Evanee Carlise just finished striking down a powerful monster. She pulled back up and dusted her hands off. When she finished, she looked behind her, only to see Gaia standing there. "You're still here? I thought I told you the answer was no."

"C'mon..." Gaia let out a heavy sigh. "They could really use your help over there. Besides, that the island your foster dragon originates from..."

Evanee was silent for a moment. She did think about it, but ultimately shook her head. "I'm not a dragon slayer anymore. Your old master made that happen. So I don't think I deserve to even step foot on the island my foster dragon used to live on."

"Evanee..." Gaia frowned.

"Twilight Zone is no more either. I'm just a lone mage." Evanee shrugged her shoulders. "You're pretty strong, so you and your guild should be able to get the job done."

Gaia realized that Evanee wasn't going to help. She let out a quiet sigh and nodded. It wasn't as if she could force Evanee to do anything either. "Alright. I hope you change your mind." Left with no options, Gaia spread her wings and flew off...

"..." Evanee said nothing. She only stared at her hands, and then back to the sky as Gaia flew off...

Stationary Team:

Ace, Tia, Diamond, Jack, Spade, Spark, Wendy, Carla, Cynthia, Strong, and Daigo.

Mystic Water Team:

Erza, Mii, Juvia, Gray, Cana, Blues, Kuro, Aira, Hisui and Meredy.

Scouting Team:

Cobra, Midnight, Racer, Ultear, and Hoteye.

Search and Rescue Teams:

Lucy, Chelia, Draco, Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Raven, Kagura, and Selene.

Freed, Bickslow, Elfman, Evergreen, Lisanna, Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily.

Reve, Jaxon, Heather, Cygnus, Lyon, Melody, Hibiki, and Milliana.

Jellal.

Minerva, Rufus, Orga, Kuro, Waiston, Eve, Ren, Jenny, Yuka, and Toby.

With these teams set, they began their trek to complete their missions. Hopefully in the end they could all come together to defeat Dhegensea, but they were taking things one step at a time for now. Cana handed everyone communication cards in the event something terrible happened. With their forced crash landing, there was a gloomy feeling in the air. But for now…they could only do what they needed to. The Dragons were waiting.

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As Erza's group traversed the jungle, Blues began thinking about what their mission was. "Mystic Water, huh…" Blues glanced in Juvia and Erza's direction. "You know, I think I've heard of that…it rings a bell for some reason…"

"Do you know anything about it!?" Juvia was quick to get in Blues' face about it with a hopeful gaze.

At Juvia's sudden reaction, the water dragon slayer shook his head. "Sorry…I just know the name. I don't even know why that is…maybe Aquaeron mentioned it to me? Can't remember."

"Ah…" Juvia sighed, shoulder hanging low after Blues' answer.

"Why are you so hung up on this water?" Mii questioned while placing her hands on her hips. "I mean yeah, it can help save the dragons. But we don't even know how to use it yet…"

"That's why we have three water mages I assume." Hisui responded. "All of pretty high caliber I might add."

Blues bashfully waved his hand at Hisui's compliment. "Please, you're flattering me, Your Highness."

"Don't forget, we're also looking for Ena," Erza made her remark.

"Oh right…maybe she can tell us what's really going on. She didn't look too pleased when Dhegensea began to attack us…" Aira spoke while cautiously looking around. She was hoping Leon would pop in to say hello, possibly chasing a butterfly or something. She was really hoping he, Luke, and Takeru were okay.

"In the mean time we also have to look for that idiot fireball…" Gray scoffed, hands sliding into his pockets. He couldn't believe Natsu was so rash as to challenge Nasir on his own despite the circumstances.

Cana took a swig from her flask, giving a slight shrug. "I'm sure he'll be fine. It's Natsu after all. These dragons better watch out for him." Her expression then turned slightly serious. "Although…I do hope Laxus and Mira are okay…I have a bad feeling about things…"

Once Cana made her remark, Mii swung her arm around Cana's shoulder, giving a wide grin. "Ah, don't be so doom and gloom! I'm sure they're okay…well, Laxus anyway. Mira probably got caught…" She quickly realized she wasn't making things any better so she just groped Cana before backing away. "Anyway! If they were dead, I'm sure we'd see a body by now or something, right? So maybe they're still kicking! Maybe barely, but…"

"I think it's best if you just remain quiet…" Meredy remarked with a sweat drop on her forehead. "You're kind of annoying…"

Kuro nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

"Wow…tough crowd…" Mii shrugged before placing her arms behind her back. "You guys need to lighten up…"

Erza could see that Mii was honestly trying to lift the mood, so that brought a tiny smile to her lips. Perhaps Mii wasn't so bad after all…she just needed to work on her methods and the trust issues she gave everyone. "The effort is appreciated, Mii…but the 'clown' type doesn't suit you that well."

Mii blinked, genuinely caught off guard by Erza's remark. "C-Clown? I assure you, I'm not trying to make anyone feel better…" And as soon as she said that, she tripped on a rock and fell face first onto the ground with a splat. It caused everyone to let out a small chuckle. "…T-That means nothing…" The female quickly stood up, dusting off her miniskirt. "Let's just keep moving, yeah?!"

"I don't think she's that bad…" Erza thought to herself as Mii walked in front of everyone. "Although she needs a turn in the right direction…" Shaking her head, she continued onward. "But she still needs to prove herself first…"

.

.

"Man…" Jack scoffed, kicking over a stone. "Why'd she have to go and get sick! I wanted some action!"

"Hey, don't say that!" Wendy huffed while gently placing Cynthia down on a pillow, placing an ice pack Diamond made on her head. Even though she had faith in the others to complete their task, she was worried about Cynthia. "…It's not her fault Drake bit her…" Speaking of the bite, Cynthia's shirt made it hard to see the progress of the infection, so Wendy removed it. Her eyes widened and she found herself biting her lower lip as red scales continued to spread along her arm. It was slow… "Cynthia…" On instinct, Wendy placed her hands over Cynthia, a soft sea green light emitting from them.

"It's getting a little worse by the second…" Carla crossed her arms, keeping her gaze on Cynthia.

"What are you doing?" Tia asked while walking over to Wendy.

"I'm trying to slow the infection…it seemed to work before…" Wendy responded.

"You're doing it wrong…" Tia remarked, causing Wendy to turn with a confused expression. "Healing magic works well and good, but…you can't just use healing magic on the body itself. If there's a serious injury or infection like in Cynthia's case, you should really focus on that specific location. If you use it on the whole body, it actually has an adverse effect."

Upon hearing this information, both Wendy and Carla's eyes widened. "W-What…really…? I-I've been doing it wrong this whole time…?!" Wendy was about to panic, but Tia wasn't finished yet.

"No, not at all. I can tell you've been dealing with full body injuries so it's okay for now…but in the future this is something you should note." Tia nodded.

"How do you know so much about this?" Diamond spoke up with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you…" Tia began while rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm training to be a nurse, after all. Since we don't have an actual healer, I figured at least one of us should have knowledge when other is being RECKLESS." Eyes cut towards Ace, who was obliviously keeping a lookout along with Spade and Spark. He didn't catch the message. She then turned to the unconscious Cynthia, shaking her head. "She's the same way….though she's more of a special case…" She was referring towards the end of their last major battle: the one against King, where Cynthia tanked a blow for Wendy that should've ended anyone else. "How durable is that little body of hers…"

Cynthia's eyes slowly opened, a slight smile appearing on her lips. "A-aheh…."

"Cynthia!" Wendy immediately gave her dear friend attention. "Are you okay!?"

"I…I feel really hot…on the inside…my shoulder is burning…and everything's fuzzy…" Cynthia admitted.

"Drake bit you, if you don't remember…" Carla explained. "We thought Wendy managed to halt the infection completely, but it turns out it's still affecting you. Erza's group has gone out to grab the Mystic Water which should stop your Dragonization."

"Talk about right to the point…" Diamond blinked.

Cynthia frowned, coughing slightly while resting her head back on the pillow. "Maybe that's why I feel this urge to tear at everything in sight bubbling up within me…" With a sigh, her gaze shifted to Wendy, where a soft smile appeared once again. "But when I look at Wendy…it all goes away…"

"If that's your way of saying I should stay…you don't have to worry, I wasn't planning on leaving…" Wendy responded with a soft smile while taking one of Cynthia's hands, giving it a slight squeeze. "You'll be okay, Cynthia."

"I know. You're here…" Cynthia responded.

"Hey, Spark." Strong approached the younger Magnes brother.

"Yeah?" Spark looked up at Strong.

"Keep an eye on those two, okay?" Strong said firmly. "You're their friend and training buddy, right? They're gonna need someone to watch their backs!"

Spark gave a firm nod. "You can count on me! I've gotten waaaay stronger since we left Fiore. I'll use my strength to keep them safe!"

"Atta boy!" Strong patted Spark on the back. But due to their size difference, the young boy just ended up stumbling forward a bit instead.

"Those two are something else…" Heartless mumbled from afar. As her name implied, she was lacking a heart, so she couldn't quite wrap her head around emotions like love and friendship, even though she tried her best to. The pinkette merely scratched the top of her head and sighed.

.

.

"How thick is this jungle…" Hisui questioned while trudging alongside the others. No matter how much walking they did, it felt like they were making no progress in the long run. "I don't feel like we're going anywhere…" Not to mention the rustling of various creatures nearby. She felt like they were going to get jumped at any moment!

Mii took this time to snake her arm around Hisui's shoulder, leaning against her with a suggestive grin. "You know, Princess, if you get tired, you can always ride on my back if you'd like~"

"A-Ah…" Hisui looked away, an awkward blush crossing her cheeks because of Mii's tone. "N-No…that's quite alright…I can still walk…"

Gray could only shake his head at Mii's attitude once again. "Don't be too much of a clown, now…we need you to take this seriously."

"I think she's trying to be friendly with everyone…" Aira suggested with a slight shrug. She couldn't really figure Mii out so that was her best suggestion.

"She's certainly a piece of work…" Cana let out a small sigh while taking a swig from her flask. It wasn't long before they reached a large wall, one that presumably blocked the way to the city.

Blues halted, eyes narrowing while glancing around. "Is this a dead end…?"

"Looks like it…" Meredy gave a slight nod before turning to Erza. "Do we turn around and look for another way? Or do we break down this wall?"

"No need!" Drake's voice echoed throughout the forest, causing everyone to get on guard. The male hopped on the top of a wall, several human sized dragons appearing beside him. "Because this is as far as you go!"

"Drake!" Erza, Gray, and Cana immediately exclaimed with disgust.

"What's with those dragons…?" Kuro questioned. "They're…smaller than I thought."

"It's a new little experiment I'm trying out!" Drake exclaimed while leaning forward with a wide grin on his face. "Smaller, though just as destructive as a normal sized dragon! Speaking of small dragons how's that little one doing? You know, that Cynthia girl. I'm sure she's a dragon by this point…"

"You bastard…" Gray clenched his hand into a tight fist at the mention of Cynthia.

"Juvia won't let Drake's bite turn Cynthia into a dragon! She's fine because Wendy is with her…but Juvia will find the Mystic Water and undo what you've done!" Juvia shouted towards Drake.

With Juvia's exclamation, Drake merely sighed and shook his head. "Everyone's after the Mystic Water, but it looks like you're actually aware of what it does. I guess there's Ena to blame for that, she always did have a big mouth…"

"Where is Ena!?" Erza demanded to know, which caused Drake to chuckle.

"Oh, you wanna know where Ena is…?" Drake's tone insinuated that he knew something about her whereabouts. "I don't think you need to worry about that…in fact, that's the last thing you need to worry about. You should be more concerned with yourselves. Isn't that right?"

"Who is he talking to…?" Meredy looked around at the others.

"Ay…" Mii sighed, taking a few steps forward before leaping onto the wall alongside Drake with Hisui in her arms. "He's right, you all have more to worry about than Ena."

"MII!?" Antoher act of betrayal by Mii!?"

"R-Release me…!?" Hisui squirmed in Mii's grip, but it didn't look like the red head had any intention of letting her go. "I knew you were grabby but this is entirely different!"

"Let her go, Mii…" Erza demanded, a frown crossing her lips while a sword materialized in her grip. "Don't do this."

"Aye aye…" Mii shrugged with a nonchalant tone. "Didn't you hear me before? I'm always on the winning side, Erza-san…"

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Next Time: Mii, The Traitor.