Dawn of Arcadia

Sovereign64

Blue Jacket
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Posts
26
Location
Singapore
Fandom: Fairy Tail/Tales of Series

Summary: The fight against Acnologia is over and peace is restored to Earth Land. But now, Team Natsu has received a new mission from the Magic Council to help a mysterious man who has lost his memories, and ends up plunging them into a brand new adventure to save their world. Natsu X Lucy

Notes: Some of you know that I'm working on another Fairy Tail story called Our Amazing Guild, but I've decided to cancel it, mainly because I don't like where the story is going and I've lost motivation in writing it. So I decided to restart my Fairy Tail story and hopefully, it will be the last time I'll ever do such a thing. I hope you all enjoy my newest story!

Chapter 1: A New Adventure, Part 1

A gentle wind blowing across his face. Rays of light shining onto his eyelids. And his hand placed over a red scabbard.
These are the first things a man with messy black hair noticed when he woke up from his sleep. He groans as he slowly rose up from his bed and removes the sheets. Noticing that his vision is groggy, the man proceeds to rub his eyes. But after giving a few rubs, the man lowers his hands and notices the tears on his fingers. He sighs before wiping off the tears that are still brimming in his eyes.

"The same dream…again…" He murmured.

The man turns his head to the drawer beside him and picks up a pair of glasses. After cleaning the lenses of his glasses with his white shirt, he puts them on and lets out a heavy yawn. He turns around and prepares to get out of-

"Ohayo!"

"AAHHH!" The man yelled in surprise as he fell back down on his bed. With his eyes widened, all traces of his drowsiness disappeared in an instant. As he lifts himself up from his bed once more, the man adjusts his glasses to see a familiar brown-eyed woman leaning forward and gazing back at him with her hands placed at the sides of her hip and a warm smile plastered across her face. Her black hair is tied to a messy ponytail by a pink ribbon and she is dressed in light violet robes with a white tube top underneath, a pink sash, black pants and light violet boots. The woman gave Darren a lopsided smirk as she watches her dumbfounded friend in amusement.

After silently staring at her…assets for a few moments, Darren murmured as he sheepishly turns his head away from her, "Ohayo, Sheena."

"Rise and shine, kiddo." Sheena said, standing up straight. "It's time to go to work."




Sheena hums merrily to herself as she leans against the wall of their apartment building, waiting for Darren to get ready for another day of work. A few moments later, the door beside her opened, revealing her friend who is now dressed in a sleeveless black jacket with a white tank top underneath, a silver cross necklace around his neck, black gloves with silver plating, blue jeans, two black belts with silver buckles strapped around his waist, black kneepads and black boots.

After closing the door behind him, Darren nodded to Sheena and the two stroll their way through the town of Underwood.

Located at the eastern edge of Fiore, Underwood is a border town that was more remote than any other city and town in the country. It is small but lively. Most of the buildings are two-floor apartments and along the road is a huge marketplace where several people are walking through the area and standing around the stalls, examining the items that are on sale. Some of the merchants sat under the awnings of their stalls while others are shouting and encouraging any potential customers to buy whatever they are selling. Further south of the town was a cluster of mountains, located along the borders of Fiore and Bosco, its neighboring country.

"Good morning Darren and Sheena!" One of the merchants greeted as she spots Darren and Sheena passing by her stall.

"Hello Mickey!" Darren replied, smiling warmly at the merchant as he and Sheena turn to her.

"Ohayo Chickentiger-san!" Sheena said, bowing her head. A small bird on Mickey Chickentiger's head chirped at the two. Sheena chuckled. "Ohayo Pii-chan."

"Hey Pii-chan." Darren said, waving his hand at the bird. "How's business lately, Mickey?"

"It's alright, I guess." Mickey shrugged. She looks down at the products that she displayed at the front of her stall. The products are mostly combat gloves, bandages and a couple of weapons. "I just wish more people who are interested in magic and hand-to-hand combat would often come to this town so that they can check out what products I have for sale."

"Why not try selling them at a bigger city like Magnolia? They attract a lot of mages, so I'm sure your business will do better there." Sheena implied.

"Funny you mention that place." Mickey said, scratching her chin. "Pii-chan and I were originally from Magnolia. But while I don't wish to talk much about it, let's say some bad things happen to me over there and that's what made me left. I never return there ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Darren said apologetically.

"Nah, it's alright." Mickey reassured him with a smile.

"Do you ever think about how things are doing back in Magnolia right now?" Darren asked.

"Aside knowing that the town was invaded 2 years ago, sometimes." Mickey said.

"And you gotta have a reason to revisit your past." Sheena said flatly to Darren.

"For me, I wish I know how I got here in the first place." Darren said to her. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two and Mickey. The merchant took the moment to contemplate what Darren and Sheena had just said before finally breaking the silence.

"Now then, are you two just going to stand around or head to work?" Mickey asked.

"Oh right!" Darren realized aloud. "Come on, Sheena. Let's go!"

"Hai." Sheena responded.

"Bye Mickey! Bye Pii-chan!" Darren said as he and Sheena wave goodbye to Mickey and her bird.

"Take care of yourselves!" Mickey said to them as she waves her hand back. Pii-chan chirps in response.




Despite still being rather early in the morning, the town's restaurant is already filled with many customers. Most of them came to have their breakfast while others are also sitting around and drinking away the morning.

"Thank you very much. Please wait patiently for your order to arrive." Darren said as he writes down the orders on a notepad. He turns around, walks away from the table and goes into the kitchen.

While there is certainly life and joy erupting in the dining area, there is a completely different atmosphere happening in the kitchen. The cooks are busy walking around and standing at the stoves, preparing the food for the customers and filling up the workplace with a mixture of steam, smoke and various aromas arising from their cooking and the ingredients.

"Orders for table 15." Darren said as he tears out the page from the notepad and hands it to a tall and overweight bald man dressed in a white hat, a white apron with a purple shirt and tan pants underneath it and brown shoes. The man snatches it from Darren's hand and glares at him.

"Got it." The man said flatly. "And Darren?"

"Yes, Mr. Maroro?" Darren asked with a nervous frown.

"I'm docking your pay again."

"What? Why?" Darren asked incredulously.

"You um…been showing up late to work recently."

"But I have always been coming here few minutes before-"

"Are you going to make excuses or get back out there and fill up the customers' orders?!"

Seeing the scowl on Maroro's face, Darren flinched and sighed inwardly. "Understood, sir." He mumbled.

"Get back to work." Maroro muttered before turning around and walking back to his workstation.

Darren turns around and heads to the door. As he opens it, a waiter comes in while carrying a pile of dirtied plates. Darren moves out of the way to allow him to enter. The waiter walks over to the sinks where Sheena is standing behind and places the plates at the side. Without a word, the waiter walks away, causing Sheena to pout and folds her arms.

"Sheena, we need these dishes cleaned up." Sheena said to herself as she rolls her eyes back. She grins and bows down. "Thank you very much for your help."

"You're welcome." Darren added, smiling at her. Sheena chuckled at him as she stood up. She turns to the sinks and return to cleaning the dishes.

As Darren reenters the dining area, the entrance to the restaurant opened. He looks up and sees four figures entering the place.

"Ah! I am so happy we finally found a good place to eat and relax after an entire week of travelling!" One of them cried in relief with a huge grin on his face. He is a lean and muscular young man with pink spiky hair, black eyes and wears a white scarf around his neck, a sleeveless black jacket, a black wristband around his left wrist, a brown belt with a silver round buckle, a black waistcoat, white pants, and black sandals.

"Aye!" A small anthropomorphic blue cat with large white wings on his back said in agreement as he walks alongside the man.

"I gotta agree with Natsu and Happy. My feet are killing me." A young woman who walked alongside the man said, slouching over with her arms drooped at her sides. She has long blonde hair, tied to a side ponytail by a blue ribbon, chocolate brown eyes and wears a sleeveless white shirt with blue outlines and a large horizontal blue stripe across the top section, a blue skirt, a brown belt and black boots. Attached onto the belt is a ring of gold and silver keys and a black whip.

"You guys should be more like Gray, Wendy and Carla. While they are still out in town stocking up our supplies and continuing our search, you guys are already out of energy shortly after our arrival." Another young woman chided the three. She has brown eyes, long dark red hair and dressed in a sleeveless white blouse, a blue ribbon around the collar, a blue skirt and black boots.

"Well, you know me. The flames inside me are constantly burning my calories away." Natsu grinned as he places his hand on his abdomen.

"I still feel gross just hearing that." The blonde-haired woman moaned.

As the four go over to an empty table and take their seats, Darren looks around and sees the other patrons in the restaurant talking to each other as they glance at the newest visitors. He can tell that just by their presence alone, they had already garnered a lot of attention.

"Hey!" Darren yelped as a waiter places his hand on his shoulder. "Don't just there. Give them their menus and take their order."

Darren dumbly nods his head as the waiters hands him a few menus. "Sorry, it's just that these four are quite…popular." Darren said.

"Of course they are. They're Fairy Tail, the number 1 guild in all of Fiore. Who has not heard of them?" The waiter said. Darren silently stares back at him for a few seconds before the waiter snorted. "Seriously? Do you live in a well or something? Now go attend to them!"

Darren nods his head again before he and the waiter went their separate ways. Darren walks over to the four and hands them the menus.

"Welcome to Salziger Spitoon. We hope you will find what you would like to eat here." Darren greeted them.

"Thank you very much." The red-haired woman smiled at Darren. She turns to Natsu who stares at Darren for a moment before a smirk takes form on his face. He opens the menu and looks down at it.

"We should order food for Gray, Wendy and Carla too while they are still outside." The blonde-haired woman said.

"Good idea Lucy. I bet Gray just wants something cold again." Natsu said.

"Haha, very funny."

"Huh?" Natsu turns around and to his surprise; he sees a muscular young man with dark blue eyes, messy black hair and is only dressed in a silver cross necklace around his neck, a silver bracelet around his right wrist, a light brown belt with a silver buckle, dark green pants and black boots. "Gray, what the hell are you doing here?!"

"What does it look like, charcoal-for-a-brain?" Gray replied, arching a brow in annoyance at Natsu. "Wendy, Carla and I are here to join you for breakfast."

"You take that back, ice breath!" Natsu snapped as he gets up and jabs an accusing finger at Gray's chest. As the two boys growled menacingly at each other, Lucy and Erza shake their heads.

"How goes the search?" The red-haired woman asked two other figures standing beside Gray. One of them is a small girl with brown eyes and long dark blue hair, tied to two ponytails with red ribbons. She is dressed in a sleeveless dark green dress, gold bands around her upper arms and dark red sandals. The other is a small anthropomorphic white cat with eyelashes and large white wings on her back. She is dressed in a yellow long-sleeved blouse with a pink ribbon around its collar, a dark red skirt and another pink ribbon wrapped around the end of her tail.

"Sorry Erza." The blue-haired girl said apologetically as she shakes her head. "I couldn't detect the one we are looking for at the marketplace."

"It may take a while. But at least we know he is somewhere in this town." The white cat said.

"It's alright, Wendy and Carla." The red-haired woman, now known as Erza, said. As Natsu and Gray continue arguing with each other, Erza narrows her eyes as she turns to them and slams her fist on the table.

"IF YOU TWO DON'T QUIET DOWN, I WILL BEAT YOU TWO TO A BLOODY PULP!" Erza suddenly roared, causing everyone present in the dining area including Natsu, Gray and Darren to yelp.

Natsu and Gray tremble in fear as they slowly get into their seats. Wendy and Carla also sat down along with the rest of the group.

Lucy sighs heavily and turns to Darren who is still standing at their table, looking shell-shocked. "We're so sorry for the commotion, sir. These things happen to us all the time." She said apologetically.

"I-I-I-It's okay…" Darren struggled to say as he shook. "I am still waiting for your orders though."

"Right." Lucy said as she looks back at the menu. "I'll have bacons and eggs."

"I'll have a beef burger and fries, please!" Natsu said to Darren with a grin.

"I'll take pancakes with butter and maple syrup." Erza smiled at Darren.

"Scrambled eggs." Gray simply said with a nod of his head.

"I want waffles." Wendy said.

"Salmon!" Happy shouted cheerfully.

"What he said." Carla shrugged.

Darren wrote down their orders on his notepad before looking back at them. "Alright, please wait patiently for your food to arrive. Thank you very much for choosing Salziger Spitoon." He bowed to them before he grabs the menus, turns around and hurriedly walks back to the kitchen.

As the guild watched him depart, Erza narrows her eyes and turns to Natsu. "Natsu, are you sure it is him?" She asked solemnly.

Natsu nods his head in response. "Aye."




The rest of the morning was rather uneventful for Sheena and Darren. They continued working normally for hours until it is time for their afternoon break. They leave the restaurant and head to the apartment building at the other side. Sheena and Darren manage to climb up to the rooftop thanks to their skills, sat down and each ate a loaf of bread. They spent the rest of their break time conversing with each other.

"UGH! It's so obvious that he's using your hard-earned money to gamble again! That filthy pig." Sheena said irritably, gritting her teeth.

"I felt the same way..." Darren's eyes softened. "But then again, where else can we go if we lose this job?"

Sheena sighs heavily before turning to Darren. "By the way, you were at the dining area at the time. What was that loud yell earlier?" She inquired.

"Oh well, it came from a guild that visited the restaurant this morning. If I remember correctly, they're called Fairy Tail." Darren explained. He still couldn't believe that he had just met the members of Fairy Tail this morning. Sheena had told him before that guilds are groups formed by mages which they can join and work together to earn money by accepting requests from civilians and government officials throughout the country. But he never thought of meeting the most powerful guild of them all today.

"I see." Sheena narrows her eyes.

"Is it true they are the number 1 guild in Fiore?" Darren asked.

Sheena lies down on the rooftop with a hand placed on the back of her head. A wide smile takes form on her face as she replied, "Yup, everybody knows that, including me."

"You told me about guilds but you never told me about Fairy Tail. Why?" Darren asked.

"Because I never wanted to." Sheena said bluntly.

"Why not?" Darren asked.

"Sheesh. Being awfully curious today huh?" Sheena arches a brow at him. She gets back up in a sitting position and replied, "Well, no matter what, I don't want you to get too interested in joining a guild. Sure it sounds fun, but you gotta remember. Only mages can form or join a guild. But you don't have any magic inside you at all."

"That's true." Darren said, lowering his head.

"Fortunately, thanks to my training, you know how to do sword fighting with that katana of yours. That alone is already enough to help you survive out here. Right?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah." Darren responded.

"You still don't remember how you got here, don't you?" Sheena asked.

"No. I don't. I also still don't understand why I'm seemingly the only person here who doesn't have magic." Darren said.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure your memories will come back." Sheena said before placing her hand on his shoulder. "Things always come naturally, don't they?"

Darren turns to Sheena and smiled at her. "I'm glad to have you around, Sheena." He said.

Sheena responded with a wan smile, "Me too."




Darren and Sheena leave the restaurant after a long day of work. By the time they had finished work, it was already 9:30 pm. The two sigh wearily as not only did Darren's payment get docked again, but also that they have little time for rest as soon as they return home and before another day of work comes again by sunrise.

When they arrive back at their apartment, Darren and Sheena took turns to use the bathroom to change into their nightclothes and brush their teeth. When they are done, they are ready to tuck themselves in for the night. Sheena follows Darren to his room and watches him lie down on his bed and gets under the blanket.

"Sleep well. Tomorrow's going to be another rough day, I'm sure." Sheena said as she stood at the doorway.

"You too." Darren replied.

Sheena gave him a final smile before she turns around and closes the door. Darren stares up at the ceiling and closes his eyelids. Before he knew it, he has fallen asleep.




Darren moans as he woke up, lying on a grassy field. His vision was groggy at first, but he managed to lift his head up and rubs his eyes. When his vision became clearer, Darren widens his eyes and adjusts his glasses. He gets up from the grass and stood up, looking around his surroundings in awe.

He realized that he is standing in the middle of a grassy field in a park. There are very few people strolling through the area and paid no attention to him. There are also several buildings that form a street in the distance and behind the metal fences that lined the boundaries of the park.

Darren snaps out of his thoughts when he felt a rubber ball gently knocked against his right leg. He turns his head and looks down. Sure enough, he sees the ball, but what also caught his eyes is a red scabbard in front of his feet. Shortly after picking up the ball, a small boy scampers over and Darren looked at him.

"That's my ball, sir." The boy said as he extends out his hands.

"Kid? Where am I?" Darren asked the boy.

"You don't know? You're in Underwood." The boy replied.

"Underwood?" Darren said dumbfounded.

"Yup. Now can I have my ball?" The boy asked. Darren nods his head before handing the ball over to the child. "Thank you!" The boy smiled at him before turning around and running off.

Darren looks back to his front, feeling perplexed as several questions began hatching inside his mind. Aside from the name of the place, he has no idea where he is and how he got here. Oh and why is there a scabbard in front of him too.

Looking back down at the scabbard, Darren picks it up and holds it firmly in his hand. He looks back up and begins walking his way to the town. Hopefully he will get some answers from the townspeople.




Darren looks around in awe as he strolls through the town. The place does look beautiful and each building is built differently and has its own personality from one another. He walks through the marketplace and sees the fruits, vegetables and other groceries that are displayed at the front of the food stalls. As he felt his stomach grumble, only did Darren now realize that he hadn't eaten anything ever since he first arrived to this strange place. While still holding onto the scabbard, Darren inserts his other hand into one of his pockets, but he couldn't feel anything. He inserts his hand into the other pocket, but-

While Darren was trying to find a single cent on him, he didn't look what was in front of him while he was walking and he accidentally bumps into someone's back. Darren looks up as he came to a halt. He widens his eyes as he sees a tall man standing in front of him. The man turns around and frowns at Darren in annoyance. He looks muscular has green spiky hair. Standing behind him are two other men, one's hair is straightened up to a pink Mohawk and the other has long blue hair, tied to a ponytail and wears sunglasses.

"Hey, do you even know where you are going?" The green-haired man muttered to Darren.

"I'm sorry, sir." Darren said apologetically to him.

"Pay up." The man gave a terse reply.

"Huh?" Darren said incredulously.

"Are you dumb? Pay up!" The man yelled furiously.

"But I don't have any-"

To his shock, Darren gets cut off when the man swings his fist, punching him across his left cheek. The other people in the marketplace saw this, but unfortunately none of them are brave enough to help Darren and stand against the three muscular men. All they could do is watch in fear and worry.

"In case you didn't know, we owned this town! And if you show disrespect to us, you have to pay for your actions in cash! NOW DO IT!" The man yelled again.

"I'm sorry, sir!" Darren cried, looking back at the man and trying to reason with him. "I really don't have any money with me and-"

The man responded by throwing a punch to Darren's gut. Darren gasped in pain before falling on his knees.

"You are really stubborn, you know that?!" The man barked at Darren. The other two thugs standing behind him chuckled. "Now pay up or else-"

"Whoa, whoa, guys. What's going on here?"

Darren and the three men turn their heads in confusion and see Sheena walking over to them with her hands placed at the back of her head.

"Huh?" Darren managed to choke out while still kneeling down on the floor in pain.

As Sheena places herself between Darren and the three men, she smirked at the green-haired man as she lowers her arms and places her hands at the sides of her hip.

"I overheard you saying that you owned this town? Give me a break." Sheena rolls her eyes. "With those silly hairstyles and the clothes you wear, you can't even intimidate a curily."

The three men grimaced at Sheena, infuriated by her comments.

"You got a lot of nerve, scum." The green-haired man said icily to Sheena as he clenches his fists. He yells as he swings his fist at Sheena. The woman simply dodges it by turning to the side. The man swings his other fist, trying to hit Sheena again. But the woman backs away to avoid his attack.

The woman gave him a mocking yawn, angering the man. The man swings his leg up, trying to give a massive kick to Sheena. However, Sheena moves to the side and wraps her arm around his leg. The man widens his eyes in shock before Sheena gave a twist to his leg.

"AAAAHHHH!" The man screams in agony as he fell to the ground. Sheena releases his now injured leg and the man clings onto it in huge amounts of pain.

"Why you…" The pink-haired man charges at Sheena and throws his fist at her. Sheena ducks down, turns around and grabs the man's arm. To his surprise, the man helplessly watched Sheena gets up, yanks his arm and tosses him over her shoulder. As the man slams onto the floor beside Darren and with a hard thud, Sheena stomps her foot onto his face.

The remaining man growls as he magically summons a metal pipe in his hand. Darren widens his eyes in shock and horror. Shock came from the fact that the man can magically summon an object in his hand and horror from the fact that he is about to attack the woman from behind.

As the blue-haired man yells and charges over to her, Sheena whirled about and swings her leg up.

THWACK!

The man cringed in pain and drops his pipe as Sheena's foot made contact with the bottom of his crotch. Sheena lowers it and throws her other leg at him, delivering a massive kick to his abdomen. The eyewitnesses quickly move aside as the kick sends the man sprawling through the floor.

Sheena lowers her leg and lets out a sigh of disappointment. She looks down at her fallen opponents, still lying on the ground in pain or in an unconscious state. She shakes her head and remarked, "Why do you guys even bother?"

As the people around them continue strolling through the marketplace as if they hadn't seen anything, Sheena began to make her departure.

"Wait!" Darren cried to her. Sheena stopped and turns her head to him. As his pain had faded away, Darren gets up from the floor and nods his head. "Thank you."

"Nah, you don't need to thank me. I was just bored and looking for people to bother." Sheena said nonchalantly. As she turns back to the front and tries to walk away again, Darren spoke up.

"Wait, ma'am. I hope you don't mind helping me once again but…I really don't know where I am and I have no money with me." Darren said.

"If you don't have any money, just go get a job. Simple as that." Sheena shrugged.

"But I don't know where to go next either." Darren added. "And I don't know what jobs you can do here."

Sheena sighs heavily again. She turns back to him with an arched brow and places her hands at the sides of her hip. "You keep saying that you don't know. Are you alright?"

"I think…and at the same time, no." Darren frowned as he looks down at his scabbard and tightens his grip on it.

Sheena stares wordlessly at Darren for a few moments. She hadn't seen this man around in this town before and despite being taller and perhaps slightly older than her, he has absolutely no clue on what's going on around him. Is he an amnesiac? If so, if he were to be left out here alone with no money and no one to turn to, he wouldn't survive out in the open for even a day. Sheena felt conflicted on whether to help this man though. She will never forget the misfortunes she had experienced in the past which eventually led her into becoming an outcast, but if she won't help him, who else will?

Sheena approached Darren and places her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look back at her.

"Very well, why don't you follow me for the time being?" She said.

Darren widens his eyes in surprise. Shortly after, a huge smile appears on his face and he said enthusiastically, bowing his head to Sheena with gratitude, "Thank you ma'am! You really are a kind person!"

Sheena stares blankly at Darren for a moment, completely caught off guard by his reply. Eventually, a small smile takes form on her face and her eyes softened. "No problem." She murmured.

As Darren looks back at her, he holds out his hand and introduced himself, "My name is Darren." He paused and turns his head away for a moment. He looks back at Sheena when he remembers his last name. "Darren Leong."

"At least you know your own name." Sheena smirked. She removes her hand from his shoulder and shakes his hand. "My name is Sheena. Sheena Fujibayashi."

As she turns around, Sheena gestures Darren to follow her and the two stroll through the marketplace together. She turns back to him and said, "So Darren, tell me everything you do know inside your head."




Darren woke up from his sleep as the sun shines brightly in the sky. He smiles blissfully as he rises up from his bed. Despite still having no idea how he first arrived to this town, the memory of meeting Sheena for the first time always helps bring him warmth and ease.

He turns to the scabbard which he placed beside him on his bed and picks it up. He grabs the hilt and pulls the object out from the scabbard, revealing it to be a katana.

Why did this object appeared alongside him is yet another unanswered question that still lingers in his mind. Until his training with Sheena, Darren has no memory of ever being a swordsman or a fighter. Yet this ancient sword still appeared with him upon waking up to this town. Although he has no idea why, Darren felt that he had to keep this object with him at all times. He still clings onto whatever hope he had that one day, he will finally know why this sword is with him and what it actually meant to him.

As Darren sheathes the katana back into the scabbard, he places it aside and turns his head, just as the door opens to reveal Sheena.

"Ohayo!" Sheena greeted with a grin. "Rise and shine!"




After changing into their casual clothes, Darren and Sheena step out of the apartment, preparing for another day of work. However, as soon as Darren closes the door, he gasped as he suddenly realized what he had forgotten to bring along with him.

"Crap!" Darren said, looking down on himself. "I forgot to put on my necklace!"

"Oh come on. You can work for one day without it." Sheena said to him.

"No Sheena! That necklace is special to me!" Darren cried, narrowing his eyes.

"It's your lucky charm, I guess." Sheena smirked and shrugs her shoulders. "Very well, go get it. But don't take too long, will ya?"

"I won't." Darren turns around, opens the door and reenters the apartment. After Darren closes the door behind him, Sheena turns and glances around the town to pass the time as she waits for her friend.

However, it didn't take long for Sheena to spot three figures, dressed in jackets and jeans, standing at the rooftop of one of the buildings at the other side of the road, spying at their apartment. Sheena frowned at them questioningly, immediately realizing that something strange is going on.




Darren walks through the living room and makes his way to the staircase…completely unaware that he had walk past a certain blonde-haired girl dressed in a white shirt and blue skirt.

"Hello sir!" Lucy greeted.

"Huh?" Darren stops and turns his head to Lucy.

"It's good to meet-" Lucy gets interrupted when Darren responded with a yell of shock. She watched in horror as Darren stumbled backwards and slams his back against the wall. He slides down and lands on the floor on his rear.

"Owww…" Darren moaned in pain as he rubs the back of his head.

"Ah! I'm so sorry for startling you! I didn't mean to do it on purpose!" Lucy cried as she waves her hands frantically.

After shaking his head and recovering from his fall, Darren looks up at Lucy and asked, "How did you get in here?"

"Well," Lucy rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "I would say that I summoned Virgo to help me and my friends unlock the window at the back of your apartment, but…" She hangs her head and her arms drooped at her sides. "Natsu had to burst through it without any second thoughts."

"Huh?" Darren said dumbfounded.

"That's right. There's a broken window, and kinda of a large hole at your kitchen right now. Sorry." Natsu said as he steps into the main area of the apartment along with Wendy, Gray, Erza, Happy and Carla. Darren stares at them incredulously as Natsu wipes off the dust from his jacket.

"Geez, you had to make a ruckus early in the morning and startling the person we came here for, don't you?" Gray chided Natsu.

"And what would you have done, huh?!" Natsu snapped at Gray. Lucy and Wendy sigh heavily while Erza shakes her head.

"So much for a pleasant first impression." Lucy mumbled.

"Hey guys!" Darren yelled exasperatedly as he gets up from the floor. "I want answers right now! What the hell are you all doing here?!"

"We are here to rescue you." Wendy replied as everyone look at him.

"What are you talking about?" Darren asked in confusion. Erza walks up to him as she folds her arms.
When she stood in front of him, Darren fell silent as Erza gave him a solemn frown. "You said you want answers, and we're happy to provide them."


















 
Chapter 2: A New Adventure, Part 2

"We were assigned by the Magic Council to rescue you." Lucy said to Darren. Natsu grins at Darren as he holds up a document that is officially signed by the council.

"Why do I need rescuing?" Darren asked.

"A month ago, the Magic Council began receiving numerous reports from all over the country, saying that strange portals have mysteriously appeared and people have been falling out from them." Lucy explained. "The first known report came from Malba City. A woman named Doris appeared at the garden of one of the residents' home and they immediately report this to the Magic Council. When the knights arrived, Doris told them that she came from a different world and was suddenly transported here."

"During the questioning, the knights also discovered there were no traces of magic inside her. That is when we at Fairy Tail believe that the world Doris came from…is Edolas." Natsu added.

"Edolas?" Darren asked.

"Edolas was a parallel universe to our world. But unlike us, the people of Edolas do not possess magic. And because of it, the use of magic over there is limited." Wendy explained.

"That is why one time; Edolas began absorbing magic from Earth Land, our world. And our guild headquarters disappeared in the process." Erza added.

"But we were able to enter Edolas, had one of our former members reverse the device they used to absorb the magic from Earth Land, save our guild and return back home." Happy said.

"With the magic reversed, the people back in Edolas now have no magic at all." Carla said.

"That is why we believe you are from Edolas." Gray said.

"I'm…from Edolas?" Darren asked, frowning as he contemplates what the guild has told him. No matter how hard he tried though, he couldn't remember if he is from this world known as Edolas, or if he has ever heard the name before.

"Aye. Doris isn't the only person without magic who has mysteriously appeared in this world. The Magic Council has received several similar reports throughout Fiore and all of Earth Land. That is why they have assigned all guilds, including us, to travel around Earth Land and rescue these people. That includes you." Natsu explained.

"How did you guys know I'm one of them?" Darren inquired.

"Enhanced smell." Natsu answered with a grin, placing his fists at the sides of his hip. "See, Wendy and I are Dragon Slayers. And with our senses of smell that are as strong as a dragon, we can detect any of our targets with our noses." Wendy nods her head.

"Now that we've found you, we want you to come with us and head to Era. That's where the Magic Council headquarters is located and where other people without magic like you are being gathered." Erza said.

"Right now, we are tirelessly finding a way to transport you guys back to Edolas. Don't worry, we promise we'll take you home somehow." Lucy said reassuringly.

"Any other questions?" Gray asked.

"Actually I do." Darren said. The guild looked at him questioningly and there was a brief moment of silence. Darren arches a brow and tilts his head to the side as he asked curiously, "How do I smell?"

"Oh." Wendy said as she and Natsu hang their arms limply at their sides. Natsu scratches his head and Wendy twirls her fingers as they ponder how to respond. "Well…" She said nervously. "The scent is hard to describe but-"

"Do I really smell that bad? I just showered a while ago." Darren said before looking down and sniffing his arm.

"Nononononono!" Natsu cried as he and Wendy wave their hands frantically at him. "We were trying to-"

Erza interrupts with a loud groan and said to Darren, "This is not the time! We have to take you to Era now!"

Darren sighed and rubs his temples. He looks back up at the guild and said, "Alright. I'm actually still feeling confused about all of this. But if you guys truly are the number 1 guild in Fiore, I trust you enough."

Lucy smiled at him with her hands placed behind her back. "Welcome aboard, Darren!"

"Wait!" Darren cried abruptly, causing everyone to stare at him confused.

"What is it?" Gray asked perplexed.

"I forgot my necklace." Darren said, placing his hand on his chest.

Everyone sigh before Erza said to him, "Alright, but don't keep us waiting." Darren nods his head before rushing up the stairs.

----

Darren enters his room and found his necklace lying on top of the wooden drawer beside his bed. He hastily walks over to it and grabs it. After putting on the necklace around his neck, he turns his head and sees his scabbard lying on his bed.

Darren frowns at it. Knowing that this may be the last time he would ever set foot in Underwood for a while, Darren grabs the scabbard and holds it firmly in his hand as he leaves his room.

----

As two of the three men continue standing at the rooftop and spying on Darren's apartment, the third man stood a few metres away from the others and spoke to a lacrima ball in his hand.

"The boy has returned back into his apartment." The man reported.

"Keep an eye on him at all times, Jarek. Make sure nothing happens to him. They are coming here soon to collect him and I need that payment!" Maroro said to him at the other side of the line.

"Understood." Jarek said before turning off and putting away his lacrima ball into his jacket. He turns around and regroups with the others.

"That friend of his sure knows how to stand still." One of the men spying at Sheena and the entrance said.

Jarek leans forward and narrows his eyes. The man is right. It's been minutes since Darren returned back into his apartment, and Sheena is still standing like a statue at the entrance. But this obviously means something is wrong. Jarek glares at the man and yelled, "You fool! That is a divers-AGH!"

The two men are startled as someone suddenly jabs her hand at the side of Jarek's neck, causing him to yelp and collapse onto the floor as he falls into unconsciousness.

"You!" One of the men cried as they turn and gaze at Sheena in horror. Sheena yells furiously as she runs over and knocks them out.

After defeating the two men, Sheena turns back to the entrance of her apartment and snaps her fingers. The fake Sheena turns into clouds of smoke and a piece of paper gently falls onto the floor.

Shortly afterwards, the door opens and to Sheena's surprise, she sees Team Natsu stepping out of the building along with Darren.

"Sheena?" Darren said, widening his eyes as he looked around. But he couldn't find his friend anywhere. "Sheena!"

"Who's Sheena?" Wendy asked.

"She's my friend! She has been waiting for me outside but now she's gone!" Darren replied to her in alarm.

"Hey! Who are you guys?!"

Everyone turn to their right and see four thugs, armed with bats and swords walking over to them.

"No one goes near the man in black!" One of the thugs barked at them.

Natsu and Darren turn to each other. Gray places his hand firmly on Darren's shoulder. "I think he meant you." Gray said to him.

"Oh." Darren realized aloud.

"Looks like we have trouble." Lucy said, frowning as she pulls out her whip.

"What exactly do you guys want from him?!" Wendy yelled as Gray cracks his knuckles before getting into his fighting stance.

"You guys aren't taking him away from us! That man is under our custody!" One of them yelled in response as the thugs continue walking towards them.

"We'll be the judge of that!" Gray grimaced as he slams his fist onto his palm. Darren widens his eyes as breeze and light blue began illuminating on his hands.

"Natsu, Lucy, Happy! Take Darren away to safety!" Erza ordered. Darren watches her in awe as a sword and a set of armor magically appears on Erza's hand and body.

"Right!" Natsu replied before whirling about and grabbing Darren by his arm. "Come on! We're getting out of here!"

"Follow us!" Lucy added as she grabs Darren's other arm. She, Natsu and Happy fled to the opposite direction while dragging Darren along with them.

"STOP THEM! Do not let them get away from us!" One of thugs roared before three of them charge towards Wendy, Gray, Erza and Carla.

As he stays behind, one of the thugs pulls out a lacrima ball from his pocket and spoke to it, "Attention everyone! A blue exceed, a man with pink hair and a woman with blonde hair are getting away with our possession! Find them and stop them!"

"Attack!" Erza shouted before she, Wendy, Gray and Carla charge towards the thugs.

"ICE MAKE: ICE HAMMER!" Gray shouted as he summons a large hammer made of ice out from his hands and swings it down onto one of the thugs.

Another thug continuously swings his sword at Wendy, who quickly backs away from every swing. Carla flies over to her and grabs her by her tail. The exceed pulls her up into the air and the thug watches dumbfounded as Wendy's cheeks enlarged.

"SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!" Wendy blows out a huge hurricane-like blast from her mouth at the thug, sending him sprawling through the ground.

The two remaining thugs charge at Erza. One of them swings his bat vertically at her. Erza dodges the attack by simply turning to her side and jabs her elbow at the back of his head. As the thug stumbles over, Erza turns and kicks him at his back, sending him falling to the ground.

The last thug swings his sword diagonally at Erza from behind. Even with her eyes closed, Erza dodges the attack by sliding to the side. She whirls about and swings her left fist at the thug, punching him across his face. The thug yells as he swings his sword horizontally at her. Erza swiftly blocks the attack with her sword before throwing her left fist into his gut. As the thug gasps in pain as he bends over, Erza lifts her leg up and delivers a powerful kick to his bottom jaw with her knee, sending him falling over to the ground. Erza turns back to Gray and Wendy as Carla places the blue-haired girl gently back on the ground.

"Come on! Let's go after the others!" She ordered her teammates.

----

Natsu, Lucy and Darren ran through the streets of Underwood with Happy flying behind them.

"What do they want from me?!" Darren cried in a mixture of shock and confusion.

"I don't know! You probably got a bounty on your head or something!" Natsu yelled at him.

"Why would anyone do that on me?!" Darren cried incredulously.

"I wonder too. Usually, it's members of Dark Guilds that get wanted by the authorities, but you're no mage!" Lucy replied.

"THERE THEY ARE!"

Natsu, Lucy, Darren and Happy turn their heads as they kept running. They see several thugs coming out from an alleyway they pass by earlier, running after them with bats and swords in their hands. Some of them are unarmed, but are muscular and intimidating.

"Happy! Take Darren to the rooftop!" Natsu ordered his exceed friend.

"Aye!" Happy replied before flying behind Darren and wrapping his tail around his chest. "Hang on!"

Darren yelps as Happy flies up and lifts him up into the air. Meanwhile, Lucy and Natsu stop and turn around. Lucy pulls out one of her keys from her belt and holds it up into the air. "I CALLED UPON THEE, OPENING THE GATE OF MAIDEN!" She swings her key horizontally before shouting, "VIRGO!"

After swinging it down, a beam of light erupts from the tip of her key and lands onto the ground. A woman magically appears in front of her. She is about the same height as Lucy and has blue eyes, short pink hair and wears a typical maid outfit, consisting of a black under coat and a white, filled-trim apron. She also has shackles cuffed around her wrists.

"Virgo, use Spica Lock!" Lucy ordered.

"Hai." Virgo calmly replied before kneeling down and slamming her hands onto the ground. The thugs look around in shock and bewilderment as several rocks burst out from the ground and trap all of them inside a circular-shaped rocky prison.

"You'll pay for that!" Lucy and Natsu turn around to see another group of muscular thugs running over to them from behind.

One of them jumps into the air and slams his fist on the ground as he lands, creating waves of electricity that surge through the floor. Lucy shrieks as Virgo carries her up in her arms and she and Natsu jump out of the way before the electric waves reach them. Unfortunately, the thugs who were trapped inside the Spica Lock scream in agony as they get electrocuted. Moments later, the rocks fall off, revealing the once trapped thugs looking shell-shocked before swaying around and collapsing onto the floor.

While Natsu is still in the air, he slams his fists together, engulfing them in flames.

"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Natsu shouted in rage as he flies over to the thugs and punches one of them in the face. After the thug is sent sliding through the floor, the remaining thugs surround Natsu and one of them runs over to him.

As the thug swings his fist layered with steel at him, Natsu dodged by turning to the side and punches him on top of his head. As the thug falls to the ground, two more men run up to Natsu from behind. Before they could swing their bats, Natsu lifts his fists up, punching both of them directly in their faces. As the thugs drop their bats, Natsu turns around, grabs them by their heads and knocks them hard against each other. The thugs roll their eyes back before falling to the ground unconscious.

Another thug runs up to Natsu and delivers an overhead strike with his hammer. Natsu turns to him and grabs onto the head of the hammer. The thug stares at Natsu dumbfounded as he melts the hammer into molten lava. He opens his mouth wide and swallows the lava, causing Darren to drop his jaw as he and Happy watch the fight from the rooftop of a nearby building.

"Do my glasses need cleaning?" Darren said.

As the thug backs away in horror, Natsu tosses the now-melted hammer aside, licks his lips and wipes off the bits of lava from his mouth before giving him a fiendish grin.

"Thanks. It's just what I need." Natsu said. Suddenly, he throws his head back as his cheeks enlarge. The thugs watch in awe and horror as Natsu places his fists in front of his mouth before blowing out a huge tornado-like blast of fire. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

As he fired, Natsu turns himself around in a circle, causing the thugs to scream as they get hit by his enormous flaming attack.

"Incredible." Darren uttered.

"Aye. Natsu is one of the most powerful mages in all of Fiore. He is one of the reasons why our guild is number 1 in all of Fiore." Happy said with a smile.

Natsu blows out a heavy sigh after letting out all of the flames inside his body. He looks around and sees all of the thugs lying on the ground in defeat, covered with ashes and have goofy looks plastered on their faces. Virgo lands beside Natsu and gently places Lucy on the ground. Lucy and Natsu smile as they gave each other a high-five before turning and looking up at Darren and Happy at the rooftop.

"You guys okay?" Natsu asked.

"Yup!" Darren replied as he and Happy gave peace signs at them.

Lucy suddenly gasps and widens her eyes in shock as she felt a strange presence about to appear before Darren and Happy.

"LOOK OUT!" She screamed in horror.

Darren and Happy widen their eyes as a huge thug dressed in gray metallic armor lands on the rooftop and behind them. The two turn around and Happy scream as the thug gets up and looks down at them.

"You have proven yourself to be a nuisance, boy!" The thug said to Darren in a deep, booming voice.

"Why you!" Natsu growled as he jumps into the air and flies over to Darren, Happy and the thug as his fist engulfed in flames.

The thug sees Natsu flying over to him and draws out his broadsword. He swings his sword diagonally, causing Darren and Happy to hold up their arms and turn their heads away. The sword clashed against Natsu's flaming fist. But the impact of the blow sends Natsu falling back to the ground.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, watching his friend in horror.

"Virgo!" Lucy cried. Virgo leaps into the air and catches Natsu in her arms before landing back on the ground and placing him down.

Happy quickly flies up and wraps his tail around Darren. "Hang on!" Happy said. However, just as the exceed lifts Darren up in the air, the thug swings his fist at Happy, punching him across his face and sending him and Darren falling back onto the rooftop.

"HAPPY!" Natsu shouted in horror as he watches from the bottom.

As he laid on the rooftop, Darren looks up and gasps as he sees Happy struggling to get up. A moment later, Happy sighs as he falls back down with his eyelids closed. Natsu growls angrily, quivering with rage after seeing his closest friend passing out. He runs over to the building and flies up to the rooftop again.

Darren grits his teeth as he sits up, turns around and faces the armored thug who slowly approaches him and the unconscious exceed.

"Why are you doing this?!" Darren shouted at him.

"Our boss Maroro wants you to come with us." The thug responded.

"What? Maroro?!" Darren widens his eyes, shocked to hear the name of his boss.

As Natsu lands on the rooftop behind Darren and Happy, the thug continued as a fiendish grin takes form on his face, "Don't you know? The Abbey has been going around Earth Land, looking for people like you. And they will reward us a huge sum of jewels for handing you over to them!"

"Did I hear that right?" Lucy managed to say as she and Virgo look up at the thug in shock.

"The Abbey?!" Natsu cried.

"We are going to be filthy rich, and you scumbags will not take away our livelihood!" The armored thug yelled angrily.

Natsu roars as he charges at the thug. He swings his flaming fists several times at him, but the thug deflects them with his sword. When he sees an opening, the thug swiftly thrusts his hand and grabs Natsu by his neck. Natsu gasped in pain as he grabs the thug's fingers, trying to break free from his mighty grip. But it is useless as the thug lifts him up into the air.

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed in terror. Darren widens his eyes and drops his jaw in horror as well as he watches the display. Horrified to see Natsu being helplessly lifted into the air while the thug laughs evilly…and stunned that the display sent a wave of old memories at him, flooding into his head with the force of a tsunami.

----

Darren, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and brown pants, froze and helplessly watches a tall student lifting a shorter student up in the air while grabbing onto his collar. The shorter student grits his teeth as he turns to Darren and begged, "Please…help me!"

As the tall student turns his head and glares at him, Darren gasps as he felt his heart beating faster and soon finds himself gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly.

----

Darren continues gazing at Natsu and the thug as he sat there. Natsu lifts his leg up and kicks the thug's head several times. But the thug casually turns back to Natsu, grinning as if he is completely unaffected by his attacks.

"You are weak, boy!" The thug said mockingly. Natsu widens his eyes as the thug holds up his broadsword, pulling it back and…

"STOOOOPPPP!" Darren suddenly shouted as he finally regains his ability to move and gets up from the roof tiles. Without any second thought, Darren pulls out his katana from his scabbard and swings it diagonally at the thug just as he vertically swings his broadsword. The thug drops his jaw in shock as he finds himself clashing his sword against Darren's katana and the two stayed at a stalemate.

Natsu gasps as he lays eyes on the katana in Darren's hand. "That sword! It can't be!" He cried.

"Why you…" The thug growled menacingly at Darren. He tosses Natsu aside and backs away from Darren. He holds his sword up and swings it down onto Darren, who blocks his attack again as he holds up his katana. Darren turns to the side, causing the thug to stumble forward as he brings his sword down onto the roof tiles.

The thug turns his head and sees Darren getting into a fighting stance with his katana. The thug snarled as he gets back up. "If that's how you want to play, fine! I'll teach you a lesson by cutting off your arms!"

Darren and the thug yell as they charge towards each other. But as soon as they took a few steps forward, a familiar light brown-haired woman came charging towards the armored thug and throws a powerful punch across his face. After the thug drops his sword, the woman proceeds to deliver an uppercut to his gut. The punch not only caused the thug to gasp in pain, but also breaks his armor in the process. As his armor shattered into pieces, the thug moans as he rolls his eyes back and hung his head. Mickey snorted as she pushes the now unconscious man aside and cracks her knuckles.

"Mickey!" Darren said, smiling in relief as he lowers his katana.

Mickey turns to Darren and smiles back at him. "Hey Darren!" She greeted as she waves her hand. "I was busy managing my stall but I kept hearing a lot of ruckus from where I'm standing. So I ended up leaving my stall to search for the source, and this is what I ended up coming across. Now that it is taken care of, I should be getting back. See ya!"

"Yeah, see you around." Darren said, waving his hand back at her.

Mickey turns her head and sees Natsu standing in the distance. He looked surprised for a moment before a huge smirk takes form on his face. He gave a solemn nod to his former fellow guild member. Mickey smiles at him and nods her head back before she turns around and leaps away from the scene.

Natsu picks Happy up and cradles him in his arms, sighing in relief as he sees the exceed slowly waking up.

"Natsu!" He could hear Erza's voice.

Natsu turns around as Erza, Wendy, Gray and Carla came up to him from behind. Virgo jumps up to the rooftop and lands near the rest of the guild before setting Lucy down.

"Are you alright?" Lucy asked Natsu in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to him." Natsu said, gesturing to Darren. Wendy gasps as she stares at Darren's katana.

"Natsu…that sword…" Wendy uttered.

"I know. I felt the same sensation too." Natsu said to her. Erza walks up to Darren and places her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you fine?" Erza asked.

"Yeah…" Darren said, looking down at his katana. "And I…I think I remembered something…"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Darren and Team Natsu look around and see several grappling hooks being thrown onto the sides of the rooftop. Several thugs climbed up to the top of the building, draw out their weapons and surround them.

"You shouldn't have been a naughty boy, Darren Leong."

Darren and Team Natsu turn their heads to the bottom of the building and see Maroro standing at the ground. Two more muscular thugs stood behind him.

As Maroro flashes a grin at them, Darren yelled at him, "Is it true?! Are you trying to sell me away to this group known as the Abbey?! Treating me like I'm some kind of item?!"

Maroro laughed in response. "Of course, you idiot. Ever since you told me that you have no magical abilities during that job interview, I realized that you are one of those people who have mysteriously showed up throughout Earth Land. True, I could have informed the Magic Council about you right away. But why should I when the Abbey actually rewards us with cash?"

Lucy grimaced at him. "You filthy pig! Choosing money over innocent lives! You are the kind of people that are lower than dark mages!" She shouted at him.

"Shut up, little lady!" Maroro snapped back, jabbing a finger at her. "I don't care if you guys are the number 1 guild in Fiore. Hand over Darren to us right now or I can keep sending my men to fight you all until the Abbey gets here. Then we'll see if you guys are stronger than them!"

Darren and Team Natsu look at the surrounding thugs, sneering at them as they get into their fighting stances.

"So be it." Erza said coldly. She holds up her sword and gets into her fighting stance as well.

"Yeah! We'll take you all down!" Natsu shouted at the thugs.

"Very well." Maroro said. "TAKE THEM DOWN!"

But just as the thugs yell and prepare to attack, a familiar woman jumps down from the sky and lands in front of Darren and Team Natsu. The thugs stopped and stare at the woman in bewilderment.

"Sheena!" Darren cried in relief as Sheena gets up and places her hands at the back of her head.

"Hey guys, how about a performance?" Sheena asked the thugs with a smirk. The thugs watch in confusion as Sheena looks down and places her hands all over her body. She looks back up at the thugs and asked, "Ummm, has anyone seen my marbles?"

One of the thugs snarled at her. "Screw this!" He yells as he charges towards Sheena and thrusts his dagger at her. Sheena dodges him by turning to side and swiftly wraps her arm around his neck. The thug gasped as Sheena uses her other hand to grab his wrist and gave it a twist, causing him to yelp as he drops his dagger. As Sheena places his hand behind his back and turns back to the thugs, who all flinch, she looks back at the man whom she had held hostage and smiled.

"Ah." Sheena inserts her hand into the thug's right ear and magically pulls out five marbles between her fingers. "There they are." She grins as she flicks her hand. Within a split second, the marbles now turn into a small pile of papers. Sheena swiftly throws the papers down on the roof tiles and in front of the thugs. The papers exploded, creating huge amounts of thick smoke that blinded the thugs.

"What?!" Maroro yelled in shock as he and the two thugs behind him watch.

The thugs continue coughing until the smoke is cleared. As they slowly open their eyes and regain their vision, they realize that Darren, Sheena and Team Natsu have completely vanished, much to their alarm.

"What the, where did they go?!" One of the thugs asked.

"T-T-They're gone!" Another one cried.

"What?! They have vanished?!" Maroro shouted in shock and anger. "Well don't just stand there! FIND THEM!"

----

After Virgo tied the beaten and unconscious thug up against a tree, Erza takes out a lacrima ball and speaks to it, "Lieutenant, we have retrieved the person with no magical abilities from the town of Underwood. We are going to meet up with you now."

<i>"Great work, Fairy Tail. Don't take too long though. The councilman is growing more impatient by the minute." The lieutenant replied.</i>

"Understood." Erza said. When they have finished talking, Erza deactivates the lacrima and puts it away. She turns around as Gray, Natsu and Happy walk up to her. "We better get going."

"Right." Gray said. "We wish we could personally thank Mickey though. She is the one who contacted us about Darren's location in the first place."

"Oh don't worry." Natsu replied with a smirk. "She's got the memo."

"Thanks for your help again, Virgo." Lucy smiled at her Celestial Spirit as she holds up her key. "You may now return."

"It has been my pleasure, Mistress." Virgo gave Lucy a solemn bow before she glows white and returns back into the key. Lucy turns her head and sees Darren standing in the distance and staring out at the town of Underwood in the distance while holding onto his scabbard with his katana sheathed inside it in his hands.

Darren sighed inwardly, never knowing that one day, he would finally set foot outside of Underwood, and ready to venture the world beyond the boundaries of the town. Sheena walks up to him from behind and places her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, it looks like we can never go back there." Sheena said to Darren.

Darren shrugged and turns to Sheena. "I never like working at that crappy restaurant anyway." He said bluntly.

Sheena burst out laughing and gave Darren a wide smile. "Yeah! To hell with that place, right?" She asked.

"Yup!" Darren replied cheerfully before he and Sheena bump their fists together. The two turn around and see Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla all smiling back at them.

"Are you ready to come with us?" Natsu asked.

"Yes." Darren nods his head.

"Since I know I'll get my butt kicked if I go back there, I guess I have no other options but to travel with you guys at the meantime." Sheena said, folding her arms.

"Thank you for helping us back there, Sheena. And it's good to have you coming along with us." Lucy said to her. Sheena frowned and gave a solemn nod to her and the guild.

Natsu turns around and exclaimed as he pumps his fist up, "Now then, let's go back to the ship and make our way to Era!"

"And bring Darren and the others safely back to Edolas!" Lucy added as she turns around as well and places her hands at the sides of her hip.

"Aye!" Happy added as he flies up in the air and spreads out his limbs.

"Actually, about that…" Darren spoke up.

"Huh?" Natsu said as he, Lucy, Happy and the others turn back to Darren. Sheena looked at her friend questioningly as well.

"Back then, during our fight with those men…I remembered something from my past…and I finally realized something…" Darren uttered.

"What is it?" Erza inquired.

"I'm not from Edolas." Darren responded. "I'm from Singapore."
 
Chapter 3: Under Attack

Things were quite uneventful for Darren, Team Natsu and Sheena as they walk through the forest and make their way to the Magic Council ship. Darren mostly spends the time away by explaining to Team Natsu and Sheena about what he remembered when he first arrived to Earth Land, as well as his own world and what he and other people usually do back there. They were intrigued to learn that the world Darren came from is quite similar to Edolas, and that they mostly perform their everyday duties with something known as 'technology'.

"Sooooo, the name of the world you came from is called 'Earth'?" Lucy asked.

"Yes." Darren replied.

"Are you sure it's not Earth Land?" Wendy asked.

"Yes! I've double and triple-checked that it's NOT Earth Land! Sheesh!" Darren cried exasperatedly as it is the umpteenth time he has made this confirmation with the members of Team Natsu.

"So if your world is called Earth, does that mean your world is just a rock?" Erza asked with her fingers placed at the bottom of her chin.

"Well, technically yes." Darren said.

"That's pretty boring." Gray remarked with an arched brow.

"And all along, we thought New York City is some place in Edolas." Natsu said as he scratches the tip of his nose.

"Huh?! How do you know that name?" Darren asked Natsu incredulously.

"Oh, that's the name of the place Doris says she's from." Natsu replied.

"Why didn't you tell me that back then?! If you had, I would have already regained my memories sooner!" Darren cried.

"Hey, we have to keep a lot of the information on you guys anonymous, ya know?" Natsu shrugged.

"What other places do these people say they are from?" Darren asked.

"Vladivostok."

"That's in Russia! A country in my world! What else?!"

"Paris."

"France! Anywhere else?"

"Geneva."

"Switzerland! Some more?"

"Bremerhaven."

"Germany!" Darren sighs as he turns his head away and rubs his temples. "Man, I feel like playing a game of 'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?'." He looks up and turns his head around. "And how much longer do we have to walk through this forest? Every single tree looks the same! Is this even a naturally grown forest anymore? This feels like a sick joke of a Kaizo game designer's dungeon!"

"Whoa, Darren! Calm down. I haven't seen you this paranoid before." Sheena said as she followed him from behind.

"How can I calm down?!" Darren cried exasperatedly as he turns to Sheena. "This is exactly why I hated National Service back in my country! I should be at home right now, playing Overwatch, eating potato chips and watching anime!" For a brief moment, he holds up his scabbard and flashes a huge grin. "At least I have this katana though! I've always dream of holding a Japanese sword!"

"Japanese? What's that?" Sheena asked in confusion.

"Someone's going through puberty." Happy whispered to Carla as they walk.

"I'm 20 years old!" Darren snapped at Happy.

"I hate to break this fascinating conversation but we're here." Erza said bluntly as they step out of the boundaries of the forest.

Darren and Sheena widen their eyes in awe as they see a large light blue ship with white highlights in the distance. In front of the end of the ramp that leads to the entrance of the ship are three Rune Knights, armed with spears and dressed in light blue robes, white pants and black shoes. Two of them are also wearing white hats, but one of them isn't and he has bluish gray eyes and long dark purple hair which the tips are tied up with a yellow ribbon.

The purple-haired man slightly turns his head and sees Team Natsu standing in the distance. "Fairy Tail! It's good to see you again!" The man said.

Erza gestured Darren and Sheena to follow them. They walk over to the ramp to the ship and Erza reported to the man, "We have found the person we are looking for, Lieutenant Lowell."

Lieutenant Lowell turns to Darren and Sheena. "I thought you said person and not people." He said.

"Oh no, I do have magic inside me." Sheena said to the lieutenant before gesturing to Darren. "This is the person they are talking about."

"Who are you exactly?" The lieutenant asked Sheena.

"A companion of his." Sheena answered, placing a hand at the right side of her hip.

"Yeah, well, we'll explain later but let's say things happened and she ended up having to travel along with us." Lucy explained to the lieutenant.

The lieutenant nods his head to Lucy before taking out a scanner. Erza moves out of the way to allow the lieutenant to walk up to Darren. "Hold still." He said. Darren obliged and watches the lieutenant scan his body from top to bottom. A few seconds later, the lieutenant stood up and turns to Erza. "Yup. This person has no traces of magic inside him." He confirmed.

After Erza nods her head to him, the lieutenant turns back to Darren and extends his hand. "What is your name?" He asked.

"Darren Leong." Darren replied.

"Nice to meet you, Darren. My name is Lieutenant Yuri Lowell. I know you're still feeling a little confused of your current situation, but I can assure you that you're safe as long as you cooperate with us." The lieutenant introduced himself with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Lowell." Darren said as he shakes his hand.

"Lieutenant Yuri Lowell! Have they arrived back yet?!" A voice barked.

Everyone turn their heads up to the entrance of the ship to see an old man who wears glasses and black robes, staring down at them in annoyance.

"They're here, Councilman Ragou. They have just returned with our main priority." Yuri replied.

"Good! Now hurry up and get back inside so that we can return to Era already! And I hope Fairy Tail here didn't cause any ruckus back at Underwood! Sheesh!" Ragou scoffed at them before turning around and heading back inside the ship.

Yuri sighs heavily before turning back to the others. "He's been acting like that ever since you guys were in Underwood for the last 24 hours." He explained.

"Ugh, what exactly is wrong with that guy?" Natsu pouted with his arms folded. "I know we cause trouble all the time, but he really pisses me off."

"Wait, you guys cause trouble?" Darren asked questioningly.

Lucy chuckled nervously. "We'll explain."



After everyone get inside the ship, Yuri ordered his men to fly off and set course for Era. Meanwhile, Darren, Sheena and Team Natsu went inside a large resting room where two Rune Knights stood outside and guard the door. Darren and Sheena sat beside each other on two wooden chairs. Lucy and Wendy sat together on a bed at the left side of the room. Happy and Carla sat on another bed at the other side while Natsu, Gray, and Erza stood in front of Darren and Sheena. As they rest, Team Natsu took the time to explain Darren and Sheena about their story. Of how the guild was first founded, and how they got their reputation as the number one and most powerful guild in all of Fiore…and how they are also the most infamous.

"So let me get this straight. Natsu once burst into the Magic Council Fiore Branch Building for trying to rescue Erza while she was being put on trial," Darren said. The members of Team Natsu nod their heads. "And then when you guys won a competition known as the Grand Magic Games, you guys got into trouble when Natsu stole the King's clothes and disguised himself as the King of Fiore during the banquet?" They nod again. "And then the following year, Natsu melted the arena and burn the clothes of several people who were just there to participate or watch the Games," They nod once again. "And then Natsu set the King's palace on fire just to announce your guild's revival?" They nod their heads one more time.

"Well, I gotta say…" Darren widens his eyes as he bellowed, "With such a bad conduct like that, it's no wonder why the Magic Council shows scorn towards all of you and sent one of their members to monitor you!"

"Who saw that coming?" Lucy deadpanned as she asked her fellow guild members.

"Yup." Natsu responded as he, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy and Carla raise their hands.

"Huh?! How can you guys be so casual about this?!" Darren asked incredulously.

"And I thought Phantom Lord is even worse." Sheena murmured.

"Hey! Don't compare us to Phantom Lord!" Natsu muttered. "Our guild may be seen as troublemakers, but they on the other hand, are a disgrace to all guilds across Earth Land."

"Indeed. After what they did to us years ago, they will forever serve as a warning about a guild destroying itself over spite and envy." Erza added solemnly. Sheena frowned and lowers her head after hearing those words.

"Sheena?" Darren asked his friend in concern.

"Ahem." Natsu coughed. Darren turns back to the Dragon Slayer who stares at him solemnly as he places his hands on the sides of his hip. "But now, there's something else Wendy and I want to talk to you about, and it's regarding your sword."

"My katana?" Darren asked in confusion.

"Hai." Wendy said. "That sword…when Natsu and I felt it with our dragon senses…we could also feel the presence of our guild's founder, Mavis Vermillion." Lucy, Gray, Erza, Happy and Carla gasped.

"Wendy…Natsu…are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"No doubt about it." Natsu responded.

"Then that means Mavis isn't entirely dead after all!" Gray said.

"But how?" Erza added.

"Umm, what are you guys talking about?" Darren asked, perplexed by the ongoing discussion.

"Darren, you said that you woke up with this sword beside you, right?" Natsu asked.

"Yes." Darren nods his head.

"Maybe…" Wendy frowned. "Is it possible that while in death, Mavis bestow this weapon on you during your arrival to this world?"

There was a moment of silence in the room, before Darren burst out laughing.

"Sorry but if you guys are saying that I'm a Superman or Luke Skywalker, then you are-"

BOOM!

Everyone in the room scream when they felt a huge explosion that cause the entire left side of the ship to shake and rumble, and causing everyone except Happy and Carla to fall onto the floor.

A moment later, Erza sits up from the floor and cried, "Everyone! Are you alright?!"

"Mm fineh…" Natsu responded, but his voice is muffled.

"Yeah, I'm good." Darren replied as he gets up, kneeling down on a single knee and placing a hand on his wooden chair.

Lucy moans as she lifts her head up. "I'm al…right…" She trails off when she finally opens her eyes and looks down. She drops her jaw, realizing that her breasts are pressed onto Natsu's face as he lies below her. Lucy screams in horror as she quickly gets off of Natsu and wraps her arms around her chest. Natsu, still oblivious, takes the moment to catch his breath.

"Well, that was awk…ward…" Darren trails off when he turns his attention to Erza, who is still sitting on the floor with her legs spread out. Erza frowns at Darren for a moment before looking down to see what he is staring at. She drops her jaw in shock and quickly places her hands down on her skirt to cover up her underwear.

"I totally wasn't expect-" But Darren soon gets cut off when Erza looks up and shot a cold glare that instantly sends chills down his spine.

"Ever do that again and I'll shove my sword down your throat." Erza said darkly. With his eyes wide and his body trembling, Darren responded to her with a slow nod.

"What the hell just happened?" Sheena asked as everybody gets up from the floor and stand back up.

"Only one way to find out." Natsu whirled about as he, Gray and Wendy rush to the door.

"Sheena, we could use your help." Erza said to Sheena.

"Sure thing." Sheena shrugged.

"Lucy, Happy, Carla, stay here with Darren." Erza ordered her teammates.

"Am I really just going to stay here?" Darren complained. "I can fight too, you know."

"Yes you can, but the fighting skills I taught you are only for self-defense. This is actual head on combat!" Sheena replied.

"What's the difference?!" Darren cried incredulously.

"Swing your sword at me." Sheena said flatly.

Darren narrows his eyes at her before grabbing the hilt of his katana. But as soon as he tries to pull it out from the scabbard, Sheena slaps his hand off from the hilt and gave a light punch to his chest. Darren yelps as he backs away and rubs his chest.

"You're not ready, Darren. So just stay here with Lucy and the exceeds." Sheena said to him.

"But I-" Before Darren could protest, he cuts himself off when Sheena pouts and jabs a finger at his face. She points her finger downwards, gesturing him to stay put. Darren groans and rolls his eyes in response. As Darren sat back down on his chair, Sheena and Erza turn around and leave the room, joining Natsu, Gray and Wendy into battle.

"Don't worry, Darren. You still got us." Lucy smiled. Darren turns to her and sees her now sitting at the right side bed with Happy and Carla.

Darren sighs heavily before asking the three, "Got any clue who would come and attack us?"

"Probably the Abbey." Lucy said solemnly as she folds her arms. "Ever since people of your kind showed up, they too suddenly made their appearance known across Earth Land. According to the Magic Council, they have already invaded some of the towns in the southern part of Fiore and form a territory of their own."

"The Rune Knights did try to fight them back, but the Abbey continues to invade and conquer more parts of Fiore even as we speak." Carla added.

"It feels like Alvarez Empire all over again." Happy said grimly as he shudders.

"There had to be a reason why they would suddenly appear, and around the same time I showed up in this world too." Darren said as he adjusts his glasses.

"That's exactly what we are wondering too." Lucy said.



In the hallway at the left side of the ship, Yuri and six Rune Knights stare in horror as they see the sharp tips of several large harpoons pierced through the metal walls. They stumbled as they now feel their ship being pulled.

"Lieutenant Yuri Lowell, what is going on?!" Ragou cried as he hastily walks down the hallway, looking extremely flustered.

"What does it look like, Councilman?!" Yuri shouted at Ragou as he and his men regain their balance. "We are being attacked! Stand back!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me?! I was just asking a question!" Ragou yelled at him angrily. As Ragou continues his rumblings, Yuri rolls his eyes before turning to his knights and gestures two of them to escort the councilman to safety. The two knights gently grab Ragou's arms and take him away despite his protests to release him.

Yuri turns to the remaining four knights with him and unsheathes his sword from his scabbard. "All units! Prepare to engage in battle!" He commanded.



Outside of the Magic Council ship is another ship flying alongside it. It is larger in size and has several harpoon cannons lined up in a vertical row at the starboard. The sides of the ship are colored white with yellow highlights. Its large sails are also white and each has a symbol plastered on it. The symbol is yellow and resembles a combination of a crescent and a three-pointed star.

The knights operating the cannons watch the Magic Council ship being slowly pulled towards their own ship. The knights are dressed in white metallic helms that conceal their faces. They wear short white capes, white long-sleeved leather robes with yellow highlights and blue bands around the top of their long white and yellow gloves. They also wear black pants, white long legged boots and silver metallic sabatons to protect their ankles and feet.

Another knight approaches the starboard and stood alongside the cannon operators. His appearance is distinguishable from the other knights. He wears a white conquistador helmet and a gold mask with a teal visor and a black breathing apparatus around his mouth, concealing his face. He is also dressed in a gold suit underneath his white armor with blue highlights. On the center of his armor is the yellow symbol plastered on it and has a double-edged naginata attached onto his back.

"Sir, we have secured the enemy ship." One of the regular white knights said to the knight in gold. He has a long blue feather at the back of his helmet to be identified as a squad leader.

"The magicless human is somewhere on that ship. Find him, and eliminate all who stand in our way." The knight in gold boomed in a deep, distorted voice.

"Yes, Mala Makra sir." The squad leader said with a solemn nod. He turns to the other knights and ordered, "Everyone! Arm yourselves and prepare for battle!"

The regular knights pull out their swords from their scabbards at the side of their hips while the squad leader holds out his hand and magically summons a spear.

When the Magic Council ship is now right beside their ship, Mala draws out his naginata. He and the squad leader aim their weapons at the Magic Council ship while the other knights stand back. They fire two blasts of bright magic at the ship, damaging the walls and creating an opening.

When the smoke is cleared, Yuri and the Rune Knights look up to see their enemies standing right in front of them.

"Praetors…" Yuri uttered.

"MOVE!" The squad leader yelled before he and the praetors climb over the railings and leap into the enemy ship. Most of the praetors proceed to fight against the Rune Knights while seven of them turn to their right and enter deep into the ship.

Yuri tries to stop them but two more praetors quickly place themselves in front of him. Yuri snarled at them before the praetors run up to him. One of them swings his sword diagonally at Yuri. He quickly holds up his sword to block the attack and pushes the praetor away from him. The other praetor delivers an overhead strike with his sword. Yuri quickly moves to the side and thrusts his sword into the praetor's abdomen. After stabbing him, Yuri kicks the praetor off from his sword and turns back to the other who swings his sword horizontally at him. Yuri retaliates by doing a backwards somersault and kicks the sword off of the praetor's hand in the process. When Yuri lands back down on his feet, he swings his sword diagonally and slashes the praetor, who collapses onto the floor in defeat.

Yuri turns his head and watches three of his men being easily taken down by the other praetors. The last Rune Knight gets stabbed at the side of his gut by the squad leader's spear. The squad leader removes his spear and kicks him to the floor. The Rune Knight looks up and helplessly watches in fear as the squad leader walks up to him.

"No!" Yuri shouted as he tries to help his fellow knight. But two more praetors place themselves in front of Yuri and swing their swords down at him. Yuri quickly holds up his sword and blocks their combined attack. The squad leader holds up his spear and lunges it down, stabbing the Rune Knight through his chest.

"Dammit!" Yuri cried as he watches his fellow soldier die.

"CIRCLE SWORD!"

The squad leader looks up for a brief moment before a circular blast of white magic comes flying towards him and strikes him and two other praetors standing behind him down.

"What?" One of the praetors said as he and the other turn their attention away from Yuri and see Erza, now dressed in her Heaven's Wheel Armor, standing in the distance. While they are distracted, Yuri takes the opportunity to deliver an attack of his own.

"SEVERING FANG!" Yuri shouted in rage as he pushes their swords back by leaping into the air. The impact of his push sends the two praetors flying into the air. While the three are in midair, Yuri swings his sword downwards, creating a curved blast of white magic and strikes the two praetors with it, sending both of them slamming down onto the floor. Yuri landed back down safely and looks down at his fallen Rune Knights. He closes his eyes for a moment to give a silent prayer before looking back up at Erza, who stood boldly while holding her two winged swords in her hands.

Both of them gave each other a nod when suddenly, another wave of praetors leap into the ship. The squad leader gets up and orders them as he aims his spear at Erza, "Everyone, take them down!"

Sheena suddenly runs past Erza and over to the squad leader. The squad leader watches dumbfounded as Sheena places her hands on his shoulders and jumps into the air. She looks down at him and places a paper onto the front of his helm. Sheena lands back down on the floor behind the squad leader while he tries to get the paper off of his helm but to no avail. She leaps back, landing beside Yuri, and swiftly made several gestures with her fingers and more papers magically appear all over the squad leader's body.

The papers illuminate in purple light before they explode and create a huge cloud of smoke around the hallway. The other praetors cough and look around, trying to regain their vision and find their enemies. However, Sheena runs over to one of them and did a flying kick to his head. Shortly after her feet touch the floor, Sheena did a somersault and places her hands on the ground. She did a handstand, performs a twirling kick and knocks out several praetors around her.

Erza and Yuri also take the opportunity to swing their swords and take down the remaining praetors. When the smoke is cleared, all of the praetors are defeated and Erza, Yuri and Sheena stood together back to back.

"Phew, that was easier than I thought." Sheena smiled as she stretches her arms.

"Look out!" Yuri exclaimed as he sees Mala Makra jumping over to their ship. As Mala prepares to swing his naginata down at them, Erza and Sheena quickly run away to their left while Yuri goes to the right. They turn back to Mala as he lands and slams his naginata down on the floor.

"You had to jinx us, don't you?" Erza chided Sheena as she gets back into her fighting stance.

"How would I know there's one more?!" Sheena snapped at her.

Mala stood up and turns to Erza. "So, you must be Titania." He said.

"Glad to know that I'm a celebrity within the Abbey as well." Erza smirked at him.

Mala turns to Sheena and said, "Judging by your outfit and your fighting skills, you are from Mizuho."

Sheena gasped in shock. The mentioning of her hometown has caused the color on her face to drain. "H-h-how…do you know?" She asked with her voice trembling.

Mala finally turns to Yuri who is also in his battle stance. "And you are Lieutenant Yuri Lowell."

Yuri widens his eyes upon hearing his name. He glares at his enemy again and asked, "How do you know my name?!"

"Let's see if you are truly worthy of your rank." Mala said. He crouches down and holds his weapon up to the level of his head, getting into his fighting stance. Erza and Yuri yell as they charge towards him, but Sheena stood where she is, still frozen in shock.

When they are near and swing their swords vertically at him, Mala stood up and blocks their attacks at the same time with the blades of his naginata. He did a swift twirl, causing Erza and Yuri to back away from him. Mala turns to Erza and twirls his double-edged naginata around, delivering a series of diagonal strikes at her. Erza manages to block every attack he throws at her. But the strength and impact of every strike Mala delivers cause her to back away. Mala manages to knock out one of Erza's winged swords from her hand. After he delivers another diagonal strike at her, Erza quickly grabs the hilt of her remaining sword with both hands and blocks his attack. The two stayed in a brief stalemate until Yuri runs up to Mala from behind.

Mala briefly turns his head to see Yuri thrusting his sword at his back from behind. Mala quickly backs away from Erza and jumps into the air, performing a backwards somersault over Yuri. Yuri stops and lowers his sword before Mala lands back on the floor.

Yuri turns around and swings his sword horizontally at Mala. Mala blocks the attack with the hilt of his naginata. He aims his naginata at Yuri's midsection and thrusts his weapon. Yuri parried and deflects Mala's naginata to the side with his sword. Yuri counter thrusts at Mala, who turns to his right and the attack missed. Mala performs a diagonal downward slash. Yuri swings his sword diagonally upwards and their weapons clash.

"Is that the best you can do?" Mala asked as he and Yuri stayed in a stalemate.

Suddenly, Erza runs up to Mala, holding both of her swords again. She swings her swords diagonally downwards at him. Mala dodges her attack by leaping away from her and Yuri.

Mala suddenly gave a hard pull of the hilt of his naginata, separating the two halves of his weapon into two swords.

Yuri and Erza stare in awe for a brief moment before the latter turns back to Sheena who is still standing there in shock.

"Come on Sheena! Snap out of it!" Erza shouted at her. But she fails to get any response from her.

"I was expecting more from the both of you." Mala said mockingly to his enemies as he gets into a fighting stance with his swords.

"Just you wait." Erza growled as she looks back at him. She and Yuri yell furiously as they charge at him once more.



"How on Earth Land did the Abbey find us?! And I thought this was going to be a simple escort mission!" Ragou cried exasperatedly as he sat at his desk while his two escorts leave the room.

"Stay in here, councilman. And don't leave." One of the Rune Knights said firmly to him before closing the door.

Shortly afterwards, the Rune Knights get into their battle stances with their spears as they see a group of seven praetors making a turn at the end of the hallway.

"Where is the magicless boy?!" One of the praetors demanded as they hold up their swords.

"We won't tell you anything." One of the Rune Knights replied.

"So be it." The praetor responded. "Attack!"

As the praetors charge towards them, Natsu suddenly appears behind them as he skids through the floor. With a fiendish grin on his face, he slams his fists together and crouches. "Hey guys." He announced. The praetors stop and turn around to see Natsu doing a running jump as he pulls back his right fist which is engulfed with fire. "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"

Natsu flies over to the praetors and easily took down three of them with a single punch of his flaming fist. After Natsu and the now unconscious praetors land on the floor, the dragon slayer grins as he turns around. "I took down three."

The remaining four praetors run up to Natsu, preparing to attack him with their swords.

"ICE MAKE: FLOOR!" Gray suddenly shouted as he slams his hands onto the ground, creating a large layer of ice across the floor. Natsu jumps away to the side and all four praetors to slip and fall as the ice form beneath their feet.

"Four for me." Gray smirked as he places his hands on the sides of his hip. Natsu turns to him and growls.

"SKY DRAGON'S WAVE WIND!" Wendy cried as she swings her hand and creates a tornado at the praetors, including those who are unconscious. Gray steps aside as the tornado sends the praetors flying towards the wall and slamming them against it.

"And seven for me!" Wendy said cheerfully with a wide smile.

Natsu and Gray frown at her in a mixture of shock and disappointment as they said inside their heads, 'Damn you, Wendy…'


Erza swings her right winged sword vertically downwards on Mala, who quickly blocks the attack by holding up his left sword. Erza attempts to swing her other sword horizontally at the side of Mala's torso. However, Mala quickly blocks the strike with his right gauntlet. He pushes Erza's left sword away and thrusts his right sword at her midsection. Erza leaps back to dodge his attack and Yuri runs past her.

"AZURE STORM!" Yuri shouted, swinging his sword vertically twice and firing two magical blasts at Mala. Mala twirls his swords around to deflect the blasts. After the blasts dissipate, Mala swings his swords horizontally at them.

"DESTRUCTIVE FIELD!" He boomed as two horizontal waves of explosions erupted from the floor and head towards Erza, Yuri and Sheena like a tidal wave. Yuri turns around and grabs hold of Sheena while Erza stood in front of them and swings both of her swords in a delta formation.

"TRINITY SWORD!" Erza shouted, firing two curved magical blasts that formed a giant V towards Mala's attack. The two magical attacks collide, creating a large cloud of smoke that consumes the hallway.

Yuri coughs for a moment before nudging Sheena's shoulder. "Sheena! I don't know why you are spacing out all of the sudden, but I need you to pull yourself together! Help us out!" Yuri shouted in her ear.

After finally regaining her senses, Sheena shakes her head and looks back at Yuri dumbfounded. Yuri sighs in relief. Yuri turns his head around and sees Mala running up to Erza and swiftly knock both of her winged swords out from her hands. Erza gasps as Mala proceeds to thrust his swords at her midsection.

Suddenly, Sheena appears between them and swiftly grabs Mala's wrists, stopping him from stabbing Erza by only a few inches. Mala turns to Sheena in shock and the woman growls at him.

"I will not…let anyone get hurt!" Sheena yelled furiously. To the surprise of Mala, Erza and Yuri, Sheena gave the knight's arm a twist, tosses him to the floor and slams him down on his back.

Mala quickly recovers from the blow and rolls away from Sheena and Erza. He gets up from the floor and holds up his swords. But to his surprise again, Sheena magically summons her paper and throws it at his chest.

Sheena charges towards the knight and Mala prepares to swing his swords horizontally back at her. "DESTRUCTIVE-" Before he could finish announcing, Sheena jumps into the air, performs a somersault and delivers a downward vertical kick onto his head.

Mala stumbles backwards after Sheena kicks the top of his head and lands back down on the floor. Sheena suddenly charges up to him and performs a series of horizontal kicks across his face. After deliver one last kick across his face, Sheena yells as she thrusts her fingers onto the paper on the chest. Sheena leaps away and Mala gasped right before the paper explodes, sending him falling to the floor on his back. When the smoke is cleared, Sheena turns her head back at her opponent lying on the ground.

Mala groans as he gets up from the floor and holds up his swords, getting back into his fighting stance.

"I will not…lose to-" Mala is interrupted when a praetor leaps into the ship and swings what appears to be a large demonic claw down onto Sheena. Sheena leaps back from the praetor in time before she brought it down onto where she originally stood, leaving a huge mark.

The praetor gets up and turns to Sheena, Erza and Yuri as she stood in front of Mala. She is dressed to the other praetors, but with different colors. She wears a short blue cape, grey long-sleeved leather robes with yellow highlights and blue bands around the top of her long grey and yellow right glove. She wears a silver metallic gauntlet around her right forearm, black pants, grey long legged boots and silver metallic sabatons. Unlike the other praetors, she doesn't wear a helm, revealing her face, gold-brown eyes and her long black hair tied to a wide and messy braid. But what is most distinguishable about her is that her entire left arm was huge, long and goes all the way down to her lower legs. The arm has jagged edges protruding her fingers and forearm and it is colored black on the exterior and blood red underneath.

"What is this?" Erza uttered as she, Sheena and Yuri gaze at the praetor's demonic claw in awe.

"I don't need your help, Velvet Crowe!" Mala yelled as he lowers his swords.

"I was getting tired of watching your ass kicked by these scoundrels." Velvet replied as she turns to Mala. She snorted before finishing, "And you call yourself a captain." Velvet turns her head back to Erza, Sheena and Yuri, who all get back into their fighting stances.

"I would fight with you, but our time is precious." Velvet deadpanned. She curls the sharp fingers of her demonic arm into a large fist before turning to the wall and throws a punch at it, creating a huge opening that leads to the engine room.

"Let's go find the magicless man already!" Velvet barked at Mala before the two run their way into the engine room.

"Magicless man?" Sheena uttered as she, Erza and Yuri widen their eyes.

"They are after Darren!" Erza yelled in alarm. "STOP THEM!"

Before Erza, Sheena and Yuri could enter through the opening; Mala turns around, swings his swords horizontally at the ceiling and shouted, "DESTRUCTIVE SLASH!"

Two strong gusts of wind slash at the ceiling. It is followed by several explosions at the ceiling, which causes a pile of debris to fall in front of Erza, Sheena and Yuri and block the opening.

"This way!" Yuri yelled. The three turn to their left and run down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Velvet and Mala make their way to the other side of the engine room. Velvet punches her demonic fist through the wall again and created another opening, leading to the hallway at the other side of the ship.


Natsu, Gray, Wendy and the two Rune Knights run down the hallway until they see Velvet and Mala Makra heading to the door that leads to the room where Darren, Lucy and the exceeds are taking refuge.

"They are trying to get to Darren! That's why they are here!" Wendy cried.

"Come on!" Natsu yelled before he, Gray, Wendy and the knights dash their way over to the two.

Velvet kicks the door open to their room, startling Lucy, Darren, Happy and Carla. As Velvet and Mala nonchalantly walk into the room, Lucy jolts up from the bed and grits her teeth as she draws out one of her Celestial Spirit keys.

Velvet and Mala turn their heads to Darren, who holds up his scabbard and firmly grasps it. Despite their size, Happy and Carla place themselves in front of Darren, trying to protect him from the praetors.

"That's him." Velvet said, narrowing her eyes at Darren.

As she and Mala approach Darren, Lucy shouted as she swings her key upwards, "I CALLED UPON THEE-"

Within a second, Velvet swiftly charges towards Lucy and grabs her raised arm with her demonic claw. Lucy cries in pain as Velvet tightens her grip.

"Please…don't waste my time." Velvet said icily with a mixture of anger and irritation.

"Lucy!" Natsu cried as he, Gray, Wendy and the Rune Knights enter the room. Velvet whirls about and tosses Lucy over to them. Lucy screams as she is thrown through air and Natsu catches her in his arms. As Natsu skids through the floor backwards, Gray, Wendy and the Rune Knights run past him and Lucy.

The Rune Knights aim their spears at Mala and charge towards him. Darren watches as Mala turns around and swings his right sword diagonally, breaking the tip of one of the knight's spear. He swiftly thrusts his left sword at the knight and stabs him through the chest. Darren froze in horror as he watched a man being killed in front of him.

As the other knight runs up to him, Mala delivers a massive kick to his abdomen. The knight yelps in pain as he backs away. Mala removes the sword from the knight's chest and swings both of his swords vertically at the other knight, slashing his body from top to bottom.

As both Rune Knights collapse onto the floor, Gray yells in rage as he charges towards Mala and swings his ice sword horizontally at him. Mala Makra holds up both of his swords diagonally to block his attack.

Wendy jumps into the air and generates wind around her feet. "Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy exclaimed as she did a continuous somersault towards Velvet. Velvet swings back her right arm, withdrawing a long sharp blade from the bottom of her right gauntlet. She swiftly holds the blade in front of her face and blocks Wendy's attack as the Dragon Slayer swings her feet down on her weapon.

Wendy leaps back and while in mid-air, continues to do a few twirling kicks at Velvet, who blocks her attacks with her blade. Velvet swings her demonic claw at Wendy and grabs her leg, much to her shock. Velvet yells as she turns and swings her claw down, slamming Wendy onto the floor and causing her to cry in pain.

"Wendy!" Darren and Carla both cried in horror as they watch the young girl getting hurt.

Mala lets loose a series of strikes at Gray, who can barely keep up with him to block his attacks with his ice sword. However, Mala manages to thrusts his sword and slashes past Gray's right shoulder. Gray cries in pain as he lowers his sword and grabs his shoulder wound. Mala takes the opportunity to deliver a massive kick to his chest which sends Gray falling to the floor on his back.

Lucy throws her whip at Velvet and wraps it around her right arm. Velvet turns her head to see Lucy pulling her whip to restrain her while Natsu charges towards her with a flaming fist. He lets out a furious yell as he pulls his flaming fist back.

Velvet responds by ducking down and sliding her leg across the floor, sweeping Natsu's feet off from the ground when he got near her. As Natsu falls, Velvet jumps through the air and twirls several times before landing in front of Lucy. Lucy gasped as Velvet swings back her right arm, pulling the whip out of her hand. As the whip loosens around her right arm and drops onto the floor, Velvet approaches Lucy with a cold glare.

Darren gasped as he sees Lucy backing away from Velvet in fear. Happy and Carla flies up to Mala and grabs his arms. But Mala easily swings his arms and tosses the exceeds away from him. Darren turns back to Mala as he approaches him with both swords in his hands.

"Your friends are pathetic and useless, just like you. But you come with us; we will not only spare your life, but also make you a far stronger person than they ever were." Mala said.

Darren rolls his eyes and chuckled nervously. "If you are going to use the Darth Vader dialogue on me, no thanks. I'm better off with them." He replied to Mala.

"Fine." Mala boomed. He holds up one of his swords and prepares to deliver a downward vertical strike at Darren's right arm. "Perhaps cutting off your arm will change your mind!"

"Aaaahhh!" Darren cried as he turns his head away and holds up the scabbard in front of him right before Mala swings down his sword on it.

To the surprise of everyone present in the room, the scabbard briefly illuminate with bright white light and the clash created an impact that sends Mala flying through the air and across the room.

"What?!" Velvet turns her head for a brief moment before Mala collided against her and they both drop to the floor.

Natsu growls as he gets up from the floor.

"Lucy! Stand back!" Natsu yelled at his friend. Lucy obliged and runs away while Natsu places his fists in front his mouth. His cheeks enlarge and he blows out a large and powerful blast of fire at Velvet and Mala while they are down.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Natsu bellowed. The blast sends Velvet and Mala flying through the doorway and crash through several walls. They were then thrown out of the Magic Council ship and crash through the side of their own ship.

The two praetors crash into the engine room of their ship and slam against the main engine. This causes the engine to malfunction and several explosions began erupting around their ship.

Back at the Magic Council ship, Wendy cried as she rushes over to Gray's side, "Gray!"

Gray kneels on the floor in pain as he grabs onto his shoulder wound. Wendy gently removes his hand and places her own hands onto his wound. She closes her eyes as teal light illuminates from her hands and Gray's wound closes up.

"Are you okay, Darren?" Happy asked as he and Carla flies up to him.

"Y-y-yeah…" Darren struggled to say, still feeling traumatized by his encounter with Mala and witnessing the death of two Rune Knights in front of his eyes.

"Darren!" Erza yelled as she, Sheena and Yuri entered the room. They see two Rune Knights lying dead on the floor. But thankfully, Darren is still alive, along with the rest of Team Natsu.

"Where are the praetors?" Yuri asked.

"We defeated them." Lucy replied.

"We totally kick their ass-WOAH!" Natsu gets cut off when their ship rumbled and tilts to the side, causing everyone to yell as they stumble over.

"Are we going down?" Lucy asked as everyone regains their balance.

Natsu tilts his head to the side and sees both the Magic Council and Abbey ships heading towards the ground through the several holes he had created. He turns back to Lucy and replied, "Yes. We are."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone present in the room suddenly scream in terror as they latch onto whatever is beside them and hang on for their dear lives as both ships tilt to the side and plummet through the air.

A few moments later, the Abbey ship crash onto the ground and slide through the forest along with the Magic Council ship still latched onto its starboard.


After a minute had pass, everyone present in the resting room cough heavily as the thick smoke around them dissipates. Erza gets up and looks around. "Is everyone alright?!" She asked in alarm. Darren, Sheena, Yuri and Team Natsu got up as well.

"I'm fine." Darren responded.

"Me too." Natsu said.

"So am I." Lucy added.

"I'm good." Gray said.

"Same." Sheena said.

"I've been through worse." Yuri replied.

"We're good!" Wendy cried as she, Happy and Carla raise their hands, and paws.

Erza sighs in relief and leans against the wall beside her. "What a day." She muttered.

"LIEUTENANT LOWELL! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" A familiar voice shouted.

Yuri groans and rolls his eyes before turning his head. Behind Darren were several gashes on the metal wall that formed during the crash. Everyone in the room could see Ragou standing behind the wall through the gashes as he bellows at them.

"FAIRY TAIL! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL OF THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF YOU! AND YOU TOO, LIEUTENANT LOWELL! YOU SHALL HOLD RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS TOO! HOW ON EARTH LAND ARE WE GOING BACK TO ERA NOW?! YOU GUYS BETTER THINK OF SOMETHING-"

As Ragou continues his mad rumbling, Erza and Yuri pout and turn to each other.



"FAIRY TAIL! LIEUTENANT LOWELL! RELEASE ME THIS INSTANCE! HOW DARE YOU TIE ME UP LIKE THIS?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'M A MEMBER OF THE MAGIC COUNCIL AND I CAN CHARGE YOU ALL FOR THIS!"

As Ragou continues shouting in rage while being tied up to a tree, Darren, Sheena, Yuri and Team Natsu walk away from him and the crash site, continuing their journey through the wilderness on foot.

"Now that's something we should have done earlier." Natsu grins in satisfaction as he places his hands at the back of his head.

"He can go ahead and charge us if he wants. We're used to it anyway." Erza said with a smirk while Yuri unties his ribbon, letting his long dark purple hair flow freely down to the middle of his back.

Yuri huffs and said as he puts away his ribbon, "And this is why I hate the magic council."



Meanwhile, after managing to escape before their ship crashed along with the Magic Council ship, Velvet and Mala are resting at the other side of the forest. Velvet yells in frustration as she slams her demonic fist against the trunk of a tall tree. Moments later, her demonic arm transforms back into a normal human arm, wrapped with several bandages.

"I can't believe we would lose to them!" Velvet shouted. She pulls back and lowers her fist as she turns to Mala, who is currently sitting and leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree with his hands clutching the sides of his head and helmet.

"No! We couldn't have failed! We couldn't!" Mala cried, trembling in fear. "She's going to punish me! I know she will!"

Velvet glares at Mala, not caring about the pathetic display her fellow praetor is displaying right now. Suddenly, she felt her lacrima ball vibrating inside her pocket. She gets it out and activates it.

"Sir." Velvet said flatly.

"Lieutenant Crowe, have you and Captain Makra captured the magicless boy?" The man at the other side of the line inquired.

"Unfortunately, no." Velvet said reluctantly. "We failed to capture our target. Fairy Tail was with him."

"I see." The man replied, his voice filled with disdain. "Return back to HQ immediately."

"Yes sir, Commandant Alexei." Velvet replied before deactivating her lacrima ball and putting it away. She lowers her head and grits her teeth as she clenches her fists tightly. "Damn you, Fairy Tail."









 
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