"Tia…" Lucy said while staring at the prison garbed female.
"Well…this is a surprise…" Tia admitted before looking down at her wear, which was just enough to cover the feminine parts of her body. "I apologize I'm not looking my best, but they don't really allow you to have that choice in here. But I'm assuming you didn't come down here to see how I was doing, did you?"
"Actually, that was part of it…" Lucy explained.
"Only part?" Tia raised a brow before moving into a sitting position.
"I also wanted to know what you were talking about before you were dragged off by the Council.
"And if I told you I wasn't going to tell you?" Tia retorted.
"I'd ask why you wouldn't," Lucy replied.
"You're annoyingly stubborn…" Tia crossed her arms, letting out a slight huff. "I don't know why you thought this would be easy, I'm not telling you anything else."
"We could help you!" Lucy said. "Ace wants to help you too, remember!"
At the mention of Ace, Tia's expression immediately turned into a scowl. "Don't you bring his name up to me ever again…!"
"S-Sorry…" Lucy frowned somewhat, averting her eyes from Tia after. "L-Listen…we just want to help you. I can tell you're starting to doubt Dealer yourself, right…? It's not just you, either. Diamond looks as though she's beginning to doubt herself."
"Diamond…?" Tia's expression slightly changed at the mention of the other female. "I see…"
"…Still not gonna talk?" Lucy asked.
"You learn fast, maybe you aren't as dumb as other blondes…" Tia snickered to herself; she needed something to laugh at.
"You're impossible…" Lucy groaned, starting to turn around to head back up to the ball.
"Wait," Tia called out to Lucy.
"What now?" Lucy turned around.
"There is one thing I should let you know about, since it's only fair," Tia gave a slight nod. "This doesn't have much to do with whatever you're trying to get out of me, but I think you should know anyway."
"What is it…?" Lucy asked while giving Tia her undivided attention.
"It's Jack," Tia responded.
"Jack…?" Lucy blinked a few times. "What about Jack…?"
"He's going to come after you…well, not you exactly, but he's going to come after your guild." Tia responded.
"What?! Why!?" Lucy's eyes widened slightly and she immediately moved closer to the cell door. "We haven't done anything to him!"
"Actually, you've done one thing to him, and it's perhaps the most important. He probably finds Fairy Tail responsible for taking me away from him." Tia explained. "You see, Jack and I are very close…Jack is also a very…temperamental child. Whenever he even starts to get angry, I must calm him down somehow. But…I'm not by his side at the moment, so I imagine that he's being held back as we speak…" (Quick cut to the Dealer base would show that Jack is indeed attempting to get out but is being held back by the three underlings yet again)
"What are you saying, exactly…?" Lucy questioned, her heart sinking just a bit.
"I'm saying you should just watch out for Jack," Tia responded. "He is very unpredictable when angered…"
"I see…well, thank you for tell me about SOMETHING," Lucy said with a nod.
"It's the most I could do," Tia replied before raising a brow. "Now…it's my turn to ask you a question."
"Huh?" Lucy blinked again, honestly having no idea what Tia could possibly ask about. "What is it?"
"Have you been aware of the creepy red head standing behind you for the past few minutes?" Tia inquired while tilting her head somewhat.
"What." Lucy gave a sardonic expression, but she soon understood what Tia was talking about.
"Blondie~"
The all too familiar voice sent chills up Lucy's spine, causing her face to turn a shade of blue before turning around, only to see the one and only Flare. "F-Flare!?"
"So the creepy girl has a name…" Tia just gave a nod.
"How long have you been standing there!?" Lucy asked with her back now to Tia.
"Like I said, she's been standing there for a while…" Tia said, a slight snicker escaping her lips at Lucy's expression, though it was clear she was trying to hide it to keep her serious expression. "You were quite clueless, and your expression…"
.
Natsu walked around while finishing off a chicken leg. After he finished, he noticed that Ace wasn't too far away. Curiosity got the better of him, so he went over to see what was going on. "Oi, Ace?"
"Hm?" Ace turned, giving a slight smile towards Natsu. "Yo, Natsu." It seemed that Ace found a generic snack brand amongst the fancy food the Council had prepared, and began chewing on it.
"What are you doing here?" Happy asked. "Shouldn't you be…doing Anti Dealer things?"
"There isn't much to do," Ace replied between bites. "Dealer hasn't made a move in a bit, so I figured I could have some time to relax and enjoy the festivities."
"Huh, well, have fun. And don't do anything the Council doesn't like," Natsu nodded, crossing his arms after.
"That would be common knowledge, my fiery friend," Ace nodded.
"Natsu, Ace!" Lucy called out to the two mages, Flare following right behind her. Was she creeped out by it? Just a little, but there really was no saying no to Flare, so she just had to deal with it.
"Lucy?" Natsu turned, blinking a few times when he saw Flare. "What's up?"
"You seem worried," Ace commented. "And who's your friend there?"
"Flare…" Flare replied before letting Lucy speak again.
"I just spoke with Tia…" Lucy started.
"What?" Ace immediately replied. "Oh, sorry…I forgot she'd be here in the cell block…anyway, continue…"
"She told me to tell you guys to watch out for Jack," Lucy reported. "She said because she's not around he's going to attack soon and it wouldn't be p
"Jack?" Natsu blinked a few times before pounding his fist together, an excited grin appearing on his face. "He's gonna come after us? Saves me the trouble of looking for him! I'll be sure to pound him this time!"
"Hm…" Ace took the time to step away from the small group, now beginning to speak to himself. "An enraged Jack isn't a good thing…but if Natsu does end up facing off against him, he may be able to defeat Jack if he's serious enough…"
.
Laxus crossed his arms, letting out a silent huff as he watched the other people enjoying themselves. It's not like he wasn't either, but he couldn't believe that he was dragged to this thing by a certain someone. "Tch…"
"Something the matter~?" Mirajane asked while stepping up to Laxus, giving a sweet smile.
"Don't gimme that look," Laxus replied. "Ya dragged me over here to baby sit again, didn't you?"
"Not entirely," Mirajane replied while keeping her grin. "All you do is stay in the guild, someone had to get you and do something, ne?"
"Hmph…" Was Laxus' only reply.
.
"Hmmmmmm…" Sherry was watching Chelia and Raven chat it up elsewhere away from a large crowd of people. She couldn't help but feel that he was making a move on her younger cousin, and she wasn't sure if she was going to have it or not.
"What are you doing…?" Lyon asked while walking behind Sherry, raising a brow.
"Watching them," Sherry admitted, not taking her eyes off the two while replying to Lyon.
"They'll see you in no time…" Lyon replied before just waving a dismissive hand. "You know what…You have fun with that. I'll just…be elsewhere."
.
"Coming to this party wasn't a bad idea, now was it?" Rylo asked Evanee while taking a sip of a drink, looking over to the Nymph mage with a slight grin.
"I suppose it wasn't a bad idea…" Evanee replied while crossing her arms, looking around at all the other people. "I don't find the idea of masquerade ball very safe, though. It leaves the possibility of something such as an attack happening too high for my liking…"
"I think you're just having trouble relaxing!" Rylo pointed out, nodding a few times. "Look at everyone else; they seem to be having a good time!" Rylo then pointed to the other members of their guild at various locations in the room. Tsami, Taranis, Melanie, Flynn, Alexander, Ceaser and Alexine were clearly enjoying themselves, mingling with a few people from guilds and just normal people.
"I don't feel like putting down my guard and relaxing is the best idea, Rylo," Evanne would reply with a somewhat sharp tone, which caused the cliché magician to go quiet, a now awkward atmosphere surrounding the two.
.
"Sorry I'm late…" Selene mumbled stepping into the ball with a beautiful purple gown.
"Whoa…" Luke and Takeru both blinked upon seeing the diamond slayer walk into the ball.
"SELENE YOU LOOK GREAT!" Aira exclaimed while approaching the small group in her own white gown, the White Eclipse symbol on the back of one of her gloves.
"Hehe, thank you Aira," Selene replied with a sheepish grin.
"I didn't think you would show up, Selene…I didn't think balls were your kinda thing…" Luke stated.
"Well, it's not like I could say no…" Selene started, giving a gentle smile towards the two males.
"Yeah, I bet the Council would've said something if you didn't…" Luke replied.
"Well, there's that..." Selene began, but shook her head after. "But that's not all. When I was a little girl, I used to love these kinds of things…"
"Really…? Never knew that…" Takeru would then nod a few times. "You look great…"
"Heh…" Luke just gave a small smile at the two before giving a slight wave. "I think we should just leave you two alone now." Luke nodded to Aira, and the two then gave Selene and Takeru some space. A small sense of loneliness washed over the copycat as he walked off. Aira seemed to notice this quickly.
"Luke, are you okay?" Aira asked with a sense of concern.
"Eh? Yeah, I'm fine," Luke nodded. "I'm just gonna grab a small drink and mingle I suppose. Try to stay out of trouble." With that nod, Luke began to walk off.
"I should be saying that to you…" Aira mumbled, unable to help but feel worried for Luke, but figured he would be fine in the end. She then looked around at all the couples around the ball who seemed to be enjoying themselves, giving a small smile.
.
While chatting with Rogue and Frosch, Sting felt someone bump into him. He let out a small grunt before taking a step forward. He turned, glaring somewhat at the masked male who bumped into him. "Oi! Mind watching where you're going…?"
"Yeah, you ran right into Sting-kun!" Lector said while placing his hands across his chest.
"I'm terribly sorry…" The masked male said with a tone to match how he felt.
"Just don't let it happen again…" Sting replied before picking up an odd aura coming from the male. He couldn't describe it, but the aura didn't feel human, yet the male had a completely normal scent about him. "…By the way, may I ask your name…?"
"Sting…?" Rogue raised a brow at his partner's sudden request.
"My name?" The male repeated just to make sure he heard Sting correctly. "Ah, simple enough. My name is Dante. Is that all?"
"Y-Yeah…" Sting nodded. "Er…thanks. Anyway, try not to bump into any more people, alright…?"
"Of course…" Dante nodded and walked away from the Twin Dragon's and their exceeds, a slight smirk painted on his lips as he made his way off.
"What's wrong, Sting?" Rogue asked.
"That guy…something about him just seemed off…it was probably nothing, though," Sting replied while waving a dismissive hand.
"Fro thinks something was wrong with Dante too…" Frosch replied in a slightly less than enthusiastic tone.
.
"So, em…" Natsu began while looking at Flare suspiciously. "Why are you here anyway!?"
"W-What?" Flare crossed her arms, cheeks puffing out in an annoyed fashion as she stared the Salamander down. "It was an open invitation? I can't take one…?"
"I don't think he still trusts you is all…" Lucy replied with a slight sweat drop on the side of her head. "I'm sure she isn't gonna cause any trouble, Natsu!"
"Hmph…" Natsu crossed his arms, picking up a peculiar scent from the masked person who just walked past him. It was familiar. Too familiar. "Huh…?"
"Natsu?" Happy tugged on Natsu's pant leg to capture his attention. "Is something wrong?"
"No…" Natsu shook his head, giving a shrug after. "I thought I just smelled somewhat familiar…"
.
"Cynthia-chan!" Sora exclaimed, tackle hugging the omega slayer right in front of Wendy and Carla's eyes.
"W-Whoa…!" Cynthia nearly fell over, but she returned the hug with a large grin. Not even the slightest hint of suspicion because Cynthia trusted Sora. "Sora, nice to see you…!"
"E-Eh…?" Wendy's expression turned into a slight frown. "Cynthia, who is this…?"
"And how do you know her…?" Carla asked with a brow raised.
"O-oh!" Cynthia rubbed the back of her head, giving a sheepish smile. She decided to leave the most important detail out of her explanation because she didn't want to be separated from someone she had a strong connection with. "This is Sora! She's a shadow mage!"
"It's nice to meet Cynthia-chan's friends!" Sora replied while giving a cute, innocent smile.
"I'm Wendy…" Wendy introduced herself with a small smile, deciding it would be okay to trust Sora since Cynthia seemed to trust her. "It's nice to meet you!"
"I'm Carla…" Carla nodded. She was totally on edge about Cynthia's new friend, unable to trust her. She adopted the same attitude she had when Cynthia first arrived to the guild.
"Cute kitty!" Sora squealed, unable to help but lift Carla up and nuzzle her.
"C-Carla!" Wendy would comically flail around at the sight of her exceed smothered in someone else's hands.
"She's a hugger…?" Cynthia gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her head after.
"It was nice to see Cynthia-chan and her friends!" Sora gave a large, childish grin before giving a wave. "I'll be right back!" Sora then ran off somewhere else within the ball.
"She's strange…" Wendy huffed somewhat, feeling a little bit jealous at how chummy Sora and Cynthia were. "I don't think I like her." She grumbled.