"YAAAAAAH!" Wendy cried out as Cynthia's fiery fist slammed right into her face. The impact forced Wendy to tumble across the rocky ground before coming to a stop on her hands and knees. The sky dragon was bruised, battered, a little bloody, and burnt in various places. Panting heavily, she stared up at Cynthia with a look of determination. "I…I won't…give up on you!"

"Wendy…!" Lucy cried out, obviously worried for the girl.

"I'm going in there." A wounded Alex said while looking towards Cynthia. But she was stopped by Wendy.

"No…Alex…please…let me do this alone." Wendy coughed before standing back up, those brown eyes of hers glued onto Cynthia's…red eyes. "I…I have to save her…"

"Don't be stupid...!" Chelia exclaimed. "It's too dangerous!"

"I don't want your help! I don't need your saving! You left me to die and now I'll do the same to you!" Cynthia exclaimed while inhaling before unleashing a large funnel of darkened red flames towards Wendy. The sky dragon had no time to react to the incoming funnel of flames and was completely consumed, a pained shriek escaping Wendy while everyone just watched in horror.

"WENDY!"

.

Carla shot awake, eyes wide in horror as she awoke from a nightmare. She glanced around in worry before her eyes landed on the bed Cynthia and Wendy both shared. The two girls were cuddled in a peaceful sleep, both wearing content smiles on their faces. "Was it a vision…? But…Cynthia and Wendy would never…" Carla bit her lip, letting out a heavy sigh shortly after. "It was just a bad dream…that's all…" With that, Carla laid back down and went back to sleep…or tried to, rather.

.

.

"Time to wake up!" Cynthia was the first one awake between them. She sprang up from the bed and stretched her arms over her head. Wendy was soon to follow awake, sitting up and yawning. She rubbed her eyes and greeted Cynthia with a sleepy smile.

"Good morning, Cynthia." Wendy said, falling back into bed. But it was just for a moment, since she knew Cynthia would make her get up anyway. "...Five more minutes?"

"C'mon, you know I can't do that." Cynthia shook her head. "You told me if you ever said that, to make sure you stay awake."

"I know..." There was a part of Wendy that hoped she'd let it slide, but alas. She soon got out of bed herself, and the two of them began to help each other in stretching. Compared to when they first met, they were both a bit taller, and noticeably so when standing next to the others in the guild. It also showed in their faces as well. Wendy checked the wall, which she did use to measure their height. "Carla, good morning. Have we gotten taller?"

"A little bit." Carla replied wit a slight smile. Seeing the two of them so early in the morning easily shooed away that awful nightmare she had. "You're both growing pretty quickly."

"I wonder how tall we'll get?" Cynthia looked to Wendy, who gave a curious shrug in response. From that moment on, it was time for their morning routine.

"Oh, hey. Show me your back." Wendy asked while Cynthia was in the midst of putting on a shirt. Cynthia complied, and Wendy stared at her shoulder blades. There were two red marks on both of them. "Are you sure those don't hurt?"

"You ask every day. It's only been a few weeks. I promise, I'm fine." Cynthia said with a warm smile. "It just feels weird, but I've gotten used to it."

"Okay, if you're sure." Wendy wasn't not going to worry. But she smiled at Cynthia, and then the two of them proceeded to get ready while Carla drank some tea.

"Are you two ready to go?" Carla asked.

"Mhm!" Cynthia threw a hand into the air, before taking Wendy's. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Wendy said with a sheepish smile. "Let's go see everyone!"

.

.

Lucy awoke and sat up, stretching her arms over her head. "Mmmmmm...haven't slept that good in ages." And now it was time to get ready and do her best as always. The moment she stepped out of bed...

"..."

"Huh?" Lucy swore she heard the whispers of a voice, somewhere. She looked around, wondering if Natsu and Happy snuck into her apartment again. But that wasn't the case. She was alone... "I'm clearly still sleepy."

.

.

The sky was clear and the sun was shining down brightly on Magnolia Town, more especially, one of Fiore's top guilds: Fairy Tail. Inside the guild things were…just about the same as they always were. Various guild members were engaged in their own activities within the guild hall in a normally peaceful, yet rambunctious way. Natsu and Gray were both tangled in yet another one of their petty arguments…who knows what started this one. "You wanna say that again, ice pop!?" Natsu blared at the ice make mage.

"You hard of hearin' now, flame brain? Shouldn't be too surprised with all the beatings Laxus and Gildarts have given you." Gray replied with a sly grin, arms crossed as his reply just made Natsu madder.

"YOU WANNA FIGHT!?" Natsu roared, and before anyone knew it the two of them were fighting, a comical smoke cloud moving throughout the guild, and various people had to avoid being dragged into the squabble.

"There they go again…" Cynthia sighed while watching Natsu and Gray fight, taking a seat next to Wendy on the bar.

"They've been doing this a lot more than usual lately…" Wendy commented while sipping on some juice.

"You know how they are…" Lucy crossed her arms, letting out a minor chuckle. It was then she heard a faint screech in her head, causing her to cringe just slightly. "O-ow…?"

"…."

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Mira leaned over the bar while glancing at the blonde worriedly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" Lucy gave a soft smile to Mira to reassure the other female was fine. "Did you hear that though…?"

"Hear what…?" Mira blinked slowly. "Lucy, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should lie down…"

"N-No, I'm fine, really…!" Lucy waved her hands and gave a smile. She then turned, thinking to herself about this. "That was odd…I swore I heard something…? Maybe I am just hearing things…"

Having enough of the Natsu and Gray squabble, Erza walked over to the smoke cloud and picked up the two mages. "ENOUGH." Erza then slammed their heads into each other and dropped them, leaving the two males to writhe around on the floor in pain.

"Ow…" Natsu and Gray both had comical bumps sticking from the tops of their heads.

"Thank you, Erza." Makarov commented from atop the bar, taking a sip from the mug in his hands. "I really didn't want to have to interfere this time."

"No problem, Master." Erza replied while dusting her hands off. Shortly after this, the doors to the guild opened and two figures stood in the doorway…one was the familiar face of Arcadios, while the other was…the petite princess wearing the pumpkin helmet. "Huh…?"

"Oh good, you're all still here…kabo…" Hisui said with a slight sigh.

Cana tilted her head at the sight of Hisui. The fact her cheeks were flushed and she hiccupped was indication enough that she was she was drunk. "Is that a talking pumpkin…"

"Ignore her, please…" Lucy said while waving her hands. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still er…on punishment for leaving with us for the isle?"

"Let's just say that wearing this pumpkin disguise isn't entirely by choice…and I have to keep this on for a few more weeks…" Hisui let out a heavy sigh. "Kabo…"

"This time I'm not going to be letting you slip away from me, Princess." Arcadios responded in a knightly manner. "But that aside, there is a favor that we would like to ask of you."

"What is it?" Makarov finished the beer in his mug before setting it down, now glancing at Hisui and Arcadios.

Hisui cleared her throat before speaking. "There is going to be a rather important international meeting between the other countries and their leaders in Joya. My father and I were going to go represent Fiore, and we are allowed to bring a few members from a guild of our choosing to act as body guards, per se…kabo."

"You're asking to borrow a few members, then?" Makarov wanted to clarify this.

"I'm surprised you didn't go to White Eclipse first…since they technically still are the top guild…" Max remarked with a shrug.

"Not for much longer!" Gajeel commented. "The Games are right around the corner, and hopefully this time there won't be any interruptions…"

"Don't be ridiculous, kabo!" Unfortunately for the princess it seemed she was getting a little too into it now. "I think they were busy training some new recruits or something anyway, so I didn't want to bother them with the request. Besides, we're still indebted to you, kabo."

"I fear she may add that word to the end of all her of sentences with that word…" Wendy let out a slightly nervous laugh, though she was taking things seriously of course.

"I believe a group of five or six will suffice just nicely. You don't have to make your decision now, there is still a full day after today before we get going, kabo." Hisui nodded before glancing at Arcadios. "We'll be making our leave now, please excuse us." With that, the two made their exit.

"Oooh, I've always wanted to go to another country…!" Cynthia exclaimed while clasping her hands together. "I bet it's really nice…!"

"Settle down, kid," Laxus stated from the second floor, peering over with an unamused expression. "This is grown up business; I don't think political standings is a place for kids like you and Wendy."

"But we'd behave…!" Wendy objected. "Cynthia and I wouldn't cause any trouble!"

"Funnily enough, I don't think it's you two I'd be worried about in a situation like this…" Levy said with a nervous laugh before gesturing at Natsu, who was too busy digging in his ear to really be paying attention to anything.

"We can't let him roam rampant…" Lisanna whispered to Makarov, who gave a nod of agreement. Soon, the guild was in a quiet murmur about who would go to Joya with Hisui and Toma.

Meanwhile, Lucy was keeping her thoughts to herself. They were drifting off to the thought of all the leaders of the separate countries being there. Her mind wandered to the encounter with Pergrande's troops back on the Isle of the Dragons…Lucy ran into several of them, and they were all after her for some reason they would not explain to her, and it still irritated her…she needed answers. "I want to go!" She suddenly blurted out, catching a few people off guard due to the suddenness of it.

"Ah, Lucy…? Everything okay? You were quite passionate about that…" Mirajane tilted her head while staring at Lucy.

"Ah…sorry…I just thought it would be good if I was one to go." Lucy said while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"Good, you can keep this one under control." Gray said while pointing at Natsu, though they ended up giving each other the death glare. This was all halted when Erza glanced in their direction and they were suddenly acting all buddy-buddy with their arm around the others' shoulder.

"I'll be the one to pick who goes." Makarov made the decision with a firm nod, hopping off the bar counter with his arms behind his back. "No matter who I pick, I expect nothing but the best behavior; you're partially representing Fiore along with the Princess and the king, in another country no less." There it was, that stern tone, though this was a serious matter of course. Makarov received nothing but understandings nods. The stakes were as high as he was making them out to be. "Good. Now then…"

.

Next Time: International Relations.