Here's the next chapter, guys! For the next few days, I'm going to be stuck studying for final exams. After that, I'm free to type as much as I want! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

April 5, X791

It was morning and after a day's travel, Sakura, Frost, Flora, Cole and Kuroko finally arrived in a barren canyon where Alexander was supposedly keeping Fleuressca.

"Come on, guys!" Sakura said. "Pick up the pace! We've already wasted enough time!"

Sakura ran off ahead while the others struggled to keep up with her.

"I've never seen Sakura so worked up like this." Kuroko said.

"Fleuressca is like a second mother to her." Flora said.

"If I was in the same position as Sakura, I'd feel the exact same way." Frost said.

Cole, for once, had an honestly worried look on his face. "This is to atone for what happened to Chrysalis, isn't it?"

Frost and Cole shared a look for several seconds, with her eyes clearly glazing with tears.

"… Right." Cole said.

"We should catch up with Sakura." Flora said, flying after her friend.

The other three continued following Sakura, though at this moment they were following Flora.

Back in Roseshade, Spiral arrived at the Phoenix Dawn guild hall to find Jayden sleeping on one of the tables.

"What are you doing here?" Spiral asked.

"Nnn…" Jayden grumbled as he woke up. "What do you mean? I'm a member of this guild, same as you. See?"

Jayden showed Spiral the blue guild mark emblazoned on his right shoulder.

"On top of that, I don't have a home or money." Jayden said. "So for now I've got no choice but to sleep here at the guild."

"Anyway, how'd the shopping and training with Kagura go?" Spiral asked.

"Both seemed to go really well." Jayden said. "Though it was mostly exercise. She went back to her own guild, but she told me to continue the same exercises every day."

"Well, if you want to participate in the Grand Magic Games in a few months you'll have to keep getting stronger."

"What are the Grand Magic Games?"

"Oh yeah, you've been cooped up so you wouldn't know. It's a yearly tournament where all the guilds gather to prove who's the strongest."

"That sounds awesome! I hope I get to participate!"

"Well, we'll see."

After a few hours of searching, they still hadn't found any trace of Fleuressca or Alexander.

"Frost, I'm getting hungry!" Cole whined. "Can we stop and take a snack break?"

"No!" Sakura shouted. "We can't stop until we find Fleuressca!"

"Sakura, I understand that you're worried, but we need to stop and conserve our energy." Kuroko said.

"No, you don't understand!" Sakura snapped back at him.

"Sakura, calm down for just a second." Flora said.

"How can you say that, Flora?" Sakura questioned, glaring at her Exceed. "I thought you were my friend!"

"We are, it's just-" Flora tried to say.

"You know what? If you're not going to help me, I'll search for Fleuressca myself!" Sakura said as she stormed off.

Kuroko was about to chase after Sakura.

"Leave her be." Frost said. "After a while, she'll realize she can't do this without us and come back."

"… I hope so." Kuroko said.

"You loooove her." Flora joked.

Kuroko blushed at that comment.

"Stop imitating that Fairy Tail cat!" Frost said.

"What do you mean 'imitating'?" Flora asked. "I've been doing this for a long time now."

Sakura kept making her way through the canyon and she ended up near the bottom of the huge crevice.

"I don't need those guys!" Sakura muttered to herself. "I can find Fleuressca myself! I'll show them!"

Sakura started sniffing the air and a look of optimism sprang on her face.

"That scent!" Sakura exclaimed. "I'd recognize it anywhere! It's got to be her!" She began running off and following the scent. "Ha! I knew I could find her without their help! I'm so gonna rub it in their faces!"

Sakura followed the scent until she stopped in front of a canyon wall.

"She's here." Sakura muttered to herself. "Forest Dragon Crushing Fang!"

Sakura surrounded both of her arms in cherry blossom petals and slammed them against the canyon wall, crushing it to pieces. As the debris collapsed, a cave was revealed and Sakura saw something that left her in complete shock.

"Fl… Fleuressca?" Sakura gasped.

In the vast open alcove of the cave, Fleuressca was lying on the ground with numerous tubes attached to her body. She appeared weak and sick.

"Sakura… Is that you?" Fleuressca asked, her voice sounding incredibly weak.

"Fleuressca, what did that jerk do to you?" Sakura asked as she ran up to her.

"He's been draining my magic powers for the past year." Fleuressca answered. "He plans to take the lacrima containing my magic energy so he can obtain my powers."

"Don't worry, Fleuressca!" Sakura said as she tried to pull the tubes out with her bare hands. "I'll get you out of here and we can be together again!"

"Sakura… It is too late…"

"Don't talk like that, Fleuressca! I'll get you out of here even if it costs me my life!"

"Don't make promise you can't keep Sakura… Listen, I only have minutes. When I die and the lacrima is complete, I want you to take it and implant it within your body."

'Fleuressca, please stop…" Sakura said, her eyes filling with tears. "All this time, I've been wondering where you were… All I wanted was to see you again… So please… Don't die!"

"Sakura…"

Without any warning, Alexander appeared in the shadow of the cave and aimed a magic rifle at Sakura.

"Sakura, look out!" A boy's voice shouted.

Sakura felt something grab onto her and pull her away.

*Who…* Sakura thought, but as she fell she was able to see that the person who pulled her was Kuroko. *K-Kuroko?*

Alexander fired the rifle and a magic beam shot right through Kuroko's chest, piercing his heart.

"KUROKO!" Sakura screamed.

"Sakura!" Frost shouted as she arrived on the scene with Cole and Flora in tow.

"It's Fleuressca!" Flora said.

"This is just like what happened to Chrysalis…" Frost muttered. "Ice Dragon…"

Frost charged at Alexander…

Meanwhile, Sakura knelt down to the wounded Kuroko and her hands were glowing green with her magic.

"Don't worry, Kuroko!" Sakura said. "I'll heal you up!"

"I don't think you can, Sakura…" Kuroko said in a hushed voice, blood dripping from his mouth. "That blast pierced my heart… Not even your healing magic can mend this wound…"

"Don't you dare say that!" Sakura said with desperation in her voice. "I won't let anyone die here! Not you, not Fleuressca, nobody!"

"Sakura… There's something I have to tell you…"

"What is it?"

"I… I love you…"

With those last words, Kuroko let out one last breath before his body became motionless.

"Kuroko?! KUROKO!" Sakura screamed, tears streaming down her face. "NO! NO!"

Sakura frantically shook Kuroko's body, but his eyes remained closed and he still wasn't breathing. Before she was able to do anything else, she felt an ice shard flying toward her. She immediately went prone, still holding onto Kuroko's body, and avoided the ice shards.

"Frost, what the hell?!" Sakura shouted.

"I… I can't control my body…" Frost said.

"Before I confronted the Lightning Dragon, Albion, I acquired a new type of magic." Alexander said. "Dragon Subjugation Magic. Its main purpose is to weaken the power of dragons."

"So that's how you were able to overpower Albion and Fleuressca without resorting to threats like you did with Oceari and Chrysalis!" Frost said.

"I merely weakened the dragons." Alexander said. "My brethren were the ones to take them down."

"Brethren?" Flora asked.

"I am not the real Alexander Lexus." He stated. "My real name is A2, the second clone of Alexander to be created. Continuing on with my magic, it also allows me to control weaker dragons. Since you Dragon Slayers take on the qualities of dragons, I can control you as well."

"Then why aren't you controlling me?" Sakura asked.

"I can only control one organism at a time." A2 answered.

With a flick of his wrist, Frost threw her ice-covered fist at Sakura only for her to dodge the strike.

"I'm aware of you noble guilds." A2 said. "You wouldn't dare to attack your allies."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura asked. "Forest Dragon Thorn Claw!"

Sakura surrounded her right arm in cherry blossom petals to form a claw shape and swung it at Frost, making a clean hit.

"Yeah, I might not want to kill Frost, but I don't have any problem beating the crap out of her." Sakura said.

"You bitch!" Frost shouted.

"No matter." A2 said. "As long as I control her, I can push her body even past the point of exhaustion. Once you become exhausted, that will grant me the opportunity to kill you both."

"Poison-Forest Dragon Roar!" Sakura shot her dark red and pink breath attack.

The blast flew past Frost and hit A2 head on. This caused A2 to lose focus and release his control of Frost.

"I've got this!" Frost said as an ice sickle formed in her right hand. "Ice Dragon Scythe!"

With a single swipe of the ice scythe thanks to the great range it granted her, A2 was sliced along the waist and the two halves of his body fell to the ground. Shortly afterward, his body turned into magic energy and dematerialized out of existence, leaving only the clothes he was wearing behind.

"Thanks, Princess." Frost said.

"Don't call me that!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You guys did it!" Flora cheered.

"I say we celebrate with a little-" Cole was about to say.

"Now's not the time for perversions!" Flora scolded Cole.

"Sakura…" Fleuressca spoke.

Both Dragon Slayers turned to Fleuressca and Sakura ran up to her.

"You've grown… so strong…" Fleuressca said. "Even though you weren't using your full power… I can tell… how much you've grown… I'm… so proud of you… I love you, Sakura…"

"I…" Sakura started crying. "I love you, too, Fleuressca…"

Fleuressca finally passed on and there was a green light coming from one of the nearby pods. When the light faded, a dark green sphere emitting powerful magic energy appeared in the container. Sakura walked over and picked up the sphere.

"So this is Fleuressca's lacrima…" Sakura said.

"It doesn't look that different than Chrysalis'…" Frost said.

"She died so I can obtain this power." Sakura said. "And put a stop to Alexander! I swear it! For Fleuressca! For Kuroko!" Sakura's eyes were now almost reptilian and filled with rage. "I won't stop until I put an end to him! I will avenge you both! … That's a promise…"

She tightened her grip on the lacrima.

"Don't take all of the glory." Frost said. "He killed Chrysalis, Oceari and Albion, too."

"Wait, are you saying that-" Flora was about to say.

"Yeah." Frost nodded. "Me, Lionel and Jayden will join you! All of Phoenix Dawn's Dragon Slayers are gonna beat the shit outta that asshole!"

A/N: And that's the end of the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for next time!