A/N: WARNING this chapter has fudge and is over 4000 words...enjoy...
The kidnapped women and their worried families were safely at Lavender town hospital, everyone was naturally relieved one they found out that the 'neko girls' had successfully had the emotion enhancing lacrima removed from their bodies.
Once all the women were given the all clear Team Natsu placed Ezekiel under the watch of the mayor of Lavender town, Erza couldn't help but notice how calm the purple haired mage was, despite the fact that he could potentially be locked away for life or executed by the magic council. However all thoughts were quickly dispersed once Natsu and Gray had landed themselves on another fight, drawing in the attention of many passersby.
"Don't the two of you ever get bored of this?" Rissy asked, causing Natsu to stop his fist from colliding with Gray's as he furrowed his brows at his sister's question.
Gray shrugged his shoulders "Not really..."
Natsu nodded in agreement and then, as if just remembering that he was having a fight, suddenly punched Gray in the jaw with a flame engulfed fist.
Erza loudly sighed before grabbing both mages by the back of their necks.
"I'm surprised that they don't get tired of that..." Lucy sighed as Erza slammed the two of them together with such force that they both fell to the ground.
Many of the townspeople were staring at the group of mages, perhaps it was because Erza had just knocked out two of her team mates, or Lucy and Rissy were still wearing the cat costumes or maybe a mixture of the two.
"I don't understand why they are staring at us like that...it's as if they haven't seen mages before" Erza muttered as they walked through the town.
Rissy nodded in agreement, even though Lavender town was known for not having a guild, there was still a small amount of mages in the area however the dragon slayer couldn't sense any magic power from any of the townspeople.
"Maybe they think we're being too loud" Happy suggested, earning a nod from Lavender
"Yeah maybe...what do you think Lucy?" Rissy asked only to get no response from the celestial mage
Rissy gently poked the blonde on the shoulder, causing her to jump slightly with a squeal "Sorry, it's just I feel a little exposed..." Lucy sighed = gesturing to the cat costume that she was still wearing
Rissy frowned "But we get to dress like cats!" Rissy exclaimed, causing Lucy to sigh once more.
The blonde didn't exactly enjoy the looks that she was getting from the people who walked past, women would cover their children's eyes and grown men would give her wolf whistles; Rissy on the other hand was completely oblivious to the looks however when the men would whistle she just assumed that they were being friendly and waved back with a toothy grin.
Rissy, with a toothy grin across her face suddenly flung her arms over both Lucy and Erza;'s shoulders "These people sure are nice..." Rissy happily sighed as she walked with the two mages.
Erza raised a brow before she gently pushed Rissy's arm from her 'nice' wasn't the exact word she would have used to describe the townspeople, they seemed friendly enough however Erza couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't sense any magic power from the townspeople...as if it were populated with only non mages.
Lucy cringed as another man whistled at her "I wouldn't call them nice...maybe a bit too nice" she muttered to herself
"Like that cow of yours!" Lavender chimed in, causing Rissy to sweat drop, her cat ear head and fell off in the process causing her to bend over to retrieve it.
"Lavender, Taurus is a perverted cow...not too nice...there is a difference" Rissy pointed out, oblivious to the group of men with nose bleeds standing not too far behind her.
"Yet you call them nice..." Lucy mumbled gesturing to Rissy's new admirers.
Rissy shrugged her shoulders and continued on, leaving Lucy stood there very confused.
"It's too tight!" Rissy shouted from within the changing room, causing Lucy to sigh.
The pair had been in the store for a little over an hour and while Lucy shopped for clothes, Rissy complained that she was hungry or wanted to go with Erza and the others.
"Rissy, it's not tight...it's fitted" Lucy pointed out as she folded heer arms over her chest
"I'm sure that you look really pretty" Lavender added, causing Lucy to nod with agreement.
Rissy's loud sigh didn't go unnoticed by the celestial mage "Rissy you need to wear clothes that compliment your figure..."
Rissy sighed once more before poking her head out the changing room curtain "I don't even know what that means..."
Lucy mentally face palmed "It means that you wear too many baggy out fits and you need to show off your body"
Rissy gasped, stepping out from the changing room in the process "But then I'll be exposed..." She moaned
Lavender giggled "Your exposed now, Rissy-Chan" Lavender pointed out
Rissy gasped once more, suddenly realising that she wasn't in the comfort of the changing room.
"See it's nice" Lucy said with a smile
Rissy shook her head as she took a glance in the full length mirror, the white high-necked top that Lucy had given her was sleeveless, and ended just above her navel. Luckily her pants her high waited pants were able to cover her now faded scar.
Rissy slowly traced the outline of the scar, it was slowly fading, thanks to the joint efforts of Wendy and Porlyusica, however the memories would still remain.
As if sensing her Sadness Lucy walked over to her friend with a smile "Hey Rissy, how about we pay for these and then go look around the town?" Lucy suggested
Rissy gave her friend a small smile "Okay but let me change back first" Rissy said before she pulled out the cat costume, causing Lucy to raise a brow.
"You still going to wear that?" Lucy asked shocked, the celestial mage didn't even have to think wice about changing her outfit, as soon as she got the chance to change clothes she did it in a heart beat.
Rissy simply shrugged her shoulders before pulling the white pants off "Well it's comfortable...and has a tail" She added with a toothy grin, causing Lucy to sweat drop.
"Tails are great!" Lavender declared once the group left the store.
Erza had been searching for over twenty-five minutes for Gray and Natsu, the two had gotten themselves into another fight and before Erza had the chance to teach them a lesson they both started chasing after each other through the town, giving the re-quip mage little choice but to follow them.
At first she started to follow the trail of destruction that her team mates had left, however once she turned a corner at a small bakery the trail went cold leaving her once again lost.
Looking around she spotted a young man and decided to ask him if he had spotted her friends "Excuse me I don't sup-"
"Are you a mage?" The young man cut in
"Yes" Erza replied a little suspicious about his question
The man glanced around as if to see if anyone was watching them and then turned back to Erza, leaning in a little too closely, causing the scarlet haired mage to take a step back "Then leave" He said before turning to leave.
Erza stood frozen for second before the statement had sunken in "Why, what's going here?" She asked calmly.
The man approached her with two large strides and then placed his hands firmly on her armoured shoulders; Erza opened her mouth to speak however spotting the clear fear in the man's eyes she stayed silent.
"The mages here are gone, but no one remembers...mages pass through but they don't leave...and those who know too much disappear" he whispered before abruptly releasing her.
She stood shocked at his sudden statement, she knew that something strange was going in the town...but the disappearance of mages was the last thing she expected "Who's doing this?" Erza asked, determined to get more answers
The man shook his head "I haven't seen them, but ever since they entered this town...nothing has been the same" The man answered
Erza folder her arms "Since who came?" she asked
The man shrugged his shoulders "This man and a chick...came here a couple of days ago and then people started disappearing..."
"And no one remembers...as if they've had their memories altered" Erza concluded "Look tell me where I can-"
The man shook his head causing Erza to stop "If I were you I would just leave here and forget I even said anything"
Erza frowned slightly "But I need to find my friends...and you stated yourself that something is going on around here"
"Nothing is happening around here...!" The man hissed, taking quick glances either side of him "...and as for your friends, they're going to end up like the rest of the mages around here...just another lost memory" He said sadly before walking away.
Erza watched as the man walked away the last thing he noticed was the sadness in his voice, making it obvious to the scarlet haired mage that he had lost someone to the strange going on of the town.
But one thing was for certain Erza needed to find not only Natsu and Gray but the others too, before it was too late and they would become just another lost and forgotten memory.,
"You ice bastard you made the town disappear!" A familiar voice shouted causing Erza to quickly change direction in the hopes of finding her friends.
Once Erza had turned down multiple roads, bumping into multiple passersby in the process, she wasn't' sure whether to be relieved or angry at finding Natsu and Gray up to their usual antics.
"You really are an idiot...how can I make an entire town disappear!" Gray shouted, he turned to his left and at spotting Erza the ice make mage froze.
Natsu shuddered, half expecting Erza to whack him over the head for fighting with Gray, however to his surprise Erza was taking no interest in either of them and was staring at their new surroundings.
The mages appeared to be in what looked like a desolate wasteland, the ground was hard and dry as if they were in a desert however the sky was a dull grey. Glancing around the surroundings Erza noticed that Natsu was right the town had indeed disappeared, turning back to face the way she came, Erza was surprised to notice that the road was gone and there was no one but the three of them in the desolate wasteland...it looked as if there was no way out.
Bored and frustrated Natsu started pacing around the wasteland as if searching for any sign of a way out, suddenly getting tired he loudly sighed...much to the amusement of Gray.
"You think this is some sort of magic?" Gray asked, his arms folded over his bare chest.
"First ...yes and second...shirt" Erza stated
Gray stared blankly at Erza before glancing down at himself suddenly realising that he was missing his shirt he started to search the ground for any sign of his missing shirt.
Happy and Natsu were both sat on the ground with Natsu was lying on his back with his arms behind his head "Natsu, do you think that Lavender, Lucy and Rissy are here?" Happy asked. The small exceed was worried that they hadn't seen their friends in a while and the last time they had been separated, it ended up with Rissy being attacked by a crazy cat man and an equally crazy purple haired mage.
Natsu was silent for a moment "I can't smell them...but wherever they are I'm sure that they're fine" Natsu declared with a toothy grin, Happy was silent for a moment before responding with an 'Aye'
Erza watched Natsu and Happy from a distance; she hoped that Natsu was right about the others since what the man had told her earlier in the town was still on her mind. The team needed to stay together if there was someone going around kidnapping mages, so it wasn't exactly a big help that half their team was un-accounted for whilst the other half was stuck in some desolate wasteland.
The mages sat in silence for a few minutes, ray had long given up his search for his shirt, and Happy was rolling around on the ground whilst Erza could help but stare into the distance with the feeling that something wasn't right...
"Hey Erza...is that...a girl?" Natsu asked suddenly breaking the silence and catching all their attention.
Erza narrowed her eyes at the figure, a small girl who looked around eight or nine walked toward them dressed in only a dirty white gown and her cyan hair was dirty and matted.
The girl stared up at the mages with big glassy eyes before she spoke "I'm lost" She stated
Erza narrowed her eyes once more at the girl. As soon as the four of them had arrived there didn't seem to be any sign of anyone else in the wasteland and seeming that this girl was so young what was she doing walking around on her own.
Erza placed a hand on the girl's shoulder "You shouldn't be lost..." Erza stated, causing Natsu and Gray to exchange glances.
"Well she is alone..." Gray muttered
Erza slowly shook her head at Gray before turning back to face the girl "She shouldn't be lost because this is her illusion...am I right, Esther?" Erza added, causing the girl's eyes to widen.
"What the...fudge!" Rissy exclaimed as she ran over to the stand she gasped once she had spotted the stall, right in front of her was nearly every flavour of fudge that anyone could imagine.
The owner smiled once he had spotted her, a wide smile on his features causing the lines around his eyes and mouth to deepen. "So what can I get you neko-chan?" He asked
Rissy smiled at the nickname "How about every flavour here!" She gasped
The man frowned "Neko-Chan that won't be good for you..." The man said sadly however he still carried out her request.
A toothy grin spread across her face "Don't worry Grandpa fudge, I'm going share this with my friends" She declared
"Sorry, I'm not a fudge fan..." Lucy said sadly, he gave a small squeak once Rissy's eyes started to darken.
"Lucy, now you run..." Lavender whispered, causing Lucy to mentally face palm.
Rissy's mood suddenly turned back to normal once the man passed her the fudge bag, handing over the money as well as a tip they three left the stall while Rissy happily gorged herself on fudge.
"What's with the red fudge?" Lucy asked, not used to seeing it that colour
Rissy popped another cube of fudge into her mouth "Its spicy fudge"
Lucy just stared at the salmon haired girl "You and Natsu love your spice..." She sighed before shaking her head as Rissy practically buried her face in her fudge bag.
Feeling as if she were being watched, Lucy suddenly turned around the blonde was half expecting to find no one there however standing behind her was a tall muscular cyan haired man. Lucy shuddered at the way the strangers eyes raked across her body as a cocky smirk played across his lips. Before she could even react or move the stranger had his hand around her throat causing Lucy to let out a choked cry for help as she attempted to pry his hands from her.
"Lucy!" Lavender shouted, the small exceed flew over to Lucy's attacker ad started biting and scratching at his face.
Rissy dropped the fudge bag on the ground and ran at the attacker and punched him in the back from behind, causing him to stumble and lose his grip on Lucy who was sent to floor.
The salmon haired woman growled as the cyan haired man stumbled upright, out of the members of her old team Emmanuel and his twin Ester had to be the ones she disliked the most...other than Elijah of course.
Rissy clenched her fists as Emmanuel smirked once more; he was obviously enjoying this too much. "Didn't' expect to see you here...where's bastard number two?" She spat, she chuckled as Emmanuel's smirk disappeared at the nickname that she had given his twin.
"You shouldn't speak about her like that...at least wait until the reunion" He added, his cocky smirk returning.
Rissy rolled her eyes "What is it with you guys and reunions...it is over...Ezekiel's going to prison and for a long time..." She exclaimed, however Emmanuel just laughed.
"You really think that he's just going to stay there...the revelation never leaves a member behind...not even you Rissy-Chan" He added with a smirk.
Rissy was tired of their games she folded her arms over her chest "Whatever you guys are planning has to stop now..." Rissy growled her frustration clear in her voice.
Emmanuel laughed, which only caused Rissy to growl even louder, causing even Lucy to shudder. Emmanuel seemed unfazed by Rissy's growl, just stood there with a smirk clear on his lips "Rissy-Chan you have no say in the matter" he stated matter of factly.
"Then I have to stop whatever it is you're doing..." Rissy stated as she folded her arms across her chest.
Emmanuel sighed, he slowly ran a hand through his cyan colored hair "I didn't want to resort to petty tactics Rissy-Chan but you gave me no choice..."
Rissy narrowed her eyes "What are you..." However before she could finish a magic circle appeared on the ground underneath where Lucy sat. Rissy quickly moved to help her friend however a bright light erupted from the magic circle, engulfing Lucy and once that had disappeared so had her friend.
Both Rissy and Lavender stared at the spot where Lucy just was, Rissy turned back to face Emmanuel with her fists clenched so hard her finger nails where sure to draw blood from her palms.
"What did you do to her?!" Rissy exclaimed
"I just used some teleportation magic on her...you know the mages around here are really something..." He added with a smirk
Rissy raised a brow at Emmanuel's statement however she brushed it off due to not knowing where her friend was.
"Where did you send her?" Rissy shouted
Emmanuel smirked, twirling Lucy's celestial keys around his index finger "Don't worry I won't hurt her...she's my insurance" he stated
Rissy narrowed her eyes "Insurance...?"
Emmanuel smirked "Don't tell me you don't know what insurance means...my you are dense..." he laughed
Rissy growled "I know what insurance is...but why?" she snapped
Emmanuel folded his arms "Isn't it obvious...so you stay out of our way"
Rissy frowned "Our?" she asked however Emmanuel ignored her statement as his head was turned towards the sky.
"Don't worry I'm on my way..." He sighed before turning to Rissy
"Was that Bastard number two calling...I've always hated that weird twin thing you do..." Rissy added with a shudder.
Esther and Emmanuel had a sort of mind connection, meaning that they often had telepathic conversations...however sometimes it would often appear that the twin were insane when they would shout or talk to themselves in public places when they were really having a telepathic conversation.
"Look it was nice talking to you but my other half needs me..." He stated before causing a magic circle to appear once more.
Rissy walked towards him "Hey I'm not done with y-" The bright light that had engulfed Lucy appeared around Emmanuel causing Rissy to shield her eyes from its intensity. Once she was certain that the light disappeared she hissed once she realised that Emmanuel too was gone.
Lavender turned to face her partner, worry clear on her features "Rissy-Chan what do we do now?" She asked
Rissy sighed, she herself had no idea on what to do; Emmanuel had Lucy somewhere, tracking him was next to impossible since he left using teleportation magic there wouldn't be a scent. And to make matters worse he was planning some evil and psychotic scheme with his equally psychotic sister.
Rissy placed a hand in her hair "Well I guess we search for Lucy" She answered
Lavender nodded and then took her usual spot sitting atop Rissy's head as the two went in search for their friend.
The girl or Esther growled, her once sweet voice replaced with one that didn't match her current physique "Well done, Erza-San...not many people can see through my illusions..." She hissed.
Natsu's eyes widened "So this wasn't real...how couldn't I smell it...?" He exclaimed
The girl smirked "There's a reason why they call me the master off illusions, Natsu...and all the years I spent training with your sister helped me to perfect my magic so not even a dragon slayer could sense me" She stated matter of factly, causing Natsu's eyes to widen.
Esther sighed before looking down at herself, she let out a small gasp as if suddenly realizing that she still had the appearance of an eight year old. A cyan coloured magic circle suddenly appeared before her outstretched hands and in a flash the small eight year old was gone and was now replaced with a much taller woman with long wavy cyan that reached her mid back and dressed in very revealing clothing.
Erza placed her hands on her swords hilt, causing Esther to release a light chuckle "Erza-San, I don't want to fight you..."
Erza narrowed her eyes at the woman before her "Then why trap us in this illusion?" Erza asked
Esther tilted her head to the side, her glassy eyes widened, giving her a similar appearance to those creepy dolls "Because I just want to have some fun" she said gigglrd, causing the mages to shudder.
"That was just weird..." Gray stated and Natsu nodded in agreement.
Before any of them could react a cyan magic circle appeared in front of Esther, releasing beams of cyan coloured light shaped like daggers.
Erza used her sword to deflect the 'daggers', whilst Gray used an ice hammer to whack them away and Natsu dodged them.
"Hey, I thought that she could only make illusions!" Natsu shouted whilst he rolled out-of-the-way from a cluster of daggers, he glanced down at the ground next to him where there was now a large dent. He rubbed at his arms where there were now multiple scratches from close run ins with the daggers "But these hurt..." Natsu stated
Esther laughed at Natsu's statement "You really are Rissy-Chan's sister...you're both as dense as each other, while you are in my illusion, everything you see or feel is very real...it's why I am the master of illusions" She added with a smirk.
Esther suddenly froze as she looked towards the sky "Emmanuel, I'm busy" She hissed
Natsu frowned "Why are all Rissy's old friends crazy?" He muttered to himself
Esther folded her arms, it seemed as if she was having an in depth conversation with herself "Emmanuel, just deal with it and get here!" She exclaimed
Suddenly the wasteland disappeared and the mages where back in Lavender town
"Looks like our fun was cut short..." Esher sighed before turning to leave, only to be stopped by Erza.
Erza frowned "You aren't leaving unless it's with us..." Erza snapped
Esther smirked before folding her arms "No Erza-San...it is you who will be leaving with us..."She hissed.
Before anyone could find out who 'us, was, Suddenly Erza fell to the ground with pain, both Natsu and Gray rushed to her side however they too were sent to the ground with the same feeling.
Erza struggled to get up, using her sword to support her weight she felt as if her magic energy had just been drained.
Esther steeped over the Fairy Tail mages, a cocky smirk clear on her face "looks like Fairy-Chan wants to get up...Emmanuel looks as if you didn't take enough" Esther hissed as she kicked away Erza's sword, causing her to fall the ground with a thud.
Esther slowly turned her head behind her, frowning at the sight of her twin.
"What took you so long?" She asked her twin, her arms folded.
Emmanuel sighed "I ran into Rissy-Chan and a blonde" He stated causing Esther's brows to raise and a thin smile to appear on her lips.
At hearing Emmanuel's statement, Natsu loudly growled "What did you do with Lucy?!" He exclaimed
Emmanuel paid no attention to Natsu and then turned back to his twin "Who are they?" He asked
"Fairy Tail" Esther spat as if the word were a poison against her lips.
Emmanuel raised a brow "Oh...so he's her brother?" He asked gesturing to Natsu, causing Esther to nod.
"I wish I was there to deal with the pink haired bitch myself..." She hissed, before she let out a short chuckle for Rissy always hated it when she called her hair color pink.
Emmanuel chuckled lightly before placing hand on his sister's shoulder "Calm yourself, Esther-Chan...lets deal with these three first and Rissy-Chan later...remember we have a job to do"
Esther loudly sighed before nodding "Fine...but how are you sure that the bitch won't spoil the plan?" She asked
Emmanuel smirked "She wont and I'm sure of it..." he said before dangling Lucy's celestial keys in front of his twin, Esther grabbed the keys from her brother and pocketed them.
Esther looked down at Natsu half surprised to not hear him growling however she noticed that he and the Gray had both fallen unconscious thanks to Emmanuel.
Emmanuel raised his hands a magic circle appeared on the ground before them.
"Shall we?" He asked before tossing the now unconscious mages on the magic circle before stepping on it himself.
Esther clenched the keys tightly in her hand; most likely Rissy would go to them knowing that they had her friend. She smirked at the idea of seeing her old rival knowing that when the time came to face off against the salmon haired woman she would be ready...
So um what did you think of that?
Stay tuned for the next chapter 'Fudge is a dangerous weapon'