"Erza, you're back!" Levy said, noticing Erza running towards them. She saw the two kids running behind her. "Wendy, Killua!"

"Where were you guys?" Lucy asked.

"We ran into some trouble along the way." Erza said. She waved off any concern. "It's no big deal. But Wendy and Killua are low on magic energy." She looked into the hole. "What's happened while we were gone?"

"Leorio went in after Kurapika." Levy said. "His ten minutes are almost up so who wants to go next?"

Gray stepped forward. "I'm obviously going so-" but Erza put her hand up to stop him.

"You're almost as bad as Natsu when it comes to secret missions." Before Gray could complain, she shot him a look that shut him up. "If there are no objections, I'll go next."

"Sure." Wendy said. "Killua and I are too low on energy to go in anyways." When she looked at Killua, he only shrugged. "Yeah, what she said."

"You sure Erza?" Lucy asked. "If you were just in battle, maybe you should take it easy."

Erza shook her head. "I'm perfectly fine." She did feel a bit winded, but that was probably from her use of Nen. She didn't feel like she could pull it off again anytime soon. But her magic energy was still strong. "Okay then, I'll-"

"Can I come!?"

Everyone looked towards the source of the sound. It was Gon! He was running towards all of them.

"Gon!" Killua said. "You're okay!" He then proceeded to slap him at the back of the head. "Great job for getting caught and arriving late at the scene."

Gon only chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry, I got out easily. A lot of it was thanks to Natsu."

"Speaking of Natsu, where is he?" Wendy asked, looking around. Gon had arrived alone.

"Well..." Gon began, trying to figure out how to explain it. "He had wanted to walk here, but to save time, I made us board on one of the fastest trains we could find. I also made him use his fire power to propel us. So now... he's on the road in front of the forest and he told me to go ahead. He didn't look good. I figured it would be safer if I didn't bring him along."

Lucy sighed. "Of course that's what happened. But anyways..." She remembered Gon's original request. "You said you wanted to come?"

Gon nodded. "I barely got to do anything at the other base. I need to help somehow!" He held up his fist in determination. He had been in that train for so long and now, he was ready to do something!

Killua sighed. "Oh well, I already had my share of fun, so its only fair if you get a turn."

"Okay then." Erza said. "We should hurry, we need to catch up with the others over there."

He searched around for any clues Kurapika might have left, but found nothing. He groaned. "What did you do this time, Kurapika?"

He had no choice but to wait for more people to reach the base. He tried not to panic but they were wasting time, and who knew how many people were in here.

Finally, not one, but two heads emerged from the hole. "Gon!" Leorio exclaimed.

Erza quickly dusted herself off. "He was small enough for two people to enter the hole. It took a little bit longer, but we're here."

Leorio smiled at Gon. "Thank goodness you're okay. You had us worried."

Erza quickly realized the situation. "Why are you still here? Where's... Kurapika?"

"You tell me." Leorio said, scratching his head. "He's left without a trace." He sighed. "And I'm pretty sure why."

Erza nodded in agreement. She had a feeling something like this would happen. It was annoying, but right now, they had to work with the choice Kurapika had made. She looked around. "Okay, there are two ways we can go, so we can easily spit up. If we each just choose a path-"

"That way." Gon interrupted. He was sniffing in the right direction. He then nodded with certainty. "In the previous base I was in, Natsu and I fought a member of the SIA who was using this special power. I can smell an abundance of it in this direction. That must be where the power source is."

Erza sighed in relief. Gon's nose was practically a map, just like Natsu's. It was a good thing he had come along. "Okay Gon, Leorio, you two go that way. See if you can find Kurapika. That means..."

She looked towards the left. "I'll look for him this way. We have to be quiet. Even if we're slow, we can't make a sound."

"Then let's activate Zetsu." Gon said.

Soon, all three of them had Zetsu on and they split up. Gon and Leorio quietly snuck down the right pathway. So far, they hadn't encountered any enemy and Gon's nose helped them navigate any crossroads.

But soon, came another obstacle.

"Wha- What is that!" Leorio said.

In front of them, was a huge clear wall. Leorio cautiously touched it. It was cold. "This is ice!" He groaned. "This would be a great time to have a fire wizard around." He then looked at Gon, remembering something. "Wait a minute, you know fire magic, right?"

By then, Gon was already shivering in excitement. Now, now was his time. He directed all of his unused strength into his fist and soon, a fire burst out.

"First comes rock..."

"Rock..."

"Paper..."

"SCISSORS!"

Gon struck a Transmuter attack at the wall of ice. With the combined strength of his attack and the heat of his flames, when the smoke cleared, the wall of ice had mostly been melted, opening up the rest of the path.

"Yes!" Gon cheered in victory. He was getting better at his Nen AND magic!

Leorio, on the other hand, couldn't help feeling uneasy. A wall of ice? Yes, it was tricky, but with the right person, it could easily be overcome. This obstacle was too easy. Something was up.

He was right.

Alarms blared around the hall.

"INTRUDERS DETECTED, INTRUDERS DETECTED. PREPARE PLAN OF TOTAL ABOLITION."

And just like that, the ground began to rumble. The ceiling above them began to crumble and the walls on their sides began to cave in.

"RUN!" Leorio cried out. But it was really falling down. With as much speed as he could muster, Gon sped forward.

Suddenly, a few rocks hit his legs, causing him to fall down. Before he had even hit the floor, his legs were buried. He couldn't move and the noise around him was deafening.

Gon could barely process a hand pulling him and a huge swift of motion before a piece of rubble hit his head and the world went dark.

Had what he was looking for been on the right, he would have definitely waited for the others. It was the fact that his goal had been in the opposite direction that been what had probably made him leave everyone behind.

She was right. She soon caught a glimpse of blonde hair. She sped into a slow jog. "Kurapika!"

Kurapika looked back. Thankfully, he had Zetsu activated and was also walking. He hadn't thrown caution out the window. "Erza! How-"

Dang it, he had been caught. But he couldn't regret his actions. Not yet. He looked down. "I'm sorry, but-"

"Let me help you." Erza interrupted. Kurapika looked up in surprise. "But-" Erza put her hand up to stop him.

"When in Fairy Tail, your loyalty always has to be with the guild. But..." her face softened. "I know that there are times where that has to be tested. It's not easy. There are always things we want to do alone."

She sighed. "Your actions are only bad when they have a consequence. So... if we can work together, find your clan's eyes, and meet up with the others without having our mission jeopardized, then consider yourself forgiven."

She smiled. "How does that sound?"

Kurapika gritted his teeth. This wasn't what he wanted. He couldn't let his friends and anyone in the Fairy Tail guild get hurt because of his actions. If they ran into any trouble, he would HAVE to take responsibility. But he couldn't tell Erza to turn back at this point.

"... fine."

The two walked in silence for some time. Kurapika started to forget what he had done and focus on the task in front of him. He was getting closer, his Archive could tell.

Just a little more time and then... he would be there. He would finally be able to start his mission of giving his family the respect they deserved.

Suddenly, their hallway began to fill with sounds.

"INTRUDERS DETECTED, INTRUDERS DETECTED. PREPARE PLAN OF TOTAL ABOLITION."

What had happened?! Kurapika could feel the vibrations of the ceiling above him and he realized with horror, what was going to happen.

"ERZA, GET BACK!"

With no time to spare, Kurapika backed away furiously from the shaking ceiling farther down the hallway. The ceiling between him and Erza shattered and the walls began to collapse. He had to quickly dodge the rubble and avoid collision.

Finally, one final blast sent him flying and he crashed into the floor.

After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes.

The dust had cleared and he was all alone in the corridor.

She had also avoided the rubble and quickly turned around the corner to wait out the disaster. Finally, her breathing came back and she went back into the hallway.

Kurapika was nowhere to be seen. Instead, was a huge pile of rubble, almost impossible to get through. They had been separated.

The stakes were higher now. If they had been caught, they had to get out of here quickly.

Erza sighed. Knowing Kurapika, he had most likely escaped the collapse alive. As for her, if she tried hard enough, she could probably get past the rubble and into the rest of the hallway.

But she didn't.

The entire disaster had been like a wake up call. The rest of the corridor was something for Kurapika to go through. This was something Kurapika had to do for himself, a battle just for him. Not something for Erza to help with.

Because the one thing more difficult than helping a friend in struggle, was knowing when it was best to leave them alone.

She looked down the hall with unease, sure another enemy would come storming through. Kurapika, you need to hurry, she though.

So staring at that wall of rubble, Erza resigned herself to leaning against the unbroken walls and doing what she did so many times for a friend.

Trust.

Erza was probably okay. Now, the rest was up to him. He had to hurry. With little hesitation, he started down the pathway again.

"You're not going anywhere."

Kurapika's feet froze. He slowly turned around.

There was a man wearing a black cloak. On his shoulder was the sapphire tattoo. SIA. He sneered.

"Think you can invade my treasure room and steal my toys, do you?" He held his cloak, as if preparing for battle. "If you turn around, your future will still maintain its brightness. But stay here..."

"And you're in for a dark hell."

Kurapika was more than annoyed. He quickly took out his wooded sword. He brought one to his mouth and with a swift move, the coverings were off, and the metal of his revealed swords shone menacingly. He didn't have time for this.

"I don't know what pathetic "toys" you have in your room, but there's something in there that I need to have. And if you're going to stop me..."

His eyes held only anger. "You're the one who will go to hell."

The man only smirked. "Then this will be interesting..."

Kurapika got ready. He didn't have time, other enemies could be approaching his friends at this very second.

Hurry... He HAD to hurry.