"Are you completely sure this is fine?"

"Why not?"

"Well," Lisanna tapped her fingers together. "I think it's a little much to make them fight each other. What if they get hurt?"

"Pfft," Mira's cheeks puffed with amusement. "I don't think you need to worry too much about that. There's no harm in a little fighting, but I don't count on them going far enough to seriously hurt one another."

Lisanna still seemed unsure. "Still…"

Mira sighed. "Look, I know it doesn't feel right having friends fight other friends, but trust me. This is the only way we can make Axis at least meet the others. He needs to broaden his horizons, and those idiots are the best way to do that. With how fast they warmed up to you and Elfman, I'd be surprised if they aren't all the best of friends by the end of the day."

"So then why are you chasing after him, too?" Lisanna shouted as she started to fall behind her sister. They had just seen the shadow of the dragon boy hop across the street's rooftops, which spurred Mira into tailing him.

"Because this'll be fun!" Mira shouted back over her shoulder. "Just cuz this is for his sake doesn't mean I can't have some fun with it! Now try to keep up!"

Mira bounced up using her Takeover, launching her from the street to the roofs. Lisanna sighed watching her sister excitedly take part in the chase. She still wasn't very on board with this plan, but it was a little too late to stop it now. She glowed white for a split second before emerging from the glow with small wings instead of arms. She hadn't mastered this avian form yet, but it was enough to at least lift her a story or two as she followed her demonic sibling.

Back on the ground, a man took a sip of tea as he watched the two siblings rise. He examined them thoroughly- even from a short distance away- and noted the guild mark stamped on the older one's thigh. The man smiled before continuing to read today's newspaper and enjoying the sweet taste of Magnolia ale.

Takeover: Dragon Soul

Part One:

A Place to Call Home

Page 12:

Thawing

"You people really just don't give up!" Axis launched a punch, intercepting a small icicle that had been shot towards him from a medium range. The ice shattered on contact, sprinkling small water particles onto the roof.

"It's kind of our job!" Gray shouted back, launching some more bullets of ice at his target. He captured some breaths while they flew. They had been acting out this goose chase for the better part of the afternoon, so both his energy and his magic reserves were starting to run thin. Unfortunately, the thief showed little to no signs of slowing down.

Axis easily sidestepped the projectiles from this distance and continued to run away. He didn't have many ranged moves in his arsenal, and each of them required a build-up that left him vulnerable. That was a position he'd rather not be in, especially since he had more than one Fairy on his back.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

From Axis' left side, the small pink-haired boy came barreling towards him. Axis felt the hairs on his neck stand up as the fire got close. Thinking quickly yet recklessly he caught the boy's foot in his draconic hand and tossed him away. The boy went tumbling for a short moment before springing back to his feet. While the ice mage looked like he was almost out of gas, this boy was still ready and raring to go.

Axis cringed, shaking the pain from the hand he had used to deflect the attack. Little could penetrate his scales, but something about that fire magic stung. Its effects lingered far past the original contact, and he feared what it may do to him if he ever allowed a clean hit. The best thing was to keep his distance as the boy had shown little capability in ranged attacks; much like himself.

"Keep your eyes focused!"

Axis recoiled as he was kicked by something heavy. It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage, but he did slide a few feet to the side. He laughed nervously at the slight aching of his scales where he was hit.

"Now that's someone I really don't want to get hit by," he mused to himself as he started down the scarlet-haired knight. She had yet to use any real magic, but just her physical attacks were enough to cause him some distress. She was strong, much more so than the rest. Maybe even more than Mira, and Mira's power had really shocked him before.

Erza squinted at the dragon boy as she studied him. He was obviously a takeover mage, much like the Strauss siblings, but of what kind she did not know. He did show some promise in combat and power as per his small skirmish with Gray earlier, but since then he had yet to put up a real fight.

"Why do you keep running, thief?" She questioned him in their standoff. "You have strength, I can tell. Yet you have only wanted to escape battle rather than attempt to defeat us."

Axis shrugged with a smirk. "What can I say, I'd rather not fight with Fairy Tail mages."

"You don't have much of a choice in the matter." She readied a lunge.

Axis crouched, doing the same. "I always have a choice. It's kind of my thing."

With claws and swords ready, the two mages sprinted at each other in full force. Erza planned on meeting the boy head-on. While he leaked some real telling of his power, she still felt confident in her own abilities to incapacitate him. She just needed an actual fight to do so.

Axis had other plans. Just as the duo was about to clash, he used the weight of his tail to spin him slightly clockwise. This put him at just the right angle to brush past the scarlet knight. Then he planted his talons on her back and used her sturdy frame as a springboard to launch himself even further away.

He chuckled as the knight got thrown off-balance by his unpredictable move. As much as he did want to fight, given how annoying this day-long chase was turning out to be, he didn't want to hurt them. They were Lisanna and Elfman's guildmates, after all. And still, even if it was annoying, this was turning out to be pretty fun, too!

"Gotta be quicker than that to catch me!" He mocked the others as he soared back down to street level, abandoning the Fairies on the rooftops. He tucked and rolled as he collided with the street, the few townspeople giving him some room as he recovered and continued running.

Erza gripped her sword shakily as her face went beet red in embarrassment. Natsu laughed at her misfortune from the sidelines but one well-placed glare quieted him down. Gray caught his breath as he caught up with the group.

"Man…" he said in between breaths. "How slippery can a guy be?"

"Can't catch one person, huh?"

Erza's eye twitched at the voice of the newcomer. It was someone she really didn't feel like talking to right now, especially with how her chase was going. Still, she gritted her teeth and dealt with it.

"I don't see you doing that much, Mirajane," She responded. "I thought this would be a competition?"

Mira crossed her arms lazily. "Trust me, it won't take much for me to win this thing. Plus, it's much more fun seeing you three embarrass yourselves."

"I'm here, too!" Happy shouted from behind a small wall.

"Sorry, four." Mira corrected herself.

"Thanks!"

Erza threw her ponytail over her shoulder. "Why don't you put your mettle where your mouth is? Let's see if the demon of Fairy Tail is as strong as she likes to believe."

"Oh?" Mira quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge from the great Erza Scarlet? Maybe this is a great opportunity to put you in your place."

The other four bystanders, including the newly arrived Lisanna, sweat-dropped at the magical pressure being built up as the two strong girls faced off against one another. They elected to ignore the squabbling for now as they formed a conversation circle.

"This thief guy is really strong!" Natsu put his hands behind his head. "He's even giving Erza trouble."

"Yeah," Lisanna sighed, playing along. "You're gonna need a better plan if you wanna catch him. Maybe try baiting him with food? He's probably hungry by this time of day."

Gray crossed his arms. "Really? Sounds like you know the guy."

Lisanna shrunk under the boy's suspicious gaze. "No! I mean, who wouldn't be hungry after running around all day?"

Gray narrowed his eyes against the youngest Strauss sibling, as Lisanna's flustered answer was less than convincing to the boy. Luckily, there was a much more trusting kid right next to them.

"Oh, I get it! You've been spying on him!" Natsu had a lightbulb moment for only himself. "Good thinking, Lisanna! So we just need to get some food and bait him!"

"We're teaming up!" Happy jumped in the middle, averting Gray's gaze from a sweating Lisanna.

"Then we'd better hurry." The ice mage commented to the others' confusion. "Cuz it looks like we're gonna be trailing behind."

He nodded ahead, and the others turned to see the rest of the rooftop completely vacant of the two quarreling mages. Down on street level, Lisanna could see the red and white-haired wizards racing to go… wherever they were trying to go.

"Crap! They got ahead! Happy, full speed!" Natsu sped in front of the others, a fist raised in determination.

"Aye, sir!"

The other two sighed at the duo's antics before following closely behind.

…

"So your name's Axis?"

Axis nodded casually. "Yep."

Cana furrowed her brow, slightly confused at the situation. "You're the friend that Lisanna and Elfman have been talking about non-stop?"

Axis glanced at the other boy in question, who just bashfully looked down. Axis smirked. "I didn't know I was so popular."

Cana held up a poster, its words completely illegible to the illiterate dragon boy. "But this is you, right?"

Without knowing the meaning of the words, Axis could hazard a guess as to what she was trying to show him. "I don't know what that says, but the drawing is pretty good. Really captured by stunning heroism, you know?"

" Cana?" a whispered voice could be heard behind the brown-haired girl. The little head of another girl peaked out. This one had a lighter blue shade of hair compared to Axis' own midnight blue. " Are you sure you should be talking to him? He could be dangerous!"

"I can hear you." Axis reminded the poor girl.

"Eep!" The girl ducked behind Cana's back, who only laughed at her friend's fearfulness.

"I told you, Levy," Elfman reassured her. "Axis is a friend of ours. A really good one. He wouldn't attack anyone unless they attacked him first."

Axis playfully bared his fangs. "You wanna fight, little girl?"

"No…"

"Cut it out…" Elfman said, already feeling tired from Axis' playfulness.

"Yeah, yeah," Axis complied, putting his fangs away and relaxing on the bench. He had been running from the Fairy Tail wizards, and he somehow ended up back in the park. That was where he saw Elfman, who had also been walking around with two other guildmates. He approached them, and surprisingly they decided to talk instead of fighting him- something he appreciated. He was getting pretty hungry, after all. "So is there any way I can get your friends off my back, or am I just gonna have to beat 'em all up?"

"Sorry if they've been giving you trouble," Cana apologized, to which Axis waved her off as if to say 'not your fault'. "I tried talking them down but they seemed pretty fired up about it."

Levy finally came out of Cana's shadow to address Axis directly. "Mira seemed pretty riled up about it, so…"

"Mira?" Axis questioned in surprise. He hadn't seen her all day. "What does she have to do with this?"

Elfman averted his gaze from his friend's questioning glare. "This whole thing may or may not be her idea."

Axis frowned. "Like the bounty?"

The follow-up question had Elfman panicking to answer. "No! No, she didn't make the bounty. It was already out on you when we saw it. She just got the idea for everyone to come after you."

Axis pinched the bridge of his nose, his head hurting trying to piece things together. "Why?"

Seeing as how Cana and Levy would have absolutely no understanding of what was going on in the brain of Fairy Tail's resident demon girl, all eyes were now pinned on Elfman. The boy was less than pleased with the attention.

"I don't know what she was thinking. By the time I was going to speak up, they had already left to find you." Elfman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to think of a reason. "I mean, Mira's been pretty angry about something lately. Something about you, I think."

Axis hung his head back after hearing that. While these three couldn't piece it together, he certainly could. With all of her failed attempts to get him to join Fairy Tail, this was obviously another ploy to do so. If she couldn't get him to Fairy Tail…

"...bring Fairy Tail to me. Does she really want me to join that bad?"

"If I may?" The voice of Levy piped up, getting his attention. She tapped her fingers together unsurely, but her words were true. "You're like, half the things they talk about. Mira and Lisanna and Elfman. And when they talk about you, it's always so warm and comforting. It sounds like they really miss you, even if you still live in Magnolia."

"To be honest, we can't get them to shut up about you," Cana added, a little crass and embellished but still coming from the right place. "You're like a missing brother that they can't find."

Axis took their words to heart, looking back at the embarrassed Elfman to verify. "Really? Is that true?"

The rosy color on Elfman's cheeks was a tell, but he still decided to speak to it. "We do talk about you a lot. You did teach Lisanna and me most of our magic. And also, well, we do miss you. Mira goes on and on about how lonely you look all the time when she hangs out with you. I think she's just looking out for you in her own way."

As Axis mulled over their words, his heart started to feel a little heavy. In his mind, he was free. A person with no restrictions and no reservations. With nothing to tie him down, he could live as he pleased.

But often he found himself thinking. Ever since he met the Strausses, life just got more fun. Way more fun than he had ever experienced before. With them around he could laugh, cry, fight, protect, and show himself to anyone more than the random person he stole from.

Even though it was such a short time, he missed when they all hung out together, ate together, and slept next to each other. There was a warmness in the family they had created. Now they stayed at Fairy Tail, and his distaste for being tied down has prevented them from doing those things. They moved ahead, and he had stagnated.

"I got you now!"

The other three were shocked at the voice coming from the sky, and a quick check confirmed who it was. The hot-headed Natsu came barreling towards Axis with reckless abandon, Happy doing the brunt work with his wings. Natsu's fists were already ignited with dragon fire, and he smirked once he spotted his target.

"Get ready!"

Cana gasped, already taking Levy's hand and backing away from the predicted impact zone. Elfman went to grab Axis.

"Watch out!" Elfman cried out to warn his friend, but it was all too late…

…for Natsu, that is.

Axis, head clouded with thoughts and brain hurting from thinking, spun on his heel right as Natsu came into range. He bared his fangs at the kid and met the dragon-slayer bullet with his own draconic fist. "I'm not in the mood!"

In an instant Natsu and Happy were thrown off course, crash-landing heavily into the brush and tumbling a few dozen feet away. Axis dropped his fist back to his side, but he could tell the surprise assault wasn't over yet as the other boy came springing to meet them.

"That idiot! I knew he would do this!" Gray cursed out Natsu before quickly starting his attack while Axis was still standing there unmoving. He directed his hands to the sky above Axis, shooting out another one of his ice creations. "Ice-Make: Cage!"

Axis saw the creation descend upon him, the haphazardly made icicle bars already melting in the warm weather. His eyes dilated as he took it in. Its squared and rigid form, the little room between the bars to move around, and the lock that was the only exit.

His head panged with pain when he looked at it, and the closer it got the more nauseous he felt. Something about such an object unlocked both repressed and uncomfortable memories. Visions of his past he couldn't make sense of, but screamed just one feeling:

Cages sickened him.

"Lay off! Arcane Dragon's Roar!"

Axis expelled his sick and confused feelings into his attack, banishing them from his internal reservoir and completely shattering Gray's last resort. The boy in question knew that, just by looking at the massive blast Axis had created, he was outclassed.

Gray fell to his knees with fatigue, the day's events finally catching up with his young body. "You gotta be kidding me… Was he just playing around before?"

Before anything else could happen, Elfman threw himself in front of Axis. "Guys stop! You don't need to fight anymore!"

Natsu chose that moment to make his reappearance, clutching his forehead where he was struck. A small bruise was forming, but that was the least of his worries. He was clutching his nostrils closed, his eyes watering slightly.

"Man, you stink. I ought to beat you up for even reminding me of Igneel. Come on, Happy. Let's rush him again!"

Happy looked more than tuckered out, resting casually on Natsu's head as they approached. "No can do, Natsu. I'm tapped out…"

"Alright, I'll get him myself!" Natsu gently placed Happy on the ground before storming Axis once again. Seeing this, Elfman quickly went to intercept.

"Cut it out, Natsu! Stop fighting!" Natsu tried to circumvent Elfman's obstacle, but the slightly larger boy always kept the edge. This caused Natsu to cry out in frustration.

"Get out of the way! I wanna fight him!"

"Axis is my friend!" Elfman shouted tersely to the boy. "I'm not letting you go after that bounty anymore!"

Natsu, seemingly giving up, walked back a few paces and crossed his arms. "I don't care about that bounty. He smells weird so I wanna beat him up."

Elfman sweatdropped from such a simple reason. "Oh, is that so?"

The party didn't stop there, as just as things were starting to die down another person had found them. The group watched as the small form of Lisanna was pushing a cart hurriedly towards them. Weirdly, the container was filled with a bunch of different fruits and food items.

"Natsu! Gray! I said to wait for me!" She complained as she grouped up with them, glaring sternly at the pink-haired boy. Axis stared in wonder when the two boys became bashful from her complaints. They both grew red in the cheeks, apparently embarrassed that they had not listened to the little girl. Lisanna pouted. "Honestly, we had a plan!"

Gray crossed his arms. "Sorry, Lisanna, but half-pint here doesn't know how to listen. I tried to clean up his mess."

Natsu balled up his fists and got in Gray's face as a response, smirking. "Oh yeah? It's not my fault you're too damn slow to keep up!"

Gray wasted no time in getting in Natsu's face. "You wanna test just how slow I am?"

"You're on!"

The two wasted no time in starting their fight, the scuffle becoming just a large ball of smoke and dust while they tried to fruitlessly settle their differences. Axis watched them unsurely while the rest of the Fairy Tail mages only sighed. This was an eventual outcome, he thought.

"Shouldn't you be stopping this?" Axis asked the rest, to which they only shook their heads solemnly.

"It'll settle down eventually. Or not." Cana turned her back on the duo, instead noticing the cart of food that Lisanna brought with her. "Hey Lisanna, are these up for grabs?"

Lisanna took a moment to examine the situation- specifically how Axis didn't seem keen on running away and how casual they all were. Her response was set once she heard the dragon boy's stomach growl loudly. "Well, I don't have much use for them now so… eat up!"

Cana took a bite from an apple while the rest took their pick from the small pile. She juggled an orange with her right hand. "Are you hungry stripper number two?"

Axis' eye twitched, already knowing she was referring to him. "It's a choice."

He didn't answer her question, but his stomach growling once again answered it for him. Cana smiled warmly, tossing the orange over to him. "Eat up, then. You're Lisanna and Elfman's friend, right? Join in!"

Axis grabbed the juicy orange from the air, staring at its bright color. He looked around, the few kids of Fairy Tail already conversing lightly with one another joyously and lightly, as if the events of the day were nothing more than a memory. They certainly weren't treating him like some criminal to hunt down. Gray and Natsu even stopped fighting to join in on the meal.

His expression upturned- just a smidge- as he bit into his first piece of food since a day or two ago. He couldn't help the small fuzzy feeling gathering in his chest. It felt delicious.

…

Heavy footsteps thundered on the dirt road. Fallen leaves from the turning of the season crunched as the boots belonging to a certain man trampled over them. The man scanned his eyes over his surroundings. It was obvious he was looking for something- or someone.

He took a swig of some Magnolia ale. He reveled in the taste, though it wasn't as good as the stuff back at home. Some of the alcohol missed his mouth, instead staining his collar with a deep brown color. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He would have to wash this damn thing again. The boss was always particular about keeping the off-white color of their uniforms, and he'd rather not be on the boss's hit list if he could help it.

"Now, where did they go? I just lost sight of 'em. They should be around here…"

The man turned around a corner of the path, the treeline clearing up slightly and allowing him to finally spot what he had been looking for. He smiled, grateful to whatever god was looking out for him. He didn't need to suffer with abhorrent boredom any longer. His partner may be angry at him for doing this, but hey, who could blame him for not feeling like waiting any longer? He was a man of action after all, plans and calculations just didn't suit him. And it seemed like that 'impatience' was paying off.

The man stored his bottle of ale on his belt loop, freeing up both hands if he needed them. He cracked his knuckles and his neck, getting ready for any sort of confrontation possibility. He sauntered up casually to the small gathering, making sure to 'accidentally' bump into one of his targets.

"Oh, excuse me miss!" He apologized quickly as the small girl turned towards him. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's fine!" The sweet girl accepted his apology rather quickly. The man would almost feel bad if he actually cared about these kids.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be a Takeover mage, would you?"

The girl frowned in confusion at the question, but her personality required her to answer sweetly and truthfully. "Uh, yeah. But I'm kinda new at it, so… Why do you ask?"

The man smiled, his teeth mockingly sweet. This was her after all. And judging by what he saw, this would be fantastically easy. Both of his targets were here, and they were ripe for the taking.

"Just curious," Hadich lied to the white-haired girl. He poured some magic into his hand, a magical blade forming over it. He could see the girl's eyes being put on edge from his action. Now was the time. "Although, I think I would like to put it to the test."

Without a word of warning, the man lunged.

Apologies for the long wait. A new college semester just started and I've been busy. I can't promise that I can deliver a chapter every week like I did all throughout the summer, so chapters are going to be slowing down from here on out. I really have no idea when new chapters will be ready to be uploaded, so please bear with me from now on! On another note, this story has become much larger than I dared hope for. I just want to thank you all for the support over this past summer, it really does mean the world to me! I look forward to reading every single review, and I feel so grateful to anyone that takes the time to write one out. Y'all are really awesome!

See you guys next time!