Chapter 44

Betrayal?

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback / Dreams

Location / Date / Time Skip

"Natsu is driving a car?" Laki asked in shock. "That's something I never thought I'd see."

"And I never though I see a Laki wearing anything without 'Gray' on it." E. Natsu said back before glancing over his shoulder. "That is your version of me? That's just embarrassing."

Natsu tried to defend himself, but all that came out was a groan of pain. "He just gets weak on vehicles." Wendy spoke up.

"Try not to mess up the seats." The Edolas man said. "I can't believe it. They wouldn't call me Fireball the courier if I got sick just by sitting in a car." Natsu groaned at the mention of car.

"Wait, how are you driving this thing without an SE plug?" Happy asked.

"A what?" Wendy asked confused.

"That's the self energy plug." Carla said. "It's something wizards wear that changes the magic power in their bodies into fuel."

"But in this world, all magic is just fancy items." Rose added. "So I'm guessing this thing runs on magic alone. These guys might not be as magical as us, but they know how to make cars run."

E. Natsu slammed on the breaks and the car skidded to a halt. "Warn us next time you want to do that!" Laki shouted.

"Man, you guys are dumb." He mumbled. "Magic power here is limited, so of course magic fuel is limited as well. It's damn near impossible to get anymore. I can't afford to take you any farther, so get off." The group just stared at him in shock of his bluntness. "If I go any farther, I won't make it back to the guild. And since we changed locations again, it's gonna take longer than normal."

"How I missed you, ground!" Natsu cheered before he started kissing the dirt.

"At least he knows when it's time to go." E. Natsu said before they shared a look. "Now get out!" He threw the girls and Happy out of the car. "I don't care if you wanna get yourselves killed fighting the kingdom, but leave my guild out of it. I only did this because my Lucy asked me to." He glanced over to Laki. "That little rescue operation was her idea too, so thank her. I don't want any trouble, so I'm heading off."

"Hey." Natsu slammed his hand on the roof, catching his counterparts attention before he grabbed the Edolas mans shirt. "You get off too!"

He started pulling the driver right out of the car. "Get your hands off me now!"

"Let me talk to ya, one Natsu to another." Natsu said.

"No, stop it! Don't let me get out!" E. Natsu shouted before he was completely pulled out. He looked up to find his counterpart glaring over him.

"Now... Why can you stand vehicle?" He asked leaning in.

"Actually, I'm curious myself." Laki added, coming over. "Did you train yourself, eat something special,-" She stopped listing possibilities as a whimper caught her attention, it's source the driver.

"I-I don't know... I'm sorry." E. Natsu said, confusing the three.

"What the heck just happened?" Natsu asked, learning in again. "Are you really the same other me?"

"Yes!" E. Natsu screamed in fear. "It... it's just, people say I'm like a different person in a car."

"This Natsu is a total scardy cat." Happy said, making rose roll on the ground laughing.

"Please, stop it." E. Natsu begged as he grabbed his head in fear. "You're scaring me." Natsu stared at himself in total disbelief as his eyebrow twitched. Laki chuckled a bit and he turned to his girlfriend, who whistled in ignorance. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But this is all I can do for you."

"Why's that?" Natsu asked.

"I only came because my Lucy asked me to." He answered.

"It's okay. You don't have to push yourself." Wendy told him, making him smile a little.

"It's useless to have this guy anyway." Carla mumbled.

"Is you're name Wendy?" He asked, earning a nod. "Wow, you're so small and cute. And your the other version of me?" He asked himself.

"You already asked that." Natsu reminded the Edolas man.

"Well I'm Happy." The cat said. "This is Carla, and the one laughing is Rose."

"I'm sure you already know, but I'm the Earthland Laki." The last one said.

"Ah!" E. Natsu screamed before hiding behind his car. "I know that you're upset, but please, not again!"

"What?" She tilted her head confused.

He peaked out from the side of the car. "You see, my Laki, when she's upset, she drags me to her room and-"

"Hey! They're are kids present!" She shouted, scaring him even more.

"What was he talking about?" Natsu asked.

"I'll... explain later." She mumbled, blushing a bit.

'All she does is complain and ask for my help.' E. Natsu thought in fear. 'And when I don't have any advice she beats me up. It's not my fault every girl I know scares me.'

"Well,... my Lucy... told me to bring you here." E. Natsu mumbled, making them look up. "That's why I..."

"This is it..." Laki mumbled as she looked out to the large city.

"The Royal city!" Happy cheered.

"It's so big." Wendy said.

Natsu slung his arm over himself and pulled him out from behind the car. "Why didn't you say we were here?" He joked.

"You're right, I'm sorry!" The Edolas man shouted.

Natsu growled in annoyance before walking over to the cliff. "This is awesome! I didn't think we'd get here so fast!"

"All of our friends are down there, in a giant lacrima." Laki said as Rose stopped laughing.

"Let's go already." Carla said as she lead them down the cliff.

"Thanks for your help." Laki leaned in and scared E. Natsu even more. "Fine, I'll give it to him." She walked over to her Natsu and pecked his check. "Say thanks to your Lucy for me."

"Is she... forcing you?" E. Natsu asked.

"Nope." He answered before starting down the cliff. "See ya!"

"Wait!" E. Natsu shouted, stopping his other version. "You guys are really going against the kingdom?"

"If we want to save our friends, yeah." The Earthland version said. "The kingdom decided to take them from us, so we're going to take them back however we can."

E. Natsu stared at his Earthland self in disbelief as wind blew around them. "There's no way of... beating the kingdom." He mumbled. Natsu merely chuckled back before running after the others.

The Royal City

To call this place different from the other cities would be an understatement. All around the six wizards, people were just waiting magic like it was never going to run out. "Everyone here seems so happy." Laki said, looking around. "Not what I was expecting."

"I thought this was going to be a dark place." Wendy added.

"Not what I had in mind when I think 'dictatorial king'." Laki said.

"We go in to the city with no problems." Natsu said before something caught his eye.

"This place is so weird. It's like a carnival or something." Laki mumbled.

"This is what these people call conserving magic power?" Rose asked aloud. "This is just Robin Hood in reverse: steal from the poor, give to the rich."

"Wow, what a generous king." Laki said with disdain as Natsu rolled up from behind on a magic pony toy... and then succumbing to his motion sickness.

They entered a large road and a crowd of people caught Wendy's attention. "Guys, there's something going on."

The others glanced over as Natsu fell off the ride. "Is that a parade?" Laki asked.

"Let's go check it out!" Natsu cheered as he and Happy raced over to the crowd.

"We didn't come here to play!" Carla shouted in vain.

The girls raced after the two as they forced their way into the crowd. "There's so many people..." Laki complained. "Hey, hands where I can see them!" She worked her way through before bumping into Natsu. "There you are, you can't just run off like-" She looked over his shoulder and went wide eyed.

In front of them was the biggest lacrima she'd ever seen, at least twice the size of Natsu's house. Guards surrounded it on all sides as ropes held it in place. "That's a lacrima..." Wendy mumbled in horror.

"So that means..." Laki added.

"Everyone we know is inside that thing." Happy said.

"I don't think that's everyone. Look." Rose pointed towards the jagged edges of the crystal. "It looks like they cut it into a smaller piece."

"So this isn't even everyone..." Carla said.

The people cheered louder as an old man with a long bread in robes stepped out of a balcony. He spread his arms wide and the cheers intensified as shouts of 'Your Majesty' started. Far off behind them, Gajeel watched the scene as well.

"People of Edolas." The king spoke up and the cheers died down. "Behold the gift I bring you! The Anima project has created enough magic power for ten years!"

"Created my ass." Rose mumbled. "You stole that for our world."

"Let us rejoice and dance as one!" He cheered and the crowd followed his lead. "This lacrima belongs to all those loyal to our kingdom. Now we grasp the future to ensure our survival into the future! So we must make sure no one can take it from us, even if it costs us our lives! On this day, I promise you. As your king, I will make sure-" He slammed his staff into the crystal, cracking it. "That our magic power will never run out again!" The crack grew and some shards fell to the ground.

Natsu was about ten seconds from marching over to this guy and beating him to death as the crowd erupted into cheers of their country's name. "That's a joke if I ever heard one." Gajeel mumbled. "Everyone here is nothing but a dumb sheep." He walked away as Natsu started marching through the crowd.

Laki, know what kind of mistake he was about to make, ran over and stopped him. "Natsu, stop."

"Those are our friends!" Natsu shouted. "He's showing them off like a toy! We have to save them!"

"We all feel the same..." Laki said as tears started forming in her eyes. "Please... just wait a little longer..." Happy and Rose glared up at the crazed man while he laughed.

Sunset

The half dozen Earthlanders sat in the room of the nearest inn, all in various states on the emotional spectrum. Natsu glared out the window at the castle, Happy was sulking against the wall, Laki and Wendy were siting on the couch, Rose was marching back and forth on the floor, and Carla was making some kind of map.

"That's it, I'm done waiting." Natsu stood up and headed for the door. "I'm busting into the castle."

"Don't be foolish." Carla said.

"How is saving my friends foolish?" Natsu asked back.

"Assuming you do break into there, how do you plan on breaking out? Or saving everyone?" Carla asked, looking up from her map.

"I-uh-well..." He mumbled back, proving Carla's point.

"Everyone we know was turned into a lacrima..." Wendy mumbled. "Does anyone have any idea how to turn them back to normal?"

"The king will tell us that." Carla said, returning to her map.

"And why would he ever tell us anything?" Rose asked. "In case you missed the gathering earlier today, he's a goddamn madman. He's not going to tell us anything.

"If only Lucy were here..." Happy mumbled. "She could just have Gemini copy the king. We'd know everything he knows."

"Then we just beat it out of him." The room looked over to Laki, standing up from the couch. "After everything he's done to this world and ours, he needs to pay."

"Now you're speaking my language." Natsu said with a smile.

"Need I remind you both that he's a freaking king!?" Rose asked. "In his mental state, he's probably surrounded himself with guards. We won't be able to get within ten feet of him."

"That's why well use this." Carla finished her map and held it up. In it was a giant circle with a crude drawing of the castle in the center and a little cave in the northwest corner. A snaking line with an arrowhead at the end connected the two together. "It's like Rose said, the king here is not the sanest of individuals. So it stands to reason that he would have built an escape passage or two. This one links up to a mine shaft just out side the city."

"How do you know this?" Wendy asked.

"It just comes to me, bit by bit." Cars, said, rubbing her head. "It's like I have a mental map that's gettting filled in."

"Or... you just copied this from a book you read years ago." Rose said.

"Why do you say that?" Laki asked.

"Because me and Happy haven't had that happen at all." She answered, making Happy nod in agreement.

"So all we need to do is find that tunnel, and we have a shot at saving everyone." Laki said.

"What are we still standing around for!?" Natsu shouted. "Lets go save everyone!"

"No." Carla bluntly said. "We wait until night has fallen, so I suggest we all try to get some rest."

Night

Outside the Coal Mine

Carla served as the navigator for the group and they quickly found the tunnel outside the city. "We're here, I know it." She said.

"Let's go." Natsu started walking through the entrance.

"Hold on." Carla said.

"Oh come on! What now!?" He shouted annoyed.

"I know we all agreed that we need to move as fast as possible, but how are we going to see in this tunnel?" She asked.

"Duh." Natsu tired lighting his fist on fire... and it failed.

"Once again, I must remind you that we can't use magic here." Carla condescendingly said.

"Not a problem." Laki said walking up from behind, her hands behind her back. "Tada." She pulled them forward to reveal a pair of large sticks. "All we need is some cloth and we got ourselves a pair of torches."

"But we still need some way to light them." Carla reminded.

"It's a start." Rose said as they all started trying to make any semblance of a fire.

"This is the worst thing I've ever done." Natsu mumbled as he tired the 'rub a stick on to a piece of wood' method of starting fire.

"We don't have a choice." Laki said as she tried the same thing. "Though it surprises me that Igneel never taught you how to make your own fire without using magic."

"This is really what people used to do to make fire?" Happy asked as he and the others watched.

"Yeah, it is." Rose nodded as Natsu broke his stick.

"Damn it, this sucks." He grumbled.

"And... got it." Laki said, upsetting Natsu even more. "What's wrong?"

"It's embarrassing." He mumbled. "I'm a fire dragon slayer, and I couldn't make any fire."

"Who cares about that?" Carla asked. "We have fire and that's what matters."

"Here, Natsu, help me." Laki said.

"Why are you asking for help?" Rose asked.

"It's to cheer him up." She answered in a whisper. Natsu came over and helped turn the smoldering nub into a mini torch. "You did it, Natsu!"

"Yahoo! I'm all fired up!" He cheered in joy. Carefully, the group lit the torches as Natsu looked at his.

"Is somethi-" Happy started to ask before Natsu ate the flames. "Hey, maybe eating fire will bring your magic back."

"Did it work?" Laki asked. Natsu swallowed the flames and shook his head no.

"I knew that wouldn't work." Carla said, walking forward. Relighting the torch, they walked in after the cat.

"Looks like maintenance isn't top priority down here." Rose said, looking at the old wood holding the roof up.

Carla kept holding the map close and studied it before coming to a stop. "Hold the light forward." He told Wendy, who did just that, revealing a blocked of wall in front of them, the board looking at them had 'KY-2c' carved into it. "There it is, our way in."

Rose walked up and tapped the rock wall, making it shake a little. "Looks like all the wood is holding it in place. We just need someone to get rid of it." The whole group turned to Laki.

"Fine..." She huffed. "Just stand back. I don't know which beam is keeping all this stuff in place." She walked forward and started eating a board like it was corn on the cob. Then another, and another, and another, until the whole wall came down. "Seriously?" Where the rocks once were even more boards blocking the way. Those were quickly eaten and the path was cleared. "Done."

"Now let's hope this leads to the castle." Carla mumbled as she walked forward.

Natsu glanced over to Happy, who looked depressed. "What's wrong, little buddy?"

"...Why aren't me and Rose getting any thing in our heads?" He asked, confusing the others. "We came from this world too, and we all got sent on the same mission, so why have we-"

"Oh, don't tell me you're buying this crap too!?" Rose shouted. "Carla has been thinking on the fly since the second we got here. There's no secret mission, we didn't come from this world, and we don't have the ability to see things we haven't before." She turned and started walking deeper into the mine. "Let's go. We have friends to save."

"Aye..." Happy mumbled as the others followed Rose.

"This place looks really unstable." Laki said. "I hope it doesn't collapse on us."

"Why you gotta say things like that?" Happy asked.

"Still, this place is pretty old." Wendy said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into a few ghosts."

"Now we're talking about ghosts? Seriously?" Rose asked. "Those don't exist either." Natsu tired messing around with some shadows, but Rose ended up shoving the handle of the torch into his mouth. "Focus!"

"Sorry." He mumbled before they kept walking forward until they reached a fork in the road. "Now what?"

"Left." Carla said, matter of factly. They followed her instructions and found themselves in a cave lit by luminescent mushrooms. "I think this cavern is directly under the castle."

"I don't know how you know all this, but I'm glad you're on our side." Laki said with a smile.

"You're not the only one who doesn't know." Carla mumbled. "All this information just comes to me."

"That's amazing, Carla." Happy said.

"Need I remind you that this is the easy part." Rose said. "The second we find the king and force him to tell us everything, he's gonna send guards after us."

"And without any magic, we won't stand a chance." Laki mumbled. "Maybe we can-" Clear white goo shot out from behind and tied Laki up, forcing her to drop the torch.

"Laki!" Natsu shouted.

Laki tired to break free, but failed to. "I can't move my arms." More goo shot out and grabbed Wendy and Natsu, hitting him in the mouth as well. "What is this stuff?" Royal soldiers ran out from the side and surrounded them.

"The royal army?" Rose asked in shock.

"Why are they even here?" Laki asked.

"How did they find us?" Happy asked while Carla stared in shock.

"So these are the wizards from Earthland?" The three looked over in horror as Knightwalker stepped forward. "The resemblance to Natsu Dragion and Laki Sander is uncanny. Take them all away." The guards obeyed and started dragging the three away.

"Wendy!" Carla shouted as she ran after the three. Happy and Rose followed, only to get blocked by E. Erza.

The red head stared at the three cats, making the entire situation uncomfortable. "Exceeds." That one word confused the three, but not as much as all the soldiers bowing to them, including Knightwalker. "Welcome home."

The dragon slayers were just as confused as the cats. "What's happening?" Laki asked.

"Carla, Rose, what's going on? Who are you three?" Wendy asked in shock.

"We thank you for capturing the intruders for us." E. Erza said. Rose and Happy glanced at Carla, shaking in disbelief.

Not much of a change in canon, I know, but it wasn't like Laki was gonna let Natsu storm the castle. And if you're wondering where the last name 'sander' came from for E. Laki, don't. I just made it up on the fly.

Poll update. 'Secret' is still in the lead, but 'Joins with the Exceeds' is only behind by three votes. 'Stays Behind' has thirteen votes, 'Max as partner' has nine, 'Nab as partner' has five, and 'Warren as partner' has four. So it's pretty much better the first two choices. And apparently, NiA feels that I need to mention this: other than the canon choice, EVERY. SINGLE. OPTION. will lead to a very special fight on tenrou island.

Beta read by Natsu is Awesome.