➵

Dealana stood in a defensive position facing the guy that had apparently been following her while she tried to find her way around the floating islands of Edolas. He had a teasing smile on his face as he spoke and Dealana didn't like it one bit.

"Who's this Mystogan guy you keep grumbling about?" He questioned before his smile dropped and his hand went behind his back, most likely for a weapon of sorts. "Better question, who the hell are you going around looking like Dealana?"

Dealana grimaced and tried to figure out if she actually knew this guy before she remembered that their was someone who looked like her running around and living her own life. This guy in front of her, must be one of her friends.

"I'm whoever the hell I want to be, and that happens to be Dealana," The Storm Dragon Slayer spit back, resisting the urge to let storms crawl along her arms for an attack. "Dealana Ka'ino."

Upon hearing the name, the guy smirked and seemed to drop his guard, but by the way his muscles remained tense, Dealana knew he wasn't taking any chances. "You never know who you'll run into these days. For a moment I thought you were supposed to be a spy," the guy said. Dealana guessed that he was around nineteen or twenty. She also noticed the tentacle like tattoo that crawled along his neck before the rest disappeared under his shirt and down his back.

In one swift movement, the guys flicked his wrist forward and sent a triangular blade attached to a flat ribbon straight for Dealana. Out of instinct, the sky-blunette channeled a ice storm along her arms and brought them into an 'x' formation, successfully blocking and freezing the blade. Her eyes went wide when she realized that she performed magic in front of someone who could be against her and she was quick to jump a good distance, an ice storm at the ready in case she would need to knock him unconscious and tie him to a tree.

She noticed, however, that the guy seemed to be in awe of what she had done rather than upset or angry. His lips twitched upward into a smile of disbelief. "Amazing..." With her dual colored eyes still narrowed, Dealana was ready to defend or attack based off his next words. "You know, you are nothing like the Dealana I know. For one, her name is Dealana Borealis, not Ka'in-whatever you said before."

"Ka'ino, and what the heck! If the Edolas version of me is your friend, why would you attack me?" She questioned.

"I never said Dealana was my friend," The mystery guy shrugged. "I mean, she is, but like she's so...different from you." Dealana sighed and dropped her arms, letting the storm dissipate into the air around them, his golden colored eyes watching carefully, as if not wanting to miss any form of magic.

"You seem to know a lot about me...and other me...damn that's weird," Dealana said, muttering that last part under her breath before continuing, "mind telling me your name?" The guy's smiled widened to a closed eyes smile revealing slightly sharp canines.

"Ah, right, you haven't met my Earthland counterpart, have you? No matter, a few people call me Gavin, Gavin Levi." He introduced.

Dealana quirked an eyebrow before asking, "A few people? What do most people call you then?" She immediately regretted this question as a proud smirk made its way onto Gavin's face, like she just fell for a trap he had set up.

"Most people don't know me, and most people don't know me," Gavin grinned. Dealana only rolled her eyes. Upon seeing this reaction the dark haired male pouted. "Ah, come on! Most people find that a little funny!"

"That's a lie, you don't even know most people," Dealana quipped back. Gavin blinked and was silent a few moments before another grin spread across his face.

"I think I'm liking you better than this world's Dealana. You're more pint-sized, but you've got a hell of a lot more attitude."

"What do you mean more pint-sized!?" She demanded. Gavin only chuckled leaving her question unanswered.

"So, what brought you to Edolas anyways? And how do you still have your magic?" Gavin questioned her.

"My friends and everyone in the city I lived in were taken by the Anima and turned into a giant lacrima," the sky-blunette revealed, causing Gavin's eyes to widen and his smile to drop. "I'm here to get to the royal capital and get them back before they're gone forever. As for the magic thing, Mystogan had these weird red candies that allow me to use my magic here since my Dragon Slayer Magic is the only thing that'll break the lacrima containing my guild."

"By the winds," Gavin breathed as he tried to process her revelation. "That's...that's a lot to put on the shoulders of a kid, this Mystogan guy really is a jerk."

"Do you know where the Royal Capital is?" Dealana asked, ignoring his 'kid' comment. When Gavin nodded, she smirked. "Alright, can you tell me how to get there?"

"I can do better than that, I'll take you there myself," Gavin gave her another warm smile. "You'll need a guide to Edolas...and a disguise." He hummed taking in her striking appearance.

"Oh, joy," Dealana sighed putting as much sarcasm as she could muster into her statement.

➵

"This is amazing!" Gavin exclaimed as he peered over the edge of the cloud Dealana was floating on. She had denied the use of a disguise and opted to pull the hood of her maroon hoodie over her head, making sure to tuck her braids in the back. The hoodie, despite not having sleeves was already two sizes too big, which made it easy to hide her face. Dealana also moved her chunky bracelet-gauntlets over the Fairy Tail guild mark on the inside of her wrist, a strip of fabric wrapped underneath just in case.

Gavin had since told her about some of Edolas' history, including that Fairy Tail was the only magical guild left after the king issued an order for them all to be disbanded. He described some of the counterparts in this world, as they traveled by cloud towards a city, where Gavin said they would find more information.

"Once we get to the city, I'll be able to show you around one of my most visited places" Gavin told Dealana with a grand flourish of his arms. The girl only reached up to pull her hood further over her head as she stared out at the passing floating islands.

"You never stated that you have a home or a base of operations," She observed. "Even though you're technically affiliated with this world's Fairy Tail, you seem to always be on the move."

"You're a clever cookie, and yes, you're right in that sense," Gavin admitted, stretching his arms to rest behind his head. "I serve as an information broker, I sneak around and gather information, mainly pertaining to the business going on at the royal castle and supply to clients. Whenever I can, I try to stop by and give intel to Fairy Tail to keep them one step ahead of the Fairy Hunter."

Dealana frowned underneath her hood, Erza's counterpart was the enemy in this world. Every wizard in Edolas fears her and for good reason. She helped to wipe out all the magical guilds who dared to defy the ruling of Edolas' king. Dealana's ability to retain her magic here, would help her if she ever encountered Erza Knightwalker.

Gavin looked at the young girl and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry to tell you that your friend's counterpart is a total..." he hesitated, "batch of burnt cookies..."

"Smooth recovery," Dealana snorted knowing full well what he wanted to say.

"But, here in Edolas, she's killed a lot of people, she killed all of my friends before I encountered Fairy Tail." Gavin explained, his voice cracking slightly. Dealana glanced over and noticed he was fighting back tears.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if it's a sore subject," Dealana told him softly. "I understand the feeling of losing someone." Gavin looked to the side to hide his face in almost a guilty manner as the wind ruffled their clothes. Traveling by cloud gave them a better chance at staying hidden from the royal army. There was land below them, but if people looked up, they would only see a cloud moving strangely faster than the others.

"Tell me something," Gavin said after a few moments of silence, "Are you close with your world's Laxus Dreyar?"

Dealana fell silent, which caught Gavin's attention and gave him his answer, but she answered anyways. "He's my big brother in everything but blood." She looked to Gavin and he could briefly see her eyes filled with sorrow from underneath the hood. "He's dead...isn't he?"

Gavin swallowed and nodded. "He and his three pals came to try and help save the Storm Talon Tribe, who, while they didn't' use magic, still disagreed with the use of the Anima. Him, Cress and the entire tribe was wiped out by Erza Knightwalker. I was the only one to survive and it was only because I had snuck off to try and find a special herb to help one of the sick families." He let a lone tear roll down his face before he wiped it away with his sleeve. "The sooner you understand that Erza Knightwalker is not capable of being like your Erza Scarlet, the better chance you'll have at getting away from her alive."

Dealana nodded, her eyes narrowed in thought, though Gavin could see. She let the conversation fade into silence as they traveled by cloud to the city in search of Gavin's client. One thought kept plaguing her mind as she let Gavin navigate which islands to turn at.

She had never told him that Earthland Erza's last name was Scarlet.

➵

Meanwhile, Gajeel from Earthland had been sent to Edolas and sought out information regarding the lacrima's location. He happened upon his counterpart and they hit it off as good friends before heading down the street.

"Some pals of mine are here too," Earthland Gajeel was telling his Edolas counterpart as he peered around the corner of a building. Royal army soldiers were lined up with precision facing the opposite direction. "honestly, they're a bunch of morons, but they got it where it counts and'll be causing trouble soon." He turned back to his counterpart saying, "When they do...?"

"Yes, I'll let you know the moment they strike," Edolas Gajeel replied. "I've got contacts everywhere, one of which is around here somewhere. The king can't scratch his nose without me knowing about it, so keeping tabs on them will be easy." He revealed.

Earthland Gajeel began to turn and walk off saying, "I'm counting on yah, I'll lie low until you give me the word."

"I'll send the contact I mentioned to assist you in any way you need. She's reliable when it comes to keeping a low profile and she'll tell you anything you need to know about being in our world." Earthland Gajeel grunted in response, not really wanting to deal with someone tagging along, but he couldn't really deny the help being offered. He had said it before, but this world was weird. "Well, till then."

"Don't keep me waiting," Earthland Gajeel said before they went their separate ways. The Iron Dragon Slayer went unaware of the shared nod between Edolas Gajeel and a hooded figure in the shadows nearby.

➵

Later as Gajeel Redfox was wandering through the town, he ducked down an empty alley that came to a dead end. He sniffed the air once before a smirk spread across his face.

"You can come out now, there's no need to follow me if I know you're there," He said. The Dragon Slayer turned around just as a shadowed figure appeared, leaning against the alley wall casually. The light filtering in enveloped the mysterious person in darkness hiding all features except for a silhouette. They stood at a medium stature, Gajeel supposed they were a few inches taller than Levy.

"A little birdy told me you might need a little help messing with the king's plans," The figure said, their voice distinctly feminine. It also sounded familiar to Gajeel, like someone he knew but a little different. Now that he was thinking about it, they smelled familiar too. They smelled just like the aftermath of a rain shower. "I must say, you look just like this world's Gajeel...the resemblance is uncanny aside from the wild hair."

The young woman stepped out of the clearing to reveal someone around eighteen with long hair the color of the light blue sky. She stepped forward another step while pulling her scarf down and removing the white mask with electric blue streaks across the eyes like war paint to reveal her face. She had two different colored eyes; one violet and one dark blue, as well as a few faint freckles dotting her face along with a long thin scar running across her nose. Gajeel was at a loss for words looking at the counterpart before him.

"...Dealana?" He managed to question in disbelief. Said girl tilted her head with an amused smile. She wore a navy blue unzipped jacket with a light colored faux fur trim. She had on a dark grey long sleeve under shirt and black leggings. Around her waist, she had a belt with various pouches and pockets for tools of her trade. Almost any exposed skin that wasn't her face or hands were wrapped in bandages and the long pastel yellow scarf hung around her neck.

"Huh," She grinned wider, "I suppose you happen to be acquainted with my counterpart. This'll be fun to hear about."

➵

Taa daa~ Edolas! Dealana! I'm honestly super excited to explore an altered version of her character. She'll be different in personality, but deep down have the same ideals, kind of like Lucy and her counterpart :)

Comments? Theories~? I'd absolutely love to hear them because a lot of times they inspire me to change some things around and make the story even better.