"How the hell did you lose him? We were right behind him!"

"Oh, this is suddenly my shortcoming? Last time I checked you were the one that was ahead!"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Erza growled at the other girl who she had the unfortunate position of sticking with. "You can probably figure that out for yourself!"

"Why did I have to get stuck with you?" Mira spat, lamenting her position as well.

"Believe me, I wish it hadn't turned out this way as well." Erza huffed.

Mira's mood soured when she thought back on how she had ended up with this metal-wearing monster. They had both darted off to chase Axis and of course, they both argued too much to really pay attention to where they were going. Well, not that it was her fault that Erza was so irredeemably aggravating to work with.

Erza perked up as she looked ahead on the path they were walking, having noticed something. "Is that…?"

Mira followed her gaze, her eyes eventually landing on the same set of objects. She especially noticed the white head of one of the forms lying on the ground. "Is that Elfman? Elfman!"

She had called out to the forms- the rest of which could be identified as some of the other Fairy Tail kids. But her elation from finally escaping Erza's company alone was dashed quickly as her brother offered no response for her. In fact, he didn't even move. None of them did.

The two girls shared a concerned look before they sped ahead to meet their friends. Mira slid to her knees in front of her brother. She noticed his closed eyes and breathed in relief when she heard light breathing from the boy. "Elfman… what happened…?"

Erza counted the unconscious bodies. She felt worry slip into her system, but she didn't let it show as she had to make sure they were all okay first. "Cana, Natsu, Gray, and Elfman. They seemed to have only been knocked unconscious. But… who would do such a thing?"

There were minimal signs of a struggle- only a few patches of upturned dirt here and there. This was also a pretty private part of the park surrounded by trees. It was already a miracle that Erza and Mira had come across this, and Erza doubted anyone else had just yet.

"Erza? Mira?"

The two girls whirled around in surprise once they heard the small voice coming from the bushes. A small head of blue hair emerged- one belonging to another one of their friends in the Fairy Tail guild.

"Levy!" Erza yipped with relief, storming up to the small girl with concern written all over her face. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Levy nodded steadily. She looked incredibly relieved to see them here- and that was something that scared Erza even more. "I'm fine… but Lisanna and Axis…"

Those few words sparked Mira to life. She left Elfman's side and approached the other two girls. Her face was pale as snow. "Lisanna? Axis? Did something happen? Are they in trouble? Tell me!"

Levy flinched from the intensity of Mira's voice. Erza quickly threw up an arm to block the demon girl's approach. "Calm down, Mira! You're scaring her!"

"Calm down?!" Mira's eyes flared with untempered anger. "Something bad's happened to my little sister and my best friend! Like hell I'm gonna calm down!"

"We don't know that yet!" Erza didn't know who this 'Axis' person was, but she knew how much Lisanna meant to Mira. While Mira's worry was not misplaced, it was better to remain calm until they knew all the facts. She turned back to the quivering fledgling mage. "Levy, please, tell us what you know."

Takeover: Dragon Soul

Part One:

A Place to Call Home

Page 13:

Surfacing

Axis felt something cold beneath him before his eyes could catch up with the rest of his senses. His eyelids felt heavy- so much so that it felt like a herculean labor just to open them. The air was stiff and smelled like coins making contact with skin. It even tasted metallic.

He tried to move his arms and legs but felt something tying them together. He nudged and rubbed them together but could not free his limbs from confinement. Even with the amount of struggle he attempted, he could not break the bonds.

He didn't remember much. The events that had transpired were quick and efficient. He remembered a certain man bumping into Lisanna. That man had said something to her, something that seemed to scare her. They all noticed but by then…

As the haze in his mind relented, the more anger he felt broiling from within. He tried to scream out Lisanna's name just to make sure that she was there with him, but something had also blocked his mouth. As the feeling came back into his system, the truth only enraged him more.

Whoever had done this had muzzled him. Like he was some beast that needed to be restrained. His feelings heightened his senses, and after a few moments, he was finally able to get a sense of where he was.

In the darkness, he perceived an old warehouse- filled with dusted and rusted surfaces and machinery long past their limits. The few windows were all covered with loose boards and dark sheets. It was an obvious attempt to retain some secrecy for whoever took over the old joint, except for one hole in the ceiling way above that allowed some light to flow in.

He felt his heart race, however, once he realized what he had been placed in. Cold iron bars surrounded him on all sides. A steel lock barred off the only exit from the container, and the top and bottom were one large iron sheet. He had no legroom, so he was forced into a fetal position. From the outside perspective, he really looked like an animal in a cage.

Already, once the realization had been struck, he could feel nausea kick in. Those iron bars that surrounded him and that lock that sealed him all worked against his mental state. His palms got sweaty and his arms shook with fear. He wanted to puke, but there was just nothing to actually be expelled from his stomach. Even if a muzzle was not placed on his mouth, he didn't think he even had the fortitude to scream.

"Remind you of home, 15?"

Axis jumped at the sudden voice coming from behind him. He gulped down his fear to face the newcomer head-on. Unceremoniously he was able to turn around, only to see the same man from before staring him down.

He was short and stocky. He had a full head of brown hair with a large, bushy beard that hid most of his face. He held a slimy grin, one that Axis couldn't help but want to punch. The man wore an off-white uniform. Like the cage that surrounded Axis, this one detail caused him an extra pang of nausea and a sharp sting in his brain.

Axis must have shown his discomfort, as the man laughed. "Looks like that suppression magic is wearin' off. Finally, that spell was pretty damn powerful, whoever cast it."

Seemingly done with his close examination, the man stood up and crossed his arms a few paces back from the cage. He popped the cap off a glass bottle on his hip, bringing the liquid to his lips and taking a swig.

"Ah, that's good stuff. A nice town this is, am I right?" The man rhetorically asked the bound boy. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, leaving small stains on his arm. "You gave us a good chase, you know? You really refused to cooperate these past few months. Well, look where that got you."

Through the dreadful fear he felt overwhelming him in this situation, Axis was experiencing a confusion he had never felt before. Life was simple for him, at least he thought so. Find shelter, find food, and have fun. What this man was saying was disrupting his simple way of life.

Suppression magic? This guy has been chasing him? He mentioned 'us', does that mean there was more than just him? How many?

"…subdue a runaway kid like you!"

"Tiger pays me too much to do that…"

"Whatever they do with you, I don't care."

Tiger.

The wizard, the one that he fought with the day he met Mira and the others. He had been hired by someone. Someone who considered Axis a 'runaway'.

The cage… this person… this muzzle. It all ticked a flag in his brain. A flag filled with discomfort and fear, and one that had remained deep within his subconscious. He had no memory of his past, having only been able to recall the better part of the last year and that was it. But these feelings were deep, most likely from a time before then.

"Looks like that suppression magic is wearin' off."

Axis' heart stopped. Sweat was pouring from his skin. His throat was dry- its texture was like sandpaper. He whipped his head back and forth. It was really the most he could do in a chamber such as this. He found what he was looking for. A broken mirror that was tipped over on its side. A large crack split it in two, but it still fulfilled its purpose as it exposed the dragon boy to the visage of himself.

The first thing he noticed was the muzzle. It completely covered his mouth, making it all but impossible to open his jaw. The muzzle was also attached to a pair of handcuffs that bound his wrists and covered his hands completely. This also extended down to his legs, where his shins were then forced together. It was an inhumane device designed to restrain even the wildest of animals. It was also wholly familiar.

But then, as he looked into his own wild eyes, he saw the sign. While he was not fluent, he had been learning to read and write on the side as Mira visited him. Just a little, so he didn't feel so far behind the others. Just enough to where he could recognize basic letters and numbers without too much difficulty. There, just below his right eye, a marking appeared that was not there before. A marking that was permanent, and had been hidden for the longest time by some unknown magic. A mark that, like the muzzle, was also strikingly familiar.

AX-15.

…

Mira had to make sure to restrain herself from using her full strength to speed ahead of the group. Of course, if she did, she would lose her sense of direction quickly. Her only lead was the boy keeping in front of them and his extraordinary nose. She was extremely thankful that Natsu had such boundless energy, else she would be without a way to find her best friend and her little sister.

"Natsu, how much further?" Erza asked the kid, her voice extremely serious yet calm. An outsider would think her tone indicated a lack of care, but the opposite was true when regarding her actions just a few minutes before.

"I don't know, but the smell is getting pretty strong now," Natsu responded a few steps ahead, trying his best not to recoil from Axis' stench. He really didn't want to taste the stench any more than he had to, but this was the only way to get Lisanna back. He would deal with it.

Erza had woken up Natsu quickly after learning what had happened to the group of young kids. She had remained calm and organized a way to handle the situation with little panic. If anything, Mira could give props to the redhead for that at least. Erza's critical thinking had come up with a quick and efficient way to get them on the trail while also helping the other kids.

While Mira, Erza, and Natsu were on the trail of the missing Fairy Tail member and Magnolia's thief, the other group was sent back to the guild to both recuperate and also to alert the guild of their missing member. Fairy Tail was a family, and Erza knew that Master Makarov would not take kindly to one of their own being put in such danger- especially the sweet Lisanna.

Erza side-eyed Mira while they sprinted along. The demon girl was doing well to keep her emotions in check, at least on the surface. One look in the girl's eyes would reveal a blazing fury that even she wouldn't dare stoke. Erza could sympathize with how Mira felt. Having one's family in such a dire situation was very familiar to her, and she wouldn't wish for something terrible to happen to Lisanna when she could do anything to help it. And even if she barely knew the thief, or Axis as she had learned, she knew how much the boy meant to the Strauss siblings. A friend to them was a friend of the guild, as far as she was concerned.

"Let's hope that vile man hasn't done anything heinous yet." Erza voiced her wishes to her companions as Natsu led them down a side street. "I cannot imagine how those two may be feeling right now."

"He better not have done anything," Mira growled at the thought. "If I see even one strand of hair out of place on Lisanna's head, I'm burning that man alive."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed wholeheartedly. Well, maybe not about killing him. "But I'll do the burning."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Are you not concerned with your friend?"

"Axis will be fine," her frown contradicted her confident statement. "He can handle himself. But Lisanna's just a kid who only just started to learn magic. If something happened to her…"

Mira's words trailed off, but Erza knew what Mira was trying to say. Erza tried her best to promote a heartwarming smile to her peer- an expression that was rarely shared between the two girls. "Don't worry. We'll get them back. Even if we are unable to win, the other will be here with the guild at their backs."

Mira didn't continue the conversation from there, her thoughts trailing off to what kind of situation Axis and Lisanna could be in right now. She felt a surge of energy enter her legs, the feeling of desperation as she once again wished she could just speed ahead and get to wherever they were going quicker.

Please. Axis and Lisanna, please be okay!

…

The emotions and flickers of memory that flooded Axis' head were immense and overwhelming. All kinds of sadness, rage, loneliness, and fear permeated his heart's barrier, infecting him with a mixed-up pot of feeling that left him confused and in pain. While he felt some visions of his past try to break free from his mind palace, something was stopping them from fully returning. Some sort of mist, or even a wall, blocked them from doing so. It did give him clarity on one fact: there was a time before his lapse of memory. He had existed and was alive. Who he was and where he grew up, he still had no idea.

The same relief did not spread to the mark underneath his right eye. His cheek practically burned when he gazed upon the mark in the broken mirror. The letters and numbers he could barely understand, but he knew them all the same.

Axis shut his eyes tightly, the situation starting to overwhelm him. He shook his head vigorously to shake everything off- to focus on the present and the present alone. That was what mattered the most, not the ghosts of a past that he wasn't even sure was his.

"Too much, 15? Too bad, that's the truth you're feeling. Try not to get swept up." The man mocked Axis' vulnerable state with a chuckle and another swig of his drink. "Memory magic's such a pain, don't you agree?"

Axis could barely understand the man through the whirlwind of his own thoughts and feelings, but he got the general idea. He was inclined to agree, given his current state. He didn't know who had done it or when, but someone had taken his memories. Half a year ago, when he could no longer push further into the past.

Axis slammed his head into the iron bars, no longer able to bear it without doing anything. He had to move, he had to run, to clear his mind and to live his freedom. But no matter the struggle, no matter the pain, the ghost of his past kept trying to break through, and the heat of the branded AX-15 burned under his right eye.

The man continued to enjoy watching Axis struggle in his cage. To him, it was amusing watching the Boss' pet squirm around. After all the hardship and long nights on the road he had to endure searching for the creature, he deserved a little amusement.

"Just what are you laughing at Hadich?"

The bearded man groaned once he heard his partner join his fun. He turned to the bald man, who seemed grumpy with what he had done. Well, that goes without saying.

"What? I got what we were looking for, right? What's the problem?" Hadich waved off Monroe's aggression lackadaisically.

"The problem?" Monroe pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "The Boss' plans are perfect, Hadich. One step out of line can throw us off, you know that!"

"We have the creature! And the girl! Is that not enough for you? Who cares how I got 'em, I just got 'em!" Hadich huffed, not understanding the problem.

Monroe, who had been dragging something carelessly behind him, threw that thing out in front of him forcefully. "Oh, you got them alright. The boy, but the wrong girl, you idiot!"

Lisanna groaned once she hit the concrete ground, her arm taking the brunt of the force. Her hair was sticking out in unusual angles, and her pale skin was sweaty and stressed. She had small beads of salty tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes, but she disallowed them to do so. Axis would feel prideful of her strength, if not for the rage he now found himself in.

At the sight of his friend, Axis couldn't help but start throwing himself at the walls of the cage in defiance. Screw how he felt! Screw the memories and the jumbled mess of feelings in his heart! He could see clearer than he had before. This wasn't the time to be playing around carelessly!

He tried to scream Lisanna's name, but the muzzle blocked all legible sound from escaping his lips. Although, his ceaseless bashing was all he needed to communicate his concern.

Lisanna stared at him with wild eyes. Her pupils were shaking with fear, but the sight of the dragon boy brought her some form of comfort- even if it worried her how trapped they both seemed to be.

"Axis…" she breathed out in relief, her voice small and pitiful. It was stretched out and weak, a far cry from the joyous and jolly-filled tone she usually had. That pissed him off even more. He threw himself into the bars with even more force.

"Will you shut up!" Hadich suddenly appeared next to the cage, launching a boot directly into Axis' face. The force of the attack threw the boy back into the opposite end of the container. Axis howled with pain, already feeling his nose get messed up from that one attack. Involuntary tears fell down his face from the pain.

He tried to transform before the attack landed, but his scales refused to cooperate. He tried again, to break free from his binds and to eradicate the iron bars, but he couldn't do it. His transformation wasn't working.

Hadich turned back to his fuming partner. "What do you mean it's the wrong girl? I made sure! It was a small girl with white hair, right?"

Monroe held up a small, purple lacrima between his forefinger and thumb. "The girl was older! And she wore a black cloak! Does she fit that description?" He pointed towards Lisanna, who had slowly started crawling to Axis' cage. The two seemed uncaring that she was doing so.

Hadich rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess not… But still! I got AX-15 back! We're still in the clear! And it would have been a pain transporting her anyway cuz we only have one set of suppressor bonds."

Monroe opened and closed his fists thoughtfully, contemplating their next move. Hadich had made a blunder, completely disregarding the Boss' plan and even kidnapping the wrong target. But, it still stood that they had successfully retrieved 15, the primary target. That was enough.

"We're leaving, fast." Monroe turned his back on Hadich and left to a small office to the side, most likely a managerial place of work when the warehouse was still in use. "Clean up and don't leave any trace behind. We're out of town in 10 minutes."

"And the girl?"

Monroe looked back only for a moment, eyeing the small girl who got tied up in all of this. It didn't take much thought to reach a conclusion.

"I said to leave no trace. This was your mistake."

Hadich twirled his beard, mentally accepting the price he had to pay for messing up. "Roger."

With that, Monroe slammed the door to the office behind him. This left the three alone together on the vast warehouse floor. Hadich let loose a breath that contained a certain distaste for what he was about to do, but not an unwillingness. He activated some magic in his left hand, a blade forming around his fat fingers.

"Alright, kid, time's up. Sorry I have to do this, but I gotta pay the price and all." He turned around to face the two children, his heart not as heavy as you would think. "We all gotta pay for stuff sometimes, but that's just life you know?"

He froze in his monologue, his face unmoving and unchanging as he processed what was before him. 15 was in his cage, his position unchanged from when he kicked it. Some blood flowed out from beneath the muzzle, and his eyes held a whirlwind of emotion, but he was alone. And that was bad.

Hadich stormed up to the cage, slamming the bars with his massive fists. His own eyes now beheld a panicked frenzy. "Where's the damn girl?! Where'd she go?!"

The creature's eyes were blazing in defiance, nothing but pain and anger glowed from the irises. The creature refused to look away or even blink at Hadich's fury. It was like the creature was challenging him.

Hadich plunged his arm into the cage, his grasp finding a home around the creature's throat. He pulled the creature and slammed him into the bars. He got his face close. "Tell me!"

But the creature refused to even make a noise. Not one signal was sent between the creature and Hadich that may give the girl away, pissing the man off even more. Hadich jerked the creature back and forth relentlessly, and each time the creature's unprotected head would bash against cold iron. Hadich apparently didn't give a damn about Axis' well-being, as long as he delivered it to the boss as planned.

"Where! Is! She!" He repeated while abusing Axis. He stopped after a few moments to recover his breath and to calm down. He had gotten a little carried away, he thought.

Looking back at his target of abuse, the creature now seemed out of it. Its forehead was bruised to all hell, and blood oozed out from the muzzle even more than before. Its head lolled back uncontrolled, its gaze upwards, satisfied. Hadich studied the curious change in the creature's demeanor for a second, before following its gaze.

There was one hole, way up in the warehouse ceiling, that lit the space efficiently. Beyond the broken down and withering tiling was a bright blue sky filled with clouds. He didn't get what had the creature so focused on that hole. That was until he spotted something small and feeble, slowly climbing through the air and getting close to the hole.

Lisanna refused to look back. If she did, she knew that she would choose to stay. She had tears running freely down her cheeks. Her arms burned with both the athletic cost and the pressure to succeed in just this one important task. She couldn't fail, for both of their sakes.

"You little bastard!"

Lisanna flinched when she heard the scream come out from under her. It struck fear into her so much that she almost undid her wing transformation. She still hadn't perfected the technique so any loss of focus could spell her downfall, but she kept trucking on.

Almost there! Please make it!

Hadich, already starting to lose control of his emotions once again from being outwitted by some kids, fumed at the sight of the half-transformed bird girl. She was terribly slow, but she was only a few seconds from the hole. He whipped his free hand out, aiming his finger like a gun towards the human-bird chimera.

"I'll blow you out of the damn sky! Incision-!"

Axis fought back through his delirium, seeing what the man planned to do. His eyes focused on the enemy right in front of him, whose hand still gripped tightly around his neck. He blazed to life once again. He was not letting this bastard even touch Lisanna.

Axis pulled his head back ferociously, summoning whatever strength he could muster to help his friend. The hand around his neck, and of course the arm it was attached to, followed suit.

Like a gun being fired, Hadich let loose a small burst of incredibly sharp magical power. Contact with a spell like that would surely mean death- especially with his pinpoint accuracy. The shot would go right through the girl's heart.

"Sharp Shot!"

But right before he fired, he felt a small part of his body lurch to the side. Axis' actions had tilted him slightly, throwing off his aim by just a smidge. The shot was not as true as it usually was.

Axis, through the pain and fog in his brain, through the blood and bruises, and through the anger and fear, could only grin under his muzzle as he saw the little girl crest the hole in the ceiling and make it to the sky. To freedom.

He leaned back, his head only propped up by the intense grip still around his neck. He reveled at the sight of the fuming man before him. He didn't know what might happen to him, or if he could even manage to escape this situation.

But that didn't matter. Not anymore. With Lisanna safe, that was all he needed.

…

Just a few minutes prior…

"Axis… are you okay?"

Axis tried his best to look okay, but that was a tall order seeing how he was gagged and bloodied. That kick really did a number on him.

Lisanna weakly smiled. Other than being a little roughed up she seemed fine, and that was an incredible relief to the boy.

"Can you use your magic…?" She whispered as quietly as she could so as to not put attention on them. Their captors were currently talking with one another and had neglected to keep tabs on them. Lisanna frowned when Axis shook his head.

"I think I can… maybe I can free you? Find the keys somewhere? We can get out of here together!"

Axis glared at her, immediately shaking his head to dismiss what she had offered. It surprised her a little, but thinking about it more revealed why. These guys were clearly after Axis, not her. They would focus on him and him alone first and foremost. They would never let him go.

"So then… What should we do? I don't know what we can do…"

Axis hummed, getting her attention. She saw him nod up, referring to something above them. The hole in the ceiling, she figured. Axis had been helping her tame her Animal Soul, so he knew what she was capable of right now. She could try to get to that opening, but that would mean…

"I'm not gonna leave you behind! We're escaping together!"

Axis bonked his head onto the bars in front of her, his eyes burning with an intense emotion that pierced her heart. The eyes glared into her soul, then to something she had on her. The guild mark, sitting proudly on her skin.

"Fairy Tail…" She teared up, understanding his plea. "Get Fairy Tail."

She looked into his eyes once again, this time they softened into a feeling that she could easily translate.

Go. I'll be fine.

Her lips trembled and her arms shook at what would be the scariest moment so far in her life, but Axis' eyes brought her back down. They grounded her enough to fly.

She nodded tearfully, and without a second thought her wings swooped out hazardously yet quietly. She would be back and with Fairy Tail on their side. Until then, she had to trust in Axis. Trust in her friend.

She refused to look back, even when she heard the shouting and the abhorrent banging below. She powered through it all, even when she heard the man finally notice her, and even when she heard him get an attack ready.

She soldiered on, the hole getting ever closer…

I'll trust you and Fairy Tail! So be okay!

"Sharp Shot!"

Lisanna finally crested the summit, collapsing onto the withering roof of the warehouse. She clutched her side in pain, a streak of blood just grazing her midsection. Just a few inches to the side and whatever caused that damage would have pierced her heart. But that didn't matter, her pain didn't matter.

"Fairy Tail!" She struggled to her feet, transforming partially into a cat hybrid for some speed. "I have to get to Fairy Tail!"