to Extali Isle by noon the next day. Upon their arrival on Earthland, the Exceed race have since settled down on an island south of Galuna Island. Before inhabited by the Exceeds, Extali Isle was an unnamed island only full of vegetation known as Whiskurse, infamous among humans for their allergenic pollen. Cat-like creatures, however are immune and highly attracted to the irresistible scent and their healing properties, making it the most suitable location for the Exceeds to call it their home.

"Hey Charle, have you been to Extali Isle?" asked Happy, "What does it look like?"

"Hmm. I've never been there before, but I've seen it in one of Lucy's Sorcerer Magazine. The photos were really unclear though, I think the photographer who took it was trying to avoid the Whiskurse," Charle replied. "But from what I gathered, it isn't very much different from Extalia in Edolas."

"Hmmm..." Lily smiled, "Extalia, huh?" he said to himself as flashbacks replayed in his mind.

"Hey, Lily, you grew up in Extalia didn't know. What was it like over there?" Happy then asked him.

"Hmm... Extalia was," he paused, "a different community. I don't mean that just because we were of a different race, although it was true back in the day, the Exceeds were really proud to be the only race to naturally possess magic in Edolas. But Extalia used to be governed by fear. We've always known the gift of magic would be the very cause of our demise. For generations, we depended on the wise ones and also Queens just to alter the reality that we were indeed no greater than the humans of Edolas. Only by pretending are we able to proceed with our daily lives without the constant fear of extinction. It wasn't until I was banished, that I realised how desperate the Exceeds were in trying to protect themselves."

Charle commented how difficult it must have been to have grown up in such a community and also felt sorry for Lily's haunting past. "But having lived in both communities really puts things in perspective. And I feel like I've grown a lot since being a part of Earthland and Fairy Tail.

As soon as Lily finished his sentence, Charle received a premonition. Somewhere dark, a voice whispered, "I'm scared," followed by the sound of a gunshot. Charle slowed down and gradually came to stop.

"Huh, Charle, what's wrong?" Happy asked. "If we don't hurry we might not make it by sun down."

"Someone... " she paused, "Is in danger."

"What do you mean? Did you have a vision?" asked Lily. "Who was it?"

"I... don't know. It was dark, and there was a gunshot."

"Hmm... well, we're over a forest right now, I don't think there's anyone around right now anyway."

"I... guess you're right," Charle agree, though still feeling heavyhearted.

As they were about to resume their journey, a cry for help was heard from among the trees below.

"Did you hear that?" Charle asked the rest. "It came from down there." Immediately the Charle and Lily dived down towards the voice. Happy, on the other hand, was feeling bummed his road to discovery is being delayed. He too, made his way down, albeit rather slowly.

"Hello! Who's there?" called Lily. There was no response initially, but after some searching it was revealed to be Frosch, hiding in a bush. "Frosch? What are you doing here? Are you alone?" His eyes tearing up, Frosch replied, "Fro thinks so too." Choking on his words, Frosch continued, "Fro thinks Lector is in trouble."

"Lector?" Charle thought to herself, "LECTOR! It must have been Lector's voice that I heard. Well if it's true then we need to hurry and find him."

"Fro needs to help Lector, but Fro cannot do it alone," he whimpered.

"We are kind of in the middle of something though," Lily thought. "Hey Happy, is it okay if we push back our mission for now?"

Happy was undeniably a little upset, but he knew he couldn't be selfish and abandon friends that are in need of help. "What are you talking about, Lily. Of course we can. There's no way we're going to leave Frosch and Lector in danger right?" Turning his attention to Frosch, he proceeded to ask what happened.

Lector and Frosch were in the forest to look for a cave where there grew jinglebelle flowers, to surprise Yukino after she comes back from her mission with Sting and Rogue. Not long after they've set foot from the forest, Frosch found himself separated from Lector, before he soon heard sounds of gunshots. Frosch, having a bad sense of direction, couldn't find the way to the cave and got lost even further and being all alone, was almost scared to death.

"Okay, so we need to find the cave. Quick!" Happy planned. Upon saying that, the sound of three gunshots echoed through the forest. Charle stunned, receiving a vision of Lector running into the cave followed by two men chasing after him.

"What did you see, Charle?" Lily asked.

"Lector... There were two men chasing after him into the cave..."

"Any clues as to how we can find the cave?"

"There was..." Charle thought hard to remember, "a waterfall by the cave." Frosch confirmed, "Fro thinks so too."

"A water-" before Lily could end his sentence, Happy took flight without hesitation, having seemed like he vanished into thin air.

"Huh?" Lily was stunned. "WAIT, HAPPY!"

"He's..." Charle, also stunned at how Happy disappeared, "gone."

AN

Hello everyone, sorry for not updating for a very long time. There's been a lot going on, I haven't had the time to write (it's been too long since I wrote this so I was really detached from the initial plot and I didn't have ideas how to continue too actually) . As I've said before, I have a lot of ideas for stories but I'm not very good with translating them into words. So I do hope this update is okay and the plot isn't going too bad? Thank you very much for reading Team Exceed! :)