The Royal City

The Royal City seemed like a rather severe inversion of rest of Edolas. As the group walked down the street, they saw people screwing around with magical items, playing around like all was well with the world.

"To be honest I was expecting something a lot darker and scarier," Wendy said.

"Yeah," Lucy said, "Considering how nobody tried to stop us when we came on, on top of everyone using magic and partying, this place seems more like a carnival than the seat of a tyrant."

"Considering that all this magic is probably stolen from others around Edolas," Carla said, "Chances are they all feel they can waste it away on these petty toys." Natsu meanwhile got the brilliant idea to try one of the floating horses. It went about as well as it always did. Wendy then noticed a crowd of people down the road.

"Hey look!" she said pointing, "Something's going on over there!"

"Maybe its a parade?" Lucy suggested.

"Like our Fantasia parade?" Natsu asked after regaining his footing, as he ran over in that direction, "Sounds cool!"

"Aye sir!" Happy said as he trailed behind.

"This isn't the time to play!"Carla yelled. As they moved down the cheering crowd, the group looked around.

"People sure seem excited," Wendy said.

"Yeah," Lucy said, before being interrupted when somebody bumped her from behind, almost causing her to lose her footing.

"Hey, pregnant woman here!" she snapped.

"Screw you!" the man who bumped her said. Lucy pouted, before going over to Natsu.

"Sweetie," she said, "Can you beat up someone for me?" However, Natsu wasn't paying attention, he was just staring straight ahead. Lucy followed his gaze, and saw what he was looking at. It was a lacrima, a giant one, at least twice the size of a house.

"Its a giant lacrima," Wendy said.

"This is it, isn't it?" Happy said, "All our friends are in there, right?"

"It seems like it," Carla said, "Though this lacrima looks pretty uneven, as if its been cut from something."

"So that means there's even more of it," Lucy said. The people of Edolas continued to cheer as an elderly figure in a robe, and a long bear came up on a balcony, and spread his arms proudly. He then held up his hands, as the people simmered down. It was King Faust.

"My children!" he said, "It is with immense pride that I state that our Anima project has bore even greater fruit that when he could've hoped. The magic within this lacrima will last us at least another decade!"

"That's a bunch of kitty litter!" Happy snapped, "You just stole magic!"

"Restrain yourself," Carla hissed.

"Let us celebrate and cheer!" Faust continued, "Let happiness reverberate throughout our nation! For this power belongs not just to me, but to all people of Edolas!" As he spoke, the Fairy Tail mages all glowered at him

"On this day we ensure our nation's future! And thus we must protect this no matter the cost!" Faust said, "And now…" He then slammed his staff into the lacrima ,sending several shards careening down to the ground.

"We harvest this power!" Natsu's chest lit up, as a growl rumbled out. From the shadows, Gajeel and Levy

"All our friends," Levy said, clenching her fists, "How can these people believe that?"

"Its because their idiots," Gajeel answered, "But we're not, so we need to figure out something to do."

Meanwhile, Natsu began marching towards the podium, only to be grabbed by Lucy. He was burning hot, but Lucy didn't pay attention.

"No!" she said, "You can't!"

"He… will…. burn!" Natsu said.

"He will!" Lucy said, tears dripping out of her eyes, a look of pure rage on her face, "And we'll get all our friends out of there, but we have to keep our heads!" Maybe it was being close to Lucy, but Natsu stood down, though his chest didn't dim.

He and his family just stared up as the king cackled, and the people cheered.

(sometime later)

The group was sitting in an inn, the event earlier still reeling in their heads. Natsu, who as staring out at the palace, clenched his teeth.

"That's it!" he declared, as he jumped to his face "I'm burning that place down!"

"Natsu!" Lucy scolded.

"You can't go in their without a plan," Carla said.

"I'll just use my Dragon Aspect!" Natsu said, "I'll turn them all into ash!"

"That can't be your answer to everything," Carla said, "We need a strategy."

"But we don't even know how to turn them back from that crystal state," Wendy said.

"The king will," Carla said.

"Why would the king tell us?" Wendy asked.

"Once he cooks for awhile under my fire, he'll sing," Natsu said.

"Natsu!" Lucy said, "Don't talk like that!" Natsu looked at her.

"I don't like it when you talk about torturing people like that," Lucy explained, "I don't want you to turn into an evil… clone." Everyone looked at her as she trailed off.

"Do you think that the king will know how to fix everything?" she asked.

"Well since he ordered it he should," Wendy answered.

"Then that gives me an idea!" Lucy said, smiling.

"Let's hear it," Natsu said.

"We use Gemini," Lucy answered.

"You mean those two blue things?" Happy asked.

"They can mimic anyone they touch," Lucy said, "And not only can they mimic the appearance, they can also copy their memories."

"So we can copy the king?" Wendy asked.

"That's the plan," Lucy said, "Though it can only last for five minutes, but that's not the problem. The problem is actually getting to the king to copy him."

"Why not just kidnap him?" Natsu asked.

"I think your missing the point of my plan."

"There's probably an entire army's worth of guards in that castle," Wendy said, "I don't think Natsu could take that many, even in Dragon Aspect."

"Then we take an underground route," Carla said. Everyone looked down at her.

"Think of it like this," Carla said, "Any king would always want to have some kind escape route. So there's likely some kind of escape tunnel going down under the castle. One that we can put to good use."

"How do you know that?" Wendy asked.

"Its just forming in my head," Carla answered.

"My head's still empty," Happy said sadly.

"So we got our route, all we need is to get there," Lucy said.

"Alright! We got our plan!" Natsu said, "Now let's do it!"

"Right!" Wendy said.

"Aye sir!" Happy said.

"Wait!" Carla said.

"Will you stop cutting me off like that?" Natsu said.

"It would be safer for us to go during the night," the white cat explained, "For now we should get some rest. We'll need our energy to do this."

(somewhere else in the city)

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Redfox asked.

"Well, I'm assuming that lacrima functions like any other," Levy said, "They'll probably use some kind of device to extra magical energy. It might take longer than normal with a crystal that big, but they'll do it."

"So then we need to find a way to get our guys out of there soon," Redfox said.

"Well if you want to do anything at all, you're going to need to get close to the lacrima," Greenwolf said, "That in its own right is going to be a major challenge."

"Don't say something if you can't contribute anything," Redfox responded.

"Actually I think I can contribute something," Greenwolf said, "I'm not a wanted man. I can gather info. Maybe find some weak spot."

"Well, its better than nothing," Levy said.

"We'll see about that," Gajeel said, "Knowing our luck this may very possibly end up being nothing."

(that night)

Once nightfall, the group set out to find their entrance, with Carla the lead. Eventually they found a large opening beneath the city.

"Well," Natsu said, as he held up his hand, lighting it up, "Let's head out."

"Don't waste your magic energy," Lucy said, "We're going to need as much as possible." With that, she pulled out a couple of homemade torches. After a brief explanation where they came from, Natsu lit up them all.

"Good thing Lucy thought of this," Happy said, "We'll need Natsu and Wendy to fight."

"If your going to be insulting, don't be passive aggressive about it," Lucy said. Natsu looked over the flame with a curious look. He then took a bite out of one the torches, and made a face.

"This fire tastes weird," he said.

"I've always wondered," Lucy said, "What does fire taste like?"

"Well it depends on the fire, but this tasted liked burnt chicken," Natsu answered.

"I can understand the burnt part, but why of all things chicken?" Wendy asked, "I mean, air just tastes sour, sweet, or bitter for me."

"I don't know," Natsu said, "I don't really ask questions like that. Takes away from the good parts."

"Keep your priorities straight," Carla said, "We need to keep moving." With that, they all ducked into the cavern. After sometime of walking, with Carla looking over a map she drew, Natsu's already low patience was starting to wear even thinner.

"How long is this going to take?" he asked.

"Be patient," Carla said.

"From the looks of things, nobody's been here for a long time," Lucy said. She didn't like the looks of everything, instinctively rubbing her belly as a way of reassuring herself.

"Put the light out," Carla instructed. After Wendy did as told, they saw a large barrier. It didn't take a genius to know what was likely on the other side.

"It looks pretty solid," Lucy said, putting her hand against it.

"Then we break it down," Carla answered, "No doubt this is our way in."

"That will be easy!" Lucy said, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

"MOOOO!" Taurus said as he emerged form the Celestial Spirit world.

"Alright! The muscle cow!" Happy said.

"We need you to break down that wall," Lucy instructed.

"You can count on that!" Taurus said, as he clenched his fists, before starting to bang them into the wall. Each time a fist collided, there was a "Moo!". Eventually, the wall broke apart completely.

"Nice job!" Wendy said.

"Now how about a smooch, Ms. Lucy!" Taurus said. Lucy moved to send him back, but Natsu beat her to the punch. Quite literally in fact. A fire infused fist sent Taurus flying all the way back to the Celestial Spirit world.

"I should've cooked him and served him for dinner," Natsu said angrily.

"Head in the game, lover boy, head in the game," Lucy said. Everyone then looked through the hole Taurus made. Sure enough the chamber continued.

"You were right, Carla!" Wendy said. Carla just stared in surprise. Everything she had seen had proven correct. It was rather disquieting. She shook her head slightly.

"We still don't know if this leads to the castle," Carla said.

"Well you've been right so far," Wendy said. Natsu then noticed Happy staring at the ground.

"What's wrong, little buddy?" he asked.

"How come I'm not able to find my way around here?" Happy asked, "I mean, I'm from Edolas too, right? Shouldn't I be able do what Carla's doing?"

"We're not going to talk about this, remember?" Carla said, "I don't know why this is happening, but we need to remember why we're here, and keep going."

"Aye," Happy said softly. With that, they all trudged on. After sometime walking, they came to a fork in the path.

"Ah, it never fails," Lucy said with a sigh, "There's always a split in the path, isn't there?"

"We need to go left," Carla said. Everyone was surprised by how easy that was, but they followed Carla's instruction, and went down the path. Eventually, the broke out into a much larger cavern, filled with strange glowing mushrooms.

"If I'm right, this'll be right under the castle," Carla said.

"Alright, we're here!" Natsu said, "A little Dragon Aspect and…."

"We're here to capture the king, remember?" Lucy said.

"Don't forget, stealth is of more than the essence," Carla said, "We need to get into those chambers completely unseen if this is going to work."

"Okay then," Lucy said, as she started digging through her purse, "Let me just get Virgo to dig us a hole and…." She was silenced when a strong white goo shot out of the shadows and ensnared her.

"Lucy!" Natsu roared as he leapt to her aid. But before he could do get to her, more of that goo shot out and latched onto his body.

"Natsu!" Happy cried. Natsu struggled against it, as Edolas soldiers emerged from the shadows.

"You bastards!" Natsu said as he inhaled to breath his fire, only for more of it to cove his mouth, sealing the flames in it. Wendy moved to attack as well, only to get caught as well.

"How'd they know we were here!" Happy said. Carla just stared in shock.

"So these are the Earthland mages, yes?" an all too familiar voice asked. The group stared in horror as Erza Knightwalker emerged from the shadows.

"I should've thought as much," she said, "No magic in Edolas can do what you did."

"Erza!" Lucy cried.

"Take them away!" Erza instructed. After sounds of "Yes Ma'am", the mages were promptly dragged away, leaving the cats to just stare, as all the guards fell to their knees.

"Oh, might Exceeds!" Erza said, "It is with tremendous honor that we welcome you home, and the greatest humility that you thank you for completing your mission!"

"Our… mission?" Carla murmured.

Note: Alright, so that's done with that. Next chapter more should be revealed, and again, we'll probably be seeing the true form Subject S soon enough. As you might guess, it will form a major deviation from the canon material.

Be sure to review. Updates may be slower, since I'll be meeting family soon for my birthday.

As I'm sure you all know, I don't own Fairy Tail.