A few hours—and trains—later we find ourselves back at the scene of the crime. This small and inconspicuous town of Thistle located on the outskirts of Fiore harbors a dark secret. Poor Laxus and Natsu were hanging out the window looking very green. Lucy was trying very hard to ease her boyfriend's pain while I hold Laxus' hand. Ezra and all the exceeds have fallen asleep in a pile next to Grey who was quietly smoking out the window. Levy and Gajeel were sitting across from the sick Natsu and Lucy pouring over journals and scrolls.

"Nay, Levy-san?" I whisper to try and not worsen the other Dragon Slayers headaches.

"Mhm? What's up Wendy?" she turns her sharp eyes towards me.

"Is Gajeel-san doing okay? I mean has my spell run its course yet?" we both look over at the Iron Dragon who was busy reading through a book.

"No, I think he's fine right now," she whispers back with a smile. "Are you doing okay? Did you want to read the book again?"

"No," I sigh with a huff. "That book is only depressing."

"I know," she replied with a sympathetic sigh. Gajeel made a weird gagging noise at that moment and the next the book he was reading was on the floor and his head was hanging out the window. "Well I guess it wore off now," Levy giggles while patting his back. That ended that conversation and I went back to rubbing circles on the back on Laxus' hand to distract myself. The clock on the wall read seven in the morning, we were ten minutes away from the last stop on this track. When I looked out the window I could see the sea, it looked so calm and reminded me of a story Mahari once told me. It was about a lady who was able to fall to the bottom of the sea and live in peace beneath the waves. That sounded very nice at the moment, to fall without really falling.

"Ah!" Natsu cried as he kissed the ground of the train platform. "Solid earth is the greatest thing!" Both Laxus and Gajeel were looking better as well as we all gathered our belongings and headed out into the town. Lucy and Levy fell into a deep conversation about the notes Levy and Gajeel made in the books and scrolls. While at the same time Ezra, Laxus, and Pantherlily were discussing an action plan. Charla and Happy kept me company as we walked the familiar path back into the town of Thistle.

All I could think about was what Mahari told us about the puppet spell and that poor girl I couldn't save.

"Remember Wendy-chan puppet spells are strongest when the wielder has a hold of the victim's blood," Mahari-san was scanning through the book while she spoke. "Under no circumstances should any of you bleed, do you understand?" she looked at me with nostalgia in her eyes. Of course I knew better than to think her memories were pleasant; Nikki says she still has nightmares.

"Yes Mahari-san, I understand," I reply automatically. "What makes this puppet spell different from others?"

"Unlike most puppet spells you see today this one can not only control the body of the victim but the soul as well. If you control the soul…" her eyes narrowed and her hand automatically stroked the scar on her face. "You can own the person."

"Wendy we're here," Charla draws me out of my memories. The edge of Thistle came into view as our group continued on. Natsu and Gray were up at the front arguing about something childish again while Levy and Lucy conversed with Ezra as Gajeel quietly listened in.

'Where is Laxus-kun?' I think right before a large forearm rests on my head. "Eep!"

"You ready for this?" he drawled out lazily. "What was the name of the girl we're looking for again?" he asked.

"Mandy-san," I reply. "Her grandfather hired Fairy Tail last year to help with a monster problem. Her and Gildarts-san finished the mission together," I remember.

"Wendy!" Levy calls out to me.

"Yes?"

"Which way to Mandy-san's house?" she inquires.

"They live on a farm outside of Thistles on the northern side," I point behind the mayor's mansion. "Look for sheep is what Mahari-san said."

"Okay!" her and Lucy shout back with smiles. Natsu and Gray have joined them at this point as Laxus and I attempt to catch up. It took us only ten minutes to walk to Mandy's house, but to our dismay no one was home.

"What now?" Gajeel gruffs as we search the perimeter of the house again. Natsu and Lucy have ventured out into the forest where we first came to this town. Levy and Ezra took Pantherlily and Charla to check from the air, while Gray and Laxus went back into the town. "Wanna break in?" he grins down at me.

"Gajeel-san!" I scold. He was just about to bust in the door when we heard a soft voice behind us.

"What do you think you're doin'?" we both turn around startled to find a tiny girl next to an even smaller man who was pulling a cart full of wool.

"Um," I had no idea how to explain Gajeel's recklessness.

"You Mandy?" Gajeel interjects without apology.

"Who's askin'?" the girl quips. She cocked her hip out and placed a fist on it as she glared at the two of us.

"Fairy Tail, Mahari sent us," he answers with a grin.

"Oh! You're Mahari-san's friends!" the old man says enthusiastically. "Come in! Come in! How is Mahari-san doing? Did she finally marry that old crotchety dragon she's been writin' to me about? How about that man…Gildarts-san was it? Yes, yes Gildarts-san!" the old man pushed us into the house with Mandy grumbling behind him. He did not stop for one second to let us speak. "It is so nice that Mahari-san writes to me every month! I know she is a busy gal, but it is so nice of her to think of us! Right Mandy?" he turns his old eyes towards the girl.

"Yeah grandpa she is very nice," there was no malice to her words only a weariness that ran deep. "So, I suppose we don't have to tell ya why our town needs help huh?" she asks, cutting off her grandfather's ramblings.

"N-no," I stutter. Gajeel grunts in disapproval and an awkward silence falls between the four of us.

"I thought there was supposed to be a whole lot of ya'll?" Mandy finally asks to break the silence.

"Our friends are out looking for you actually," I reply sheepishly.

"Don't any of ya'll know how farmin' works?" Mandy raised her eyebrow at us.

"We didn't think we would have to be waitin' around for you if you were supposed to know we were comin'," Gajeel counters.

Mandy opens to mouth to protest and then shuts it quickly. "Sorry 'bout that, it's been gettin' harder and harder to sell our product since everyone in town knows we are friends of Mahari," I cast my eyes downward remembering their almost full cart of wool. "But we're too stubborn to change," she suddenly laughs a small, tired laugh. "Besides I'm sick of seein' those poor souls walkin' through my town hurtin' as bad as they're probably hurtin'," she clinched her fists at her sides. "Knowin' there's nothin' I can do for them…"

"You're helping us Mandy-san," I say boldly as I step closer to her. The house is much more spacious that I thought it was going to be, but it was still small, there wasn't much distance to cover between us. "And we're going to solve this terrible problem—together," I smile at her as I grab her hand. Mandy looks at me and I realize then that we are the same height, her bright blue eyes sparkled in the dimming light from the sun and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Right," she agreed before giving my hand a squeeze. "Together."

"So what do you want to know?" Mandy asks us after everyone finally made their way back to the farm. Ezra was still out putting their wagon back in the barn while Gajeel and Lucy helped Mandy cook in the kitchen. I and the rest of the team were sitting in the living room adjacent to the kitchen with Mandy's grandfather. "I hope I can help, but there isn't much known about those poor souls."

"What do you know Mandy?" Lucy asks. "Anything would be helpful at this point."

"Yeah, like do you know which part of the forest they usually come from?" Levy asks as Ezra walks into the house.

"Or has it always been girls?" Laxus questions.

"What about anything that any of the victims might have said?" I ask. Mandy gives a sad sideways glance to her grandfather who only sighs deeply.

"Well no one have ever heard any of them speak before, they usually only have blood stream from their mouth if they do open it. As to it always being girls from what we see come into town it has always been young girls," his eyes drift off out the back window where we can see nothing but forest. "It seems they always come from the heart of the forest—back that way," he points out the window towards a mountain range. "Not sure where but before the town folk got too scared of them our doc took a look. He said that it didn't appear any of them were near the coast, no sand or saltwater residue on them and they couldn't have been too near the mountain."

"How can he be sure of that?" Ezra asks.

"No sent of pine or trace of the specific rocks of that mountain," the old man replies.

"So," Levy starts as she rolls open a scroll. "We need to look into finding caves or large rock structures in the forest itself," she placed her speed reading glasses on as she scanned the scroll again and made more notes on it.

"Or hidden barriers that could be hiding wherever these girls are coming from," Gray interjects.

"Aye sir!" Happy agrees. Charla and Patherlily both nod their heads in agreement while a small silence fills the home.

"Foods done," Gajeel huffs awkwardly while him and Lucy start dishing out portions. Mandy is pouring drinks as we gather in the tiny kitchen.

"Sorry it's all we have…" Mandy blushes in embarrassment.

"It's perfect," Natsu tries to reassure her with a toothy grin. We all sit down in various places to eat our meal and discuss strategies. "Well I think in the end Wendy is going to have to make the call," Natsu declares after him and Gray butt heads about who would storm the hideout.

"Huh?" I blink in confusion.

"Well the old man left you in charge of this mission Wendy," Natsu states in such a nonchalant tone.

"W-wh-what?!" I stutter. 'I can't make battle decisions!' I think hopelessly.

"Come on teeny tiny Mahari believes in you," Laxus says reassuringly while patting the top of my head.

"Wendy we'll follow you," Lucy says with a smile as she clears dishes.

"Yeah Wendy we came here because we have your back!" Levy laughed as she stood up. "We just have to make sure our research is sound and move from there!"

"Aye sir!" both Happy and Natsu shouted together.

"If Mahari-san believe in you, then I do too Wendy," Mandy looks over at me with earnest eyes.

"Um," I mutter under my breath I try to hide my face, but my hair is too short now. 'I just had to go and chop it all off…'

"Well no one is going anywhere tonight," the old man interjects before anyone else can sing my praise. "It is getting too cold and it's already too dark out for any adventuring tonight. Mandy go gab all of our blankets and such for our guest," he waves at her in a fetching gesture.

"Yes grandpa!" she gets up and goes into one of the three rooms in the house with a door. When she comes back out she has her arms full of blankets and pillows. "I hope there is enough here for everyone," she says sheepishly.

"Mandy you have enough for an army!" I reply wide-eyed. We thanked them both profusely and they humbly accepted our gratitude with smiles.

"Anything to help Mahari-san and her friends," the old man said with a laugh. "Now get some rest everyone," we all said goodnight and settled in for the night. Once everyone was sound asleep I crept out from under my covers and walked out the back door. I stood in the cold night's air and stared off into the distance of the expansive forest. I felt my heart sink when I thought about all that ground that is hiding those poor girls. I couldn't help myself as the tears streamed silently down my face as I thought of that poor girl we saw only last week who had died right here in the middle of the town.

Anger slowly started to build up in my chest and I could feel my temper flare as I thought of the awful way these townspeople treated her. "Don't worry," I say through gritted teeth, "I'll find you. I will," I promise to the wind and the moon.

Alright! I finally get this chapter the way I wanted it! lol it took some time, but then again doesn't it always? Anyways let me know what you think, and words are always appreciated!

Happy New Years everyone! May 2016 be your best year yet!

Keep it sparkly

xoxo

Sparkles