"Oh, this is no good at all. I need to give them a message from the council right away." Mira Jane spoke with Alzack and Bisca after they returned from their scouting mission.

"Don't blame me. I wanted to go after them." Bisca defended herself

"But there'd be no point." Alzack argued calmly, "I know you're worried, but Clover Canyon is a death trap. Even with someone from a hunter's guild to guide you, it would swallow you up and never spit you out."

"But if it's a dangerous maze of canyons, why would they even wanna go in there?" Bisca wondered

"I don't know but it must be important. I'm sure the master can handle things, but I'm still a little worried." Mira reasoned,

"Hate to remind you, I really do," Dealana cut in from where she was carrying a tray of dirty dishes, "but not only is the master with them, but Erza is too. The new girl, Lucy, she's pretty resourceful herself. I'm sure they'll be fine, Mira." she told them before smirking, "And if not, I call dibs on Erza's room."

"Dealana!" Mira scolded the mage, who merely shrugged her shoulders before heading inside the kitchens,

"She's a spitfire, ain't she?" Bisca muttered,

"Dealana's been through a lot," Mira told them, "She does care deep down, she just shows it differently."

"I guess that's what you get when you're raised by a dragon and then by Fairy Tail too." Alzack said with a soft smile.

➵

Dealana rather enjoyed doing the dishes, she was able to let her worries wash away with the dirt and grime. Plus, the warm, soapy water is always fun to play with afterwards.

"Dealana? How are doing?" Mira asked entering to grab some more mugs,

"I'm fine, Mira." Dealana sighed, "I'm a little worried about them all being out in Clover Canyon though, Alzack was right about it being extremely dangerous."

"Have you been there?" Mira tilted her head

"I crossed through there before making my way to Magnolia when I first joined Fairy Tail. I told you all that I was running for days." Dealana admitted,

"Oh, wow, Dealana I didn't realize."

"It's not something that commonly comes up in conversation, Mira." Dealana placed a clean dish on the rack beside the sink to dry, "Shouldn't you be serving Cana her fourth barrel at this hour?" she teased,

"Actually it's her fifth." Mira smiled,

"Darn, I was off by one." the heterochromia girl scoffed. Mira noticed how Dealana appeared tired from lack of sleep.

"Have you been sleeping well, Dealana?" Mira questioned,

"Yeah, I'm fine it's just, Laxus is around somewhere and I... I don't know what to do anymore." she sighed, and Mira nodded in understanding,

"Why don't you go change, you've gotten some of the grime on your shirt. Then afterwards, we can go find a nice cafe to take a break at, sound good?"

"I'd like that." Dealana wore a small smile.

➵

Now dressed in an oversized pastel yellow hoodie with a royal blue tank top and black shorts underneath, Dealana hid her gauntlets under the sleeves and made sure her anklet was secured tightly on her ankle along with her leather cord necklace. Dealana sat on a cloud high enough that she could witness Natsu and Erza's fight.

"Aren't you worried this fight could tear our strongest team apart?" Dealana heard Lucy ask from nearby, turning Dealana noticed Gray beside her and sent them a nod.

"What are you talking about? Our strongest team?" Gray asked Lucy

"You, Natsu, and Erza, you dummy. You're the three strongest wizards in the guild."

"We are? Yeah, right." Gray scoffed, "What idiot fed you that lie?"

Mira began crying and Dealana shot Gray a glare while he panicked,

"I'll hand it to Natsu and Gray. They're tough little dudes. But neither of them are even close to being the strongest. There are guys in Fairy Tail who are stronger than both of them combined. Like this guy." Elfman informed Lucy and pointing a thumb at himself,

"But calling erza the strongest woman in the guild is a pretty safe bet." Levy jumped in with Jet and Droy,

"As far as the guys, it's a tough call, but I'd put my money on Laxus or Mystogan." Jet added,

"Though, Dealana was pretty tough back then too." Levy spoke her thoughts out loud,

"Hmm?" Dealana looked at Levy curiously lying backward on the cloud so her braids hung down and brushed the top of Gray's head, "I mean, I was tough but that doesn't make me the strongest, I don't use my magic for that stuff anymore."

"You still practice it though." Gray pointed out, Dealana looked at him sharply,

"Hey! How do you know about that?" she accused the ice mage,

"I didn't know for sure, I just remember you telling me what Arashi told you something about always practicing." he waved his hands in defense,

"Never stop using your magic and on the day you need it most, you won't fail." Dealana recited,

"Woah, wait! You mean Dealana could be close to matching Erza?" Lucy asked in disbelief,

"I mean yeah, Dealana is a dragonslayer after all. And she uses her brain unlike Natsu." Elfman offered,

"She's a dragonslayer!?" Lucy pointed at the little sky blue haired girl resting comfortably on a cloud,

"Taught by the best of the best, Arashi the great dragon of storms." Dealana shrugged,

"Gotta say, I'm pretty psyched to see how this fight turns out." Elfman commented,

"Oh, yeah? I'm sure she'll end up mopping the floor with him." Gray argued,

"I bet something will interfere and the battle will be over before stuff gets real." Dealana offered her opinion,

"Put me down for Erza for the first round." Happy bet with Cana

"You're betting against your own friend?" Lucy questioned, "Why are you guys picking sides."

"Dealana, are you sure you want to bet on neither one of them winning? It's not too late to back out." Cana called to the heterochromatic girl,

"Positive, and if I win, I share some for your tab."

"Alright!" Cana cheered,

Natsu and Erza began round one and so far no one landed a good hit, Dealana watched lazily from her cloud,

"This fight sucks." Gray commented,

"Wait for it..." Dealana mumbled, and just as predicted the fight was stopped.

"This fight is over." a council frog woman entered the circle, "May I have your attention please? I have come here on behalf of the Magic Council."

"No way." Levy gasped,

"Seriously?" Jet asked,

"Why would the council send her here?" Droy wondered,

"As a result of the Eisenwald incident, a member of you guild has been charged with 11 counts of criminal property damage. Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest." the frog announced. Of course Natsu immediately protested.

"Ah man! Erza's arrested and Dealana totally called the whole thing!" Cana complained,

"I didn't think this would happen, I just could smell the council's fancy perfume in town." Dealana grumbled

➵

The guild hall was solemn and quiet, everyone waiting for the result.

"This isn't fair you guys! Let me out of here already!" Natsu complained from inside the glass cup,

"Natsu, try to calm down." Mira scolded him

"Let me out! Pretty pretty please? I'll be good, I swear."

"You'll go on a rampage." Mira told him,

"Please turn me back to the way I was before!"

"The second we turn you back, you'll run out to save Erza." Mira reminded him

"Give me a break, I could care less what happens to her."

"Even if you wanted to help her, it's not like we can face off with the Council." Gray spoke up from where he sat, Dealana next to him glumly resting her head on his shoulder.

"But don't those jerks on the Council realize that Erza did what she had to do to save the lives of the guild masters from those bad guys and their evil death flute?" Natsu questioned,

"If the magic council says you're guilty, then you're guilty. End of story." Gray looked away sharply, "They don't care what we have to say."

"I just don't get it." Elfman started, "We've destroyed plenty of stuff in the past and they never made a big deal out of it."

"I know. It doesn't make any sense." Laki agreed,

"It's like there's some other reason for this." Lucy said

"They can't just keep her locked up forever, Erza is a powerful wizard, I'll bet this is the council making a big show of their power." Dealana huffed,

"This is wrong. We should be there to testify." Lucy stood up,

"But Lucy--"

"We're not going to court." Makarov interrupted,

"Why not, Master? We all know she's innocent. We can't just sit here and let them lock her away."

"Even if we left this very second, there's no way we'd make it there in time."

"But--"

"I've been stuck under this glass all day. It's getting hard to breath. Come on, you gotta let me out of here!" Natsu complained,

"You sure you want out?" Makarov questioned,

"Hmm?" Natsu began to think,

"What's the matter? It seems you've lost the fire in your belly." Makarov said, "Ha!" soon enough Macao was revealed,

"It's Macao!" Levy exclaimed,

"That was you!?" Everyone questioned,

"Yeah, Sorry guys. But I owed Natsu a favor. I turned myself into a salamander so that everybody would think I was him."

"Do you know where he went?"

"He went after Erza didn't he?" Gray accused,

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Macao sweatdropped,

"You've gotta be kidding me. That idiot will probably try to fight the whole Council." Elfman pointed out with closed fists,

"Would everyone just calm down?" Makarov said, "We've no choice but to wait and see what happens."

Natsu and Erza were both released a day later having spent the night in a cell.

"I can't believe that arrest and trial were just for show. So much worrying." Lucy complained,

"So, she wasn't a sacrificial lamb, but a scapegoat." Gray pieced together,

"You must be one heck of an ice wizard, 'cause even your jokes leave me cold." Elfman commented

"Called the whole thing." Dealana spoke up sipping from a mug of juice

"Yeah, how'd you figure that out?" Gray asked,

"Honestly, if the magic council was going to arrest anyone for the damage you all caused, it would've been Natsu." everyone sweatdropped as they realized it was likely true. Natsu tried to re battle Erza, who shut him down with a single punch.

"Is everything alright?" Mira asked Makarov,

"I'm fine. Just sleepy." he said, "He's coming."

"Oh." Mira said before she fell to the ground asleep,

"Not again." Gray sighed holding his head, as people around them started falling asleep. Dealana rubbed her eyes and fell off her cloud and onto the wooden floor with a heavy thud, rolling and landing just beside Mystogan's feet when he approached.

"Mystogan." Makarov greeted,

"I shall return."

"No, wait. Lift your sleeping spell before you leave." Mystogan took his job request, knelt down and returned Dealana to her cloud, before stepping away,

"Five...Four...Three... Two...One." and he was gone and everyone woke up.

"Who's this Mystogan guy?" Lucy asked

"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And for some reason he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. So whenever he comes here to take a job, he casts a sleeping spell."

"That's kind of creepy."

"At least, he was kind enough to put be back on my cloud." Dealana said rubbing her sore head,

"Master Makarov's the only person here who's ever gotten a good look at his face."

"That's not true. I've seen him before." a familiar voice chuckled.

"Laxus?" Elfman asked,

"Talk about rare." Gray said, "And here's another contender."

"Mystogan's just a little shy. You should all respect his privacy."

"You should respect your guild mates." Dealana grumbled, Laxus went on to say how he was the guild's strongest wizard. Natsu attempting unsuccessfully to go up on the second floor.

"The most powerful one in the guild isn't a chick, some hooded weirdo, or a scar nosed runt. You want to know what the strongest wizard looks like? You're looking right at him."

"Hmph!" Dealana glared at the lightning mage.

➵

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter,

I really have no excuse other than I was too lazy to put forth any initiative to write. I'm so thankful to see that you all enjoy the story so far. I

'll likely be slower with another update seeing as school is starting up soon, but I'll do my best.

The Galuna Island arc is one of my favorites, what about you?

➵