Lucy, Yukino, Erza, and the rest of the new slayers walked into the pub. Lucy called out, "Hello! We need help!" Ethan walked downstairs. He immediately recognized a few of the new faces: "Ben? Jace? What are you doing here?" Lucy answered for them: "These guys got tricked into being dragon slayers with a hasty dragon lacrima transformation. I've gathered the guys are in absolute agony." Ethan was horrified. He asked, "You guys were going to be part of their ritual? I told you something was up with them!" Ben looked ashamed, saying, "We thought it was going to be different. We honestly thought it would be painless. Our souls were supposed to be chosen for Draco in a gentle soul transcendence ritual." Lucy asked Ethan, "You know these guys?" Ethan nodded, affirming, "They're from my home town. I started to doubt the ritual when my sister disappeared. I also studied the crops destroyed by the so-called dragon. I doubt a wild animal like a dragon could control their fire to stop at the wealthiest person's land. It was way too suspicious!" He noticed Erza unconscious in their arms. "I have some rooms upstairs. I'll assist in bringing your friend in armor onto one of them." Yukino said, "Thank you, Ethan."
Rogue and Kagura walked downstairs. Rogue smiled at the the new men in front of him. He asked, "Do any of you have any idea how to do any dragon slaying magic?" Jace said, "I only know one spell from that iron slayer guy." Rogue said, "What are your lacrimas supposed to do?" Jace said, "Fire magic." Ben answered, "Poison magic." George muttered, "Light magic." Kai said, "Shadow magic." Jack answered, "Wind magic." Daisuke said, "Water magic." Sousuke responded, "Earth magic." Rogue thought for a minute. He announced, "I'll try giving you guys a basic spell repertoire in case we need your help. We likely need to go back there."
Kai started to feel anxious, muttering, "I don't know if I can go back there. I know what they made me do." Rogue looked at him, perplexed. "What did they make you do?" Kai breathed hard. "They made me drink two potions. The first one hurt a little, since it caused my eyes to change and my fangs to grow. I think it's supposed to enhance the dragon traits. The second one made me like a wild animal. I had no conscious thought about what I was doing. It felt like I could watch what I did from a distance, but I couldn't control anything. I fought Daika to the death. Part of this blood on my outfit was mine, but the majority of it is his. I broke bones, I spilled his blood, I ripped his arms off, I took his heart from his chest, and I...chewed on his heart." He wept softly. He begged, "I can't go back there. Please. I keep seeing his terrified expression as he died. He was my best friend! I've never felt so violated. I had no control of myself." Rogue looked at this broken man in front of him with compassion. He answered, "Fine. It seems cruel to make you go back there. But I still want you to learn a little with me. I can teach you more than the others, because you have my magic type. Please, come outside to learn." The men walked outside to learn some basic magic from Rogue.
Lucy and Yukino talked with Kagura. "How did the calls to everyone go?" Yukino asked. Kagura said, "Well, my guild now want to get involved. I found out they had already gotten the pub owner who was bribed to drug me. I guess he's been in a world of pain. They found my sword. I'm a little more comfortable with that news. Our guilds notified the Magic Counsel to take this seriously. I guess my guild is going into the caves near our town to bust up their local operation. Considering three guilds are involved, the Magic Counsel had to take this group seriously. The Magic Counsel will be sending out their Rune Knights tonight. They should arrive in a few hours. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are sending out a few more teams to assist." Lucy sighed, "So you're saying it's going to be a while before we get any reinforcements?" Kagura spoke plainly, "That would be correct. It is regrettable, but that is the way it is." Lucy asked, "How do you think Erza's doing? We put her in a bed upstairs, but I don't know how long that powder lasts."
Loke suddenly popped up in front of Lucy and Yukino. He said, "Lucy! I'm so sorry it took me so much time. It took a little bit of convincing my friend Draco. He is offering you and Yukino these two keys. We need you both to do this in front of all of their followers. He plans to tell them what his wishes are." Lucy hugged Loke and said, "THANK YOU! I am curious. Why are there two keys? I thought it was only supposed to be one key." Loke said, "His spirit is quite a drain on a celestial mage's energy. You could die providing the magic to bring him forth." He looked seriously at Yukino, pleading, "Can you do this together with Lucy? I know I'm asking a lot of you two." Lucy and Yukino both said, "We can do it!"
Lucy called out to Happy, and Yukino beckoned Lector. After hearing they were going back to the caves, the exceeds were reluctant. Yukino convinced Lector, "If you get there with me, we'll join Sting. That way, you can help him stop those bad people." Lector said, "Well, if I do say so myself, Sting is the best at giving butt whoopings. But, I can be convinced to help him." Yukino chuckled and said, "Okay. Thanks for helping me." At the same time, Lucy hugged Happy and comforted him. She reminded, "Remember, Natsu is in there, causing destruction of the worst kind." Happy giggled. He mused, "Yeah, I guess you're right. It IS Natsu. We'll fly you there, so you get there faster." She smiled and said, "Thank you, Happy!"
Happy and Lector picked up Lucy and Yukino and soared at max speed as they approached the caves. They ran back into the entrance with the waterfall. They ran past many of the unconscious guards and into the room where Rufus and Orga were. They greeted them. Rufus and Orga had just finished dealing with all the men in the room. Yukino looked at some of the charred skin on some of the men. She scolded, "Orga, Rufus! Don't you think you overdid it a bit?" Rufus just showed his disgust. He admonished, "Those goons deserved worse." Lucy said, "We need to run to where most of the followers would be. We need to reeducate them on Draco's true desires." Orga joked, "Oh you mean you'll call up a dragon?" He snorted. Lucy and Yukino shouted in unison, "YES!" Both men had shocked expressions. Orga pondered, "Wait, there's a dragon celestial spirit?" Lucy explained, "Yes. The constellation Draco is the one they keep mentioning here. The cult is called Draco's Sons. We've been asked to call him up in front of these people, because we suspect it will be hard to convince them to stop otherwise." Yukino addded, "We need to catch up with the rest of the guys so we can get this finished." Rufus said, "Well, let's run into that corridor there. Gray, Gajeel, Natsu, and Sting all went that way."
They ran down to the empty room. Lucy asked, "Where did they go?" Yukino ran to the end of the room. She declared, "There doesn't appear to be a way to get out of this room, other than the way we came in." Rufus looked around, feeling on the walls. He commanded, "Feel the walls for a button or a lever or something. There has to be a hidden pathway." They felt along the walls, until Orga felt a button. He pressed it and backed away. A part of the wall pulled to the side. "Orga, you found it!" Yukino exclaimed. They ran through the hidden entrance down a hall.
They ran until they found a fork in the path. Yukino directed in hushed tones, "Let's split up. Lucy and I will go down the left path with the exceeds. You two go down the other path." Lucy whispered to Rufus, "Meet us back in 20 minutes." He nodded.
Rufus and Orga ran down their path until they saw a hidden entrance. They found a special room with a magical projector. Rufus turned on the projector. Rufus and Orga watched a projection of a dragon walking around. Another projection showed a dragon shooting fire. The next portrayed a dragon destroying crops. Rufus speculated, "I think I know why villagers so easily believe these people. These projections look pretty realistic, at least from a distance. If you look too close, you can tell they're stop motion models. All it would take is this projection and someone affecting their memories or hypnotizing them to make it real, and they'll believe it. It probably only takes a small group to influence the entire village. I'm sure they destroyed crops or homes on purpose to convince the villagers to go along with them. This cult's leaders truly are manipulative." Orga warned, "I think we've got company. I hear footsteps." They hid. The footsteps got louder. Orga got into fighting stance. They heard someone come around the corner. Rufus was about to make a spell, but he paused. They came face to face with Gray and Gajeel.
Rufus smiled at his comrades. Organ and Rufus then looked behind them. Orga inquired, "Where's Sting and Natsu?" Gray and Gajeel gave annoyed looks to one another. Gray responded, "They managed to kidnap those two again. It's made worse, because they have someone who can hypnotize you just by looking into your eyes." Rufus asked, "Have you found them?" Gajeel shook his head, saying, "No. We've been down that pathway. They're not there. We're about to go to the other path at the fork." Orga mentioned, "Lucy, Yukino, Happy, and Lector went that way." Gray said, "I have a bad feeling they may be running into danger."