The more time that passed, the more unnerved the guild members felt. The brat Alice had hired did his job, but Sara had gone missing. The other members had observed that Sara was late, and Alice would have their heads if they didn't at least check on her, so they sent Jax to go pick her up. When he reached her apartment however, she was nowhere to be seen, and there was no evidence that anyone had entered or left the apartment since last night.

The remaining sane members of the Moonlight Court (just Jax really) spent the rest of the day mulling over their missing leadership. Alice had chosen the worst time for a 'pleasure run.'

Their leader was gone, and their second-in-command was missing.

But at least they only needed to worry about what to do once Alice got back, because there was no way they were going to live once she heard what happened.

Jax sat at a table anxiously biting his nails, and glaring at the lower guild members as they scurried around the guild was not had to figure out what to do on their own. It felt weird, making decisions for the guild. Alice and Sara had always done that.

At exactly 10:00 that night, Alice returned from her outing.

At exactly 10:10, the guildhall had three standing rooms left and 8 people were dead.

Alice was certain she knew what happened.

Shadow Melody had taken her.

But she had no bloody clue where Shadow Melody was.

They had the upper hand, at least until Alice knew where they were.

They may think they had all the cards in their hand, but if her dragon nose caught one whiff of those bastards' scent, not even all the tricks and leverage in the world could protect them from the angry dragon slayer.

Meanwhile, Sara was analyzing the Shadows' battle plan. It was stupid, to say the least. She knew her guild's strengths and weaknesses, and in terms of intelligence and pure strength, Moonlight Insomniacs had the upper hand. However, Alice might get reckless as these idiots had Sara. Well, maybe that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The only thing a reckless and angry Alice meant for her enemies was painful and destructive death. Sara was just worried that it might mean death for her friend as well. The small girl sighed and leaned back. They had untied her, after Sina's reassurance that Sara only knew how to use her chalice's magic and nothing more.

It was only partially true. Sara resisted the urge to reach for the items she had carefully hidden away. They hadn't taken her cloak, as they thought it was useless to take it from her. So what if it regenerated her magic? She had no magic to use. It wasn't a mistake on their part, not in the slightest. Their mistake was not searching her for other items. Sina assumed all Sara had was her chalice. Sara was just biding her time, waiting for the chance to have a clean and badass escape. Honestly, she was frightened without Alice. However, her plan should be flawless. Emphasis: should. She was unsure of Ren's magic, but aside from that, she had gathered bits and pieces on everyone else's.

Sina had illusion magic, Hinso had some strange magic that allowed him to summon things he deemed 'cute,' Drenedis had a type of body enhancement magic, and Crisna could summon plants. That's why Crisna sometimes referred to things in their scientific name. She was simply being annoying and obnoxious. As time wore on, she became more unsure of her plan. What if Ren could sense magic, or nullify it in some way?

Eventually, she resigned herself to just waiting until Alice came for her, and the day of the planned attack rolled around.

There had been no word of any activities from Moonlight Insomniac, and Sara was proud of them. They were laying low, planning carefully. Well, as careful as they could be without Sara to put a cap on all the crazy.

The first explosion rocked the stone room she was in, and the main members of Shadow Melody looked up in surprise.

Instead of waiting for Melody's attack, it appeared that the Insomniacs decided to take the initiative, though how they had found them was anyone's guess.

Sara couldn't bite back her grin; it certainly threw the enemy off their game. She could tell the people in the room with her were used to being on the offensive, and in control. Ren turned to her, eyes dangerous.

Suddenly her blood burned. She gasped, falling forward on her hands as her vision swirled without warning.

"You think this is funny, Sara darling?" He asked her, voice sickeningly sweet. She saw fear in his eye's though, this attack was something he hadn't counted on. She choked, trying to say something, anything, in an attempt to defend herself, but she could barely stay conscious. Her fingers found the lacrima in her pocket, and she held it tightly between her fingers before smashing it on the stone floor.

Magic glowed, and ice sprung from the walls,disorienting everyone. Ren staggered back, and Sara was jolted to the ground by the impact. She staggered to her feet, knowing this was her only chance to escape. Between the mist and the mirages from all the ice, only Sina managed to catch the faltering silhouette of Sara escaping through the door.

Sara had hardly made it out of the guild hall when she finally collapsed. Her vision blurred in and out of focus. She had to stay awake, to find Alice before she did anything reckless. They had her chalice, but where? She had to go back and find it. However, when she tried stand up, her legs wouldn't obey. Her body locked up, the remnants of the pain Ren had caused her still attacking her every cell. She gritted her teeth as tears rolled down her cheeks. Why was she so weak? She needed Alice, needed the rest of the court. She couldn't do anything by herself.

Even upstairs, it had been Alice's ice magic in the lacrima that had saved her.

She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's me, Sara, it's Jax! Are you alright!?"

She felt strong arms wrap around her waist, was hoisted upwards and lay gently on Veribex's shoulder.

"Where is…."

"Our lovely ladies are currently spearheading a bloody and merciless assault on anything living within a mile radius." Veribex explained.

"I'll be joining them as soon as I get you back to safety, and Jax will assist as well as look for your chalice."

Sara noded slowly.

Another explosion rocked the building.

"Let's get out of here, so we can be back when the real fun starts." Jax suggested warily.

Veribex nodded, and they took off into the woods.

From his perch at the top of the guild hall, Ren glared at the battlefield.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

His spies had told him that they were waiting for him to attack first.

But then again, they had also told him that the Court deferred to Sara, and she had turned out to completely powerless.

When he was done crushing the Insomniacs, he would have to kill them. Painfully.

A streak of thunder lit the path as Veribex, Jax, and Sara made their way from the guild hall. They had made it almost a safe distance from the battle when Veribex stopped.

"What's wrong? We're almost there, we need to get Sara to safety," Jax said, looking around skeptically.

"I sense ominous and powerful magic this way. I don't like it, but we have to go back. We can leave Sara outside in the woods, behind some bushes or something. She'll be fine for a while."

"Alone? In the woods?" Sara spoke up quietly. "It's kind of dark out, and I'm an item-holder type. What if someone finds me?"

"Veribex is right. Sara is tiny enough that no one will find her, especially since it's dark out!" Jax agreed readily. Sara, defeated, allowed Veribex to carry her small limp body to the bushes. She was deposited there carefully before the two men ran off to join the battle. As soon as they left, Sara began cursing them and drawing her cloak closer to herself.

When she had her chalice she had a slight chance, but now she had one full ice lacrima and two empty ones left. She wished she had made Alice fill them all up. She'd feel more safe if she had. She went quiet when she heard footsteps in her vicinity. She tried not to move and control her breathing, but she couldn't help but scream as she saw a tall man in front of her. He squinted at her and she tried to crawl backwards, but got tangled in her cloak.

She recognized him, and she kept cursing that she and Alice were destined to run into Fairy Tail members. This time, it had to be Laxus, one of the most powerful members of Fairy Tail.

"Lovely, another refugee," he droned. He couldn't look any more bored, to be honest.

So he must be here for the battle then, Sara deduced. Maybe he could get her in, considering Veribex and Jax had essentially ditched her to literal wolves.

Putting on her best distraught face (not hard considering the circumstances) she began to snivel. "My - my sister, she's still in there! I need to find her, please, please, take me to her!"

Laxus's face contorted into a scowl. "Look kid, it's not my job to be social services and reunite families. Just stay out here until the battle's over and then look for your sister."

Well that didn't work.

Time for plan B.

Using her remaining strength, she lunged forward, grabbing onto his leg.

"Please please please please please take me with you!" She sobbed, clutching tight to his leg as he tried to shake her off. He looked like he would rip her face off.

"ALRIGHT I'LL TAKE YOU JUST GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU DAMN BRAT!"

Plan B was a success.

Time to go find her chalice and her friends, and maybe kick some but along the way (though she doubted it).

She nearly threw up as Laxus yanked her to her feet and took off towards the guild hall.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea afterall.