Sonic's POV

Ichiya: Is she the mage sent by Cait Shelter?

Lucy: But she's so young!!!

We were all shocked by the young mage who introduced herself. It was true that I was young too, but seeing her, the others thought she was too innocent to fight. She was accompanied by a flying white cat named Carla, similar to Happy. Despite that, we began the meeting. Our mission was to prevent the Oracion Seis from getting their hands on "Ciel," a lost form of magic that could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Once Jura finished presenting the plan, Ichiya suggested we use the Christina, a floating vessel from Blue Pegasus shaped like a giant metallic Pegasus. Natsu didn't even wait to hear how we'd travel. He was so excited that he was the first to run off as if he already knew where our enemies were. We all started running after him.

When we arrived at the edge of a hill, we saw the Christina approaching, but suddenly an explosion rang out. The Christina was damaged and about to crash.

Hibiki: What just happened?!

It seemed like they hadn't anticipated this. The Christina crashed right in front of us, followed by an explosion that made us step back. At that moment, six shadows appeared in the smoke from the explosion—it was the Oracion Seis!

Everyone got into a fighting stance while the Oracion Seis stood in a line, staring at us. The one in the middle started speaking. He was a tall man with markings on his face, holding a staff with a skull that had a green orb between its teeth.

"So, you're the guild alliance that's supposed to stop us," he said.

As soon as he tapped his staff on the ground, a sudden wave knocked us even farther back. Getting back on our feet, we all charged at them. Natsu attacked first with a roar directed at a guy asleep on a floating mat, but the attack was strangely deflected. Meanwhile, Erza was facing a man in a white coat with a purple snake that had wings? Even I was shocked to see that, but I didn't have time to dwell on it as I had to block a sudden attack from behind.

"You're not as slow as the others," said the man who had kicked me. He had yellow hair, glasses, and what looked like a racing suit. Although I had blocked his kick, the impact still sent me flying four meters away.

He dashed toward me, throwing multiple blows that I could see coming and dodged. His attacks weren't something others could easily anticipate. I used a spindash to counterattack, but he suddenly disappeared—it seemed like teleportation, but he had simply moved too fast and attacked me from behind, catching me off guard this time. I got up, boosted toward him, and unleashed a flurry of quick attacks to prevent him from reacting. At first, he took the hits, but then he blocked my hand and slammed me to the ground.

"Still, you're too slow to understand what's really happening."

At that moment, I noticed my surroundings. I saw Natsu and the others unable to get back up. My opponent released me and jumped back to rejoin his group. But what infuriated me most was seeing Wendy, Happy, and Carla in the hands of the Oracion Seis leader.

I was about to charge at them, but the sight of Erza in bad shape stopped me. Her injury looked severe. In a cloud of smoke, the Oracion Seis disappeared with our three allies.

We gathered in a part of the forest after suffering a crushing defeat. Erza had been bitten by Cobra's snake—the name of the snake handler, who was actually a venomous dragon slayer. The poison was spreading through her right arm, and if it continued, it could kill her. She could barely stand and even asked us to cut off her arm. She grabbed Lucy's belt, making her drop her underwear. At that moment, the three men from Blue Pegasus and I had nosebleeds before being kicked away by a flustered Lucy, calling us perverts.

Erza tied the belt around her arm and ordered Gray to cut it off, handing him her sword.

Gray: Are you really sure about this, Erza?

Erza (biting the belt tightly): Don't argue. Do it!

As the sword swung toward her arm, I was the first to intervene with a spindash, rendering the attack ineffective. Sharp blades have no effect on me when I'm in ball form. The sword flew out of Gray's hand, and the others were stunned that I interfered with her decision.

Me: Wait a minute! If we find Wendy, she can heal Erza, right?

Leon: That's true; she's a healer.

Lucy: But do you think we can bring her back in time to save Erza?

Me: We won't know until we try.

At that moment, I realized Wendy had a major role in my life. Pieces of my memory started coming back. I understood that if I wanted to know who I was before, I had to find her. An external voice interrupted my thoughts. Looking at the others, I saw astonishment on all their faces directed at me. I noticed something had changed.

Me: Uh, do I have something on my face?

I realized my hand was slimmer than usual, and I was wearing clothes?! A pair of black pants, a white shirt, and a blue vest. This form felt familiar. I touched my face and felt white skin like a human's. That's when I realized I was in my original form.