Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.

-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-

Chapter 36: Infiltrating and Kidnapping.

Year: X756. 28 years till Canon begins.

No POV, One Step Ahead Jones:

"So… That's what this is about? Quite the discovery." Came the voice of One Step Ahead Jones in the darkness, only being illuminated by the nearby campfire. "I took you all for granted on my way here about this village. Was surprised to see you back it up."

Jones had spent the last week and a half travelling to the backwater village just a few hours away from Crocus, about an insane discovery relating to a village being hidden in a mountain range. Jones certainly had a difficult time believing this story, but when the messenger the bandits and sent offered him the hefty sum of 500,000 jewels for assistance he simply could not refuse.

He had simply been sitting in a nearby bar at the far end of the room, when a shifty looking fellow sat down at the table across from him, and began to tell Jones about a possible job for him – this shifty man whispering loud enough for Jone's to hear, while also making sure no one else in the nearby vicinity could hear.

When Jones learned about a village that was supposedly hidden in the mountains north of Crocus, he thought the man had gone mad. Such a village was not documented on any maps Jones had seen in his life before, so he did not believe the man and quickly dismissed him. The man then surprised Jone's, by offering to pay him 500,000 jewels for the job.

This got Jone's attention. Either these people had money to throw away, or they were bring serious – and no smart man would ever just throw away money. This got Jone's curious just enough to allow the man to escort him to their camp, where he was now being briefed on the task.

And now here he was sitting by a campfire hearing about a hidden village in the mountains he was just next to.

"Yes well… I certainly had a hard time believing it when this lot back here kept going on about it. Had to get the confirmation myself before we came to you." Came the leader of the bandits.

Apparently this group of bandits had accidentally overheard that there was a hidden village in the mountains just north of Crocus. They had confirmed this by using one of their mages to use their magic on a nearby lake, to try to see if there was a hidden opening into the mountain. They found that a nearby lake outside led in there, however it involved a risk of potentially drowning along the way.

"When we found out that it was real and we could get the girl to sell her off to the highest bidder, we just had to hire a man that could do the job and not betray us." The bandit boss explained with a nasty smile.

Ah yes. The girl with Healing Magic, that certainly threw Jones for a surprise.

Jones knew through work, that Healing Magic was one of the most prized and most well sought after magics in the world. It was a lost magic so hardly anyone in the world had it. Many Dark Guilds would pay a hefty price for someone with that power. These bandits seemed to have that idea.

"Not a bad idea for a quick profit. Though there is the risk of being betrayed by the guild, them keeping the money for themselves." Jones remarked back.

"We've already made preparations for that. We asked anonymously how much a nearby Dark Guild would take for a healing wizard. They came back saying two and a half million. When we have her, we'll be going there to drop her off and collect the money. And you'll be coming with us to keep us safe in case things go south." The bandit boss firmly said.

"Of course. That was part of the deal when I took this. I hope you make sure to-"

"Yes, yes we'll spread the word about how good and efficient you are. I'm sure that'll help you get your position on that ranking up a bit." The boss cut Jones off.

"Excellent." Jones said standing up. "When do I move in then?"

"We're good to go on our end here. We'll take you to the lake that leads into the village." The boss said, as he as well stood up and barked to the rest of his grunts to get a move on.

Jones and the 13 bandits made their way to the lake that leads into the village. It took about an hours walk to get there. Their only source of light being torches from the campfire. It was currently midnight, and the moon was at its highest point. Plenty of time to do this job and all parties involved to get away.

It was easy to tell that they were nearing the lake, as the sound of loud water crashing into the lake could be heard. The company of 14 then came across a rather large lake which had a waterfall running into it.

"This is it?" Questioned Jones to the bandit boss, him having to raise his voice due to the loud water.

"It is!" Shouted the bandit boss. "There should be a tunnel down there that lead you into the village. There's no way to get lost, just keep following that one tunnel and you'll be good!" The bandit boss then threw two things at Jones. They were small devices that were to be used in an individuals mouth.

"Here! These are breathers to help you and the girl breathe when you're going and coming back here. And take this as well." The boss also handed Jones a small headlight. "It'll be dark down there."

Jones took the items with pleasure. "That's all the help we can give you here. You should head in there now. We've only got a few hours of night left." The bandit boss stated as he gestured his head to the lake.

"Understood. I'll be back here in less then an hour." Jones stated, as he took of his hat and gave it to one of the bandits.

"Don't lose that hat." Jones warned sternly, giving the bandit a glare. He then attached the headlight to his forehead, put the breather into his mouth while pocketing the other, and dived into the lake.

Jones then switched the headlight on, and a shining bright light lit up the rocky surface of the lake below. Jones looked around and saw a decently sized tunnel that he could swim down.

'That must be my way in.' Jones concluded.

He then swam down the tunnel taking him further and further into the mountain. He had to take a few left and right turns, go a bit more up and down in some parts, but after a good ten minutes of swimming Jones spied something far up above him.

He shined his headlight there, and he saw a dim light up above where he was. Jones swam up, kicking his feet vigorously, the bright light getting brighter and bigger. Jones then broke the surface of the water, and he looked around.

He found that he was in a decently sized lake, with what looked like cherry blossoms petals in the water. A quick look up confirmed that there were cherry blossom trees just to the side of the lake. Jones then carefully looked around to see if anyone would see him.

'Seems the coast is clear.' Jones determined, as he got out of the lake and removed his breather, before taking a look around him.

Jones then spied the village he had just invaded. He found it quite magnificent, with what looked like a water mill, a huge monastery, and several dozens of houses that were all across the village.

'What a simple and pleasant way to live.' Jones remarked internally. 'Oh, I do pity them. I doubt the bandits will keep quiet about this place. Before long the whole of Fiore will know about this place.'

Jones then looked up to the cherry blossom tree. It looked quite thick and sturdy. He then climbed up the tree to get a better look of the village. Upon being much higher off the ground now, Jones saw that while it was nighttime outside, numerous lanterns were all across the village dimly glowing which was lighting the place up.

'Alright then. Time to find my target.' Jones then summoned a sniper out of thin air with a precise scope on it. Jones then aimed the scope at the village, and put his eye up to it.

The gun that Jones had just pulled out using his gun magic was able to determine magic power through the scope. The gun was just a regular magic sniper, but the scope made the gun much more useful.

'Let's see here… No one with any importance here… Nor here… Hmm, a half decent wizard around here… No one ove-!'

Jones had just spotted an abnormally gigantic magic power coming from the monastery further up on the village, sitting on large hill. The gigantic magic power was incredibly strong.

'What the hell?! This level of magic power is equivalent to that of a Wizard Saint!' Jones cried with internal horror. 'I can't have someone like that be moving around right now when I'm about to kidnap someone in the village!'

Jones thought about this for a moment.

'Dammit… I'm going to have to take care of him…' He concluded with a tint of fear. 'There's a huge chance he could cause a serious problem for me here. There's no way in hell I'm getting close to him. I don't even come close to matching him in power. That means I'll have to deal with him with a sniper shot, I have just the bullet to take care of him. But I'll have to get closer for that.'

Before Jones climbed down the tree, he looked through his scope again to see if he could see the girl that he was after. A careful skim across the village showed another somewhat impressive magic user at the monastery as well. However, Jones found a decently high magic power in a much nicer looking house that some of the others.

'Hmm. That might be it. This scope only shows the level of magic power an individual has, not the magic they use. Still, there's not that many people in this village with all that impressive magic power. Except of course for the huge one at the monastery, and the others that were spotted.'

Jones then dissipated his sniper, and he carefully climbed down the cheery tree he was on.

After jumping to the ground expertly, Jones then began to sneak his way around the village to get to the monastery, using the cover of darkness to remain unseen. Normally he found some amusement in such tasks like this, however his clothes being drenched didn't exactly help all that much, with water dripping from him as he snuck around.

After a few minutes of walking, Jones was able to climb up on a rock face that overlooked the whole village. It led quite close to the house that he believed had the girl that he was looking for, all he had to do was silently climb down the rock face and climb in through one of the windows.

It also allowed Jones to get a good approach up to the back of the monastery. He did this first, as he wanted to make sure the powerful wizard in here was dealt with before kidnapping the girl. The last thing he wanted was the Wizard Saint level Wizard coming after him.

Jones made it to the back of the monastery, and he was now right up against the stone wall of the huge mountain he was in. The rock face he was on gave him a good view of the back of the monastery. He could see the many different paper windows that led into many different room of the building.

Jones then got down onto the ground face down in a sniper position, his stomach having to endure all the pointy rocks. He had to adjust himself a little to get a bit more comfortable.

He then used his magic to summon his gun and scope that detected high magic power. A quick aim of the village showed that the much smaller power was at the second floor of the building. The large and worrying power was located at the second floor as well, quite a bit away from the other magic power.

"There you are." Jones muttered quietly.

He then got rid of that sniper, and replaced it with a much shiner and silver sniper. The barrel of the gun was a bit longer, and there was a small pair of legs close to the front for the gun to rest on. It too had a scope.

Jones aimed the gun at where he last saw the powerful wizard. He then looked though the scope on this gun. This scope was a thermal scope, so it was able to get a somewhat accurate view of where people where.

The scope showed that the man was still in the same position as he was before. Him presumably in his bedroom.

Jones then took a deep silent breath. He used his magic to summon a special bullet that was in his Requip storage directly into his sniper.

'I've only got one of these kind of bullets left. An X-Draining Bullet. This will make it to where if it hits someone, it will drain their magic faster the more powerful they are. Eventually they'll be forced to collapse due to losing so much magic in such a short amount of time. The bigger they are the harder they fall.'

'The issue with magic bullets is that they almost always fail to pierce the targets flesh. They just hit them and cause a small injury. Still; the effects of the X-Draining bullet should be more than enough here.'

'Jones relaxed his body as he took aim.

'As soon as I fire this, I'm immediately heading to kidnap the girl and get out of here.'

Right when Jones was about to fire the bullet at the man in the room, he saw that the man suddenly started exiting the room, and walked along a corridor with a large shoji window to his right.

'Dammit! I'm just going to have to fire here! Can't risk losing him!' Jones grunted in his head.

*pew!*

No POV:

One Minute Earlier:

Master Han sat at his his desk in his room, and thought to himself about everything that had happened in the last few days.

'That boy Cade… He surely is something. No matter how hard I knocked him down, he keeps getting back up for more.'

He most certainly had much more determination and gusto than some of the people here. He sighed before standing up.

'Perhaps I should journey back to the outside world again. It's been a few years since I've been. Wonder if any new guilds of interest have popped up.'

Han moved over to the door and stoped again, having suddenly felt like he noticed something. Or rather he felt something.

A weird feeling ran down him, like a chill making it's way down his back.

'How strange.' Han then looked around his room. 'I thought I was being watched just there. Cade is sleeping I believe, and his mother must also be asleep.'

The Master had trained up all five of his senses years ago, but the infamous sixth sense was one that he could never quite achieve in his younger days.

Han then cautiously exited his room, sliding open the shoji doors. He then looked left and right down the corridor. To the right of him was a large shoji window, which overlooked the courtyard at the back as well as mountain walls.

'No one's out here? Strange.' Han then began to make his way right, heading to where Cade's room was.

'How perplexing I could have swore that I felt…'

Hans eyes then suddenly widened with shock.

*pew!*

"GAHHHH!" Han let out a scream of pain, as he felt something a bullet perhaps, shoot right into his left shoulder.

'W-What was that!? We have an assassin here!?' Han thought with terror, as he clutched his left shoulder.

"Steel Impact!" Han shouted, as he spun around and fired off a spell that was aimed at outside the monastery where the bullet had pierced through the window.

Just then, a huge rumbling could be heard, with the entire monastery shaking a little. Han hoped that his spell had dealt with the assassin. As Han tightened the grip he had on his shoulder, he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker every second.

'Wh-What is happening? I can feel… my magic… slipping away from me…!' Han realised with shock as he fell to his knees. 'W-What… was I shot with?'

Han knew that the whole village needed to know about this assassin. He needed to warn the Elder, but his legs suddenly weren't working!

'N-No! The switch to warn the Elder is right there in my room! I just left it a minute ago!' Han cried with fear.

"CADE! JUNE! WAKE UP!" Master Han yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing throughout the rest of the monastery.

'I have to… get back into my room… I have to warn everyone!' Han tried to crawl to his room, using his hands, but he had to keep holding his shoulder due to huge pain that was soaring through him.

It was then he felt his vision begin to blur, and he could hear a ringing sound in his ears.

His senses were beginning to fail him.

'N-No…! I can't die yet…! Have to… have to…' Han vision began to blur even, more and he felt himself falling unconscious.

It was then Han realised something.

'That bullet wasn't trying to kill me. It was just trying to get me unconscious. That assassin must have seen me as the biggest threat to him… My magic is being drained from me to quickly… I'll be falling unconscious in a minute or so!'

Han tried to call out to Cade and June again, but when he went to speak, the words that came out his mouth were silent!

'I can't speak… can barely see… and my hearing is going…'

As Han lied on the ground he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

'I'm sorry Cade, June, everyone in the village. I should have seen this assassin coming… please… be ok…'

…

…

'?'

Despite almost fully losing his sight, hearing, and voice Han could still feel. He felt a strange feeling. It felt like someone had put their hands on him. In fact, it felt like two people were doing that.

Han focused his vision and saw the young boy Cade and his mother holding him with their hands. They looked terrified, and were speaking words that he could not make out as his hearing was almost gone. The boy Cade had tears in the corner of his eyes, and the mother June also looked moments away from crying herself.

Han then used the last of his strength to point with his left hand, to his bedroom. Cade seemed to see this but looked a bit confused. Han then made a gesture of pulling a switch downwards with his left hand.

'Please understand!' Were Han's last thoughts before he blacked out.

Cade POV:

"W-What happened! H-H-His eyes shut just there!" I cried in terror. "Please tell me he isn't-!"

"He's alive! He's still breathing!" Mother exclaimed with happiness, a choke in her voice as she said that. "We just need to bandage his wound and he should recover!" She assured me firmly.

"You do that! I just figured out what he wanted me to do!"

I then sprinted off towards Hans room not to far back from where he was lying.

I remember being woken up due to a loud sound that I must have heard. Mother came into my room, and asked if I had heard it to. We both then went around the monastery where he found Master Han lying on the floor, his left shoulder bleeding. I tried to immediately ask Master Han what had happened, but he seemed to point to his room, and made a gesture as if he was pulling a switch.

It was only now that I realised what he wanted me to do.

I burst into his room, and looked for the switch that alerts Elder Lotho. I saw it hanging on the wall just to the far end of the room. I ran there in less than a second and flipped the switch down.

Then I ran out to my mother who was still watching Han.

"We can't keep him here! We need to bring him to Fea, she can heal him easily!" I said to my mother.

Mother quickly nodded. "Ok, help me carry him." She asked, as she struggled to lift him up.

I assisted my mother and we both carried the unconscious Han, with each of us on his left and right side, his arms round our shoulder. We were able to bring him out of the monastery and got to the huge steps that we need to go down to get to the rest of the village.

"Damn! How are we suppose to do this?!" I exclaimed in anger.

"We'll just have to go a little bit at a time." Mother said nervously.

We then took our time carrying Han down the many steps, as if we weren't careful, then the three of us would all go tumbling down, possibly injuring Han even more. As we were climbing down, I saw that all the lanterns in the village had been cracked up and were now shining as bright as they could be. I saw many men running in the direction of the Elder's house.

'At least that means they got the message.' I let a sigh of relief at that detail being confirmed.

The both of us then reached the bottom of the steps, and we were a bit tired after hauling Han down with us. I could see that my mother was especially tired.

"Don't worry, we can find someone to help us carry him to Fea now that we're down here." I assured her.

It was right after I said that, I saw a familiar face running in the same direction as the other men.

"No way… Hey Mato!" I shouted at the fire wizard.

Mato turned and saw me with a relieved expression. Then that expression turned into pure terror when seeing the state of Master Han.

"W-What in the world!?" He shouted, as he ran over to me and my mother. "What the hell happened to Master Han?!"

"He was shot in the shoulder! Listen, I think there's an assassin in this village! He must have shot Han to try to kill him, but he's just unconscious!" I explained quickly. "We need to get him to Fea! She can treat his wound!"

"We have another problem! We've all just learned that Fea has been kidnapped!" Mato declared.

My stomach dropped when I heard Mato say that.

"What!? Kidnapped!?" I shouted in fear. My mother gasp at that discovery.

"Elder Lotho sent the warning out to the entire village, asking the regular villagers to stay in their homes. He's sending any and all Seekers out to try and recover her. I'm heading there myself!" Mato then turned around to resume his duties.

"Well I'm coming with you!" I decided.

"No you are not!" Declared my mother with a shout of anger. "These criminals that kidnapped Fea and shot Han are very dangerous! You could be killed!"

"I have to go! We need Fea to treat Master Han, and I want to help!"

"This is most likely the work of Dark Guilds! I don't want you being killed like your father!"

"I'm not my father!" I shouted back to her in annoyance, before I just realised what I said.

Mother gave a look of defeat and seemed to back down after taking in what I said just there. I tried to speak up to her.

"I… I didn't mean…"

"If you're coming with me then you have to come now! I'm not wasting any more time here!" Mato demanded.

I quickly kissed mother on the cheek. "I'll be back just as I am right now, I promise!" I declared as I moved away from her, before then turning to Mato. "Let's go!"

"Follow me." Mato said, as he then ran in the direction that led to where the Seekers exit the village. While running I did look back at where my mother was, and saw that someone was helping her carry Han.

'I'm sorry mother... I know you want to keep me safe, but I'm not ten years old anymore! I can fight and look after myself now! And I promise I'll come back for you!'

As me and Mato kept running we came across other Seekers running towards the tunnel that led to the outside.

"Do we have any information on the kidnapper?" I asked Mato, as we kept running.

"No, Elder Lotho just saw him jumping out of Fea's window with Fea over his shoulder when he entered her room, to warn her that someone dangerous might be in the village." Mato then looked at me curiously. "Was that you that pulled the alarm in the Han's monastery?"

"Yeah it was me. Master Han tried to tell me to do it before he fell unconscious. If I did it as soon as I saw him, then Fea might not have been taken!" I grunted in anger when I realised that.

"It's not your fault, you had no idea that she might be getting kidnapped." Mato tried to assure me.

"But still-"

"Don't start doubting yourself now! If you want to help us, then we need you focused!" Mato demanded.

"R-Right!" I assured myself with a nod.

"Why do you think Fea would be kidnapped?" I asked as we had now reached the tunnel that led to the outside. "And how would someone have gotten into the village?"

"The biggest reason I can think of why she would have been kidnapped, is possibly her Healing Magic. Many Dark Guilds would pay a handsome price for the acquisition of someone with her magic."

"Dark Guilds… Dammit!" I spat those last few words out of my mouth when I was saying that.

"As for how the kidnapper got into the village? Well the only two ways to get in here, are the large stone walls that have the Gate Magic on them, where the carriages come through. The only other way is the way we are going. It's a tunnel that leads to the outside, but there is always a guard standing there…" Mato explained as he trailed off at the end there, thinking of a way the intruder got in.

"You can save the thinking for later. I think this is the exit." I said as we came to a double set of doors, that were flung open. Many of the Seekers that were running ahead and along side us were running through the door.

"When we exit, we will be in a huge forest that can be easy to get lost in. Stay close to me." Mato advised as we too went through the door.

Upon exiting I saw that we were indeed in a forest. The trees spiralled up into the air, the trunks thick and sturdy. There was light however, when we exited. Many standing torches were illuminating the area we were in.

I could see Elder Lotho giving commands to the Seekers that were running into the forest. An Archive wizard stood next to him, him keeping track of where all the Seekers were.

"Find my daughter! The intruder could not have gone far! Spread out, search the nearby village if you have to!" He commanded to the men.

He then saw me and Mato. "You!" He said in surprise. "Cade right? Oh, never mind formalities! Do you wish to assist in getting my daughter back!? I believe you will hav-"

"Of course!" I said cutting the Elder off. "I'll find her Elder!"

"Excellent!" He cried with hope. "Now go! There is no time to waste! She and the kidnapper must not have gone far!"

"Alright!" I said, as me and Mato ran off into the forest.

We may not have a clear and visible path to follow, but that wouldn't mean we would just give up and stop looking.

No POV:

Jones emerged from the under the lake, holding the girl tightly with his right hand.

"Ah there you are!" The bandit boss said with glee. "Seems you've caught her."

Jones made his way back into dry land, while still holding the girl. He then tossed her at some of the bandits, who got a good grip of her when she immediately tried to wiggle free, her kicking and scratching at them as they grabbed her.

The girl spat out the breather she had on her mouth, and began to scream loudly. Many of the bandits were cackling when seeing her do this.

"Oooh! To think a beauty like her is worth that much money on the market! Do we really have to sell her boss?" Said one bandit with a sneaky voice.

"Course not! We can get women better than her at any old town. The money is much harder to come by!" The boss shouted.

The boss turned to Jones who was taking his hat back from the person he gave it to, him putting it back on. "Now then, did anyone see you while leaving?" The boss asked.

"We may have some company later. Someone did see me when I was exiting through the window. Still, if we move now then we should be ok." Jones answered as he adjusted his hat.

Nothing seemed to slow this guy down, not the drenched clothes, nor the idea of getting caught up to. The bandit boss was impressed by Jones effectiveness.

"Alright! The bandit boss yelled to his men. "Let's get moving! We got a few hundred meters to cover until we sell of the girl for the money. The bandits began to get organised to depart, them putting a gag on the girl and tying her hands and legs. They then threw her on one of their horses.

Jones was already prepared to leave, him leaning on a tree waiting for everyone else to get ready. Eventually the company of 13 bandits and the kidnapped girl began to make their way to where they planned to meet with the Dark Guild.

There we go, another chapter done! Feel free to leave a review if you liked it.

In this chapter we got a proper introduction to Jones. I wanted to make him a mercenary instead of a regular Dark Guild grunt to make things a bit more interesting and unique.

I tried my best to try and be a bit unique with the mercenary system in Fairy Tail. We don't really know what the reputation of Mercenary Guilds are in the FT universe. They seem to be mostly disliked, but I think anyone can hire them for stuff.

Things are really heating up now huh? With Fea kidnapped and Master Han out for the count, Mato and Cade are running to hopefully find where she has been taken. Will they be able to get her back before she is lost forever?

You shall have to wait and see my dear viewers… Find out in the next chapter…

Also it's less than ten days now until Christmas! I plan to upload another chapter on that day, so be ready for that!