Axis yawned, rubbing the tears of tired boredom from his eyes. He rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in the blanket that covered his old couch. After just a few visits, Mira had demanded that he either clean or replace the old thing. After a small back and forth, Mira had just given up and used some of her money to buy a blanket to cover it. Not that Axis was complaining, it was a pretty comfortable blanket.

His eyes lazily drifted over to something on the floor in front of him. He fumbled to pick it up without compromising his position but came to secure it in his grasp. He eyes the red color of the apple for a few seconds before shrugging and taking a bite.

"Yech!" He felt repulsed at the taste, almost immediately spitting the mushy insides out and back onto the floor where he had found the offending item. He then tossed the half-rotten apple away as quickly as he could.

"We're coming in!" Without another word of warning, the ever-optimistic Lisanna burst open the old wooden door. She gasped suddenly, seeing the gross red object flying towards her small face.

Poof!

In a flash, the small girl had transformed into a small mouse. The rotten apple was now on a course for whoever was unfortunate enough to be following the girl.

"Lisanna, what's wrong-!" Elfman recoiled backward as the apple splattered across his unsuspecting face. He stumbled back while trying to wipe the residue from his face. "Oh, gross!"

Getting over his initial surprise at the sudden welcome intrusion, Axis couldn't help but laugh at the turn of events that had just transpired. He sat up and gave the others some room on the couch to crash. The little white-haired mouse took up the boy's offer, positioning herself and transforming back while seated next to him.

"That was mean!" Lisanna appeared next to him, pouting.

"Sorry, sorry," Axis apologized after he wiped the joyous tear from his eye. He leaned back into the couch and ruffled Lisanna's hair in greeting. "It was just kinda funny. You alright, Elfman?"

After finally wiping the contents from his face, and also feeling uncomfortable from the residual stickiness, he gave Axis a disparaging look. "Why'd it have to be me?"

"Just consider yourself unlucky," Axis smirked at the dark look the other boy gave him. "Would it help if it was an accident?"

Elfman sat down next to Lisanna, taking some time to playfully punch Axis in the shoulder. "No, I'll just get you back eventually."

"Heh," Axis chuckled. "A vengeance streak? What, did Mira start rubbing off on you?"

In his focus on the conversation, Axis failed to notice a mysterious black object hurtling right into his face. He sputtered about in confusion before ripping the soft object off.

"You talking about me in here?" The final member of the Strauss family said as she crashed on the opposite end of the couch from Axis. "You can have that, by the way."

Axis stretched out the object, instantly recognizing what it was. "Your cloak? You're giving it to me?" Axis wrenched his confused gaze over to the last of the newcomers, but he was not expecting what he saw.

In the month or two he had come to know the girl, she was always reserved. She preferred to keep mostly to herself and never really took charge or looked comfortable in any situation. She seldom shed her cloak, an obvious side effect of fearing her power.

But now looking at the girl that had taken residence on the other side of the couch, she was like a completely different person.

Of course, the cloak was long gone, as that had found its place in Axis' hands. With it gone, Mira seemed to adopt the opposite end of the style spectrum. Black boots led into black leggings which, in turn, led to an incredibly revealing bottom and top. Of course, those were also colored black. Her long, white hair was now tied back into a ponytail held together by a dark violet bow.

More So than the wardrobe change was the shift in general attitude. Gone were the days of reservation and timidness. Now she sat confidently with her legs extended out, a snarky grin and a playful playful spark in her eyes as they stared at each other.

Axis couldn't help but think that she had finally opened up. After weeks of talking her into it and getting her more comfortable with herself, she finally found the confidence to, well, be herself. He was proud of her for it, even though now he found it quite hard to look at her without getting pink in the cheeks.

"Yeah, I don't really need it anymore." She shrugged in response. "I don't really like wearing the thing anymore, you know?"

"Right. Okay," Axis accepted the offer and dropped it on the floor to the side. There really wasn't a proper place to store things here so that was the best he had. "So what do I owe the pleasure that is the Strausses' company?"

Lisanna pumped her fist. "Let's have lunch together!"

Axis quirked an eyebrow at the premise. "Lunch, huh?"

Elfman smiled. "We don't really hang out as often as we used to, so we thought we could at least eat together today."

Mira produced a bag she had been carrying, presumably packed to the brim with anything she could get her hands on from the Fairy Tail guild hall. She waved it tantalizingly. "Come on, Axis. I know your ass is hungry."

Dismissing the drastic change in vocabulary and tone that Mira had apparently adopted, Axis smiled. "Alright, I could bite."

Takeover: Dragon Soul

Part One:

A Place to Call Home

Page 10:

Trailing

"There ya go." The short man in an off-white uniform known as Hadich breathed in relief as he dumped the body bag onto the hotel floor. "This thing was a pain to find."

"Oh good, you're back." Hadich's partner, the tall man known as Monroe, acknowledged the shorter man upon his entrance. He closed the book he was reading and placed it aside.

"That's all you have to say to me? I searched those damn woods for days before finally finding the damn thing. I'm surprised I didn't have to cut open anything's stomach for it." Hadich kicked the body bag, producing a quiet thud. He sank into the hotel's bed, the feeling almost knocking him out into a deep sleep. "This crackpot plan of yours better have been with it, or you'll be in this bag next."

Monroe took a moment to polish his glasses before approaching the large bag lying on the floor. "Of course, the plan worked. I made sure of it."

"Good impression, but I don't think the boss would be flattered if the likes of you were impersonating him."

Monroe let the comment slide as he placed his sole focus on the bag. He reached to unzip it. "It was not an impersonation. This is the boss' plan."

The mention of the epithet shocked the lazing Monroe, enough to sit him up straight. "You mean, he knows? How'd he take it?"

"Same as everything else, I take it." Monroe shrugged. "Although Zumi sounded pretty fed up."

"Poor girl," Hadich sighed. "I'd go crazy if I had to stay by the boss' side all the damn time."

"Now that's something we can both agree on. Now," Monroe knelt down and unzipped the bag, revealing the cold corpse of a dog. "What secrets can you tell us, MZ-29?" His dramatic opening was cut short with a bout of confusion. "Huh? Where's the rest of it?"

"I didn't say I found all of it," Hadich mumbled to himself.

Monroe grimaced at the sight. The remains of this thing were not pretty to look at. "Well, let's just hope this half has what we need. Maybe it'll even tell us what did this to it. Of course, I'll also require your expertise."

"Of course," the short man nodded. He held his hand out, flat like he played paper in a game of rock-paper-scissors. "Just tell me where."

"Observation Deck."

A translucent blue orb expanded outwards, originating from Monroe's hairless head. It ventured just far enough to cover the remains of MZ-29 before stopping. In this field of Monroe's magic, many spots and marks across the dog's body were highlighted a blue color. Monroe, whose eyes glowed the same color, scanned the highlighted marks and blemishes.

"Yeesh, what did this to you?" Monroes asked the obviously dead animal rhetorically. "It was clearly magical in nature, and the primary source of attack were slashes and cuts. Now, if I know the boss like I like to believe I do, he would put it… there."

Monroe spied the object of his search, a small purple orb, hiding deep inside the animal's brain. It resided an inch or two behind the animal's right eye. A simple spot, but effective nonetheless. Monroe swiftly produced a light pen from his coat pocket. He uncapped the magical item and circled the right side of the dog's head.

"You'll find it here," he explained to his partner. "It's only about a centimeter in diameter and is about one and a half inches from this entry point."

"Yeah, I got it. Move." Hadich shoved the taller man out of the way and kneeled down in front of the subject. He steadily observed the light pen mark before lighting up his flat hand. A sharp magical energy covered the flesh.

"Incision!"

Hadich plunged his hand into the dog's head and back out again in less than a second. He pinched the object of their desire carefully between his forefinger and his thumb. The purple orb glowed faintly, the presence of magic still remaining even after a week.

Hadich stood with the orb in hand as Monroe deactivated his magic field. "A small recording lacrima? And just big enough for the past few days, too."

"It'll do just fine," Monroe assured his companion. "Call Zumi to pick up the body, I'm sure she'll have some use for it." Ignoring Hadich's groan, the tall man sat down with the lacrima resting in his palm. His eyes glowed with magic power once again as he peered into the purple depths.

"Now, show me everything that happened."

…

"So the owners are okay with you living here?"

Axis gulped down the last of his meal and patted his stomach in satisfaction. "Owners?"

Elfman lowered his hands before he took another bite. His expression painted some concern over his face. "You know, the owners of this building? Like the people this old place belongs to?"

"Uh," Axis scratched his chin. He had been living in this old observatory for a few weeks now, but he had never met anyone claiming to own it.

The observatory itself was just a small room seated on top of another, separate building. Obviously, someone probably lived under him, but the folks there either didn't care that he was up here or it wasn't their business.

"Eh, I think I'm fine." Axis waved off Elfman's concern casually. "And if anyone has a problem with that, I'm sure I can convince them with my charming nature."

Mira snorted. "Sure, and if that doesn't work I can help with my own 'charming nature'." It was universally understood that she meant that in a more violent manner than Axis' proposal.

Lisanna looked around the room with a sparkle in her eye, uncaring at just how run-down it was. "Still, it's so cool how you have a place to yourself. It must feel so freeing."

Axis shrugged. "I guess it is. Speaking of, are you all still living at the guild hall?" Noticing Mira's smug look, Axis blinked in disbelief. "No way, did you actually…?"

"You bet," Mira pulled out a set of house keys, dangling them in front of her like she was attracting a dog. "All that job money had to go somewhere, you know."

Axis smiled proudly at his three friends. "Hey, congrats! I'll have to come visit someday."

"Yeah…visit…" Mira rested her chin on her hand and turned away absentmindedly.

The group went quiet, but Axis could tell the three of them had something on their minds. While Mira refused to turn back around, the other two kept shifting their eyes back and forth, awkwardly glancing at Axis and hoping he wouldn't notice. Axis blinked at the sudden tension that had descended on the group.

"Soooo," Axis drew the word on, hoping to spark some sort of conversation. His hope died when neither of the three of them took him up on his offer. His brow furrowed in annoyance. "Alright, what's up? Why are you three all acting like someone just died?"

Lisanna tapped her fingers together. "Axis… why don't you join Fairy Tail?"

Axis recoiled from the sudden, and surprisingly heavy, question. But, his answer remained the same. "I told you, it's just not for me. All that guild stuff tying me down… I don't like it."

"But the guild is more than just about the responsibilities!" Elfman cut in earnestly. "It's like a home for kids like us!"

"There's so many good and weird people there! You'll fit right in!" Lisanna finished her argument. She held the look of a begging puppy. Like literally her face had morphed into a small puppies die to her Animal Soul.

Axis frowned. "Listen, I get that the guild is cool and all but…" he paused for a moment as if to find the right words. "I don't know. I feel better out here in the wild. Being able to do anything wherever I want with no one to tell me no- now that's freedom."

"Mmmmm but I miss you!" Lisanna sprung on the poor boy, her magic now completely shifting her into a small puppy as she padded her paws against his belly. "It'd be so much fun with you there!"

"Yeah, c'mon Axis!" Elfman echoed his little sister's sentiment. "Please!"

Axis looked back and forth between their two pleading faces. Of course, he felt the tug to oblige to their request. Fairy Tail seemed fun, and the stories that they'd told him about all their new friends convinced him so. And it was honestly really heartwarming to see them like this. Even after weeks of barely talking, they still held him in such high regard.

Looking past them, Mira still had not turned around. She kept her face turned away from the interaction as if she knew it was going to end up this way- despite her hope for the opposite.

Axis threw his hands up on the defense, trying to put up a warm expression to calm them down. "Listen guys, I'm touched. Really I am, but…"

He could already see the disappointment creep into their expressions. They both leaned back into their former positions as Lisanna morphed back into a human. They held a certain sadness in their eyes. It hurt Axis' heart to see them like that, but he had to stick to his ideals on this.

…right?

"Lisanna," Mira finally spoke up to break the small confrontation. "It's about time to go, remember?"

Lisanna sprung up abruptly. "Oh no! I might be late!"

Mira sideyed her sister. A devilish smirk could barely be seen from their point of view. "Don't want to keep Natsu waiting. You know how risky it is to leave him alone with that egg. He might just break it."

"Eep!" Lisanna's skin turned a ghostly white at the thought.

"Now that's just mean!" Elfman refuted the statement. "However true it still is…" he mumbled, finishing his thought.

Axis, looking lost, threw Mira a confused gaze. She responded with a look that told him: I'll explain later.

Lisanna wrapped her arms around Axis in a quick embrace. "It was really good seeing you again, but I gotta run!"

She broke from the embrace and quickly ran to the door, throwing it open and stumbling outside. They could hear her panicked squeals even through the closing door.

Elfman glanced between the two older kids as he sat between them. He twiddled his thumbs together, feeling the expectant gaze of his older sister on him. With how much more brusque she had gotten, he didn't want to tempt her temper anymore than he had to.

"I'll… go make sure she doesn't hurt herself." He said his goodbyes to Axis before swiftly shuffling out of the observatory door, leaving Mira and Axis alone together.

A few moments later Mira was chuckling to herself. Axis joined her. It was a confusing and quick series of events but was pretty amusing looking back on it. Their shared amusement was nice and brought the mood just a tad back up to where it had been. The air adopted a certain comfortability, one that only seemed to appear when Axis was alone with the eldest Strauss sibling.

"So what was that about an egg?"

…

"And so what did effectively killing one of those beasts accomplish?"

Monroe clicked his tongue with annoyance. "We gained information, Hadich. That's the most important thing of all."

"Hm. I just don't see what the point of it is when we can just beat its ass anyway." Hadich whistled to himself as he followed his partner.

"That may be so, but knowing what it can do can make the job all the easier. For example," Monroe pushed up his glasses. "Who would have thought it would grow so much in such a short amount of time? All the effort that went into cultivating it seems like such a waste in hindsight."

"It used magic, you said? Like, other than its Take Over, it drew power?"

Monroe nodded. "Amazingly so. All the brainiacs at HQ thought it'd be impossible. Another failed attempt. Boss is going to want his pet back even more, now."

Hadich smiled at the thought of facing the creature. Such an untapped reservoir of power just waiting to be put in its place. "There was someone else there with him, right? A girl with demon powers?"

"You rarely see powers like those nowadays- especially Take Over of that caliber. No matter how carefully we play this, she may be a problem. We need to expect her intervention."

"So we know what to do." Hadich summarized in his terms. "So why haven't we gone after it, yet?"

"Because the boss wants to be completely sure; to know as much as possible and to not take any chances. Since we're the foot soldiers for this, make sure you appreciate his forethought. Plus," he stopped before entering an office building. "It might be fun to watch."

Hadich ruffled his beard as Monroe entered the building. He elected to wait outside while the other man did his thing. "What is the point of this? 'Information', heh. Yeah, right. Who cares what the enemy can do when I can just rush 'em from the beginning?"

The man leaned against the wall with a satisfied grin. "Heh, yeah. Monroe can be a coward and 'learn about the enemy', but I'm gonna be a real warrior and take whatever comes to me head-on!"

"Are you done yet?"

Hadich jumped in scared surprise as Monroe exited the building. It was a quick in-and-out venture, and now they had some work to do. "Come on, we gotta put these up ASAP."

Hadich took a poster from Monroe's hands, examining the text. "Well, I still don't get it, but this is pretty funny. I'll at least have a good laugh when this plan of the Boss' works out. And then I'll get to beat their asses."

Monroe sighed at Hadich's excitement. "You're really hyped to be beating up a few kids. You sure you don't need to get checked out for what you have?"

"Shut the hell up."

…

"Ha ha!" Axis belly laughed at Mira's story. "A real dragon egg? In this day and age? Didn't they go extinct hundreds of years ago or something?"

"Hey, the kid seems pretty convinced." Mira continued. "I don't put much stock in it, but he is a 'dragon slayer'. I'm sure he would know."

"Isn't that scary?" He mocked a shiver of fear. "I should stay far away from this Natsu character, then."

"You'd knock him out before he could even smell you coming." Mira's cheer calmed itself. "It's not just him, there are all kinds of people at Fairy Tail. There's him, a stripper, a bookworm," she made a shaking fist, some anger creeping onto her face. "And that red-haired skank."

Axis sweatdropped. "Do you only remember the weird ones?"

She relaxed herself. "They fight a lot, but they also laugh a lot. Actually, it's mostly just fighting. Don't tell anyone I said this but… it's nice there. It feels like…"

Mira trailed off her sentence, but Axis got the gist of what she was saying even though it wasn't out loud. "It sounds like you're pretty happy there. I'm glad for you."

She shook her head. "It's because of you, Axis. I really was fully prepared to leave all this behind because I was so insecure about my powers. But you showed me the light. You showed me just how much people can care even about a demon like me. So thank you."

"It wasn't all me, remember?" Axis deflected. "I just said some words. Elfman and Lisanna did all the real work."

"And I'll never even think about abandoning them again." Mira exuded determination. "They deserve more than that. From me, they deserve the world."

"So you found where you belong…" Axis spoke mostly to himself. He was extremely happy for his friend. After everything they had been through together and the mental hell that was the past few months for her, she deserved what she felt now.

And yet, inside that warmth was something hollow. Axis felt it deep within himself as they spoke. Homes, people that care for you, and a place where you belong. That woman's voice rang once again in his head, one that he hadn't heard in months.

To find where you are meant to be. To find a place where you belong.

"You know," Mira started, getting his attention back. "It's not quite my home just yet. Something's missing."

"Really?" He questioned. "What is it?"

The punkish girl sat there quietly. She eyed him with a pensive stare. His blank curiosity seemed to piss her off somewhat, as the next thing she did was chuck the bag she used to bring their lunch to him. "Forget it!"

"What?" he gutted out after the bag smacked into his chest.

He didn't get the answer to his question as Mira rose from the couch and made his way to the door outside. She didn't even give him a chance to call after her before she turned her head just a little.

"I got something for you in there. I had some extra money, so…" There was a pink tinge in her cheeks as she said this. "Enjoy it."

With that she closed the door behind her, leaving Axis alone in the quiet observatory once again. He didn't realize it before, but he noticed just how… silent it was when there was no one else.

"What was that all about?" He murmured to himself as he searched the bag. He felt his hands grasp around a small container. He pulled the object out, finding a small box. It had some writing on top, but Axis still couldn't read so he dismissed it.

"What is this?" He pulled the thing out of the container. He examined both sides of it before coming to a conclusion. "This is a cookie, right? I've never had one before. I'll have to thank her the next time I see her."

Axis looked up through the observatory's skylight. The sun shone down through the opening and lit his conflicted face. Clouds passed above like always. There was one, a small wisp that trailed behind a larger collection, that stood out to him. It tried to keep up but could never quite match the speed as the other pulled ahead.

"Fairy Tail… Will they let me reach you? Will I get to touch the sky then?"

He absentmindedly took a small bite from the cookie. He took a second to savor the taste before swallowing.

…It was sweet.