➵

To the amusement of Edolas Dealana, Carla and Happy were unable to continue holding up Lucy, Gray and Coco, resulting in them crash landing on the ground below. Dealana's feet touched ground and she wrapped her scarf back around her neck as they groaned and complained.

"That hurt!" Lucy whined. Happy and Lucy's landing had been the roughest of the two, the busty blonde falling, practically face-planting on the ground.

"Aye, sir," Happy agreed before Lucy squished his face in annoyance.

"I get why Carla fell, but why did you fall when all you had to do was carry me," She asked him.

"I"m sorry, you were too heavy!" Happy replied in between his cheeks being pinched and pulled.

"Don't even try to blame my weight for your weakness, buddy!" Lucy snapped. Dealana knelt beside Coco with a concerned but gentle expression.

"Were you hurt at all, Coco?" She asked. Coco stared at the sky-blunette in awe before shaking her head.

"N-No..." The young girl continued staring at Dealana, prompting her to raise an eyebrow.

"Something else wrong then?" Dealana wondered.

A blush crept onto Coco's face as she shook her head again, this time a little more frantically. "Sorry! It's just... I wasn't expecting the criminal Stormborn to be so... pretty and kind." She admitted.

It was Dealana's turn to feel a faint blush rise on her cheeks before Gray's inquiry on Erza caught their attention.

"She's in a stand-off with Knightwalker," Carla answered. Dealana stiffened and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but not at the mention of the Fairy Hunter. The sky-blunette instinctively grabbed Coco by the waist and leapt haphazardly to the side, narrowly dodging a magic blast.

"They found us!" Gray realized. Dealana released her hold on Coco and stood to address the problem at hand. The royal army soldiers had the group completely surrounded, their weapons aimed in their direction. Dealana's hand twitched, slowly moving towards her tanto blade while the other rested idly on her mask.

As her eyes scanned the sea of soldiers, Dealana counted too many for all of them to handle. Gray, Lucy and herself were the only ones who could do any significant damage. She was afraid that even with two Earthland wizards on their side, it wouldn't be enough to take them all on.

"Geez, it's like they're coming out of the woodwork," Gray remarked also looking around at all the royal army soldiers.

"They've got us surrounded, Lucy," Coco told the blonde nervously.

"I guess we're gonna have to fight 'em," Lucy decided only a split second before two blue cannons fired at Carla and Happy. The two Exceeds were barely able to dodge while Gray formed a spiky ice wall to try and defend them.

"Stay back!" He shouted. From another side, the cannon fired again leading Dealana to move forward, using her magic weapon to reflect the blast. Thundersoul absorbed some of the magical energy in order to channel the magic power for later use.

"Stop shooting at us!" Carla exclaimed.

"Why do they keep firing at Happy and Carla?" Lucy wondered.

"I imagine it has to do with them being Exceeds," Dealana huffed, making sure to stay in between the royal army soldiers and the two cats.

"All of the escaping exceeds have been captured and turned into lacrimas," One of the soldiers manning the lacrima cannons informed them. "With the exception of you two. Now, surrender and become magic power for our kingdom!"He demanded before firing another shot.

Dealana's eyes widened, realizing she wouldn't be able to fully reflect the attack. Grabbing Happy and Carla, she dove out of the way making sure not to harm either of the Exceeds.

"The Exceeds are living beings, just like us," Gray told the soldiers while bringing his hands together in what Dealana had learned to be the form for Maker Magic spells. "Are you so obsessed with gaining power that you don't care what happens to 'em?" He asked.

The ice mage only received a response of numerous charging soldiers. Their attempt to attack Gray was pointless as he brought his hands down to create another wave of ice spikes, sending them all flying.

"You people in this world need to learn some lessons about life! You can't kill someone to take what they have. Not on my watch." Gray said.

➵

Meanwhile in a distant desert area, the last remaining magical dark guild was in the midst of being rallied by one of their strongest members, Lucy Ashley.

"We have to help save the exceeds," Lucy told them. "On my way back here, I met with Gavin. He told me the royal army is capturing them and turning them into lacrimas."

"Gavin?" Lisanna echoed, her eyes lighting up at the familiar name. "You mean he came by?"

"He's an elusive guy, but I gotta admit, he hasn't given us any false information yet," Jet remarked.

"Listen up!" Lucy shouted, once more gaining their attention. "We have to help them. The Exceeds and the Earthland Fairy Tailers are in serious danger. The royal army wants to wipe them out and take over this world!" She explained. "Come on! We can't just sit back and let that happen, can we?"

"Well, no, but..." Natsu Dragion started. "The royal army has all kinds of magic power at their disposal now. We don't stand a chance against them if you ask me."

"He's right," Mira agreed, bringing one hand to her chin in thought. "We've had a hard enough time dealing with them without any added power." She reasoned.

"Look, I hate to be a downer, but they would pulverize us," Gray surge added. Lucy grimaced, wondering how she was gonna be able to convince her guild to help in the fight.

"I know," Droy raised his hand, "Why don't we just wait until the royal army and the Exceeds are done fighting. That's the perfect time to attack because they'll be exhausted, you know? We can swoop in and give them a proper Fairy Tail thrashing." He explained.

"I have to admit, that is a brilliant idea, Droy," Cana acknowledged, stepping forward a bit with her tea cup in hand. "After all, they say it's best to strike while the iron's hot, right?"

"Perhaps we should cozy up to the Royal Army," Juvia said, throwing in her own two cents. "This is our only chance. If we side with them, they'll be indebted to us, and they would no longer see us as their enemy."

"That's true," Wendy reasoned. "It'd be nice to not have to live in constant fear of them." She admitted.

"Yeah, I don't think that's how it'll work," A familiar voice said. The Edolas Fairy Tailers gasped as a figure leapt from the shadows to land effortlessly in a crouch on the ledge beside Lucy. Gavin's gaze flicked up and looked at all the gathered guild members, his golden eyes sparkling with natural mischief.

"Gavin!" Several members greeted. Lucy looked down at him with a knowing look.

"You followed me?" She asked the dark haired young man. Gavin grinned and gave the blonde a mock salute.

"Guilty, but that's besides the point," He replied, his smile dropping into a more serious look. "Cozying up to the royal army is not going to be an option. They might accept our help on the battle field but the moment everything's over, we'll be their next targets." He explained.

"Gavin's right," Lucy nodded. "The king's drunk with power, even if we were to side with the royal army, there's still no guarantee will be in his good graces."

"He already has it out for Dealana, Lorna and I," Gavin pointed out, still crouched on the ledge overlooking the rest of the Edolas Fairy Tail.

"Dealana? You mean she's still alive?" Wendy asked with wide eyes. "My sister is alive?" Gavin blinked owlishly before nodding.

"Yeah, she's alive and fighting right alongside the Earthland Fairy Tailers," He revealed. "She's been fighting against the King for years now under the alias Stormborn."

This revelation sparked many gasps and shocked faces and Gavin reveled in the reactions he attained from a few simple sentences before his focus narrowed on the matter at hand.

"We've been infiltrating the castle and messing with the smaller projects to slow down the Anima plans, but it's not enough. Right now is the best chance we've got to taking down the king once and for all." Gavin told them. "I'm planning on heading there as soon as I can, so I need to know if you're with us or not."

"They've got a good point," Lisanna said, being the first to speak up. "We can't try to make peace with them, you know they can't be trusted. Even if we were to side with them, they could turn on us at any moment." She reasoned. "Dealana's been working to fight against him all this time that we've spent running away, we can't just let her stand alone anymore."

"Droy's suggestion won't work either," Lucy continued. "King Faust isn't going to wait around, as soon as he's wiped out the Exceeds, he's going to move on to his next goal. He'll usher in a horrific age of darkness, tyrannizing any who dare oppose him. I'm telling you, this is the only chance to save ourselves. Humans and Exceeds need to work together to stop him once and for all!"

The response was quiet mumbling and fearful reluctance. It hurt Gavin to see that he may not be able to get the support the Earthland Fairy Tailers needed. His eyes met Lisanna's blue ones and he offered her a reassuring smile. She returned it as the remainder of the guild continued to discuss their limited options.

➵

Elsewhere, in the old and ruined coliseum, the four dragon slayers were thrown back from the harsh attack of the king's Dorma Anim. Dealana hit the ground and rolled a few feet, letting out a grunt of pain. She had landed next to the others at least, but the king's laughter was getting on her nerves.

"You're pathetic," He told them from where he was hiding inside the large mechanical dragon. "You don't stand a chance of winning." Dealana's fist clenched in anger hearing King Faust's mocking voice but struggled in bringing herself to stand up.

'Maybe I used a lot more magic energy to stop the Dragon Chain Cannon than I realized.' Dealana thought. She heard a bit of shuffling and turned her head to see Natsu get back to his feet, still a little shaky.

"Everyone in this world suffers 'cause there's no magic power," He said. "I'd like to know why their crazy king seems to have more than his fair share of it." Natsu glared at the Dorma Anim that was almost looming over them.

King Faust only seemed to chuckle, finding amusement in Natsu's words and saying, "You'd be hard-pressed to find a king who hasn't imposed a tax on his people. That's how monarchy works, my boy! The Dorma Anim requires a constant influx of magic power, so it's gathered from all over the world!" He explained

"That's why it was sealed away," The king carried on. "It's a forbidden weapon. Now that I've activated it, the fate of the world is dependent upon my victory."

"Why should we believe you?" Dealana's head turned to see Wendy struggling to stand up as well. The sky-blunette's lips twitched upwards hearing Wendy's words. The storm dragon slayer pushed herself up and back onto her feet.

"You don't give a crap what happens to this world," Gajeel spoke up. "That's why you're stealing all it's magic power."

"You have no regard for the lives of those who stand in between you and power," Dealana spat, "You barely care for your own allies!" She had seen the slowly healing damage on Coco's feet. She could remember seeing Pantherlily being pierced by Knightwalkers attack and even before when they were fighting on the lacrima island. The Dragon Chain Cannon would've killed Pantherlily along with the people of Extalia and Magnolia.

The concept of hurting all those people just for power enraged the storm dragon slayer and gave her a new sense of strength to stand up and keep fighting.

"One of the reasons I joined Fairy Tail was so I could help others," Natsu began, his arms glowing once more with the power of Wendy's spell. "To be honest, I could care less what happens to your stupid world, but I do care about everyone who lives here. So, I'm about to kick your butt for them!"

"We're going to kick your butt for them," Dealana corrected moving somewhat sluggishly to stand beside Natsu with swirling storms crawling along her arms. Her unbraided flowing behind her in waves by an unknown source of wind.

➵

"Open! Gate of the Lion: Loke!"

Dealana glanced over to see that Lucy had summoned what she explained to be a celestial spirit she had a contract with. It was a fascinating concept, and Dealana wished that she could ask more questions about it, but her inquires would have to wait until after they dealt with the royal army soldiers.

A shimmering light appeared along with the sound of a bell. The light faded away to reveal an orange-haired man with a pair of stylish glasses wearing a fancy black suit and read tie. From Lucy's spell, Dealana assumed the spirit's name was Loke.

"Y'miss me, Lucy?" He asked, studying the mass of opponents surrounding them. A group tried to rush forward only to be met with Loke's glowing fists knocking them away left and right.

Even Coco joined in the battle using her natural speed to push more force into when she kicked the royal army soldiers. The sky-blunette was impressed, but had no time to dwell or compliment the young girl's skills. Dealana nimbly jumped around, dodging blasts from a cluster of royal army soldiers, her yellow scarf trailing behind her as she went.

She wove between the clumped together groups of royal army soldiers and stabbed her tanto, Thundersoul, into the ground. The magic power she absorbed from their earlier attempt to turn Happy and Carla into a lacrima fueled the dust storm ability.

A rapid tornado of dust and dirt formed and knocked away a circle of royal army soldiers before Dealana continued moving and slashing at wave after wave of enemies. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Lucy using a magic whip to swipe at incoming magic bullets.

"Carla!" Happy exclaimed from nearby. Dealana's eyes snapped to see that the white cat had taken a hit meant for Happy. She would've moved to rush over but her shoulder was grazed by a magic bullet, eliciting a cry of pain.

"Dealana!" She grimaced and looked to the owner of the voice, Gray, and offered a pained smile.

"I'll be fine," Her eyes widened suddenly and she threw her tanto into a rock near the ice mage, summoning another dust storm spell to knock away the soldiers attempting to sneak up on him. Of course, her actions left her vulnerable and without a proper weapon. Noticing this, quite a few soldiers trained their spear-guns on the sky-blunette and fired.

As the wave of magic bullets drew near in what seemed like slow-motion, Dealana's feet refused to move. She raised her arms and flinched, awaiting the force of an attack that never came. Quickly opening her eyes, Dealana was met with the sight of an icy wall.

"Thank you," She sighed in relief, lifting her hand to catch the handle of her tanto blade that Gray tossed in her direction. He smiled and seemed to be about to say something when the roar of a legion could be heard above them.

It was followed by more war cries from a few other legions, but despite the small number, the legions had a lot of size and power to them that would certainly overwhelm Dealana and the others. Things were going downhill really fast.

One of the legions lunged forward, sending Gray and Loke flying backwards with a head-butt. Dealana turned with wide eyes, a different legion knocked the air out of her and pushing her harshly to the ground. She struggled to get back to her feet, but stumbled, barely managing to deflect another wave of magic bullets with Thundersoul.

"At this rate," Happy panicked, an unconscious Carla in his arms, "everybody's gonna die!"

"We can't give up," Lucy said, "No matter what happens, we gotta keep fighting!" She moved forward with her magic extendable whip to face the soldiers and legions.

"I'll bet Natsu and Erza are still in it," Lucy continued, causing Dealana's eyes to widen a fraction, "If they can find the strength to keep going than I know I can too!" The sky blunette finally got to her feet, knowing Lucy was right. Her mini-me was no doubt still up and fighting, and Dealana's mini-me was still just a kid. She couldn't give up now, or ever.

"We've got to keep fighting!" Lucy shouted, "because that's what it means to be a Fairy Tail wizard!"

Dealana rushed forward with Thundersoul and continued swiping left and right to send waves of purple black lightning at the royal army soldiers, but no matter how many she managed to take down, two more would take their place. She and Gray ended up back to back against the group of royal army soldiers and were actually doing okay until a Legion knocked them backwards.

Coco was sent flying into a tree while Lucy's celestial spirit friend, Loke was thrown around by a Legion. Lucy herself was struggling and ended up knocked to the ground by a fresh wave of magic bullets.

With everyone down, the royal army soldiers wasted no time in cornering everyone with spears at their necks. Dealana's tanto slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground as one of the royal army soldiers shoved her to her knees, the edge of a sharp spear placed millimeters from her neck.

She truly believed that it would be the end, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes before a tree began sprouting rapidly from the earth before they eyes. Root tendrils shot forward, wrapping around the necks of the legions shocking everyone.

"Woah, what the heck?" Gray uttered as they all watched the strange happenings. Dealana's eyes widened upon seeing the banner hanging with pride on the front of the large tree guild hall. The smoke cleared to reveal a crowd of determined people with anger and vengeance spelled across their faces. The tears of fear quickly turned to tears of happiness as they trailed down Dealana's cheeks.

Edolas Fairy Tail had come calling.

Before the royal army soldiers holding Dealana could even think to move, wires wrapped around their wrists and legs yanking them away as the spear was kicked away from her neck. In a flash she was hoisted to her feet and she met Gavin's gaze with relief in her dual colored eyes.

"You're here," She smiled. Gavin nodded with a proud smirk, holding a retrieved Thundersoul out to his close friend.

"I've got your back," He told her, "You ready to keep kicking butt?" Dealana took the tanto from his grasp and matched his smirk.

"Hell yeah,"

Dealana and Gavin were quick to rejoin the fray along with a wave of Fairy Tail wizards. Dealana made her way over to Coco and Gray, wanting to make sure they were both alright. Coco seemed fine, just a little out of it. But when she reached Gray, his counterpart was already there.