Mira sat by herself, arms crossed and chin resting on the table in front of her. Her pale face beheld an ugly scowl that drove away any guildmates who even thought about talking to her. In such a short time after joining Fairy Tail, she already gained the reputation of a demon. It was a testament to how much her mindset had changed when that fact didn't even bother her anymore. But, that wasn't exactly the reason she was acting like this.

"Freedom my ass," she grumbled to herself, not noticing how some people close by had heard her and wondered just what the hell she was talking about. "You just sit in a big building by yourself all day. Doesn't look as good as you make it out to be."

"Are you talking about Axis?"

Mira shifted her eyes over to the newcomer who had just sat down on the bench opposite her. Thankfully, she didn't have to tell the eavesdropper off as it was someone she actually liked.

Lisanna placed her head down on her hands, elbows resting on the table. Her eyes had a certain sparkle, and Mira couldn't quite place why. "You think about him a lot, huh?"

"He's so damn stubborn!" Mira threw her hands up to exaggerate her point. "Sure he can 'do whatever he wants' but he's doing it alone and he doesn't get it."

Lisanna dropped her mischievousness and pouted. "I get what you mean. Whenever me and Elfman visit, he always looks so lonely. Have you tried talking to him about it?"

Mira clicked her tongue. "Of course I have, but he just won't listen. Either he doesn't answer or he says the same BS answer he always does." She groaned. "Why doesn't he just get it? I should just drag him over here myself."

"Well, isn't that just what Axis is like?" Lisanna offered warmly. "And you can't force someone into a decision like that. Then he'll never join. You need to convince him."

"Yeah, yeah." Mira sighed, defeated. "Since when did you become so mature?"

"I had to keep Natsu in line somehow," Lisanna yawned tiredly. "Trying to hatch Happy was a lot more work than I thought."

"I bet it was. You're taking care of two babies at once." Mira smirked in response to her sister's plight.

"Can't argue with that."

The pair's eyes drifted to the back of the guild hall, where most of the guild's kids usually hung out. Of course, the usual sight of Natsu and Gray in another brawl was unsurprising. Cana and Levy stood in place just watching it happen. Elfman looked like he wanted to stop it, but was too nervous to intervene. And as usual, Mira could see her red-headed rival finally take notice of the conflict and make her way over.

There was a new person who joined the throng. Though it wasn't human. Instead, it was a small, blue cat cheering Natsu on. The curious thing was, that the cat was flying. Angel-like wings protruded from his back. Such a mysterious creature, and yet the guild was quick to accept Happy all the same.

Looking back, Mira was an idiot for ever thinking Fairy Tail would turn her away. These people let anyone in on the fun, no matter how different you were. That's just how the guild master ran things, and they were better off for it. If only her idiot friend could recognize that and stop withering away in loneliness.

As her thoughts went back to Axis, her mood dropped in tandem. She ruffled her long hair in frustration. She slammed her hands down on the table, shooting up. "I'm taking a job. I gotta distract myself."

"Can I come?" Lisanna practically begged. "I really need some time off."

Mira smiled mockingly. "Sure, I'll pick something easy just for you."

"I'm not that weak!" Lisanna pouted as the two made their way over to the job board.

As always, the wooden noticeboard was packed with opportunities. Fairy Tail was a pretty popular guild, after all. So many varied requests populated the space, including hardcore activities like monster slaying or criminal catching to more mundane tasks like cleaning up a street or just helping some guy run his shop.

"Hmm, what to do…" Mira tapped her chin in thought. She usually defaulted to monster slaying when she quested on her own, but with Lisanna here it was a different story. Her little sister wasn't strong enough to really protect herself, so Mira didn't want to risk taking one of those.

"Oooh, that one's in Magnolia!" Lisanna got Mira's attention.

Mira traced her sight to where Lisanna was pointing. A freshly-printed poster stood out near the top, just out of reach from her shorter sister. Sure enough, the location was in Magnolia. The reward money was a little low, but it would serve as a nice way to deter her thoughts from her dragon-boy friend.

"Let's see… 'Local thief has stolen various goods from the Magnolia marketplace, including many shipments of fruits and bread products. This thief is known to wear no shirt… and no… shoes…'"

Mira's interest in the bounty lowered with every passing second as she read on. The realization of just who this bounty was after was not lost on her, and it definitely did not miss Lisanna. The little girl looked mortified at what her older sister just recited.

"Oh my gosh, he got a bounty!"

Lisanna's horrification was contrasted with Mira's exasperation. The demon girl crumpled the poster frustratingly, seemingly even more pissed off at Axis than she was prior.

"I knew something like this would happen! I told that moron a thousand times to stop stealing! Oh, when I get my hands on him-!"

"But you know…" Lisanna tapped her chin. "I would've thought he'd be worth more. With a reward like that, no wizard who needs money would even bother taking the time to catch him."

"I guess that's something I can actually be thankful for." Mira calmed herself back down- although she still held some fury silently within her- and took another moment to examine the poster. "It went up just recently, too. Axis must've really pissed someone off this time." Mira looked over to see Lisanna heading towards the guild hall doors. "Where are you going?"

"I have to warn him," Lisanna responded over her shoulder. "He needs to at least know about this before he tries stealing again."

As much as it annoyed her, Mira was inclined to agree. The bounty was a hassle, but all the effort needed to break someone out of jail was even more of one. She'd rather deal with a few flyers than an incarcerated friend. She followed after her little sister with the full intent of knocking some sense into the dragon boy while she was there.

That was until the cogs in her head started turning. What they cooked up was devious, devilish, and supremely entertaining all at once. While she may not be able to get rid of the bounty completely, she could still teach a lesson that the boy would not soon forget. As a plus, she could get a good laugh out of it as well. It all involved the source of the ruckus from within the guild hall.

"You call that a punch you stripper?!"

"Tougher than whatever you call flames, you fire-breathing freak!"

Levy sighed as she watched the two boys bicker. "Erza just stopped them and they're already back to it…"

"Eh, leave 'em to it," Cana dismissed Levy's exasperation. "At least something interesting is going on here."

Mira stalked up to the group, the poster in hand, just as Erza had returned once again to stop the fighting. She tried to keep her mischievous delight contained. This was going to be one hell of a day.

Takeover: Dragon Soul

Part One:

A Place to Call Home

Page 11:

Dragon, Meet Fairy

Axis held his stomach, grimacing at the feeling that was internalized. The organ moaned and groaned, stating its obvious need for something to eat. He punched it a few times to redirect the feeling, but it always came back in full force.

"Will you shut up," he admonished the subject of his ire. "I'm working on it."

The boy sat around the corner of a small alleyway, leaning just a little bit outside to study his quarry. He was next to a small dessert shop with outdoor seating. The items he wanted smelled absolutely amazing, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on one.

"There she is," he smirked, finding the poor soul he was about to rob. "Now I just gotta wait a few minutes."

This has been a cycle once every few days. This specific customer would buy a large helping of cake, and they would always take an obscene amount of time enjoying it small bite by small bite. But, once every few bites, they would always turn and thank the baker for their hard work. It was quite a ridiculous ritual, but that moment was the only opening he had to take one of the cakes without being spotted.

Just like clockwork, his target turned her head away from her food, leaving it fully open to his nefarious plot. The boy casually strolled out from the alleyway and approached the lone table. He eyed the half-eaten cake doggedly. He had gone too far to back out now, and he was really, really hungry.

He tentatively reached out for his prize. Just a few more inches and the taste of this cake was all his to enjoy!

Stab!

"AH!"

Axis reeled back just in time before a metal fork slammed into the table where his hand was just hovering. It moved so quickly that he wouldn't have even had the time to use his magic for protection. The fork itself had stabbed so far into the table that it threatened to break the whole thing.

The girl he planned to steal from was deathly quiet, turning back to catch him in his crime. Her grip on her fork was like steel and she seemed unfazed at the damage she had done. Her eyes focused squarely on him and him alone.

"Just what is it you think you're doing?"

The question was calm, yet Axis could detect something cold behind the words. It felt as if he had just committed something terrible, and this girl was sure to deliver him punishment. Magical pressure seeped out from her lightly armored form. It was not something to sneeze at.

"Spare some food for the impoverished?" Axis quickly came up with something to say, trying to throw her off and cover himself at the same time.

The girl obviously didn't buy it, instead reaching into her pocket and unfurling a small poster. "'A thief roaming Magnolia Town. He is in his young teens with dark blue hair. He wears no shirt and no shoes and can use some form of enhancement magic.' I assume this is you?"

Axis felt his heart drop with every word she said. Did they put a bounty on him? He didn't realize just how badly he had been terrorizing these people. He would have felt worse for them if he didn't feel in danger at that moment.

"It would seem so," the girl took Axis' silence as confirmation. "I received word of a suspicious individual matching this description lurking around this store the past couple of days. Who knew a supposed 'experienced thief' would leave such an obvious trail."

Axis' lips upticked into a nervous smile as he tried to slowly back away from his scarlet-haired peer. "Now, let's be peaceful here. We wouldn't wanna start anything in the middle of this guy's store, right?"

"I'll offer you one chance to come peacefully," the girl offered, clearly certain that she would come out on top if they were to start a conflict. To be honest, Axis had no idea what she was capable of. "Come with me now, and I won't have to bring you in by force."

It looked like she was answered as Erza spotted the slow takeover of dark-blue scales originating from the thief's hands. His nails creepily transformed into sharp claws. She steadily unsheathed her sword, ready for the conflict to break out.

Axis didn't necessarily want to fight this girl. She was obviously just a wizard for hire, and she seemed like she beheld some sort of moral compassion even to someone like him. But, he sure as hell didn't want to go to jail, and she wasn't really giving him much voice in the matter. Even if he ran, he had a feeling she wouldn't be too far behind.

As the two wizards squared off, they suddenly heard a voice carried by the wind. It started somewhat distant, but it got exponentially closer with every second. It wasn't long until the source was already on top of them.

"Erza! Stop right there! He's mine!"

While Axis looked on in surprise, Erza just groaned at the voice.

"Wait, wait, wait! Slow down, Happy!"

"I can't, Natsu!" A much smaller voice was heard in tandem with the brazen one. "I don't know how!"

"Incoming!"

The owners of the two voices appeared from the sky. They crash-landed headlong into the one thing they probably shouldn't have- the scarlet knight. Axis watched as the trio went tumbling down together, smashing into and upturning multiple displays and tables. Some regular passersby were scared off by the event, while some just watched on like it was a semi-regular occurrence.

Natsu scrambled to rise to his feet. A large bump now populated the top of his head. He rubbed it softly. "What the heck, Happy? I thought you said you could fly?"

The little blue cat stood wobbling on his small paws. "I can… But I can't carry you that well."

Natsu huffed. "Whatever. What broke our fall, anyway? It was super tough…"

"Uh, Natsu…?" Happy gently tugged the boy's pants.

Natsu looked around- everywhere but the place Happy was trying to point out. "I wonder where Erza went? She was just here, right? Maybe I scared her off with how cool I looked."

"Natsu!"

"What?" The boy finally listened to his cat buddy and followed his lead. What he saw made his heart stop.

Erza had taken the brunt of the collision. She was adorned with scratches on her face and armor, and the cake that she had been eating was now plastered all over her head. If looks could kill, well, Natsu already felt his soul leave his body.

"Listen, Erza. It was just a mistake, right? We didn't mean to crash into you, honest!" The boy tried to make excuses as the knight regained her footing. She casually brushed off some of the cake from her face and armor. She did not look happy.

Happy hid behind Natsu's leg as the scarlet-haired knight approached. The two quivered in place, having already accepted their fate. However, Erza just brushed past the two, her attention somewhere else.

"The thief," she scanned the road filled with townspeople, but she could not spot the dark blue hair. "Did you see where he went?"

Natsu gulped, already knowing his answer would not be to her liking. "Uh, no?"

Erza shot an evil glare towards the boy. Her plan had gone to shambles in just a few seconds and now their target was long gone with no way to track him. There'd be no way he would be as reckless as he was before, so trying to catch him would be an even harder task. Now that damnable Mirajane might just pull ahead…

Erza was about to reprimand her fellow guildmates for their careless actions, but that was before she saw the disgusted look on Natsu's face. Her more caring side came to light. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, just…" Natsu tried to plug his nose, but the smell still pervaded. "Something here smells… really, really gross."

…

"Man, what the hell!" Axis leaned against the cobbled building foundation in the large sidestreet he now found himself in. "Those people are crazy. And probably pretty strong, too." He more so thought about the knight rather than the other kid. "I don't think I want to stick around and see what that chick's capable of."

"But still, were those…?" He flashed back to the few times he talked with the Strausses, and how they described their guildmates at Fairy Tail. Their descriptions did line up, especially with that kid and the flying cat at the end. "Those are Fairy Tail wizards, right? Makes sense given I have a bounty on my head, now."

"Great, what exactly am I supposed to do now?" Axis pondered the thought as he felt the coldness of the wall behind him. He didn't really want to skip town, but living here was about to be much more complicated than before. Would the others understand if he had to leave?

Axis stood up from the wall, the coldness feeling somewhat uncomfortable now. Maybe he could convince whoever gave him the bounty to repeal it? He would have to figure out who he pissed off first, and then finding them may pose a bigger problem.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Axis felt the ground itself rapidly cooling underneath the soles of his feet. It was a pretty hot day out, even a shaded area wouldn't be this cold.

"Ice-Make: Floor!"

"What the-!" Axis was shocked as the floor under him rapidly froze over, a glistening solid sheen of ice now encasing the cobbled stone. He jumped to avoid getting caught, but that didn't stop him from falling back down onto it. His feet touched the slippery surface, unable to gain purchase before getting shot out from under him.

"Wah!" Axis slipped, flipping upside down and landing on his back. He slowly and steadily tried to rise back to his feet, using the wall to support himself. "Alright, who's the funny guy?"

"This looks a little familiar," came a voice from further down the alley. "Are you an Ice-Make mage?"

Axis finally wobbled to his feet, feeling any moment where one misstep would cause him to fall again. Getting an idea, he transformed his feet and used his dragon claws to dig into the ice itself, allowing him to stand relatively upright.

"No," he responded to the voice, trying to find its source. "But I'm guessing you…"

Axis blinked at the guy he saw. It was a little kid, maybe one or two years his younger, with jet-black hair and a cocky grin. He held a fist in his palm, ready to cast his ice magic at any point. The only odd thing was…

"Where's your clothes, dude?"

"Huh?" The boy glanced down and was shocked to see that he was wearing nothing but his underwear. He searched his immediate surroundings, but couldn't seem to find the missing articles anywhere. "When did that happen?"

Axis chuckled at the apparent mishap. Mira did say there was a stripper.

"Why're you laughing?" The boy summoned a magic circle in his hands. "You don't look better off."

Axis crouched down in response to the boy's readiness to attack, prepared to lunge. "It's a choice for me, I'm not so sure about you."

"Whatever! Ice-Make: Lance!" The boy ended the conversation by forming and shooting multiple spears of ice out from his magic circle.

There were a good amount of spears heading Axis' way, and the attack would have been a problem if the street didn't have so much open space. Luckily, there was more than enough room for Axis to skirt around the sharp ice creations.

Axis tried to close the distance between him and the mage, but even with his claws, the icy floor made it hard to move swiftly without risking losing his footing. Instead, Axis opted to swirl quickly in place, using the slippery surface to spin exceptionally fast. He summoned his long tail and imbued the tip with magic.

"Arcane Dragon's Maelstrom!"

Axis shot a slicing beam of magic energy with every rotation of his body. It was like he was using Arcane Dragon's Whip multiple times in a row, causing a large number of projectiles to be expelled from his body in a short period of time. This impromptu move created an overwhelming number of things for his enemy to dodge.

The boy's eyes widened at the storm of attacks coming his way, which was caused in part by his icy floor. He couldn't dodge all of them, so he needed to go for defense instead. He slammed his hands together before placing them on the floor.

"Ice-Make: Wall!"

A large, literal wall of ice erupted from the ground in front of him. It spanned most of the width of the street and was thick enough to hopefully protect him. He had to pour a bit more magic into it to make that so, but it was worth it as the multiple projectile slash attacks crashed into the wall, each one of them unable to puncture its thick form.

However, he could tell that the sheer number of attacks was starting to overwhelm even that wall. It was beginning to crack, so the boy had to come up with some sort of plan to counterattack.

"Arcane Dragon's Spear!"

Before the boy could even start to formulate his next course of action, Axis shot himself straight into the wall like a battering ram. His extended dragon legs shattered the weakened wall of ice and put him in an advantageous position above the ice mage.

Gray Fullbuster looked up in shock as the remaining particles and chunks of ice rained back down on top of him. His shock turned quite fearful as the half-transformed dragon boy twirled in the air and extended one leg horizontally as he came crashing down.

"Arcane Dragons Guillotine!"

Axis' attack exploded on the street, causing large chunks of ice and stone to go flying everywhere. In the small crater he had created with the attack, he noted how his opponent had gone missing. He had missed, it seemed.

He cracked a smile. "Slippery little kid, aren't ya?"

Gray was pressed tightly against a wall, just narrowly avoiding the full force of the attack. His blood turned cold at the sight of the crater. Had he been in the line of fire from a move that strong…

The boy gulped nervously. I think I'm a little out of my league here.

But that didn't stop Gray in the slightest. He wouldn't ever get stronger if he never punched above his weight, after all. He slammed his hist into his open palm and summoned a magic circle. Axis prepared for whatever the ice mage created next with an excited smile.

"Ice-Make-!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Just then a torrent of fire came barreling down the street aimed precisely at where the two wizards were facing off. They both flinched as the sea of fire crept closer. Gray disposed of his attack to instead throw up some protection.

"Ice-Make: Shield!"

Gray cringed as the familiar flames licked his shield. They weren't nearly as powerful as his previous opponent's attacks, but they still caused some meltage on the shield's surface. It was a few seconds before the onslaught ended. He scowled once he finally got a clear picture of the third party.

"Dang it, flame-brain, are you trying to roast me?!"

Natsu came into view down the street. He was out of breath from both his attack and also from running. Happy the cat rested gently on his head, clearly too tired to keep flying. He was still a fledgling at the magic, so it was understandable.

"What do you think you're doing, stealing my target!" Natsu retorted, getting up in his rival's face. "I saw him first so he's mine!"

"I had him on the ropes! I was just about to hit him with a strong attack!" Gray didn't take Natsu's challenge sitting down. He also got in the other boy's face.

Natsu smirked pettily. "Last time I checked you don't have any strong attacks, icicle-head."

Happy decided that was the best moment to depart from Natsu's head, instead deciding to take a few steps back from the new confrontation. "Oh boy, here we go…"

"What! You want to test that theory?" Gray was ticked off now.

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed. "I bet you won't even be able to scratch me!"

"Grrrrr! It's on!" Gray leaped back a place or two and prepared an attack. Natsu followed his lead and did the same.

"Bring it!"

The two glared at each other, now grateful for the chance to settle the score once and for all. They both summoned magic circles and let their powers flow. The tension between them reached its apex as they were about to unleash hell on this small street side.

"What are you two doing?"

At the sound of the voice Gray immediately dropped his stance, aiming to look as docile as possible. Natsu, however, didn't take the hint and instead assaulted the newcomer just for interrupting them.

An ill-advised choice as Erza quite easily dispatched the raging child with one blow, slamming a fist into his head and leaving the poor dragon slayer lying stunned on his behind. Gray felt some amusement at the sight but wiped the grin off his face once Erza looked his way.

"I'm guessing you fought with the thief here?" She conjected, noting melting ice off the ground and the crater.

"Y-yeah," Gray nodded after getting over his slight sense of fear. "At least, before this guy stopped me." Natsu just groaned from his spot on the floor.

"I see. Do you have any idea where he went?"

It was here that Gray noticed how the thief had all but disappeared. It looked like he had used the distraction of Natsu's attack to escape the situation. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "No. Not at all."

"He climbed up on the roof!" Happy helpfully offered, having seen the boy use his powers to dig into the building sides and scale the wall. He could even still see the small holes that remained from the action, giving them some clue as to their quarry's whereabouts.

Erza smiled down at the cat. "Good eyes, Happy. Now that we have a lead, I'm sure Natsu can track the thief to his next location." She glared down at the pink-haired boy, who in turn felt a chill crawl down his spine. "Right?"

Natsu rocketed to his feet, not trying to feel the wrath of the knight again. "Aye, sir!"

It didn't take long for Natsu to lock in the scent again. It was good that the smell was so unique compared to the regular aromas of Magnolia. Still, the smell puzzled the simple-minded boy. He cringed just having to taste it. It reminded him of rotting food in the garbage or some rotting corpse of an animal left out from a hunt. It wasn't pleasant to experience in the slightest.

And yet, it felt almost nostalgic. It reminded him of a smell from just months ago, one he longed to smell once again sometime soon.

It reminded him of Igneel.