Gajeel and Lily lingered in a tiny bit of foliage still off the path near where Gajeel and Natsu picked up the scent of their spy or follower. They huddled down, Lily still in his tiny Exceed form, while they waited. The figure moved slowly, as if nervously, whenever Gajeel checked in on it.

Lily, though, acted quite odd. He kept looking at Gajeel obtusely, then would avert his eyes, and then back at Gajeel.

"Something on your mind?" Gajeel asked. "Better to get it out than just bottle it up."

"I don't know if you'd understand. I don't know if anyone would."

"Don't matter. I'm here to listen."

Lily sat down. He reached behind his back for the small sword, gripping then releasing it every few seconds.

"I was thinking," Lily said, "about the state of the world. I didn't get to see much of the Fiore kingdom before I arrived from Edolas, but I imagine it wasn't anything like this. What I saw were vibrant towns and happy domiciles."

"Ain't seen something like this since my days in Phantom Lord," Gajeel said.

"Your former guild?"

"Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised if those chumps joined up with the Empire. Be a waste of time and talent on the Empire's end."

"Whoever this Zeref is, this Emperor, he doesn't seem the kind to be benevolent in many facets," Lily said. "Would Faust have been this way?"

"Who?"

"The man who was king of the humans on Edolas, before Jellal," Lily said. "The man who you fought."

"Oh, right, the guy in the dragon suit. Probably."

Lily shuddered. "To think of my people put under heel like this. To think of them on the run, afraid for their lives every waking moment..."

"Hey, pal, look. We got to Edolas and helped you all out, right? We're gonna do the same thing here."

"It feels different," Lily said. "Faust was powerless save for what power he could scrounge up. From what I've witnessed, he pales in comparison to even a fraction of what this Twilight Empire is." He ultimately released the hold he had on his sword and let his paws fall, scraping the dirt. "He would've killed all the Exceeds, you know. I wonder if he would have been okay killing as many people as necessary that disagreed with him."

Gajeel didn't say a word while Lily checked around, as if for the spy. The cat had to be a bit embarrassedly this—no, maybe not embarrassed. Gajeel wasn't sure what. Opening about feelings wasn't something men like the two of them were supposed to do. They had to be brittle like iron. Silent like warriors. Thoughts were for writers and women, right?

"You won that war," Gajeel said. "Edolas is free and doing well under that prince friend of yours, got that?"

"I miss that place sometimes," Lily said.

"We'll go back one day."

"How?"

Gajeel shrugged. "If you'd have told me we'd be stuck in some sort of time bubble I would never have believed you. Anything's possible, pal."

Lily sneered. "Yeah, guess so." Lily stood up. "Maybe it's even possible that the village all the Exceeds landed in survived untouched."

"Zeref wouldn't have any reason to go looking after you cats," Gajeel said. "The most dangerous one is out here with us, after all."

Lily chuckled, then cut himself off as Gajeel raised his hand cautiously. They drew near.

And they smelled…not great. Quite sweaty, like fur that'd been dipped in a bucket of water and left to dry in the middle of the woods.

Hmm. Considering their surroundings…

Gajeel nodded to Lily, who slinked away. Gajeel kept himself low.

Tiny, tiny footsteps padded by while Lily moved into position, trying not to rustle any leaves. Gajeel stood to full height, prepared to jump out. He tried to see through the bush, but, all he saw was a tiny thing. One no larger than a normal-sized Exceed. But it had clothes on?

From what he saw, this figure had a tattered pink outfit covering from head to…tail.

"Hello?" a voice squeaked out of the tiny body. "Is someone there? Frosch has a question to ask."

Lily moved first, then Gajeel.

Frosch stared at them. Yup, an Exceed for sure. It had green fur and big eyes, though the suit, tattered and worn down from long travel, had two faded frog eyes, too. Frosch put its paws together.

"What is it, friend?" Lily asked.

"Frosch is looking for Lector, a friend," Frosch said. "Have you seen him?"

"Afraid not," Lily said.

"Is he an Exceed like you?"

"Frosch doesn't know what that is," Frosch said.

"Does he look like you…I mean, Frosch?" Lily asked.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. Lily sure was quick to jump to this thing's side. It could be an Exceed of the enemy, though it seemed hard to believe. Even when Gajeel fought Lily in Edolas, the cat was simply misguided and being fed lies. He had yet to meet a truly bad Exceed.

"Yes, kind of. Frosch hasn't seen Lector in a while. Frosch is lonely."

"You can stay with us, then," Lily said.

"Why don't you tell us where you came from?" Gajeel said, and took a seat, prompting Lily and Frosch to do the same.

"It's a big castle," Frosch said. "And it's where the Emperor lives!"

Erza sat away from the group beneath the watch of wheeling stars twinkling to their own rhythm in the sky above. Several members of the party slept, and Gajeel and Lily were yet to return. Natsu was still awake cracking jokes with Happy. Gray was asleep and Erza could not see Juvia. Was she stuffed next to Gray doing her best to snuggle with him?

She was back in her armor, feeling naked and exposed in the open without it. Her wishing not to feel that way only made it worse, made it more noticeable that she had to wear the armor. She sat high on a boulder and let her legs swing freely in the open air.

Her mind had drifted a bit while she was with the others, and she enjoyed where it took her, so she had to step away from the noise that they generated.

What had Jellal been doing? Hisui never mentioned him, yet Erza had to imagine that he was doing something. He couldn't have been doing nothing for seven years.

Or, she realized with a sigh, he was in a dungeon somewhere. After all, that man Lahar had come to imprison him after Nirvana. With the Magic Council destroyed, did the Twilight Empire keep the prisoners where they were if they did not comply with Imperial orders? Or were they executed?

That had not been the pleasant wanderings of Erza's mind. She instead imagined him out in the wild somewhere, fighting in guerrilla wars with indomitable strength. Maybe he found the others, like Wally, Sho, Millianna, and took up the fight against Zeref with them.

Fiore seemed so large a place before, but it had been turned into something much larger, something that spanned even across the ocean. Jellal could be in Alikitasia for all Erza knew, taking the fight to the Empire's roots.

But if he were fighting why hadn't Hisui mentioned him at all? Why had he never come up? Why was he being so silent in a time that needed his power most?

"Oh, Erza."

The word carried up with the wind. Erza turned to the woman approaching.

"Hello, Juvia. I'm sorry I didn't see you."

"I was just out for a walk," Juvia said. "Gray fell asleep and he'd nudged me away quite a few times."

Ah. So she had been snuggling close to him.

"You're welcome to join me if you'd like."

Juvia nodded and clambered up the boulder to sit next to Erza. She moved fluidly and lithely, like a woman of water should.

"Can't sleep?" Erza asked.

"Normally I think of Gray to put myself to sleep, but, being near him while I'm trying to sleep makes things incredibly difficult," Juvia said. "You? Can't sleep either?"

"Afraid so," Erza said. "Just have a lot on the mind, I suppose."

"We've been through quite a bit."

"And have so much more to face." Erza smiled at Juvia. "So, I must say, it makes me happy that you hold so tightly to the love you have for Gray, even now."

"Even now? Now is when we need it most, even if he doesn't reciprocate it. These days remind me of so many days from my youth or time in Phantom Lord, where they're swallowed in total darkness. If I'd known the love I do now back then? I don't believe the Rain Woman would ever have really existed.

"It's love that pulls us out of the trials the world has set up for us, even if we can't see them yet. Don't you think so?"

"I do. I really do. Thank you for that."

Juvia nudged Erza with her shoulder. "So what about you? I know you love the guild, like I do, but a love of your life? Anyone there?"

Erza stammered. "Oh, no, I—I don't."

"You must tell me all about him," Juvia said. "Tell me, do the others know? Lucy? Does Lucy know?"

Erza sighed. "I don't know about love. But it's someone I worry about. Someone I care for."

"Is there a difference?"

Erza grinned warmly. "And no, Lucy hasn't met him. I believe she knows of him in much the same capacity as you do."

Juvia gasped. "From the Tower of Heaven?" Before Erza could answer, she said, "Oh, Erza. That man was so sweet. It's a true tragedy what happened to him."

Erza paused. "No, Juvia. I do miss Simon, quite dearly, but my…I think about Jellal a lot. And I don't know what spurs this, other than wondering what, or who, he really is. Particularly now, in this world, one he would, once, have seen fit to build."

Juvia nodded. "It is a confusing thing, love, and what it does to us. It boggles the mind at times, and makes us question everything."

"Gray makes you question everything?"

"Every decision I make."

Erza wanted to comment on Juvia's obsessive nature over the guy but held her tongue. It'd fall on sternly deaf ears, certainly.

Before Juvia could pry farther into Erza's heart—though, Erza had to admit to herself, it was nice to have someone to talk to—Gajeel and Lily emerged from their hiding spots, heading back for the group. And they weren't alone.

"This is Frosch," Gajeel said when everyone was stirring awake. Happy got right to his feet and introduced himself to Frosch while Carla did the same but warily, scanning Frisch's choice of outfit more than anything else.

"Frosch is happy to see new people," Frosch said.

Gajeel rested a hand on Frosch's head. "He's been following us for a day."

"Frosch saw other cats and thought they were Frosch's friend Lector," Frosch said. "They are not."

Natsu sat up from where he'd been sleeping. Lucy rubbed some sleep from her eyes. Wendy, though clearly drowsy, approached Frosch regardless. Erza hung back, not wary but clearly wanting to assess the situation before saying anything.

Understandable. Exceeds were rare to find, even after the Anima had absorbed them into Earth-land. Finding a stray one was even more curious.

"Lily and I are placing Frosch under our protection," Gajeel said. Lily, arms folded, nodded his head. "Until we can reunite Frosch with Lector."

"Do you know where he is?" Wendy asked. "Lector?"

"Frosch remembers Lector having a secret mission to Clover Town," Frosch said. "So Frosch wanted to follow Lector. Rogue also told Frosch he would have to go away."

"Rogue?" Wendy asked.

Gajeel nodded. "His Dragon Slayer."

A haunted look fell upon Erza's face. Realization dawned on the others, too.

There were no other Dragon Slayers in the world that did not belong to the Twilight Empire.

"Frosch hopes Rogue will also be in Clover Town," Frosch said. "So Frosch doesn't need to go all the way back to the big castle to find him."

"Rogue lives in Crocus?" Erza asked.

Frosch nodded. "Frosch lives with Rogue in Croakie."

"From what we've deduced, Rogue is one of two Captains of the Dragon Division," Lily said.

"So he's with…" Natsu said, but Lucy clamped his mouth.

"Like I said, Frosch is under our watch," Gajeel said. "You got a problem with Frosch you go through us, understood?"

Everyone nodded. Good.

Frosch, who constantly smiled even while they talked about how much they missed Lector and Rogue, sniffled. He leaned to Lily, who hugged Frosch.

Erza pulled Gajeel aside while they scrounged up supplies for Frosch to be able to sleep alongside everyone else.

"Captain of the Dragon Division?" Erza asked. "This may be serious."

"Frosch has a good heart, Erza," Gajeel said. "I need you to trust me on this."

"And I do. What I don't like is an Exceed wandering around. Two of them, potentially. It feels like a net we're meant to walk into."

"If the Empire wants to put Frosch in danger then they're going to find out real quick how bad of an idea that is," Gajeel said. He relented with a sigh. "But I agree. It's fishy. Frosch made it seem like them and Lector were inseparable. How'd they get separated?"

"Just as confusing is why Rogue would let Frosch wander aimlessly? Maybe he doesn't know where he's going or…"

"Frosch isn't telling the truth," Gajeel said. "And I think he's not. I think it's even worse."

"Worse?"

Gajeel nodded. When Frosch talked about Rogue, it was nothing but good things. Good times.

And all times from before he became a Captain of the Dragon Division. Frosch mentioned pride in that man but didn't say anything else. All times with the Twilight Empire were relegated to times with Lector, as if Frosch, deep down, did not like what they saw with the Empire.

"I think Frosch ran away because they're afraid of what the Twilight Empire has done to their Dragon Slayer," Gajeel said.

Frosch fell asleep soundly. Lily patted the little one's head, then prepared to head off to sleep as well. Erza nodded and reassured Gajeel that they'd watch over Frosch.

The moon rose. The stars twinkled. The night progressed. And all Gajeel could wonder was how many times Frosch considered turning around to be with Rogue, and knew that the better option, still, was to wander a world they were unfamiliar with in search of a friend just as lost as they were.