Author's Note: Sorry I'm late, I actually forgot about this plus I had a really bad case of writer's block. Anyway, don't forget to visit the poll on my profile and leave your vote. Whatever story gets chosen will get started right after I finish this one. Anyway, without further ado here's chapter 6. Read, Review Rejoice!

Chapter 6:
Sky Empress and the Prisoner

"Wendy Marvell? I think I've heard that name before." Layla said with finger thoughtfully placed on her chin. Her head was filled with stories her parents would tell her about the good old days as young, extremely reckless Fairy Tail Wizards. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't seem to recall the name.

Suddenly, a high-pitched voice derailed Layla's train of thought as it called, "Wendy, is that you?"

A small white cat in a pink dress flew into the room wearing a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Charle!"

"Charle?" Layla echoed. That name sparked something in her mind from something Happy probably told her, but she still couldn't quite remember who it was exactly.

Charle looked over at Layla then back at Wendy. "Where have you been and why is Lucy's kid here?"

"Excuse me! I'm not a kid!", Layla protested.

"In any case, where have you been Wendy? You know you're not supposed to go above ground."

"But its so boring down here all the time." Wendy pouted. "Besides, I just went out for some fresh air. It's stuffy down here!"

"Still, you brought someone back with you and that's dangerous. Suppose she tells someone about your location? It could destroy the whole point of being here in the first place! Honestly, you should think more about these things." Charle scolded.

"I took the route from on the rooftops, I don't think she picked up the exact location. Plus some guy was bullying her, I couldn't just leave her there!"

"Don't say bullying!" Layla complained. "You're just making me sound like a kid, I could have handled it myself!"

"Fine then, he was picking on her." Wendy corrected.

"That's worse!"

"Sorry to interrupt." The mysterious hooded-man spoke up. "The food is finished.", he said reaching up for a few bowls from the cupboard above his head.

Wendy quickly took a seat at the small dining table in the middle of the kitchen and removed the small mask from around her mouth in preparation to eat. Charle only sighed as she sat on the table, right beside Wendy who was cheerfully awaiting her meal.

"Why don't you ever cook?" Charle questioned.

"Cuz I don't know how!" Wendy said surprisingly cheerful.

"Shouldn't you be ashamed to admit that at your age?" Charle sighed. Wendy only laughed in response which irritated Charle just a little bit more. "This isn't a laughing matter!"

As Charle continued to scold Wendy, Layla was continuously staring at the hooded man as he took up the food into four bowls. She was entranced with curiosity as she kept trying to look at his face. He was obliviously avoiding her gazes, turning his head every time she almost caught a look at his face. However, the more he avoided her gaze, the more it piqued her interest.

Carefully, he carried all four bowls in his hands and placed them on the table, one in front of Wendy, one in front of Charle, one in front of an empty chair, and one in front of him as he took his seat.

"The other bowl is for you if you didn't know." He said, directed at Layla who was still standing up.

She slid into the empty seat and just as she was about to take a bite she heard Wendy complain, "Aw, is this all? There's usually more."

"Sorry, I didn't prepare enough for a guest, so you'll have to make do." he apologized.

"Besides it's your own fault, think of it as a punishment. You shouldn't eat so much anyway." Charle added insult to injury.

"Charle-chan that's mean, I'm a growing girl." she sobbed.

"Wrong, you're a fully grown woman, now start acting like one."

"Even so…" Wendy sniffled slowly taking a bite of the curried rice in front of her. "It's still so good."

Layla's eyes were fixated on the man as he bowed his head in grace. Finally when he realized her stare, he apologized, "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten my manners, leaving my hood up during a meal."

He slid down his hood revealing his messy blue hair and a peculiar red tattoo over his right eye. His dark green-brown eyes were soulful and deep as if they could see right through you. He smiled at Wendy then over at Layla.

"Gerard, that's awfully strange of you to do. Showing your face to a stranger and all." Charle commented.

He chuckled, "Since it's Natsu and Lucy's child, it should be okay."

"Yeah Charle! No problems, don't worry." Wendy added.

"I don't want to hear that from you." Charle grumbled.

Suddenly Layla sprang out of her seat with a sharp gasp. "You're Gerard. The Gerard! The one Master Erza told me about! Aren't you supposed to be in prison or on death row, or… deadalready! Whoa! This is seriously crazy insane!"

Wendy grabbed Layla's wrist with a visible sweatdrop. "Hey calm down, no need to make a scene." she whispered with a nervous smile on her face.

Layla suddenly let out a high pitch shriek nearly bursting Wendy's eardrum. As the blue-haired mage held her ears in pain, Layla pointed down at her with a sparkle in her eye. "I can't believe I didn't remember until now, but you're Wendy Marvell as in the Sky Empress! The sky dragon slayer who left Fairy Tail when I was like, seven years old! I've heard like so much about you but I didn't think I'd ever meet you in person!" Again she let out a high-pitch fangirl's squeal. "I'm just about your biggest fan!"

"I didn't even know I had any." Wendy said with a nervous chuckle holding her throbbing ears.

Quickly Layla pulled a small pocket-sized book with a pen out of her skirt pocket and presented it to Wendy. " Would you please sign this?" she asked, humbly bowing her head.

"Umm, sure… I guess." She slowly took the book and pen from Layla's hand and signed her name as fancy as she could possibly get it. It was kind of weird to her, but in a way, Wendy felt really happy and proud to know she actually had a fan! "I finished! Here you go." she said, cheerfully handing Layla back her book while Charle silently scoffed, "Unbelievable."

Layla gazed at her book and then up at Gerard, the glint of intensity strong in her eyes. Quickly she humbled herself back into a bow as she requested, "I would like one from you too, if you don't mind."

"Sorry, but like you pointed out earlier, I'm supposed to be dead. The fact that you know that I'm still alive could be detrimental to my efforts of keeping it a secret. But, I would appreciate it if when you leave, you swear not to speak a word of what you've seen, heard, or even tasted."

"It would be safer to just wipe her memory." Charle suggested.

"WHAT!" Layla screeched. She ran to Charle in an exaggerated panic. She swooped down her hands and grabbed the white cat in the palm of her hands and brought her up to eye level. "After I finally get to see one of my all time favorite Fairy Tail mages and I even get an autograph, you want to wipe my memories! That's cruel, no worse, IT'S PURE EVIL!"

She violently shook Charle while having her panic attack as tears flew from her eyes. Wendy had to grab at Layla's arms to stop her from inevitably killing Charle. As Wendy scooped Charle back into the safety of her own arms, the puny white cat fell unconscious from dizziness.

"What the hell is this?" Lucy breathed. She winced every time she heard a scream. Blood stained the grass and walls surrounding the mages of Fairy Tail.

In Zeref's Magnolia, there are a few places the average mage wouldn't dare to step foot near. Of course, Fairy Tail mages have never been mistaken for your average mages, nor were they comparable with the average mage. Still, in these places called 'Hunting Grounds', Fairy Hunters gather about once a week, once a month, or sometimes even daily depending on the group. Like a tournament of illegal cock-fighting, some would bring captured mages and others would bet on who they think was stronger. The enslaved mages would then have to kill each other until one was left standing. The one left standing is set free, although the freedom is often short-lived, since they are usually recaptured and forced to fight again. Natsu and Happy would sometimes stop by and beat up the hunters to set the mages free.

Gray, Erza, Natsu, Happy and Lucy watched as one of these cruel fights were being obnoxiously jeered by a group of Fairy Hunters. The fight was taking place in an abandoned lot and the fairy mages were sure to stay hidden behind a dumpster.

"How long are we going to keep watching this, Natsu?" Erza clawed at the rusted metal of the large dumpster, visibly restraining herself from fighting those annoying bastards.

"As much as I'd love to rip those bastards apart, we have to stick to the plan, otherwise I won't be able to tell whether my theory's right or wrong." Natsu snarled with teeth clenched.

"Umm… what was the plan again?" Lucy asked uneasily, hoping that she heard wrong the first time.

"Huh, you forgot already." Natsu complained. "You go out there and if those guys don't try to kill you, then that means they don't know you're a mage. Thanks to the magic tracers I believe are attached to us, they probably can recognize a mage from this time period easily. If my theory is wrong and they attack you, Happy, Erza, Gray, and I will all be ready to save you but for now we'll stay behind."

"What if you guys… don't make it in time?"

Immediately Natsu pulled her into his embrace and whispered, "I swear to you, we won't let them touch you. I swear."

Lucy nodded her head still a bit nervous, but it wasn't as bad as before. Like a bon fire, his embrace was warm and inviting. Lucy was slowly starting to realize what her future counterpart saw in Natsu, and she liked it.

"Sorry to break up your little love fest but I think you're getting too much damn pleasure outta this while we're supposed to be carrying out this plan." Gray growled.

Slowly Natsu released Lucy and smirked at Gray. "Jealous?"

"You wish, dragon breath."

Ignoring Gray and Natsu's annoying bickering, Erza placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder and said, "It's time."

Happy, who stood on her armored shoulder, saluted Lucy. "Good luck, recruit. Please return alive."

"Don't say that! You'll give me the creeps!" Lucy protested. She sucked in a large amount of air and sighed tremendously in mental preparation.

Just then Gray shoved Natsu into the hard metal of the dumpster, denting it slightly. The sound of the crunching metal echoed through the Hunting Grounds, alerting the Fairy Hunters of their uninvited guests.

Realizing that they've probably been found out, Natsu gripped Gray's collar and snarled. "Gray you idiot. You blew our cover."

"Don't try blame this on me, you started it bastard." Gray growled, following suit by grabbing Natsu's collar.

"Who's there!" One of the Fairy Hunters called in a rough voice while rolling his tongue. "I'll give you till the count of three to show your face. One…"

"What do we do now?" Happy questioned as he flew over to Natsu's shoulder.

"TWO…" The Fairy Hunter continued his countdown.

Author's Note: I know you're all probably gonna want to kill me when I say this, but I'm not really feeling the story anymore. I can barely remember where I was going with this. But here's some good news, I'm still going to continue it, though it might take a while since I'm trying to gather back up my ideas. Until then don't forget to review, and especially don't forget to vote on the poll I have on my profile. So far there are only two votes and none of them are for the Fairy Tail stories. Tell me what you think about 'em too, even if you don't vote. Anyway, see you next chapter!