AN: So hello all, here is the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you leave a review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Fairy Tail.

( - )

(Last Time)

"Come on this is where our Guild mates are being kept, and where Perseus said he'd meet us." Lucy spoke up. "We're going to need to sneak in and try and find where they're being kept."

"Uh, um... are you really going to fight the kingdom?" Edo Natsu shouted after them, as the group began to walk away from the car, throwing a few goodbyes and thankyous over their shoulders as they did so.

Natsu looked back. "Maybe, I dunno. We just want to save our friends. I guess... if they don't let them go, well, then I guess won't have a choice..."

Edo Natsu lowered his gaze. "T-there's no way you'll win... not against the Royal Army."

In response Natsu simply grinned.

( - )

Chapter 18

( - )

(With Percy, in the Royal City of Edolas"

"So, I take it that, that is the lacrima that they are all trapped in, is it?" Percy mused as he looked up at the giant, pale blue crystal like structure in front of him, one which was currently surrounded by a crowd of cheering people.

Among whom Percy had blended in with, his face, body and weapons all currently being covered in a long, black cloak, one which he had taken from one of the Edolas soldiers he had disabled, back when he was stealing their ride. The airship in question now waiting abandoned a few miles outside of the city, hidden behind a rocky outcropping, ready in case they needed it.

"What? Oh, I take it your talking about your Guild, the Earthland Fairy Tail?" Erza Knightwalker asked carefully, her brown eyes shifting to look at Percy, before she too looked over at the lacrima, a wistful expression on her face at the sight of all of that magical power, forgetting for a moment about just where that power came from.

The redhead in question, like Percy, wearing a hooded cloak of her own, one which hid her distinctive features from sight as she stood beside Percy, her hands no longer bound, as the two of them stood in the midst of a large crowd of people, many of whom were far more eccentrically dressed than them, and all of whom were cheering at the sight of the lacrima.

That being said, although she had helped him commandeer and airship, and sneak into the Royal City, she still maintained she was not actually helping him, with her instead only sticking close and assisting him in getting into the Royal City so that she could betray him at the most opportune moment, which would then allow her to regain much of the standing she had lost when she had failed to capture him in the first place.

Percy, in response merely nodded his head at her question, his gaze turning solemn as he heard the crowd around him cheering and shouting at the sight of the lacrima, and at the King's impending speech. His sea green eyes holding a slightly harder edge than usual, at the grating sound of people celebrating whilst his Guild was in peril. His finely controlled temper starting to fray and snap.

"No, that's only a part of it, the rest of the lacrima is hidden on one of the floating islands near Extalia." Erza replied, her brow furrowed as she tried to tell herself that the lacrima in front of her was just that a lacrima, as opposed to it being people, people that her own kingdom had reduced down to little more than fuel.

Though it was getting harder and harder to do that, especially since she had met Percy and had seen how much he cared for the people the Kingdom had taken from him. It made it a lot harder to justify the part she played, minor though it was, and it was also that realisation that made her question the other actions she had taken whilst serving the Kingdom.

After all Erza, like with most of the things she did, she liked to rationalise her actions, telling herself as she did so that she was only doing the things she was, terrible though they may be, for the good of the Kingdom, and the good of her world. It was how she managed to justify hunting down so many mages, after all they broke the King's law and wasted away the world of Edolas's finite magical resources, all on frivolous activities.

The Fairy Tail wizards were all Dark Wizards after all, and they were a danger to both the Kingdom of Edolas and its people, and so for the good of the many she hunted them down and captured and killed them. That was how she had thought of it, and in her mind, she had believed she was doing the right thing.

But now though, being back in the Capital, and looking around at all the wasteful activities going on around her using magic, it made her feel like a hypocrite, hunting down one group of people for wasting the world's resources, whilst defending another group who were doing exactly the same thing. Hell they even had a magic powered theme park here in the capital, if that wasn't frivolous she didn't know what was.

It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, and it really made her feel like shit. But sometimes taking some time away and getting a different perspective on things changed your view, and that is exactly what spending time with Percy had done. Sure she still believed in the long run that what she had done was not one hundred percent bad, after all the Fairy Tail wizards did raid the Kingdom's magic supplies and did waste large quantities of magic, but now she realised that the people of the Capital were just as bad, and just as selfish. It really made her wonder whether the King and his ministers were the right people to rule this Kingdom.

Erza had to stifle a snort at the line of thinking, and how much she had seemingly changed over the course of a few days.

That being said Perseus was a very peculiar person, he was often so cynical and dismissive about things, one might say he had almost a pessimistic view on life and most people, one which must have been born through personal experience. Though that view seemed to be somewhat slanted when it came to his Guild and the people he cared about.

On top of that he was always very blunt about the things he saw and his opinion on them, as when Erza had tried to justify the reasons behind her actions he had called them bullshit. Just as he had said her belief that the Kingdom needed magic to survive was bullshit, after all he claimed that the easy living, that magic offered the world, could be quite simply be replaced by technology.

It could actually be quite refreshing speaking to him, even if it was annoying at times.

"Extalia?" Perseus asked, glancing at her as he did so, oblivious to her inner thoughts as he instead focused on the here and now.

"The Kingdom of the Exceed." Erza replied, referencing the flying cat like beings native to Edolas, like Happy and Carla. "Where their Queen, Shagotte, rules, using her power over life and death to manipulate and control the humans of Edolas."

"Power over life and death?" Percy asked, a slightly amused smile on his face at the thought of a being like either Happy or Carla controlling life or death. "And you believe that, because trust me I've met Exceeds and they're almost completely useless, apart from their ability to fly of course?"

Erza frowned as she heard that, knowing for a fact that the one Exceed she did know, Pantherlily, was far stronger than most people, nearly on a par with Erza herself. "When she says someone will die, they die."

"Yes and I could say you will die, and then if I ram a sword down your throat you will…" Percy replied dryly, his lips quirking upwards as he saw the sour look Erza sent him at that example. "Does that mean I have power over life and death?"

"No, that just means you're a psychopath." Erza replied her eyes narrowed as she saw the amused look on his face at her reaction. "But it is different for Queen Shagotte, she doesn't do anything herself, she just says someone will die and they do."

"Sound more like simple premonition to me, and nothing more." Percy replied with a nonchalant shrug. "In fact I know another Exceed who gets visions of a sort, only she doesn't seem to understand them, which means she often fucks things up by accident." Percy then continued, thinking back on the little information about Carla that Wendy had shared with him, and the strange vision she gets, which again, to Percy sounds a little like premonition, though he couldn't be sure.

Before Erza could reply to that, a slight wince passed across Percy's face at the thought of the blue haired girl, his potential daughter, though he still wasn't too sure about that. After all he had been very careful over the years, after all the pain of losing a child, for Percy at least, was probably worse than losing a lover or a wife.

That being said the Edolas version of himself did sound pretty damn sure about what he was saying, and despite the pain of losing a child, Percy also knew that there was no greater joy than raising and spending time with a child of your own.

Suffice to say his feelings on the issue was mixed, and very complicated, and something he didn't want to dwell on right now. Or at least not until they had rescued their Guild mates and returned to Earthland.

"Problem?" Erza asked suddenly, looking over to Percy as she saw him wince, the faintest hint of concern entering her voice as she did so, her hand rising as she touched him on the arm for a moment. Before she thought better of it and pulled back, a hint of confusion entering her eyes at the sudden influx of emotions and feelings she felt, before she instead turned to look back at the lacrima, a harsh frown once again on her face.

"No, not a problem, just something a little confusing." Percy replied carefully, his gaze now shifting over to Erza, his brow furrowing as he saw her scowling at the lacrima, only for her to turn to look at him when she felt his gaze. "And it's also personal."

Knightwalker raised her hands up at that, the expression on her face unreadable as she did so. "Ok, I'm not prying."

Giving the red head a nod, Percy then turned to look back at the lacrima, his gaze intensifying when he saw a tall, elderly looking man, with a long, grey beard and expensive, regal looking robes, and a bejewelled, golden crown perched on his head. "Is that the King?"

"No it's the Court jester…" Erza replied sarcastically, her gaze moving from Percy to the King of Edolas, her expression quite conflicted as she found herself mentally warring between her contempt for the cruel and borderline insane man, who had likely already ordered her death for her failure, and her loyalty to the Kingdom of Edolas and the hypocrites that made up the vast majority of its population.

Percy rolled his eyes at that acerbic reply, but didn't respond, as the King chose that moment to start his speech, the armoured soldiers around him all slamming the butts of their spears into the ground, calling for silence, the crowd quietening down as the King raised his arms into the air.

"Children of Edolas..." The elderly King began, his tone raspy as he raised his hands and gestured magnanimously to the crowd in front of him. "Our sacred kingdom has, through the use of Anima, produced ten years' worth of magical energy!"

Percy's expression darkened as he heard that comment, the King's arrogance and falsehood already rubbing him the wrong way, as he heard the old man skirt over the truth that instead of creating magic, they had merely kidnapped a town of innocent people and converted them into magical energy. Obliviously telling the people of Edolas the truth would not be all that palatable, so instead he lied and the people gladly ate it up, not doubting his word or asking questions like good little sheep.

"Sing together, dance together..." The King continued on, a warm smile on his face as he lifted his sceptre into the air, watching the people cheer as he did so. "The people of Edolas have a right to share this magical energy! For we are the only ones who will progress to the future! We are the holy race and no one shall steal our magic from us! And let me promise you this, soon, we will have even more magic, enough to last an eternity!"

With that said the old man then smashed his sceptre into the lacrima to emphasis his point, chipping off a few small shards as he did so. "We shall have enough magic to make this look like absolutely nothing!"

In response to that the crowds went wild as the people began to cheer. "Edolas! Edolas!"

"The man's dead, he just doesn't know it yet. " Percy said coldly, looking up at the King from where he and his companion Erza were stood, at the back of the crowd. His gaze roving over the King and his soldiers, the thought of butchering him right now coming to his mind, only to fade just as quickly.

Erza glanced sideways at Percy as she heard that. "He has a whole army protecting him."

"And still he will die, as will everyone else involved in kidnapping my Guild." Percy replied bluntly, not a hint of hesitation in his cold gaze as he looked upon the corrupt King, his gaze holding only wrath.

Erza twitched at that, but didn't reply as she instead looked over at the King and then around at the crowd, a pit of shame growing within her as she heard the roar of the crowd, the oblivious people cheering for the power the King brought them, power he gained through human sacrifice.

( - )

With Team Natsu elsewhere in the Royal City)

The atmosphere in their rented room was tense as the group of Fairy Tail mages waited about, with Natsu and Gajeel standing beside the window, looking out at the crowded streets, their gaze continuously going to the large lacrima they could see in the distance and at the mobs of celebrating, cheering and drinking people they could see crowded around it.

It was as they were doing this, that Lucy and Wendy were sat at the table in the room, trying to plot out their next step forward, the two male Dragon Slayers occasionally pitching in, though mostly they just stared balefully out of the window. They might have missed the King's speech, but they had heard the highlights from some of the people who passed by their room, and none of them were pleased by it.

In fact it had only been because of Wendy and Lucy's quick thinking that had stopped Natsu from marching out there and kicking off, drawing attention to himself as he did so, the thought of being captured before they could help their Guild mates being enough to stop Natsu, for the moment.

"I can't stand waiting around anymore!" Natsu suddenly growled as he pushed himself away from the window and instead looked out at the rest of the room. "Screw waiting for Perseus, we're getting into that castle and finding a way to free our friends! He can catch us up if he's still around, for now though we have to move, who knows what those bastards are planning!"

"Just give me a minute." Carla replied to him, the little cat currently hunched over a piece of paper on the table, a crayon in one hand and a looked of intense concentration on her face as she scribbled away on the paper. "We have to come up with a good plan first. After all, we don't know how to return them to their original forms yet, nor do we know how to get back to Earthland, or what counter measures the Kingdom have in place."

"But then, if they're all trapped in that crystal..." Wendy spoke up softly from where she was sat. "How do we help them if we can't reverse it? We can't do anything until we can turn them back, after all who knows what the anima would do to them if they went through it as lacrima?"

Carla frowned in thought as she heard that, before she glanced over to her partner. "I think our only choice is to find out from the King himself."

"There's no way he'll tell us something like that." Wendy replied, shaking her head at the thought of that vile man helping them.

"The King won't help us that is true." Lucy spoke up from where she was sat, "However we can make him tell us. That or we can infiltrate the Anima chamber, or wherever it is they keep the machine and question the scientists. Either way someone at the Palace will know, all we have to do is find them and exert the right... pressure..."

"Woah look at blondie getting all down and dirty with the interrogation. Though you should probably leave that kind of shit to me! The real problem though, before all that shit, is how we will get close enough to the King, or his scientists to actually get the answers we need..." Gajeel spoke up bluntly as he took his eyes off of the lacrima and turned to look at the rest of them, ignoring Lucy's slight flush of either shame or embarrassment as he did so. "There will be a lot of guards in the way, an entire army, and although I'm always up for a scrap, I don't think the four of us can take out an entire army, even with our magic!"

"There is a way to get near him without going through his army though." Carla spoke up, getting the other's attention as she held up her drawing, showing them a hidden passage into the castle as she did so. "This tunnel was probably intended to be an escape route out of the castle. It should connect with the castle's basement."

"That's amazing!" Wendy suddenly said excitedly, before she suddenly paused, her expression turning curious as she looked at the little Exceed. "But how did you know that?"

"Information." Carla sighed, shrugging her small shoulders as she did so. "Fragments of information surface in my consciousness. Since coming to Edolas, I've been given flashes of information about the geography of the area."

"Well that's weird." Natsu spoke up, his brow furrowed as he looked from Carla and over to Happy. "Has the same been happening to you little buddy?"

"No, nothing like that." Happy replied, shaking his head back and forth.

Carla sent Happy a scathing look as she heard that, but said no more as she instead looked over to Lucy as she began speaking again.

"Ok, we should leave tonight and try and sneak into the castle under the cover of dark." Lucy said looking around at the other. "Let's all rest up for the moment. We'll need our strength later."

"What about Perseus?" Wendy asked in concern, her brown eyes widening at the realisation that they wouldn't be waiting for him. "He said he would meet us in the Royal City?"

"If he's not here, then we go without him." Gajeel replied bluntly, the Iron Dragon Slayer having not really spoken too, or warmed up to Fairy Tail's Ace that much.

Wendy frowned at that, but before she could reply though, Natsu spoke up. "He's right, we can't wait around. Not when our friends are in danger! We go tonight!"

The others nodded at that, even if Wendy looked somewhat reluctant to do so.

( - )

(Later that evening, in the tunnels below the Palace)

Raising his hand up in the air, Natsu kept his hand shrouded in fire as he lit the way. The Fire Dragon Slayer slowly leading the rest of their group through them small, cramped, winding tunnel network beneath the Royal City, which led according to Carla led into the dungeons of the Palace itself.

The others following closely behind him as he they used his fire to see the way ahead, all four wizards and two Exceeds on edge as they did so.

Walking beside the Fire Dragon Slayer and directing the group, Carla called for them to come to a sudden halt, the small map in her hands as she then motioned off to one side, at what looked like a blank stretch of wall, but which was actually a sealed off side passage. "It's here."

Gajeel nodded as he heard that, before without a word he used his magic to morph his arm into a large iron lance, which he then proceeded to use to break through the wooden boarding covering the passage.

"Wow, Carla!" Wendy smiled slightly, her eyes narrowing as she used the light from Natsu's flames to look into the newly revealed tunnel. "There really is a path here!"

"Let's just hope it leads to the dungeons and the rest of the Palace." Carla muttered in response, her brow furrowed as she still tried to work out how these visions were coming to her, and why they had been becoming more frequent in recent days.

Happy frowned as he watched this, his expression tightening and catching Natsu's attention. "What's wrong, Happy?"

"It's just, I wonder why I don't know anything?" Happy asked, turning to look at Natsu as he did so. "Aren't we the same kind of Edolas cat, and weren't we both sent to Earthland with the same mission?"

Carla scowled as she heard that, her cat like eyes narrowing as she sent Happy a scathing look. "Didn't you promise not to bring that up again?"

"Aye..." Happy sighed sadly.

"I too am not sure about why you can't remember any of these things. They were implanted in us when we were sent here." Carla told him, her brow furrowed as she looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, before she turned and walked away. "Anyway, let's get moving."

The group travelled in silence after that, walking quietly through the passageway as they infiltrated the Royal Palace, the going quickening as the tunnel they were in started to widen, allowing them to now move two or three abreast now.

"It looks like it could collapse at any moment." Natsu observed grimly as he looked around at the rotten wooden beams that lined the wider tunnel, the Dragon Slayer feeling slightly claustrophobic as he continued on through the tunnel, his hands moving this way and that as he continued to inspect the crumbling state of the tunnel.

"This is a really old tunnel." Wendy muttered in agreement as she too looked around, noticing as she did how other tunnels extended off from the main one, no doubt interweaving throughout the ground beneath the Palace, creating a vast labyrinth which would confuse any enemy who tried to use the tunnels.

"I wonder if there are any monsters here...?" Happy asked quietly, his high pitched voice echoing slightly in the otherwise silent passage.

"Do you have to say things like that?" Lucy hissed in response, her eyes narrowed and a frown on her face.

Before anyone could respond they were silenced momentarily when they rounded another bend in the passage and found themselves in a large, dimly lit cavern, their eyes widening as they looked around them at the now cut stone roof and walls.

"Woah!" Natsu muttered as he looked around, intensifying the light of his flames as he sought to light up the entire cavern. "We ended up in a really big place!"

"Looks like this tunnel really does connect to the Palace." Carla spoke up, her wings spreading out from her back as she took to the air, inspecting the new cavern now as she looked for the entrance to the Palace's dungeons.

"I'm not sure how you know all this, but you being here is a big help, Carla!" Happy replied, taking to the air as well as he flew closer to the white cat.

"I don't know either." Carla scowled, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of all of these visions. "Information just comes to me piece by piece."

"Thank you, Carla." Happy replied with a nod, still trying to ingratiate himself with the other Exceed.

"If you're going to thank me, do it after you've done something useful yourself!?" Carla retorted, her tone quite waspish as she clocked onto what the other Exceed was doing.

"Come on, we shouldn't linger here, we don't know whether this tunnel is patrolled by guards." Wendy spoke up, getting the others attention as she tried to get them back on track.

"Hn, as if any single group of Edolas soldiers would be able to capture us! Not when we have our magic!" Gajeel grunted dismissively, not at all impressed with what he had seen from the Edolas mages and their magic so far, they might be technologically advanced compared to Earthland, but their magic was a lot weaker.

"I think that would depend on the soldier." A voice suddenly spoke up dryly from behind Gajeel, causing the Iron Dragon to flinch, before he twisted around, only to feel the blade of a spear resting on his throat. His red eyes shifting up to look at his attacker, only find himself looking at the stern face, and steely brown eyes of Erza glaring back at him.

"E-Erza!?" Gajeel gasped out, backing up a few steps as the rest of his group turned to stare in shock at the newcomer, Wendy and Natsu falling into fighting stances, and a Golden Gate Key appearing in Lucy's hands, as they all reacted to the surprise of Erza's arrival.

"Is it our Erza though, or the evil one?" Wendy asked, backing up a few steps as she looked the red head up and down, her hands raised and the air around her beginning to swirl as she already started to draw on her magic.

"Well she certainly dresses like our Erza." Lucy added on, her own gaze roving around the revealing armour the red haired woman was wearing, which seemed to extenuate her body just as much as it protected her.

"It kind of smells like her too." Natsu also spoke up, his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion and his fists still covered in fire.

Erza sent Natsu a sour look as she heard that, before she withdrew her spear. "My name is Erza Knightwalker."

"And she's with me." Perseus added in with a slight smile as he approached the group from behind the scowling Erza, his left hand absentmindedly resting on the golden hilt of his sword, Backbiter.

"Perseus!" Lucy shouted, jumping slight surprise, her hand lowering in relief at the sight of his familiar face.

"Wait, how did I not smell you?" Natsu asked, his brow furrowed as he only now was able to pick up Perseus's familiar ocean like scent.

Percy's lips quirked as he heard that. "Do you think you're really the only Dragon Slayer I've had to deal with over the years? Over time I learned how to adapt my water manipulation to mask my scent when I want to."

Natsu nodded at that, not really understanding exactly what he did, but taking his word on it.

"But wait, why are you here? And why are you with her?" Lucy suddenly spoke up, her face set into an intense frown as she eyed Erza warily, not forgetting how she had apparently killed hundreds of people, and was working for the Kingdom, the very same people who had kidnapped their Guild, and turned them into a lacrima.

"Same reason you are I'm guessing, Erza here is showing me a secret passage into the Palace." Percy replied with a shrug, as he looked around at the assembled group, quite glad to be seeing them all again.

"But why's she helping you?" Lucy pressed still not understanding why they were together, after all Percy might be very fond of Earthland Erza, but she didn't think that would extend to her sociopathic doppelgänger.

"She's fallen for my winning personality of course!" Percy replied with a grin.

Erza rolled her eyes at that. "I am merely helping him because it is beneficial to me, and keeps me alive."

"Oh, so your reasons are selfish and self-serving?" Lucy replied, strangely relieved to hear that, much more so than if the red head had claimed she had turned over a new leaf and was helping them out of the goodness of her heart.

"Yes…" Erza replied dryly, her spear now held in front of her as she eyed Lucy up oddly. "I take it you are all your Earthland counterparts?"

"They are." Percy replied with a nod, before he looked around at the group, his gaze momentarily going to Wendy, who he had noticed had been very quiet since he had returned. The blue haired girl having just stared at Percy oddly since he revealed himself, the look on her face quite sombre.

"Right anyway" Percy then continued, clapping his hands together. "Now we have caught up we can start making a plan to free our Guild mates, topple to Kingdom and get back home!"

( - )

(Outside of the Royal City)

"Soldiers of Edolas, prepare yourselves!" Commander Pantherlily, of the Army's First Division, bellowed out, the armoured Exceeds words reaching every one of the two hundred or so Edolas soldiers in front of him, all of whom were mounted on one hundred Legions.

"Today, is the day that we rout out the last of the Fairy Tail Guild, today is the day we wipe Dark Wizards from our world for good!" Pantherlily continued to shout, his visor raised, revealing his sharp teeth and whiskered muzzle as he glared harshly out at the soldiers, even as they heard the roar and bellow their appreciation.

"To war! And to the death of Fairy Tail!" Pantherlily then finished, unsheathing his sword and thrusting it in to the air as he did so, the soldiers letting out another roar of appreciation as they heard that.

"To the skies!" Pantherlily then shouted, a set of two massive, six foot long, white feathered wings, erupting from his back as he shot into the sky, the soldiers of their Legions following after him as he rocketed off in the direction of the desert, a blade in one hand and a fierce scowl on his face as he led his soldiers into battle.

( - )

AN: So what do you all think? I hope you all enjoy it?

I'm going to be honest I am getting a little bored of the Edolas Arc, so will endeavour to finish it in the next couple of chapters so I can progress the story, as at the moment I feel like I've spent a lot of time on just two arcs, and a minor one for Percy. After all development is good, but I think I need to progress the plot a lot more than I have done.

So yeah, other than that I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and leave a review, and prepare yourselves for the finale of this arc as things all start to come to ahead. That being said I am not planning on rushing anything, as I don't want to spoil what I have already done with a rushed and unsatisfied ending. Hint: canon Fairy Tail ending.

Though that being said, the exciting news is that the Fairy Tail canon story is set to continue with a new story, entitled the hundred year quest. So that should hopefully be good. Hopefully they do it better justice than they did poor old Acnologia and Zeref, to villains with tonnes of potential, but who I personally felt were wasted.

So yeah, hope you review and continue to read.

Next stories to be update will either be my Naruto story: Dead Man Walking, or my Harry Potter/ DC story: Limitless.

See you all later.

Seagate.