Hey guys! Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I never dreamed that this would be so successful of a story! Like I promised, here's the second chapter of the week! Classes are calming down, so I should be able to keep writing on a regular basis from now on. Thank you again, and now read up- er, down!

Chapter 5: The Arc of Night

Jura frowned after Lucy questioned the auto-pilot of Christina. "Where is Guildless? And Wendy?"

"I'm right here." Guildless as usual, had practically materialized out of thin air behind Jura, battered yet standing.

Natsu growled, "You jerk! You disappeared in the middle of the fight!"

Guildless explained calmly, "I made a tactical retreat. If I hadn't, Racer would've tore me to shreds. I was about to use my magic to shield you from Brain, but Jura here beat me to it."

Natsu accused, "You still ran away!"

Lucy said, "Natsu, knock it off! Guildless is here to help, remember?"

Natsu scowled, glaring at Guildless as Jura continued to tell of how Ichya had saved him, the small man quickly pulling out a glass vial. "Here, take a whiff, and let my pain killer parfume ease your discomfort!"

While the girls admired the perfume, Natsu cursed, "How dare they run off with Wendy and Happy?" He took off running. "I got to go find them!"

Lucy cried, "Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going?"

Carla grabbed Natsu by the scarf, taking him down effectively. "You mustn't be reckless! You need to calm down and think this through."

A quick debate over Carla's wings was interrupted by Guildless, who simply said, "We use Natsu's nose to track them, then corner them in their own base, take them by surprise. Simple as that."

Carla added, "But first..." She looked to Erza, who stood in pain, clutching her arm.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Erza. Natsu asked, "Are you okay?"

Lucy inquired, "What's the matter?" Erza didn't answer, only wincing in pain and groaning. Lucy nervously said, "I'm no doctor, but it looks like the venom from her snake bite is spreading."

Eve asked, "Master Ichya?"

Ichya assured, "I've got this, men. I know what you need, my honey. A little pain-killer parfume, aroma increase!"

The green vapor swept toward Erza as Lucy asked, "Since when are painkillers the antidote for snake venom?"

Hebiki said, "His parfume does more than ease pain. It also has a cleansing effect that will help her body expel any toxins."

Eve exclaimed, "Oh yeah!"

Yet Erza's face simply became even more knit with pain, Guildless rushing forward to support her gently.

Eve asked, "What's wrong? His pain-killer parfume's never failed before."

Natsu urged, "Erza, hang in there."

Lucy whimpered, "What do we do?"

Erza murmured, "I'm sorry, Lucy... I need to borrow your belt." Erza tore the belt away, Lucy's skirt falling. As the Trimen stared in excitement, Guildless threw her tattered cloak into the line of vision, hiding Lucy's lower body.

For the first time, everyone saw that under the cloak Guildless wore only skintight pants, a black tank top, knee-high boots, all black. Her copper skin was decorated with black bandages wrapped around her wrists, palms, biceps, and neck. An arrowhead hung on a necklace she wore.

Erza leaned agains a tree, pulling the belt tight on her arm, gripping the end in her teeth.

Lucy asked, "Just what are you going to do with that?"

Erza panted, "It's harsh... but it's the only way I can keep fighting." Driving her sword into the ground, she growled, "Somebody cut it off."

Gasps rose as Guildless growled, "No. Not on my watch. Makarov sent me to keep you people alive and in one piece."

Grey agreed, "At least give us time to find an antidote!"

Erza insisted, "We don't have time... This is what I want."

Lyon grabbed the sword handle. "Very well." Lifting the sword, he continued, "I will do it."

Suddenly, everyone was on edge. Sheri admired, "How kind of you!"

Grey threatened, "Put down the sword!"

Erza urged, "Do it!"

Grey countered, "No, don't!"

Guildless stepped in front of Erza. "No one's doing anything to the Fairy Tail wizard unless it's to heal her!"

Lucy stammered, "Um, Lyon... Are you seriously going to do it?"

Lyon explained coolly, "We can't lose one of our strongest when we're facing such a powerful foe."

Lucy nervously said, "Yeah, but-"

"Oh, come on!" Sheri scolded. "I can't believe we got stuck with you wimpy fairies! Quit whining, your friend's going to die if we don't do something to help her."

Lucy threatened, "Your friend's going to die if he doesn't put down that sword!"

Sheri asked innocently, "Why is that? This is just his way of showing love."

Erza groaned, "Just hurry up and cut it off, before the venom spreads to the rest of my body!"

Grey yelled, "Put the sword down!"

Hebiki called, "Don't do it! You want to be known as the guy who maimed Erza?"

Eve agreed, "You don't have to do this! Stop, we'll find a cure!"

The young boy ran forward, but Jura stopped him, saying, "We have no right to interfere with her wishes."

Lyon raised the sword, asking, "Ready?" He swung, only for his blade to be blocked by Grey, Guildless suddenly behind him with a knife to his throat.

The intensity of the clearing tripled, Sheri yelling, "Don't you dare hurt my love!"

Lyon growled, "You would kill me for trying to save her life?"

Guildless answered, "No. I'd kill you for attempting to maim one of my charges and possibly make her bleed to death. Did you think about that?"

Lyon didn't answer. He was staring at Erza as she swayed, then fell backwards, unconscious.

Guildless suddenly pulled her knife away, sweeping over to Erza's side.

Eve fretted, "This is bad, guys. We've got to find a way to stop the venom from spreading or she'll die."

Carla suddenly chimed, "We need Wendy. She can save your friend." Everyone turned to the cat. "This is no time for us to be bickering among ourselves. We need to work together to make a plan to rescue Wendy, and I suppose that tomcat, too."

Eve asked, "Wait a minute, you're saying that little girl has some kind of anti-venom magic?"

Ren mused, "Amazing."

Carla put her nose up. "Not just anti-venom. She can cure fevers, relief pain, and heal wounds."

Ichya piped, "Excuse me, I feel as though my role in the group is being threatened and I find that rather unsettling."

Sheri pessimistically said, "That's crazy, everyone knows healing spells are lost magic. There's no way the kid could use them."

Lucy asked, "Do these powers have anything to do with the whole Maiden of the Sky thing?"

Carla assured, "Yes it does. You see, that little girl is the Sky Dragonslayer. She's Wendy the Sky Dragon."

Shock crept into everyone's expression, though Guildless' stayed hidden well behind her mask.

Natsu asked, "She's a Dragonslayer too?"

Carla said, "I'll give you all the details later. Although to be honest, there's really not much more you need to know. Wendy is the only wizard capable of saving your friend. We need her right now. Unfortunately, the Oracion Seis feel they need her too, for some unknown reason..."

Lyon said, "In that case..."

Hebiki continued, "There's only one thing for us-"

"Okay, this is a cute finish your sentence game, but we don't have time." Guildless was standing now, black and white mask gleaming. "We need to find the kid, quick. Simple as that."

Natsu grinned. "Yeah, let's cut right to the chase! Are you with me?"

The guild wizards all yelled their assurance, Guildless simply saying, "Then I'll start the search off strong." She suddenly slammed her fists into each other, knuckles out. "You're all about to see Lost Magic at its best." A dark glow came from the eyeholes in her mask, turning the white specks around them black, a magic circle at her feet. "Arc of Night: Shadow Form!"

Suddenly, Guildless' shadow grew wings, stretching across the grass. Her magic circle pulsed as from her back, ten feet of pitch black wings sprouted from her back.

The guild wizards stared as Guildless said, "I'll search from the air and let you know if I see something." With this, she took off.

Lucy breathlessly said, "Wow. She's even scarier than I thought. Her magic is literally darkness? Talk about creepy."

Jura explained, "The Arc of Night was invented by dark wizards, so it is to be expected. We should be glad this power is our ally, not our foe."

Yet a few people didn't look convinced Guildless wasn't the enemy.