Chapter Eighty-Three

"I don't think parents are supposed to envy their children." Erza murmured and Silver shrugged and watched as the light coming off of Wendy brightened slightly. He watched with rapt attention. A small, proud smile on his lips.

"Maybe not. But how could they not when we see them doing the impossible?" Gray's tattoos started to ripple on his skin. They all watched as he moved his hands, flexing them against the heat and light.

"The voices are so loud…what are they?" Wendy asked more to herself than to those around her as she continued to push healing magic towards the prone figure that was Flare. Juvia gave a startled gasp and then fell into consistent and even breathing.

"What voices?" Meredy wondered and looked at Ultear who shook her head.

"I can hear, a multitude of voices within Flare's mind." Wendy murmured. "It's harder to focus on healing her but not impossible. Its just not common to hear so many voices outside of a hive-mind individual."

"Perhaps her kind is hive-mind?" Meredy said but Jellal shook her head.

"No, she's definitely not." He tilted his head. "Maybe it's the flames. It lives in her hair, and Natsu has said fire is alive."

"That…makes sense." Wendy murmured. Trying to quiet all the other voices and find Flare's. Juvia's brow furrowed, ripples of water ran along her body. "I just wish they'd be quiet. I can't find Flare's voice."

"Why do you need her voice?" Meredy asked and Wendy tilted her head.

"The voice isn't her real voice. It's her mind. Healing the mind of an injured person is just as important as the body. If you don't think you will heal, that you have something to live for, your body will listen to your thoughts and stop trying."

"That makes sense." Erza murmured. "We have done studies on Earth of the correlation between thoughts and recovery."

"You as a planet are very intense and overly impressive." Meredy murmured and shook her head. She never would have thought that the mind affected the body like that.

"You can say we're weird. We know it to be true." Erza gave a small grin and looked around. "Ultear, will you and Meredy go and get the shuttle. Let's bring it close so once the girls are healed enough we can get them into it and get out of here."

"On it." Ultear leapt to her feet and Meredy followed after her quickly. They were careful to avoid the steaming piles of acid and draconic blood pools. Jellal looked over at her and she met his gaze and then they both turned and looked at the girls. Silver was still squatting, looking at Gray whose eyes hadn't left Juvia's face.

"How is Gramps?" He asked, breaking the silence. "Last I saw of him, he was agreeing to look after his grandson."

"He's still the General of Fairy Tail." Erza murmured. "But he's currently indisposed of."

"What's that mean?" He asked turning his head sharply.

"Mard Geer blew up the Guild Station." Jellal answered and Silver's intake of breath was deep and the air around them lowered several degrees. "Before anything too tragic could happen, one of the girls from this planet; who apparently had an alien father; tapped into a magic she didn't know she had. It ended up saving everyone from the Guild."

"How so?" His brows furrowed and he stood up and towered over them. Erza tilted her chin and looked up at him.

"Card Magic. She trapped everyone into cards that drifted safely down to earthy in a specific line. Allowed us to collect them all. Alfie, the AI of the Guild Station, verified as much. There were no casualties despite Mard Geer's belief and hopes."

"Hahaha…" Silver chuckled and shook his head. His fists on his hips. "Foiled by someone who didn't even know what they were capable of."

"Cana is very capable of a lot. She's part of the reason so many of the girls survived for years on this planet despite the invasion. She was my second in command."

"So you are the leader?"

"I was then. Before Lucy met Natsu. Now she's our leader. And I'm fine being her sword and shield."

"Good leaders know when to step back and let others shine." Silver inhaled sharply and let out the breath. "Did you say Natsu? The hot headed little lizard who used to antagonize Gray?"

"They antagonize one another now…sometimes Gajeel and the others join into the melee." Jellal murmured and snorted. "But yes. That Natsu."

"And he's with your new leader? It what context?"

"Pretty sure their…Growlkins."

"Ohhh…" Silver blinked in surprise. "Good for them. Does she know what that entails? Like being stuck with Natsu? Forever?"

"Why does everyone act like I'm trapping you?" Natsu huffed, smoke rising from his ears. Lucy giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Because they don't realize how sweet you can be." She snuggled close. "And you have trapped me. But I don't mind."

"Gee…thanks." He chuckled and nuzzled her head. Levy giggled and shook her head.

"You two need to stop being so cute. We have injured friends to worry about." Lisanna rolled her eyes.

"Shush." Lucy scolded lightly and snuggled deeper into Natsu; not wanting to look at the screen. Her heart heavy. But the moment was light and she was grateful for that. She knew, deep inside her heart, that Juvia and Flare would be safe. For now.

"Oww." Juvia whimpered and turned her head to the side and grimaced. Wendy smiled gently and redirected her healing powers to Flare again. As she did so, the tattoos from Gray lifted from her arms and returned to him. She felt the power lessen but she didn't mind. Gray pulled away and she shifted to lean over Flare's body fully and Gray reached down and wrapped his arms around Juvia and lifted her into his lap.

"Juvia?"

"Gray?" She asked weakly and blinked a few times. "So…ti…tired."

"Rest…you reckless woman." He chided and slowly stood up and turned and headed for the shuttle. The tattoos were slowly starting to fade, drifting behind him like smoke on the breeze. Silver stood up, watching as his son walked away.

"Yep…she's special." He turned and grinned at the women on the ground who were looking from him to Gray's retreating back. The grin was bright, as he started to fade from sight. "Thanks for keeping an eye out on my son."

"Of course." Erza murmured and met his eyes. "And we won't tell him about you."

"Thank you." He said as he faded fully from view.

"He seriously thinks Gray doesn't look like him?" Meredy asked and Ultear chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He's probably in denial."

"I think Dragis are good at fooling themselves." Jellal murmured and Erza felt her lips twitch as Wendy rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Flare's frail form.

"There you are Flare." She whispered and smiled sweetly. She'd once again found the small form, still curled on the ground of Flare's mind.

She focused all of her healing energy there. Her magic surrounded the form and she closed her eyes, letting the power swirl around her and the form. She opened her eyes and froze. All around them were dozens of figures, dark and grotesque, all engulfed in flames. They stood around, barely enough room between them to see the ones behind. She swallowed hard and looked down at Flare's mind, which was barely moving even with her magic flowing into her.

"Come on Flare, open your mind's eyes or something." Wendy thought in her own mind and watched in anticipation. One of the dark figures knelt and reached out a hand and touched Flare's curled shoulder. The flames leapt from them to her. When the flames connected with Wendy's magic, Flare's mental body unfurled and stretched.

"Flare?"

"Who…are…you?" Flare's voice was small. "So…bright…"

"Sorry." Wendy tried her best to dim the light of her magic. "I'm Wendy, the healer of Fairy Tail."

"Wen…dy…" Flare's voice was soft. "Am…I…dead?"

"Not yet. But you came super close."

"Ju…Juv…."

"Juvia is fine. You saved her." Wendy reassured her and the flames were brighter; moving from the various different entities and flowing into Flare's form. "I just need you to start fighting to get better. You have been in dire straits for a while. Even if it's just the desire to heal, that's all you need to do."

"Of course…I want to…heal." She sighed. "I want….to…ke…ke…keep…fighting."

"We will help heal her." The hissing voices said, following Flare's words. Wendy nodded. She didn't know what they were, maybe they were the flames like Jellal thought based on what Natsu had mentioned about fire having entities.

"Who…is…that?" Flare asked and Wendy looked around.

"Not really sure. They're in your mind. Not mine."

"Ohhh…." She murmured before her breathing evened out and her head lulled to the side. Wendy felt the power surging through her. She was fighting more now; but the healing energy from Wendy and the other entities were moving quickly.

"Flare's metrics are increasing." Alfie announced and everyone relaxed. The shuttle landed close to them and Wendy opened her eyes. She looked at Jellal who nodded without words and picked up Flare and Wendy hovered next to them as she followed him into the shuttle. Erza motioned to Ultear and Meredy who headed into the shuttle. She looked around, seeing the destruction but not seeing or sensing anything around them. She stepped into the shuttle and closed the door.