➵

"No, it can't be," One of the guards said as the mist cleared to reveal Dealana, Erza Scarlet and Gray coming to the rescue of Happy, Carla and Lucy.

"Stormborn..." Erza Knightwalker growled, glaring straight at the Edolas version of Dealana, who also wore a mask to hide the growing smirk on her face.

"Wait! Is that Gray Surge?" Another guard asked looking at the half-naked ice mage.

"No, those two are Earthlanders, and the masked one is Stormborn, the criminal responsible for messing with the king's plans." another guard explained. If Erza and Gray were surprised by the notion of Edolas Dealana being a criminal, they didn't show it.

"You guys have got some explainin' to do. Where are our friends that your king turned into a lacrima!" Gray demanded them before Dealana watched in awe as he brought a closed fist to his palm before slamming both hands on the ground. A wave of ice spikes rushed forward and took out the royal army soldiers in mere seconds. It was incredible and Dealana almost missed Erza Knightwalker evading the magical attack. The redhead captain used the walls to rebound towards them before her attack was intercepted by none other than her counterpart.

The tension in the hallway rose and the force of two Erza's colliding in battle ruffled Dealana's clothes and long yellow scarf as she stabilized herself. Dealana ducked past them and slid to a halt to help the busty blond, who resembled what Dealana remembered her friend Lucy Ashley looking like.

The blond and the exceeds were hesitant of her help and Dealana assumed it was because of the mask. However, before she could reassure Lucy and the two exceeds that she meant no harm, Earthland Natsu's voice rang from down the hall.

"You asked for it! You guys are in big trouble now! I'm gonna beat the crap out of every last one of ya!"

"Woah, Natsu?" Lucy gasped.

"Yeah! He must be nearby," Gray realized.

"It came from up ahead," Happy said.

"And I bet Wendy's with him," Carla added.

"Go on, Gray, I can handle this," Erza told them from where she stood blocking Knightwalker's weapon with one of her swords.

"Right," Gray nodded before heading over to the others in pursuit of Natsu and Wendy. He approached where Dealana as quickly checking over the fallen exceeds for any serious injuries. "You okay? Can you stand up?" He asked Lucy, using his magic to freeze off the bindings around her wrists.

"Where the heck did you guys come from?" Lucy asked still weary of Dealana, who had yet to remove her mask.

"We'll give you all the details later," He promised. "Let's go!" The group took off down the hallways with Dealana in the front studying the passages and turns. Dealana could feel her heart pounding and her blood pumping as the stakes were rising. She normally preferred stealth missions as opposed to straight up confrontation. The strength in numbers that the Edolas royal army had always dissuaded her and Gavin from large-scale attacks like this one was shaping up to be.

While Dealana focused on navigating, Gray had explained to Lucy briefly the events of the lacrima in the city plaza. It left Lucy with many questions. "You mean the lacrima in the plaza?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Gray told her. "It just so happens that Erza and I were trapped inside of it."

"Wow! Seriously?" Lucy wondered in awe.

"But how were you guys able to turn back to normal?" Happy asked. "Was it your ninja friend? Who are they anyway?" Gray slowed down to better explain.

"It's all thanks to Gajeel and Dealana,"

"Huh?" Lucy and Happy asked simultaneously. Edolas Dealana looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Their Dragon Slayer Magic is the only thing capable of freeing the rest of your friends from the lacrima." She explained.

"That's right!" Happy remembered, "I almost forgot Gajeel and Dealana were Dragon Slayers too, so it'd make sense that the Anima didn't work on him either."

"So, I guess that all the dragon slayers were left in Earthland," Lucy remarked.

"According to Gajeel and Dealana, it was Mystogan who told them to come here," Gray revealed.

"Really? But I don't get it, why didn't he just come here himself?" She wondered.

"Dragon Slayer Magic is one of the most powerful, from what I've been told it's capable of a whole bunch of things that no other magic can do in Edolas, for example, as I said earlier, it's the only thing capable of returning your friends in the lacrima to normal."

"Seriously?" Carla asked in disbelief. Dealana nodded while Happy raised his paw.

"Carla and I saw that lacrima earlier and I know exactly where it is," He announced. Dealana's breath hitched in surprise.

"You think you can get close to it?" Gray asked him. Happy nodded saying, "Aye!"

Dealana chuckled behind her mask, "I guess that means we can call of Gajeel and mini-me, they're out there rampaging through town trying to find it with a friend of mine. But are you sure you'll be able to lead him straight to the lacrima?" She asked the blue exceed.

"Look ninja lady, I'll take them there as long as you're sure they'll be able to change everybody back," Happy said, raising his paw. Dealana smiled behind her mask at the confidence he was radiating.

"Well, they're our only hope, I mean, Natsu and Wendy have the power to do it too, but I'm pretty sure neither one of them know how," Gray reasoned. Happy activated his aera magic and began flying in the air.

"Don't worry, Gajeel, Dealana and I are going to go get our friends back right now!" He told them before flying off.

"Wait! Are you going to be okay by yourself, Happy?" Lucy called after him.

"He'll be fine," the white exceed said, staring after where Happy disappeared down the corridor. From the sound of her voice, Dealana figured something must have happened between them that brought them closer together or something. She looked back down the hall as Gray spoke up.

"We'd better get going, we've gotta find Natsu and Wendy," Dealana nodded and soon enough, they were tearing down the stone hallways in search of the two missing Dragon Slayers. Not long after, they came to the end of a hall with a tall door.

"That must be where they're holding 'em," Gray guessed before kicking the door down. Inside, Natsu and Wendy were unconscious, leaning against two large boulders with a dragon engraved into the stone.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed worriedly while Carla cried out Wendy's name. Gray and Carla rushed to Wendy while Dealana and Lucy moved to Natsu. The sky-blunette was quick to check for a pulse. She gave Lucy a reassuring nod when she found he was still alive.

"Are you alright? C'mon, say something!" Gray said to Wendy's unconscious form.

"Wendy," Carla exclaimed, tears pooling in her eyes. Dealana scooted over to Wendy's side and checked for a pulse. The masked woman looked to Carla and nodded.

"They're both still alive, just out cold," Dealana watched as Carla began to cry over Wendy's unconscious body while pulling a few things from one of the pouches. She ignored Gray shaking Natsu around and yelling at him and instead opened her hand to reveal a match box and a special stick. In her other hand, she had fished out a small glass bottle.

"I guess we might as well feed 'em some X-balls while they're out," Gray supposed, "Come on, open your mouth, ya loser!" As Gray explained the red pills and how Mystogan gave them to Gajeel, Carla watched as the masked woman lit a match and and lit one end of the stick before gently extinguishing the flame and putting the non-burnt end in the bottle.

The result was a makeshift incense burner. She placed it just close enough for Wendy to smell the aroma being produced. Carla sniffed the air and looked at Dealana in question. "Is that rosemary?" She asked. Dealana nodded.

"A little trick my friend Lorna taught me, the smell of rosemary helps to get your brain revved up to give more mental and physical energy," She explained before Wendy shifted slightly, her nose twitching before they fed the blunette an X-Ball. Glancing over her shoulder, Dealana noticed that Natsu appeared to be back in action with fire engulfing his fists, and a look of anger spelled across his face. He roared, spewing flames from his mouth before taking off towards the door.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted after him while Gray added on, "Hey! Come back here!"

The sound of Wendy's coughing brought their attention back to the girl as Dealana knelt beside her. "Wendy?" Carla inquired carefully.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked.

"What's wrong?" Gray questioned.

As Wendy's brown eyes opened, they landed on Carla. "W-wait...Carla?"

"Are you hurt?" the exceed inquired.

"No, I'm fine, but... the others are in trouble," She revealed. "It's horrible. The royal army... they're going to destroy Extalia by crashing the giant lacrima directly into it!" Wendy wailed causing their eyes to widen. "All of our friends in Fairy Tail are in danger because the king of Edolas is gonna use them as a bomb!" Dealana rubbed the girl's back in soothing circular motion in an attempt to calm her down.

Wendy glanced at Dealana and seemed a little frightened by the mask she wore. Dealana pulled it up slightly to reveal her mouth. "I suppose my mask does scare people just a bit, doesn't it?" She asked softly. Wendy nodded without saying anything. Dealana sighed before looking at the ground and taking the mask off fully before looking up to meet their gazes.

Lucy, Wendy and Carla all gasped, Gray being the exception having already seen her face. "Dealana!?" they exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Surprise!" Dealana smiled, clipping the mask to the side of her belt. "That a little better?" She asked Wendy.

The Sky Dragon Slayer nodded again saying, "You're Edolas Dealana! You know they're worried about you... the Edolas Fairy Tail,"

Dealana pulled her legs closer to sit cross-legged on the chamber's floor with a quiet reply, "Yeah, I know, but we can't worry about that right now. Not with your friends in trouble." She quickly brushed the topic aside, but Lucy was still gaping at the sight of an older Dealana.

"You're this world's Dealana!?" She continued freaking out.

"I suppose it's just like Wendy's counterpart being older here too," Carla mused.

➵

Lucy explained to the rest of them about the floating islands and how Extalia was the magic source keeping them afloat. Wendy revealed the king of Edolas' horrible plan to crash the lacrima island into Extalia in order to create a massive explosion. Doing so would mean magic power would rain down upon Edolas forever, but in return, the people of Earthland still trapped in the giant lacrima would be lost forever.

The sound of rapid footsteps echoed in the corridors, growing louder as someone approached. "Hear that? Someone's coming," Gray realized. Edolas Dealana tensed and her hand went to the tanto blade sheathed on her belt.

"The guards?" Lucy guessed worriedly.

"We'll see," Gray said as they prepared themselves for a fight. Fortunately, it was a false alarm. Natsu had come running back, fearful of the battle between the two Erza's that was no doubt still raging on dangerously in the castle.

"Did you see that!? There were two Erza's! As if one wasn't enough! It's terrifying! A showdown between those two monsters? If that's the case, the world is doomed I tell ya!" Natsu exclaimed before he noticed everyone looking at him with deadpan expressions, including Dealana.

Natsu gasped and pointed at the older version of Dealana with wide eyes. "There's another Dealana too! The world is really doomed!" The Fire Dragon Slayer's head swiveled to Gray in worry, "Are you my Gray or weird Gray?" He demanded still freaking out.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you don't cool it, you're gonna get a left hook to the jaw, pyro," Gray replied not amused one bit by Natsu's antics.

"That answers that," Lucy remarked, "It's pretty obvious he's Earthland Gray."

"It's you!?" Natsu exclaimed before looking back to Edolas Dealana and grabbing hold of her shoulders, shaking her slightly, "Then what happened to Dealana!? She looks older now! Did something happen when she came to Edolas?!" Dealana cut the scarf-wearer off by kneeing him in the gut. With the wind knocked out of him she spoke up before he could continue.

"Everyone in this chamber except for me is from Earthland. Mini-me, or Earthland's Dealana is out searching for your friends, I'm her Edolas counterpart. It's a long story that you probably wouldn't hear half of with your pointless panicking!"

"Edolas Dealana still has her attitude," Lucy sweat-dropped. When Dealana glanced over and raised an amused eyebrow, Lucy paled. "Not that it's a bad thing!" She instantly corrected with a nervous bead of sweat on her forehead.

"You got that right," Gray smirked before further addressing Natsu, "She's right, a bunch of stuff happened and now I'm here. Erza, Gajeel and Dealana too."

"Happy's taking them to stop the lacrima," Lucy informed.

"Huh?" Wendy suddenly exclaimed. "You're the real Gray? Why didn't you say so?"

"What?" Carla questioned her, "You mean you just now noticed?" Wendy nodded sheepishly while Gray looked upset by her words.

"I get it, you didn't recognize me because it's so dark down here, right? It's not because I'm some lame-o who's practically invisible to you." Gray sulked while Dealana struggled not to smile.

"Aww, poor Gray~" She teased.

"Wait a second!" Natsu realized. "Did you just come down here and save us a minute ago? Oh! And you're okay too Lucy!" Dealana was ready to burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"I guess all you dragon slayers are oblivious, huh?" Lucy said with her hands on her hips.

"Nope! Mini-me can't be oblivious because we're opposites. I'm oblivious, which means she must be a smart cookie," Dealana pointed at the busty blonde, who only sweat-dropped.

"I'm sorry I offended you, Gray! I didn't mean to, I promise!" Wendy freaked out a bit, waving her arms rapidly as she apologized. She then bowed a few times saying, "Thank you so much for saving us!"

"Eh, don't mention it," Gray said still sulking slightly. Dealana had since left a sweat-dropping Lucy and poked his cheek a few times seeing as he wasn't moving before turning around to collect the incense burner, completely unaware of the slight pink hue that blossomed on the ice-mage's face.

Wendy thanked Carla and hugged her exceed companion with a grateful smile while Natsu instinctively began to pick a fight with Gray. "Dude, you're shirtless in front of the kid, not cool."

Gray spun around looking at the fact that he was in fact missing his shirt. "I am? When did that happen?"

"Since you were freed from the lacrima," Edolas Dealana replied without missing a beat. "Kind of hard not to notice." She walked over and slid off her somewhat oversized jacket and handed it to him. "Here, if you want, you can wear this." Gray took the jacket and Dealana was left wearing just the dark grey, long sleeved shirt she had on underneath.

"Alright! Are you guys ready? Let's go find the king and stop him from crashing that lacrima!" Natsu cheered. They all ran forward with a chorus of 'yeah's only to have Natsu stop them, a feeling of dread washing over him. "No, wait! We can't go that way! That's where the two monsters are fighting!" He pointed down another corridor saying, "This way!"

"We can't just leave Erza to fend for herself," Lucy protested.

"You want to get in the middle of that?" Gray asked Lucy as they both imagined the massive fight that was going on between the two redheads.

"It'll be fine," Dealana spoke up, "You should have faith in your Erza's skill. I can hopefully lead you through the remainder of the castle without running into either of the Erza's." Though her words calmed Lucy's worries, Dealana couldn't help but hope that Earthland Erza was powerful enough to defeat Erza Knightwalker. She, herself, would be no match against the Fairy Hunter, but if these Earthland Fairy Tailers could take her down, Dealana believed that her Laxus, the Thunder Legion, the other lost Fairy Tail members and the Storm Talon Tribe would be avenged.

Dealana lead the group down the corridor, but not before noticing the pint-sized Wendy staying behind with the exceed. However, she put her faith in her best friend's counterpart and pushed forward, their footsteps echoing in the hallways of the castle.

➵

Meanwhile, Earthland Gajeel and Dealana were having a blast pummeling royal army soldiers while they searched for the giant lacrima. Gavin and Lorna were also out and about searching for it while also dealing with a few royal army squadrons themselves. Gavin used his assortment of knives and acrobatics while Lorna would lead them into alleys where she used smoke bombs that knocked them out cold. Dealana and Gajeel were back to back but completely annihilating the soldiers surrounding them. It wasn't until they heard a familiar voice calling their names that they looked up.

"Dealana! Gajeel!"

"Hey, Cat! Good to see ya!" Gajeel greeted after delivering a solid punch to a soldier. Dealana round-house kicked another one with a thunderstorm engulfing her leg before she rubbed her scarred nose and grinned.

"I'm glad you're alright,"

"I know where they're keeping the lacrima that the others are trapped in, so I'm gonna take you there!" He told them. Dealana noticed a sense of newfound determination in the exceed and smirked. She was quick to conjuring a cloud to follow Happy as he had grabbed the back of Gajeel's clothes and lifted him into the air. The Storm Dragon Slayer stuck her tongue out at the remaining royal army soldiers before cloud surfing after her friends.

Happy ignored Gajeel's immediate protesting and instead asked, "Did you have to do anything special to get Gray and Erza back to normal?" Gajeel smirked and chuckled in response.

"Just smash it with Dragon Slayer Magic," He replied.

Happy gasped before saying, "Really? How'd you know that would work?"

"We just did what Mystogan told us to do," Dealana replied as she matched Happy's flying speed. Up ahead she noticed the much, much larger lacrima that no doubt contained her friends. It was a lot bigger than the one from the plaza.

"So is Mystogan somewhere in Edolas right now?" Happy wanted to know.

"I don't know!" Gajeel snapped at him before they landed on top of the floating island. They looked at the lacrima that Dealana guessed was about the size of their guildhall, if not, bigger. "Whoa, it's huge!"

"It's even bigger than I imagined!" Happy exclaimed.