Layla had left to return the room key to the King, sending Lucy, Natus, Gajeel, and Wendy off to find Sting in the crowd of wizards.
The 4 of them decided to split up to cover ground faster.
"'ey goodsh lockun, Wha brinss yoo 'ere" An extremely drunk man asked
"Shaddup!... 'ere not frens. Yuknos Mine" An extremely drunk woman responded
"Kug.. kugya.. ura.. w'y ya gon be lyk dat" the extremely drunk man responded
"imm not gona arguu wit ya Stung" the extremely drunk Kugura responded
"whaaaa, dis nut bout yukno, eyes fink I lubs ya" an extremely drunk Sting confessed
"waaaa... ish ya talks bowt" the extremely drunk Kugura responded as she blinked each eye individually.
"Oi Sting!" Gajeel interrupted arriving on the scene before quickly covering his nose with his sleeve adding "What the hell have you been drinking while we were gone" (I thought it had only been 5 or 10 minutes since we left) Gajeel thought to himself.
"S'lmander, ish dat yoo" the extremely drunk Sting responded
"OK I've heard enough" Gajeel said before punching Sting in the face putting him to sleep.
Gajeel picked Sting up, throwing him over his shoulder before turning to Kagura "Sorry Ladies, I'm going to be borrowing this Idiot"
"ppfftt g'jel lyks mens" an extremely drunk Kugura responded with an attempted snickering which caused her to lose her breath and balance, banging her head on the table in front of her.
"Grrr I'm resisting the urge to smack you, but I don't hit Women" Gajeel responded gritting his teeth.
"ahhhaaah y'air yoo duns lyk tuch wa'mens hahaaahhhhh errrrrr" Kagura said as she passed out on the table.
"The hell is wrong with you people" Gajeel exclaimed as he walked off with Sting over his shoulder.
"Gajeel, you found him?" Lucy said before covering her nose with her arm "Oh god what is that" She exclaimed
"I found 'Rummy' here with Kagura who seemed to be equally wasted. In the end it was faster to bring him with me like this" Gajeel responded annoyed.
"Well hopefully Wendy can fix this" Lucy said as she walked with Gajeel.
Lucy spotting Wendy waved as she called out "Wendy over here, we found him".
Wendy quickly regrouped with Lucy, Natsu overhearing Lucy's call also rejoined the group as well. Both of them immediately covered their noses with their arms.
"We know" Gajeel said as he carried Sting towards the stairs that Layla would come down and Luckily for the 4 wizards Gajeel was right. Layla came down the stairs at that moment and looked at the group with an unconscious Sting as she raised an eyebrow.
"Please don't tell me this is Sting..." Layla said as she persevered through the smell as her eyes slightly watered.
"Seriously what did this guy drink" Natsu said
"Do you or Wendy happen to have a spell to fix this?" Lucy asked still shielding her face.
Gajeel placed sting down on the ground between the 5 of them, for some reason Sting started laughing sporadically in his sleep as he mumbled nonsensical garbage.
"Wendy can using Troia followed by her Sky Dragon Healing. I'm not touching him" Layla said as she shielded her face with her arm trying not to vomit.
"Why only me!" Wendy protested, but she started to do it any ways.
"I have more acute senses then you, this is torture enough" Layla said as she backed away.
"Is that Sting? God the smell" A Woman interupted having spotted the group.
"Yeah Erza, it seems he is quite wasted" Natsu Responded
"Oh this is that Erza?" Layla said while still covering her face with her left arm but extended her right in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Heartfilia" Erza responded with a small curtsey
"Oh please call me Layla" Layla responded with a smile as the smell of Sting's drunkenness started to clear.
"So you're a Dragon?" Erza bluntly said causing Lucy to almost face palm.
Layla stopped smiling and stared directly into Erza's eyes, as she did this she changed her eye colour from her human brown to a fiery yellow. Erza smiled and gave a nod as if a non spoken meaningful conversation had just occurred.
Layla upon seeing Erza's response changed her eye colour back to her human brown and smiled. "I like her" Layla proclaimed, turning to Lucy who sighed.
"What's going on? What happened?" Sting said as he came to on the ground surrounded by the 5 Fairy Tail wizards and Layla.
Sting stared at Layla after a second his eyes widened quickly standing up as he realised it was Citrine.
"You were drunk off your ass. Wendy fixed you" Gajeel replied answering Sting's questions
"Oh... um thanks Wendy, sorry about that" Sting said scratching his head.
"Sting, do you know where Rogue is?" Natsu asked.
"Um, I cant remember where he went sorry, but he should be around here somewhere" Sting responded.
"Weisslogia" Layla abruptly said staring at Sting who quickly snapped to attention at the mention of his Dragon's name.
Layla asked flashing a hint of anger "What happened?"
Sting looked down in shame as he answered "Weisslogia... Demanded that I kill him..." Layla's eyes squinted slightly as she carefully watched Sting.
"He had started to weaken due to failing health, One day he suddenly demanded that I kill him. I told him I didn't want to, then he told me that those that wield Dragon Slaying Magic became stronger when they kill a Dragon."
As Sting continued tears began to well up in his eyes "In the end, he demanded that I show him that I had the power to slay a Dragon and suddenly attacked me, forcing me to defend myself. Before I knew it he just died, I had hardly touched him."
Layla sighed at the story "As I suspected, he lied to you, then let you kill him" Layla said before showing frustration "That prideful idiot, if only he had held on... I could have saved him." A tear ran down Layla's face.
Sting was confused at the mention that Layla could have saved him as well as the display of emotion she showed.
Sting starring back at Layla "Who are you, really? you could've saved him?"
"My name is Citrine, I am the Light Pillar. I was your Dragon Weisslogia's Empress and he was the Holy Brood King in my court"
"You're a Dragon Empress?... I see... Now it makes sense" Sting responded.
"Oh?" Layla said raising an eyebrow
"When you killed the 2 Dragons in the square, during the invasion. You used that attack... 'Pulsar' you called it? It had so much power, but yet I sensed you were holding back. I see now, I was right." Sting responded.
Layla smiled but chose to change the subject to the issue at hand. "Rogue the Shadow Dragon Slayer, Natsu told me that he said the shadows were talking to him. Do you know anything about this?"
"Yes, Rogue had mentioned it before, I have even seen him stop and yell at his own shadow as well as stomp on it like he was trying to scare it off. Either he is telling the truth, or he is going crazy" Sting responded.
"He isn't lying, but its not his Shadow, its a Demon" Gajeel interrupted repeating what Layla had told him while defending Rogue's honour.
"There is a chance that the Shade is connected to Zeref" Wendy added.
"And that's why we need your help to kick its ass" Natsu joined in
"Zeref?!" Erza exclaimed having listened to everything up until now.
"Yes, What you know as Zeref, he has either sent a Demon that is trying to invade Rogue's body, or it is Zeref himself trying to control him. No matter which it is we need your Holy Magic Sting to free him" Layla explained bringing both Erza and Sting up to speed.
"Me?" Sting responded looking down with no confidence
"If it is Zeref... I can't be personally involved. But even if it is him, the Shade Demon he is using will be weak enough for you to Cleanse with your Holy Dragon Slayer Art." Layla responded hoping to give Sting confidence.
"You want me to attack Rogue's Shadow with my Holy Nova?" Sting responded confused.
"No, I want you to Cleanse Rogue himself using your Holy Fire" Layla responded.
"Holy Fire? Wiesslogia never taught me that" Sting said in confusion.
Layla paused a moment thinking a few seconds, then walked behind Sting.
"Don't move this will only take a moment. Could the rest of you restrain Sting's arms and legs." Layla said with a smile adding "Trust me"
"If you're going to do what I think you are Momma, then we will help" Lucy responded grabbing Sting's arm while nodding to the rest of the group.
Erza, Gajeel, and Natsu restrained his remaining limbs, while Wendy assisted Lucy.
"Ok, ready. Trust us Sting, I've been through it also" Lucy said trying to reassure Sting who was starting to freaked out.
"Sting, I'm going to give you the knowledge of Holy Fire."
Layla placed her hands over Sting's ears and closed her eyes. Soon her hands began to glow yellow and as they did Sting shut his eyes and grit his teeth to avoid crying out in pain. The wizards restraining him held on tightly as he instinctively tried to break free, after about 5 seconds the glowing on Layla's hands stopped.
She opened her eyes taking a step back away from Sting who had now stopped moving. While everyone else all released the limb they were restraining, also all taking a step back.
Sting with his eyes remaining firmly closed opened his mouth to speak with a smile "I see... The light that repels the darkness... The fire that extinguishes evil... Reducing it all..."
Sting slowly opened his eyelids, as he did his eyes appeared to be replaced with pure white flames as he said "To nothingness..." white smoke seemed to simmer outwards as he finished his trance. However this only lasted for a second before it all faded returning Sting to his usual self.
The other 5 wizards were all freaked out by his words and from the sight of Sting's burning eyes.
"I'm surprised Citrine... This power I thought it would be an offensive move but I was wrong, its so much more then that. It is divine protection, purifying afflictions, I see now why I would cast it on Rogue if there is a Demon." Sting said this as he clenched his hand into a fist.
"Thank you, you have given me the power to save my comrade." Sting added.
The other Wizards all calmed down after it was revealed to not be an offensive move, however they were all still a little curious as to how it would work.
"Let's save Ryos" Gajeel said to the group as it seemed Sting was ready.
Layla nodded to the 5 before turning to Sting and smiling "Go help your Friend. Make Wiesslogia, no, your 'Father' proud."
Sting smiled and nodded as he turned to leave to find Rogue with the others. As he ran he quietly said to himself "Are you watching... Dad"
"Where do you lot think you are running off to?" Makarov said staring at the group of Fairy Tail Wizards running in their formal wear.
"Master, we need to find Rogue, he may be haunted by a Shade" Erza responded.
"Hmm a Demon..." Makarov groaned to himself before informing the group "I saw Rogue leave with the other Sabretooth members a few minutes ago"
"Got it Gramps!" Natsu exclaimed as he turned to run off to intercept them, but before he could Makarov crushed him with his Titan enlarged fist.
"I WASN'T FINISHED!" Makarov exclaimed to the group
"I'm not having Fairy Tail be responsible for any more Destruction to the city" Makarov said as he returned his arm to normal.
"But Master, this could be related to Zeref" Lucy said trying to explain.
"Exactly!, If a demon is involved it most likely is the work of Zeref. Which is exactly why you can not do this in the city." Makarov responded with authority
"You said it was a Shade, the fact that you know about it means that Rogue himself has most likely mentioned it in some way." Makarov said rubbing his chin before continuing "If Rogue is aware of it then he is already fighting it's influence, meaning there is time."
"He is right Sting... I have to admit." Gajeel said looking at Sting who was still shaken by the whole idea.
"I know but..." Sting said before stopping, still showing worry.
"Why don't you bring Rogue to us" Erza said
"Thats right! You and Rogue could visit Fairy Tail in Magnolia. You said you wanted to rebuild your guild, so tell him it's research." Lucy suggested
"That's a good idea" Wendy exclaimed
"Yeah, you're right, I could do that. To be honest Rogue and I were kind of curious to visit your Guild to see what it was like anyway" Sting Responded.
"You won't be disappointed" Erza added nodding confidently.
"What are you kids planning! Just because I said not to do it here doesn't we destroy Magnolia!" Makarov said as he started to sweat, picturing the destruction of Magnolia, followed by a bill from the mayor.
But none of them answered as they all returned to what was left of the Party.
