[Re-written 01-15-23]

Early update! For those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas! To the rest of ya, Happy Friday!

Quick note: My Edolas won't be laid out or look quite the same as the canon version, but there are still similarities.

Enjoy!

22

-A Day in Edolas-

Morning

Lucy and her companions had long since emerged from the jungle-like vegetation they'd started their journey in the previous evening. By stark contrast, they now found themselves crossing an expanse of barren earth, cracked from baking in the unrelenting sun. It was still early in the morning and the heat was already sweltering. Clearly, Edolas had missed the memo that it was nearing winter, or at least it was in Earthland... The nights though, they were another story. Apparently, the sun stole every bit of heat when it sank beyond the horizon at the end of each day. The contrast was striking.

Lucy eyed the ice mage walking just ahead of her as he absently pulled the hem of his shirt up, mindlessly slipping out of the offensive material. "Gray… lose your clothing here, and you might not find replacements anytime soon," she warned flatly. Gray's movements halted immediately, and he peaked at her from under a tangle of limbs and fabric before grumbling and letting the shirt cover his torso again.

"Gods, it's so fucking hot," he whined childishly, still pulling at the restrictive clothing.

Lucy did feel for him, as an ice mage he didn't tolerate the heat well, and if she felt like she was melting, then she could only imagine how he was feeling. She fanned herself with the flat of her hand and continued to follow their white-haired guide who, still clothed in a thick black cloak, seemed largely unaffected by the heat. "Is this weather normal or something?" Lucy growled. The weather was making her irritable and she was feeling unfairly jealous of the other girl.

Lisanna tilted her head back to take in their sweating forms as they trailed behind her. "This time of year it is, you get used to it," she replied.

"Who could ever get used to this?!" Gray barked. His ice magic flared, forming a helmet of ice over his head and he groaned in temporary relief, even as the ice already began dripping away under the sun's assault.

"Don't waste your magic," Lisanna chided. "I don't have my weapon with me, so our safety is totally dependent on you two, and in case you've forgotten what I told you, the local fauna around here? Not friendly." A tower of sand shot up from the dry cracked ground they were traversing, and a large lizard-like beast appeared as if summoned by her last words. Lisanna threw an arm out, gesturing in the lizard's direction with a derisive expression aimed at the the ice mage.

Lucy sighed, ignoring Gray's indignant rebuttal, already turning with a glowing palm and gripping the air before her as the light gathered to form her bow. "Star Reform: arrow!" A single large beam of light cut through the air and clear through the beast's body between its throat and shoulder.

"You missed?!" Lisanna screeched.

"I did not! We don't need to kill it, just scare the stupid thing!" Lucy shot back. She tried, she really did, but she couldn't bring herself to like Lisanna. As if to prove her point, the beast wailed, turned and fled. As it vanished over a sand dune, Lucy pivoted, temper still flaring and continued in the direction they'd been travelling in before the interruption. Eventually the Edo local overtook her to lead the way again. Lucy couldn't decide if she subconsciously disliked and distrusted Lisanna due to Natsu's involvement with the other Lisanna, or if she just plain didn't like and didn't trust the girl.

She'd liked to think she was mature enough for it to be the latter.

. . .

Lisanna came to a stop at the crest of a hill and waited as Lucy and Gray caught up. The stellar mage slowed beside her and gasped slightly as she took in the sight of their destination. Below them, nestled in the valley of barren hills was a town not much bigger than Magnolia with groups of citizens milling about with work and errands. That was where the similarities between the two Fairy Tails' hometowns ended though. Where magnolia had beautiful canals, pristine buildings and meticulously managed gardens and parks, this town packed in dilapidated buildings thrown together with dried mud, wood and sheet metal. There was no green anywhere, but Lucy assumed that this terrain wouldn't lend well to the growth of plant life.

"Welcome to Louen, home sweet home," Lisanna said sarcastically, taking no pride in the town they called home. Lucy and Gray said nothing in response, as Lisanna had already begun descending the hill. "Stay close, and—" She threw a warning glare over her shoulder, "absolutely NO magic."

The blonde made eye contact with Gray briefly, he shrugged back in turn. Their guide had left no room for argument or questions, so they just followed silently.

Everything Lucy had ever heard of Earthland's Lisanna had led her to believe she'd been a carefree and selflessly kind girl. Though it would be impossible to say if circumstances like Edolas', wouldn't have worn her away in the same way it did with this Lisanna. Lucy's eyes shifted over the homes and the people of Louen as she followed on the rebel's heels. Despite the poverty, the locals all seemed to wear easy smiles as they conversed with each other and watched children run and play a ball game in the dirt streets.

It was kind of heartwarming to see, human strength in the face of adversity. Lisanna continued to lead them through a maze of streets and narrow filthy alleys without offering any words of explanation, even when the locals began waving at Lucy enthusiastically. Their attention seemed solely focused on her, and it was sending Lucy's curiosity into overdrive. It was obvious the attentions, however brief, put their already tightly wound guide on further edge though, so Lucy tried to curb the impulse to stop and chat with the people.

That was, until an elderly woman in front of a shabby shop displaying various goods paused in her sweeping to approach her. "Lucy dear! I'm so happy to see you! I wanted to thank you for helping me," the woman gushed. Lucy blinked down at her, speechless. "It would have broken my heart to see those awful Guardsmen take my grandson."

Lisanna quickly moved to Lucy's side, facing away from the woman, and leaned into to urgently whisper, "The other Lucy, just say you're welcome, and let's GO."

Mind reeling with numerous new questions, Lucy appeased Lisanna's command. She turned a warm smile on the elderly woman, "It was my pleasure to help," she said. It didn't feel completely ungenuine to utter those words, even when she'd had nothing to do with it... Lucy decided if her other self was anything like her, and she certainly appeared to be, then she'd probably feel the same way.

Lisanna gripped her wrist aggressively and began dragging her down the street again as Lucy waved goodbye. "Please tell Romeo I love him!" the sweet grandmother called after their departing forms.

Lucy could hear the white-haired girl grumbling under her breath, clearly her last shred of patience was being tested. "I should have given you my cloak," the girl spat, without actually looked back at Lucy.

"Romeo?" Gray whispered questioningly over Lucy's shoulder. Apparently, he was wondering the same as she was. Another counterpart or a coincidence? He picked up his speed, leaving Lucy's side to match pace with Lisanna, and tried to catch their guide's eye as he walked. "Why do so many people seem to know Lucy?"

"Gods, you two are impossible! This is NOT the place to talk, Louen isn't your quaint little Magnolia," she admonished harshly. "We aren't safe yet." She rounded another sharp corner, still maintaining an increasingly bruising grip on Lucy's wrist. "So, shut up, and just follow me!"

The stellar mage stumbled along behind her, mind reeling with vague information and too many questions. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out what had Lisanna so nervous. These people all seemed very sweet, so what was there to be so afraid of?

Tearing her feelings of security away from her as violently as possible, shouts and screams pierced the regular bustle, just a few streets away. The screams preceded a loud explosion that sent ribbons of fire and smoke into the air.

Lisanna cursed and ducked down another alley as Lucy wrenched back on her restrained wrist. "Wait! Shouldn't we help? Someone could be in trouble!"

To her utter shock, Lisanna rounded on her in a flash, slamming her against a rusty metal wall that grated on her skin. "How do you suggest we help if we all get captured too?!" Lucy's jaw clenched as she looked in the direction of the smoke now filtering into the weird greenish sky. Lisanna released her grip to skim along the wall and cautiously peered around the corner. Seconds later she ducked back and a squad of four guards ran by, shouting 'find her!'

The Edolas local clicked her tongue, angry blue eyes glanced between them both. Lucy hadn't shifted away from the wall she'd been pinned to, her surprise and confusion still held her in place, but the look on Lisanna's face prompted Gray to take hold of her arm with a gentle tug. Agreeing begrudgingly, the blonde screwed her eyes shut in shame and let her comrade pull her down the alley once again.

The trio hugged the patchwork walls of mud and scrap material as the sounds of unrest now plaguing the city came more and more frequently. Coming to an abrupt stop, the rebel rapped out a series of knocks on a non-descript metal sheet and a small panel slid to the side. Lucy got the feeling hidden eyes were crawling over their forms before a gruff voice on the other asked, "Do fairies have tails?"

Leaning in close to the door, Lisanna whispered back, "The eternal adventure is in finding out." Gray and Lucy shared an appraising look, of course they'd heard the words before. It was the whole concept behind their guild's name: An eternal mystery, and a never-ending adventure to be shared with friends.

The 'door,' if it could be called that, screeched open a crack, revealing a series of chains still preventing their entry. "Who have you brought with you?"

Stepping slightly to the side to gesture toward the two, Lisanna supplied, "Yours and Lucy's Earthland counterparts." The introduced mages shared another silent conversation as Gray's eyes widened in anticipation. This was getting to be a little much for Lucy and she really just wanted a break from the chaos… Though she wanted to find her friends more.

On the other side, the man grunted and began releasing the chains that held the door secure and the sheet metal swung open enough to allow them entry. Standing in the shadowed entrance, wrapped in multiple layers of thick sweaters and jackets, another Gray stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter. The two raven-haired men took a moment to gawk at their own mirror image in the flesh, as Lisanna rolled her eyes and pushed passed them to enter the compound.

"Welcome home," Edo Gray greeted them.

Afternoon

Natsu's group had kept to the tree line, indulging in the shade as long as they were able, while following Erza's compass north. Erza paused to run the back of her forearm across her brow, staring out over the shifting sands of the desert. "Well, that's it, guys. If we want to get to the Kingdom, we have to leave the forest at some point."

The fire mage dropped his gaze to the flushed skin of the little Sky Slayer, she already looked ready to pass out from heat exhaustion. He offered her a canteen of water he requipped and continued his silent assessment, the cats weren't doing much better, given their fur coats and all. Erza, he knew, had the mental fortitude to push forward. Still, he was the only one completely unaffected by the intense heat and he was already picturing whether or not he could carry all four of them if it came to that. He groaned at that prospect and took a sip from the canteen when Wendy handed it back with a quiet thanks.

"Well, let's get this over with then."

As well-prepared as ever, Erza requipped a couple umbrellas and handed one to Wendy to ward off the sun's rays as they began to pick their way out of the forest. It didn't take long for the group's whining to start, and the predictable displeasure on Erza's face amused the Fire Slayer, just a little.

"I can feel the heat through my shoes…"

"Try not to think about it, Child. We'll be there soon enough."

"I'm dyyyying."

"Stop complaining Tom Cat!"

Erza listened as their comrades argued back and forth, the noise slowly grating on her nerves, until she finally snapped. "All of you stop bickering!"

Wendy looked admonished, Carla looked indignant, but Happy just whined more. Narrowing her eyes at the blue cat who'd slung himself over her shoulder to hide under her umbrella, the redhead threatened to kick him off if he opened his trap again. Natsu knew she wouldn't have the heart to kick him off, but Happy's fur had to be making the heat more intolerable. He shifted his weight lazily, and threaded his fingers behind his head as he turned his attention to the sky, arching a brow as he noticed a single dark cloud roll in.

"Erza..." he said, interrupting the groups' ongoing heat-induced bickering.

Tipping the umbrella back, Erza peered out, following the point of his finger. They both watched in mild shock as another cloud joined the first, and then another. Erza arched a brow and let the umbrella drop back to her shoulder as the weather continued its sudden, drastic change. Wendy cheered as the dark clouds increased in size and number until they fully blocked the sun, but it was making Natsu uneasy and one look at the tension in Erza's form told confirmed he wasn't the only one. As quickly as the clouds rolled in flakes of snow started to fall and Erza held out the palm of her hand in wonder as the flakes landed to melt on her skin.

She met Natsu's eyes, her brows furrowed in consideration, "Do you think this weather phenomenon is normal in Edolas?"

Natsu pursed his lips, "Could be, but if weather changes this quickly then we could be in some real trouble... We need to keep moving, there's nowhere to take cover from a storm in the middle of a desert."

They picked up the pace, taking advantage of the reprieve from the heat, but soon they were literally moving into blizzard conditions and were forced to slow again. What Natsu really didn't like about this blizzard, was it seemed to be moving with them. Every now and then he would catch a glimpse of bright blue sky mere kilometres out through the blustering snows that now circled them. How was something like that even possible? At the same time, how much could they really know about a world with much higher levels of environmental ethernano made further unstable from years of unfettered mining?

He was still pondering when suddenly he noticed something else. Catching each of the girls' wrists in a strong grip, he pulled them back, leaning into whisper in Erza's ear, "We've got company."

Natsu and Erza kept their younger comrade between them, staring ahead until a figure slowly materialized from the curtain of snowy winds blocking their view. The newcomer continued toward them in a steady stride, purposeful and undeterred by the storm. The blizzard obscured their view, but Natsu's enhanced vision could make out a strange staff. The unknown man kept one arm wrapped loosely around it, propping it carelessly on his shoulder. Natsu paled a bit, eyes wide as the winds parted around him, finally revealing himself. The man shifted his weight, and dropped the sleek metallic staff into the sand, bracing his weight off it.

"Targets: Natsu Dragneel and Wendy Marvel."

Natsu swallowed thickly.

"Haru Knightwalker."

Natsu knew there was a strong possibility that he'd find himself face to face with the Knightwalkers at some point, especially if they were hunting dragon slayers to power— whatever it was they were powering. Though he hadn't been expecting to run into either of them until they'd made it to the capital. How had Edo Haru found them in the middle of the damn desert? Actually, how the hell did he know they were in Edolas at all?

Everyone remained still as they pondered their new opponents, this Haru must be awfully confident in his abilities to confront the three of them alone. Unless there was something Natsu wasn't seeing, he scanned his surroundings before returning to rest on his best friend's double. The man before him wore matte black plated shoulder and chest armour, the material of a tight blue shirt cropped just below his rib cage revealing his lower abdominals. Loose grey pants were tucked into shin guards and his arms remained bare. Clearly practicality wasn't high on his priority list, Natsu thought... Or again, he was just so confident in his abilities he didn't feel the need to don more functional armour. Natsu studied the tall staff he leaned on, noticing the long curved blade that capped it, he also had a sneaking suspicion it was also responsible for the on-demand blizzards.

It wouldn't be a weapon to be taken lightly. Still, blizzards were no match for his fire.

"If you know who I am, then you should already know that snow isn't a great match up against me," Natsu taunted cockily but the other Haru just smirked back undaunted.

Natsu kept his eyes on the hunter as he calmly advanced toward them, staff spinning and increasing the winds howling around them. Natsu caught another strange scent and shifted his eyes up to catch the form of a strange beast swooping across storm's center. Another unpredictable variable to keep an eye on. Edo Haru adeptly spun the staff from one hand to the other before slashing through the air with it, and blizzarding winds shot outward in a line before folding in around Erza.

Natsu's head whipped back with a curse, realizing quickly that separating them would be the obvious strategy. The other Haru repeated the action cutting him off from Wendy as well, before he had a chance to react. He wished he'd grabbed Happy from the redhead when he had the chance, flight would allow him to get outside of the storm, and possibly blow it apart with a breath attack if he could be sure of his comrades' locations. As it was, he couldn't risk a high-power breath attack if it meant possibly catching his friends up in the fire and though Purifying Flames wouldn't hurt them, they didn't provide the attack power he needed.

"WENDY! ROAR!" he yelled against the wild storm, hoping she could hear him with her enhanced senses. Edo Haru angled his body sideways and swung the length of the staff to brace behind his back and the inside of the forearm he had extended forward. The staff's blade shone as the Knightwalker eyed the Natsu with an air of arrogance. Growling under his breath, still frustrated that he allowed their enemy to isolate them, the Fire Slayer bent into his knees, itching to drive a fiery fist into the man's jaw.

The two charged, colliding with highly refined combat skills, and Natsu dully considered that it would be convenient if the two Harus defaulted to the same fight strategies. No such luck. Haru's double flipped out of range, hands gripping the shaft of the spear, and vaulted back at him in an instant. "Fire Dragon's roar!" The flames encompassed a wide birth of space and the hunter was forced to answer with a blizzard that looked a lot like his breath attack in nature. Natsu smirked as his flames overpowered the opposing attack, but the short buffering had offered Edo Haru the chance to get out of harm's way unscathed.

"No matter how many times I see it in action, dragon slaying magic never fails to impress," the other mused as the smoke and blowing snows died down. Edo Haru stood with his weight leaned carelessly on his staff again as he pondered the Fire Slayer, but Natsu only responded by launching into another series of attacks. They continued leaping around each other in circles, nimbly dodging eachother's strikes, countering with dangerous precision and repeating the process when an incredible gust of air tore through them. Both men were forced to halt their assaults, throwing their arms up to shield against the winds and Natsu blinked to clear the debris from his eyes before reassessing his surroundings.

Wendy had blown the storm apart revealing his comrades and clear twilight skies; she was doubled over from the effort, hands on her knees and panting slightly. After a short moment, she straightened, looking determined and pissed, the fire mage never thought he'd get used to seeing that look on someone as sweet as the young teen.

His moment of pride was short lived. "WENDY!" Natsu called desperately as he caught a glimpse of the diving form of the winged beast from earlier. She was too far. The Fire Slayer vanished into his flames, shooting across the muddy terrain in a futile effort to get to her, but the creature had already closed a clawed talon around her, pinning her to the ground. Natsu stopped, his hands going up in a motion of surrender immediately. Erza was doing the same, while Carla yelled and pounded away at the beast's angular head. Wendy was unharmed, but immobilized, assuring them that she was okay. She was tough for such a young mage. Haru fixed the blade of his weapon to the junction of her throat and Natsu cursed himself for letting the beast distract him from the real enemy.

"She's a dragon slayer! You need dragon magic, don't you?!" Natsu shouted desperately. The other Haru cocked his head in interest and it made the fire mage physically nauseous to see Haru holding a friend hostage. "I will go with you, without a fight, if you let her go!" Natsu ignored the frantic complaints of his comrades, keeping his attention fixed on the cold blue, calculating gaze fixed on him.

"Why would I agree to that, when I'm here for both of you?"

"Because we both know, you don't have the power to take on all three of us and walk away with both me and Wendy."

Edo Haru's eyes flashed in anger for a moment, and then he was moving toward Natsu. "Don't move, or my Legion tears your little friend's throat out."

Well, this whole situation felt way too familiar for the fire mage's comfort, though Ultear was much less sadistic than this asshole seemed to be, even considering she'd been trying to end the world. How did he keep getting caught up in situations with impossible decisions? Apparently, he needed to figure out a way to ensure his enemies couldn't keep using his friends' safety to control his actions.

Edo Haru stopped in front of him with a blank expression before the corner of his mouth quirked upward. "You have yourself a deal," he stated flatly. Then he drove the butt of the staff into Natsu's stomach hard. As the fire mage buckled forward with a gasp, the hunter pivoted and struck the staff into his temple with enough force to drop him, Natsu's vision blurred and the world spun. The other Haru's words filtered through his head, "the Kingdom will appreciate your contribution," he said. Then the man forced an odd pill into his mouth and Natsu's consciousness faded.

Night

Laying his torso over the length of a bent leg, Haru rested his chin on the forearm he had draped over it, and added another log to feed the fire. With no solid idea just how late it was, or even if time moved the same way here, he could only guess at the time being close to midnight, based on the deep dark that pushed in around them. The sky above was pierced with countless stars though, reminiscent of their own night sky, unlike the strange pastel-coloured skies he couldn't get used to seeing during the days. At night, he could almost let himself forget they were lost in another world. He could briefly pretend that they were on another average mission in Fiore.

"Haru…" The Water Slayer glanced down to the girl using his outstretched leg as a pillow. Haru remained quiet, unsure if she was mumbling in her sleep or legitimately awake. Mira was curled up on her side, so he couldn't see her face and her breathing was so even he had to assume she was peacefully asleep. He went back to tending the embers of their fire to keep the cold at bay, when her soft whisper came again. "I can't sleep," she told him quietly.

His eyes returned to her unmoving form again. "Understandable... it's been a rough day, but we'll find them," he assured, taking a guess at what might be bothering her.

Haru had tried multiple times through the day to search for familiar magic signatures and reached out telepathically for their comrades, but with no success. They'd set off that morning, hopefully moving toward the capital. Mystogan had mentioned the Kingdom laid to the very North of the country, so they kept the rising sun to their right.

It was a haphazard plan at best, assuming far too many variables that still remained unknown. It assumed that Anima had spat them out in the south, it assumed the sun rose in the east the way it did in Earthland, and it assumed that their friends would make the same choices they did. Haru spent a good chunk of that morning internally berating himself. He'd asked Mystogan and Lisanna a multitude of questions involving the Kingdom: the capabilities of the Elite Guard, what to expect in the towns, and more… But he hadn't thought of the more obvious details like what fucking direction the sun rose in?!

Like the rest of the team, he thought Lisanna would be with them to provide insight and directions. He was usually so much more prepared.

Mira sighed, "I think maybe I made a selfish choice coming along... I just wanted to help, but I just put you in danger all day."

Haru repositioned his head on his arm to properly face her, even though she was still diligently avoiding any chance of eye contact. Haru wanted to reassure her, he did, but there was some undeniable truth to her words. While it was true she had the best intentions in joining them, it was also true that without her magic power, she put him at a distinct disadvantage to whatever they ran into. Being forced to keep his attentions split between protecting her and fighting, had added an extra layer of challenge, for sure. They'd been lucky so far, all they'd run into was some spectacular beasts, dangerous to be sure, but dumb and fairly easy to beat back.

"Hey, I won't lie to you and say that I agree with your decision, but I do understand it completely. After all, I ran off to take on Deliora without much thought of consequences either... Even knowing Master would likely send Natsu and Erza after us. I let them get dragged into my problems. Point is, we all make irrational choices when it comes to our loved ones." He could feel Mira nodding against his leg, still not trusting herself to speak. He released a long sigh, "Mira, if you were selfish in coming. Then I am selfish in being glad that you're here with me... Especially if we are unable to return home."

She shifted then, rolling back a bit to tilt her head to look up at him, he gave her a genuine smile. Her lips parted as she considered his sentiment, and he noted the pink tone crawling across her cheeks despite the dark. He wondered at that, but something was obviously still bothering her, and he didn't think it was just her feeling unhelpful.

"Thank you Haru," she breathed after a moment.

"I'll listen, if you want to talk," he offered as he watched for her reaction. She didn't flinch away, but her eyes did go unfocused as though she weren't truly looking at him anymore. "Natsu told me what happened years ago, about Lisanna I mean, but he never provided any details."

Mira resettled her head on his leg, watching the soothing campfire again and Haru thought he might have crossed a line, even if he'd meant to help. He was about to apologize when she spoke again. "Do you know why Master generally forbids non-S Class mages from going on S Class jobs? Even with one on their team?"

Haru mumbled back in the negative, to be honest, he'd never really thought about it.

"Over four years ago, I accepted an S Class quest. Lisanna and Natsu wanted to come along… Natsu had been pushing pretty hard to be named a candidate for the exam, but I knew he wasn't anywhere near ready. I was also arrogant in my abilities. I disregarded Master's warnings and took them with me anyway, it was just a demon extermination mission and with my magic, it should have been a simple task. I didn't think they'd even need to get involved, obviously, I was wrong."

Flashback

Mira leapt upward as the ground she'd just been standing on erupted in a shower of debris and beat her wings hard to carry her into the sky, preparing to counter the demon's attack. She quickly checked on her teammates, seeing them both about to spring into action to back her up. "DON'T! Stay back, it's too powerful!" Mira's white hair was wild around the newly sprouted horns on her head as she dived to dodge the sweep of a scaled arm. The demon gathered power into a point, and Mira quickly drew her own demonic magic between her hands, "Evil explosion," she countered. Her spell launched just in time to block the incoming attack and the resulting collision sent pulses of energy soaring outward.

"Please run! You both need to get away from here!"

"No way we'd leave you, stop asking!" Natsu predictably screamed back at her. Really, she should have been relieved he even stayed away from the fight to protect Lisanna. She could practically see the irritation rolling off him as he ignored the instincts driving him to join her in the thick of the battle. The demon shifted and fired a torrent of poisoned water, tearing a deep crevasse in the cliff face that boarded the lake they were currently fighting above. Mira cried out as a cloud of dust obscured the visual of her comrades before a stream of fire blew through it, dissipating the debris to reveal Natsu unscathed and her sister in the air, clad in her Bird Soul. Knowing it was useless, Mira pleaded with them again to run for cover as she flew around the demon, raining unrelenting attacks down but not earning any visible damage.

A large, clawed fist flew at her as the demon spun, and Mira heard Lisanna and Natsu scream in pain even as she avoided the strike. Whirling in their direction as she tried to figure out what had happened, she realized the demon had struck out with its tail simultaneously and took the pair unaware. Natsu's body was draped over her little sister's, but her path was blocked as she tried to fly to them. "Soul extinctor," she called sending the attack point blank into the demon's face. Glancing down again, she saw Natsu pulling Lisanna back to her feet, both already turning back to the threat before them undeterred. Desperation flooded her. She had to make sure they would both make it out of here, she was responsible for their safety but none of her attacks had been the slightest bit effective. The only trick she had left was Take Over itself, but she had never attempted to assimilate a demon this powerful before, gritting her teeth, she pushed her doubts down.

"Natsu, for once in your life, listen to me! Take my sister and get far away, I will hold the demon back!" Mira knew nothing she could ever say would convince Lisanna to leave her and normally the same would be true of Natsu, but she was counting on his love for her sister to sway him. Without the luxury of waiting to see if he'd heeded her request, she released her magic pressure fully and opened her mind to meld with the demon before her. A rush of mindless rage flew through her conscience and she was immediately drawn into an overwhelming struggle for control that sent her reeling. She cringed as the demon's blood lust and destructive instincts pushed at her humanity and resolved to focus on the people that gave her strength as an internal battle for control waged on. Mind meld demanded complete concentration, leaving Mira in an almost suspended animation as it took all her magic power to assimilate the demon. The major drawback of course, being she couldn't defend herself from attacks.

She only vaguely realized that the demon was pulling away from its own frozen state to throw a physical assault in attempt to force her to break the mind meld that she was already struggling to maintain. But before it could complete the strike, Lisanna had broken away from pink-haired boy's arms and was sprinting toward her. Mira's eyes blew wide in frantic terror as her sister slid to a stop with her arms wide in front of her. Then, as lethal claws flew toward her, a flash of pink intervened, and a streak of blood was crossing the air. The light left Natsu's eyes as he dropped in a heap in front of them and Lisanna was immediately huddled over his form screaming his name. Desperately, Mira fought harder, trying to speed up her take over, if she released the precarious control she held over the demon now, they'd surely all die. The demon was able to move more freely than she could, but its abilities were still greatly diminished as it was forced to concentrate on trying to push Mira out.

Just as Mira felt like she was winning over the last shreds of the demon's will, her world was torn apart. She watched helplessly as her little sister jumped forward to block a subsequent attack from the demon and her body was sent flying lifelessly in a cloud of blood. Mira felt Lisanna's tortured scream rather than heard it, and that pain seemed to rip through her own body in turn.

Haru had taken to running his fingers through her hair at some point while she'd been telling her story, and at the last admission she reached up to cover that hand with hers. Without turning to look at him she pulled his arm over her shoulder and simply held his hand there; he wasn't sure what to make of it but assumed it was a necessary comfort as she'd reached the story's devastating climax.

"In a cruel twist of fate, I had actually succeeded in taking over Tsushaima, the water demon. But I was a moment too late for Lisanna, and Natsu was near fatally wounded as well. When I found Lisanna, she'd already bled out from catastrophic injuries..." Mira took in a shaky breath, pausing to wrestle her emotions back under control. "I didn't get to say goodbye, but I was forced to leave her where she lay, if I had any hope of saving Natsu."

"I had no idea… I'm so sorry, Mira," he squeezed back on the grip she held on his hand. Natsu had never told him how close the mission had come to ending his own life as well... It was shocking to hear how much Mira had had to go through, and to understand how much stronger Natsu had gotten by the time they'd met. Haru had a feeling the drive behind Natsu's unrelenting training ethic and inability to concede defeat had been revealed, it made sense why he progressed as quickly as he did.

"Natsu took a bad wound straight across his back, it actually severed part of his spinal cord and for a while we weren't sure he'd walk again. Porylusica managed to repair most of the damage, but even she'd said most mages still wouldn't have survived, let alone walked…"

"After that, Master forbid anyone from taking missions above their class without explicit approval from himself and I found myself terrified of my own magic. Tsushaima killed my sister, almost killed one of my closest friends and that power dwells in my veins now. I've always been scared I would lose control of it."

That was a lot of absorb, Haru couldn't help admiring the mental fortitude she possessed. Even without magic, Mira was known for her tenacious positivity and determination to care for her Fairy Tail family. Her dedication to serving the guild, helping Makarov and most notably, sneaking onto this mission at a disregard to her own safety, proved that.

"You know Mira, the guild is full of powerful mages now, if you ever wanted to experiment with your magic, then we could help you do it safely. Even if you were to lose control, and I seriously doubt you would, we would be able to—"

"Why are you so certain I wouldn't lose control?"

Haru laughed, ignoring her blatant interruption. "You managed to assimilate Tsushaima even with your attentions partially focused on your team. You wouldn't have been able to do that, if you didn't have the power to control the demon, the only thing holding you back now is your own fears."

Mira sat up and looked at him in wonder, he could tell she was speechless, so he just shrugged a shoulder, "come on, get some sleep." Pausing, he gave her a smug look, "after all, it's almost your turn to take over watch… and I am damn tired," he reminded with a wink. She smacked his shoulder but settled her head back on his leg anyway and his hand resettled to soothingly comb through her hair again. She finally drifted off.

A/N. So, there you have it, a little more history… Lucy and Co. have made it to Edo Fairy Tail and Natsu and Co. had an unfortunate run in with Edo Haru.

The next few chapters were a blast to write, though I'm still tweaking and editing away on them. You CAN expect to see the next chapter Sunday, so consider the extra chapter this week as a Christmas present because I appreciate you all!

Shout outs to suzaanoelofse01, valerioux, FireShifter, for lovely and thoughtful reviews last chapter!

See you all Sunday!

R&R.

xx Loka Muse