Erza's self-pity vanished as quickly as she ate her beloved strawberry shortcake. Never mind that pitying herself was useless and wouldn't help her find Natsu, but she found herself becoming more and more vexed.

She. Could. Not. Find. Natsu.

Anywhere.

It was like the fire dragon slayer had just upped and vanished. Natsu was terrible at keeping a low profile. He couldn't leave the guild without destroying something. Usually something big and important and valuable and irreplaceable. He was infamous for leaving behind a trail of destruction wherever he traveled. He was physically incapable of traveling quickly and silently.

But the red headed Ex-Quip mage had scoured Magnolia for a week and found nothing. No rumors that half of some city had been ravaged, or a dock torn apart, or a statue reduced to rubble. No mountains that had been sheared, no town squares demolished, no lakes boiled into vapor, no mentioning of a pink haired male in search of a dragon. She found herself wanting to give into the urge to retreat back to Fairy Tail and demand again that Master Makarov tell her where Natsu went.

'To hell with it.' Erza thought. She would return anyway. Makarov knew more than he was sharing. And if she couldn't get him to tell Erza would hint to Mira that the Master was keeping secrets. He had learned years ago that keeping secrets from "Demon" Mirajane was a terrible idea.

Plan decided, the armor wearing mage stood from the little outdoor café table she had stopped at for lunch and a slice of strawberry shortcake.

The weather, nice, bright, and sunny, took a drastic turn for the worst. Unexplainably, the sky darkened, thunder rolled, lightning crackled and rain pelted the narrow streets. Erza had time to blink before she found herself being pulled upwards into a vortex that had opened in the sky.

She didn't even have the chance to pay for her meal.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu gazed interestedly at the city below him.

The Royal City, he still couldn't get over how lame a name it was, rested in the center of Edolas. It wasn't the most imposing and awe inspiring castle he had ever seen. The area around the palace was divided into zones, each of which was fortified by a wall and positioned slightly above the previous one, forming a spiral structure around the palace. In each zone there were numerous towers of different inconsistent sizes. Most of the towers were located directly at the palace itself.

It had the height factor, complete with golden emblems and giant golden entrance gates, but even from this distance Natsu could see some kind of amusement park. It could have just been him, but it made no sense to have an amusement park in a country's capital.

But he digressed. "So, what do we do now?"

Mystogan was silent.

"I vote for the direct approach."

His partner finally looked at him. "And what would that be?" he asked suspiciously.

"I fly us over, burn a couple of towers, this place has plenty to spare, you direct me to the throne room or wherever the hell this king is, and I beat him up and force him to abdicate," grinned Natsu.

The man originally from Edolas gapped at him, unbelieving.

"You call that a plan?"

"Not like you had any other idea." Natsu snorted at Mystogan's astonishment. How else were they supposed to save Edolas if they didn't stop the king? That was the whole reason Mystogan had asked him to come to Edolas. If he didn't like his plans, than Mystogan could go sulk with the not-Fairy Tail while Natsu did his job.

The cloaked man sighed. "It's not that simple, Natsu. You can't just force King Faust to relinquish control over Edolas."

"And why not? Don't you medieval people have some sort of ceremony where I can challenge him for the crown?"

Mystogan blinked. The use of the ancient ceremonies had never occurred to him. "There's only one problem. Only a relation of the king with claim to the throne can issue the challenge." Natsu slumped, disappointed that his solution wouldn't work and that he wouldn't get to beat the crap out of a king. He had been looking forward to fighting this Faust guy since his companion had asked him to help.

The dragon slayer turned to face Mystogan, mouth already open to ask for the sixteenth time just what exactly was their plan, to find him looking pensive and wringing his hands.

"Mystogan?" he asked, when a guilty look crossed what little of his face Natsu could see.

"I can challenge King Faust and then appoint you to fight for me as my champion."

Natsu stared at Mystogan. He has just told him only a relative could challenge the King, so how could he? Unless. . .

The pinkette felt slightly faint. Mystogan was related to Faust. And given his age he was most likely the King's son. Which would make Mystogan a prince. Natsu could not believe that the quiet and secretive man next to him was royalty. Why on Earth would a prince of Edolas be on Earthland? Why did he hide his face, his identity from his own world?

"How?"

Mystogan gave him a rueful smile. "I was born Prince Jellal, son of King Faust."

Jellal. Prince Jellal.

Natsu sank to the ground. Disbelief was his strongest emotion. It just could not be possible. One Jellal was horrible enough. There simply could not be two of him.

"Prince Jellal?" his voice came out strangled from anger and surprise. Mysto. . . no, Jellal winced.

"The Jellal you have encountered is the Jellal of Earthland. We are in no way related, nor or we the same person."

Jellal would have continued to plead with Natsu for a chance to be heard, as said dragon slayer was beginning to look extremely pissed at having being deceived. Flames already flared around his fists and the ground he was sitting on was starting to smoke. It looked like hellfire blazed in his black eyes. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of a gigantic monster covered in blue scales. The creature had a sharp, angular face, with two rows of large and likely razor sharp teeth each larger than the size of his hand, and large white eyes. And for such an enormous hulking creature, it was such a fast flier.

Natsu didn't even see the gigantic blue flying monster. All he could do was stare in horror at the figure standing on the creature's back. It was impossible for him to not recognize her.

Standing proudly and coldly upon the flying creature was a woman with sanguine hair the color of blood dressed in a very provocative outfit comprising of a revealing, halter-type armor breastplate top, that leaves much of her cleavage and stomach exposed, with light-armored gauntlets and greaves on her forearms and forelegs, respectively, as well as her thighs. She also wore a dark bikini bottom with a piece of cloth obscuring her hips and a dark scarf was wound around her neck, similar to him.

She had to be the Erza Knightwalker that Mystogan, no he was Jellal, had warned him about. Captain of the Royal Army second division, also known as the Fairy Hunter because she was responsible for killing over half the members of Fairy Tail.

This was his Erza's counterpart. The Edolas Erza. She didn't believe in the strength of bonds. She hunted down and killed people that should have been her nakama. And she did it with a smile, similar to the one she wore now as she pointed a spear that split into four jagged ends that curved inwards, resembling a jaw, at them.

Neither mage had time to react before Knightwalker aimed her wicked spear at them. The spear glowed and changed shape. What it became, Natsu could not tell, because of the buildup of a sphere of black magic that sparked with lightning. The huge orb launched at them. It made Natsu feel as if his limbs had suddenly gained a hundred pounds.

"Natsu Dragion. Out of that infernal car at last." Knightwalker's cool voice and sadistic smile sent chills down Natsu's spine.

"Dragneel! My name is Natsu Dragneel. I'm from Earthland." He blurted. From the corner of his eye he could see the prince (he still couldn't fathom Jellal being a prince in this world) stiffen.

"Natsu Dragneel, from Earthland. You look remarkably like your counterpart." Erza paused to examine Jellal, expecting him to offer his own name as Natsu had done. When he was silent she continued. "Take them away."

A pair of handcuffs was slapped on Natsu's wrists. He was too stunned to see a double of Erza, Erza who had rejected him in favor of Jellal, of whom another version stood next to him, that he couldn't prevent himself from being knocked out.

Jellal could do nothing to save Natsu or himself. He had been placed in cuffs of his own, but even if he hadn't he did not have the magic energy to fight off the entirety of the second division of the Royal Magic Army. Natsu probably could have, if he were not unconscious. He couldn't help but think it was extremely unlucky for them that Knightwalker had knocked out Natsu. As a dragon slayer, Natsu was the only one out of the two of them capable of facing the Fairy Hunter and her squadron and winning.

Now they were going to be taken prisoner in the castle.

And later killed. By Erza Knightwalker herself.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Knightwalker had seen no need to separate the two Fairy Tail wizards she had captured. She threw them in a cell with another Fairy Tail wizard who claimed to called Erza.

Knightwalker was furious. Her Earthland counterpart was a Fairy. She couldn't understand how she could be part of a guild. The guilds were evil, hording magic for themselves. They posed a threat to the survival of the kingdom and could not be allowed to remain. They used what little magic Edolas had for their own selfish gain. Only the King was allowed to decide how magic was used. And the Queen of the Exceeds. But her loyalty was to her king.

She wasn't worried about placing three Fairy Tail wizards in the same cell. If they were truly from Earthland they had no magic to access and wouldn't be going anywhere other than to their public execution.

xxxNatsuErzaxxx

Natsu groaned when he woke. His head was throbbing like someone had taken a sword and slammed the flat side of it against his head.

He blinked, taking in the oddly brightly light cell with bars for doors that looked out to what appeared to be a courtyard. Someone had actually nailed him in the back of the head with a spear. It was no wonder he now had a major headache.

"Natsu."

Said pink haired male awkwardly sat up, it was really uncomfortable to sit with his arms bound, to discover that he was not alone in his cell.

There were two other people. Jellal, still covered from head to toe so that only his eyes were visible, and a very familiar scarlet haired mage.

"Erza?"

What was Erza doing here? She was supposed to be at the Guild with Earthland Jellal. How did she end up in Edolas?

"The anima." Jellal answered his unasked question. "King Faust is still trying to steal magic from Earthland by bringing Earthland wizards to Edolas and turning them into lacrima."

"He's turning people into lacrima!" Natsu scrambled to his feet and grabbed the fabric of Jellal's cloak. "Has he taken anyone else from Fairy Tail? Has he turned my nakama into crystals?"

"That's not all, Natsu. In order for him to 'return magic to Edolas,'" Erza said the last part with disgust, "he has to shatter the lacrima."

The tan color washed from Natsu's skin, leaving him looking a sickly, pale shade of white. "Shatter them? He's killing people for magic?" Natsu's voice was quiet and tight, but he was easily understood by those who shared his cell.

Erza nodded solemnly. "That's what they plan to do to us."