"Willa."
His voice was full of adoration.
Rogue didn't like it one bit.
She smiled at the blue haired man that had materialized in front of them. He wore silk and velvet clothing, a thick and shinny crown adorning his head. His hand instinctively shot to the sword on his side, but upon seeing her he relaxed. The way he looked at her made Rogue want to dragon roar his ass across the room.
"Your Majesty."
He gave her a sheepish smile.
"You'll never let that go, will you?"
He became self aware then, looking around at the bodies and the blood. He stood up straighter.
"I'm not here because you missed me, am I?"
They smile left her face as well. She shook her head at him.
"Master Makarov," Mystogan nodded at the older man, "how may I be of assistance?"
The small man was caught between praising her for her cleverness and scolding her for getting her way.
"He doesn't count, Willa. He's not part of the guild anymore."
The Edolas King arched an eyebrow at Makarov.
"I'm not sure what the situation is, but I am a Fairy Tail member. I rejoined in Edolas."
He unbuttoned his shirt to show him the guild mark on his shoulder. Makarov tried to think for excuses. He had wanted Willa to take Erza, Mirajane or Laxus, as they would keep her from truly dangerous, reckless tasks. But the way Mystogan exchanged looks with Willa it was clear she would be leading the mission.
"But we don't have any of your equipment!"
Mystogan glance at Willa, who blinked at him. His old uniform and staffs took the place of the royal outfit and sword he had.
"I guess we're set."
Willa beamed down at her Master.
"Not yet. I want to know your plan."
"If I may, where exactly are we going?"
Mystogan still had no idea what was going on. He would follow Willa wherever she asked but a little information would help.
"To rescue the my guild."
Mystogan eyed Sting then gave him a solemn nod.
"I'm sorry."
He glanced at the man on the bed next to the blonde man's.
"Do I know you?"
The shadow dragon was glaring at him. Sting turned to look at Rogue.
"Hey, dude, you alright?"
"No. Am I really supposed to stay here while pretty boy here saves our family?"
"You don't look exactly combat ready..."
Sting nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we can't do much about it like this. You sure you're okay?"
"Yes," Rogue said, regaining some self control. He realized he had been very rude to someone who was on their side, but he couldn't help it.
"I'm sorry. It's been a very stressful last couple of days."
Mystogan accepted his apology but made a mental note to figure out what was really going on. Something felt odd about this.
Willa and Makarov finished their little discussion and came back to the conversation. She stared at Rogue curiously for a moment before continuing. Mystogan noticed the way the black haired man reacted to her presence.
"We've decided it would be best to start at the Sabertooth guild."
"Not much left of it I'm afraid," Sting commented.
"It's a start. If survivors were taken from there we could track them directly to where they're being held. I'd assume anyone they took along the way while following you would be taken to the same place."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Willa."
"I know, Master. We will be careful."
Makarov sighed deeply. He turned to Mystogan.
"Don't let her do anything stupid. And don't die. I'm expecting you to check in with me every once in a while or if you find something."
Mystogan gave him a small bow.
"I will keep you updated, and keep her out of trouble."
"Yeah, good luck with that."
"Hey! I'm right here."
Mystogan held back a chuckle.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
They grabbed onto each other's forearms. He looked her straight in the eye. She blinked and they were gone.
"So we have a king working for us?"
Makarov turned to Sting and shrugged.
"Apparently. He's an old friend."
The man left them to go organize the civilian evacuation.
"Yeah," Rogue said moodily,"seems real friendly."
"Dude, are you hungry or something? What's up with you?"
Rogue sighed.
"I don't know, Sting. There's something about that girl..."
Sting gave his friend a look.
"Of all the times for you to realize an opposite sex exists, you choose now?"
He laughed at his friend. Rogue rolled his eyes. It was true, he'd never shown any interest in girls before. But he'd seen Sting crush on girls all the time and was sure that was not what Willa sparked in him.
"You don't understand."
"Oh, I understand, alright. She's cute. I don't blame you."
"No, Sting. I feel like I've known her all my life. When she's near or when she looks at me..."
Sting looked at his friend who was struggling to voice his thoughts.
"When she looks at you what?"
"I don't know. I feel the dragon inside... taking control of me."
"That sounds serious."
"I know."
Rogue looked up at the guild's high ceilings, searching for an explanation.
Sting looked around the guild. His eyes landed on a petite young woman with red glasses on.
"We'll figure it out, don't worry."
The smell of ash and blood filed her nose. She swallowed thickly and blinked away the tears. Weak thoughts led her to a reddish brown creature under a pile of splintered, burnt wood.
"Don't be scared. I know your Sting. He is safe."
She carefully removed the debris on top of him and took him in her arms. The exceed clung to her shirt.
"I wish to know what you know," she whispered into his blood-matted fur.
The attack played in her mind. So much death, so much pain. Lector was unable to do anything as the attackers took down Orga. The thunder god fought well, injured as he was, but there were too many and they were all too powerful. Willa saw many more leave than what had arrived at Fairy Tail. There has to be more survivors.
The exceed lost consciousness at one point. He was awoken by Frosche's scared cries. Too weak to even protest, Lector watched a tall brunette take Frosche in her arms.
"Oh, don't you worry, little one. I wouldn't harm a cute cat like you. No. I'm gonna keep you."
The woman called out for someone out of Lector's view. Willa recognized the man that came to stand in front of the brunette as the Captain from the forest.
"I will be heading back to head quarters. This poor thing has a broken arm. Send me any strong ones. It's a shame we had to take down the big one over there. He would've sped things along for sure."
"Yes, ma'am."
The woman walked out with Frosche cuddled against her breast and Lector passed out again.
"Thank you. You've been of great help."
Willa touched her forehead to his.
"I wish."
Sting was awoken by a sudden weight on his stomach. He opened his eyes, which soon filled with shocked, frightened tears.
"Help! Someone help me, please!"
He gently petted Lector with his shaking hand.
"You'll be okay, Lector. I'm here. I'm here."
Wendy hurried to them and used her magic on him without hesitation.
"He will be okay. He needs to eat and rest, but he will be fine."
"Thank you so much."
She gave them a full smile.
"It's no problem. I wouldn't know what to do without Carla. But... where did he come from?"
"I don't know. He just showed up."
They watched the exceed sleep over Sting's chest.
"I guess we'll ask him when he wakes up."
"Do you think it was your friend Willa that found him?"
Wendy's face lit up.
"Yes, it could've been. Mystogan can teleport."
Sting held Lector with a smile on his face.
"I hope you're not the last one, buddy."
"We go that way."
Willa pointed the direction she had seen the brunette head out in.
Mystogan placed a hand on her shoulder. She stopped walking and let him take care in his arms.
"We'll find them."
"I know."
Her trembling body suddenly straightened.
"Let's go. There's no time for this."
Reluctantly he let her slip out of his grasp. It was always like this for him. He wondered if he would ever hold her because she wanted him to, not because the world around them was in trouble.
After an hour of going on foot they decided it was safe enough to fly. They spotted an abandoned campsite some hours later.
"Looks a day old- two tops."
"We cover more ground flying than they do walking."
Mystogan looked up at the setting sun.
"Let's keep going. If their headquarters are less than a day away we'll find them. If not, we should come across another campsite in a couple hours."
"Sounds good. Are you sure you can keep flying for that long?"
He gave her a small smile.
"You're not worried about me, are you?"
"I'm sure Edolas will appreciate getting their king back in one unbroken piece. Falling out of the sky because you run out of magic could be a problem."
He took off with a smirk.
"I could come back without arms and legs and they wouldn't mind if I just tell them it was your fault. News of their beloved Willa outweighs all else."
"It's Levy, right?"
Levy looked up from her book to see the Sabertooth master taking a seat next to her. His torso was covered in bandages, left arm nothing but a stump of bloody white cloth.
"Um, yes. You're Sting. Natsu and Lucy have told me much about you. I'm so sorry... about your loss..."
"Yes, the one and only. I'm very grateful for all your guild has done to help."
She gave him a sad smile, not knowing what to say.
"Hey, so, I hear that you're quite the bookworm."
Her face became hot.
"I bet it was Gajeel, wasn't it? Well, you can tell him I'm not ashamed I like to expand my mind and knowledge."
She finished with an irritated humph. Sting held back a chuckle.
"Uh, no. It's just common knowledge. I was wondering something, though."
She looked back up at him, a curious look in her eyes.
"Yeah?"
"You guys have other dragon slayers here. I would assume an informed lady like yourself would have read many books about dragon slayers..."
"Kind of. Finding books about dragon slayers with actual information is difficult. Most are myths and tales that have proven to be just that. Why exactly are you asking?"
"I was wondering about dragon slayer... behaviors, let's say... when they like someone."
Her entire neck and face turned a deep shade and she choked on her own breath.
"Why-Why would you think I'd know such a thing?"
A smile started on his lips and his eyebrows came up accusingly. She cringed under his taunting gaze.
"Fine. Fine. I have... read about it... once or twice."
Her eyes flickered to the wizard with piercings that was acting like he wasn't staring at them. Sting raised an eyebrow at her.
"That's what I thought. But I didn't come here to out that you have the hots for Gajeel."
She slumped defeatedly.
"That obvious, huh?"
Sting glanced at the iron dragon, who looked like he was about to head over for a fight. He smiled at Levy.
"Oh no, the death stare is real subtle."
"You really think he likes me? Sometimes I think so but he always says such mean things..."
Sting felt for the young girl. She wasn't Jessica Rabbit but she was very pretty and she certainly had a spicy flare to different circumstances he would've hit on her. Yukino popped in his mind. He wondered if sweet Yukino ever doubted his feelings for her. He lightly flicked Levy on the nose.
"Don't be silly. He's crazy about you. He's just... Gajeel."
She looked at him from behind the hands soothing her nose. Her annoyed face smiled at him before a tiny fist hit his remaining arm.
"Hey, hey. That's my last one. Be careful."
"So... who is it you like?"
"Do you know about this stuff or not?"
"Yeah. I've got some books that claim dragon slayers go through mating phases. I didn't read them thoroughly since they didn't seem to apply... but I can bring them, if you want. We can look them over together."
He gave her a big smile.
"Wonderful. Thank you, Levy."
Gajeel pushed off the wall he was leaning against and started towards the two mages with clenched fists. Sting gave Levy an amused look.
"Let's hope Gajeel doesn't kill me first."