This chapter was a good deal of fun to write, even if my muse decided that it needed to be 2k longer than I had planned.

I hope you enjoy it!

I Know Our Peace May Not Be Permanent
But We're Here For Now
So I'll Breathe You In, Keep You With Me
Cause You Always Give Me Life

-"Safe Till Tomorrow" by Morgan Page feat. Angelika Vee

Warren had been a great help, Lucy thought cheerfully as she stood up and stretched. Spending all morning on the train, and a good portion of her afternoon sitting was oddly taxing on her muscles. Her body was filled with restless energy and yet brimming over with exhaustion simultaneously. Lucy needed to do something to get all this excess energy out of her system, or she wouldn't be able to rest properly and only compound her tiredness.

Looking back over at her friends, she noted that they were still pouring over the map. Or, rather – they were gathered around the map still. Nothing about that scene seemed in the least bit studious to Lucy, especially since none of them were even looking at the thing. For one, Happy was sprawled out across the center of it, snoring away. Every so often, Erza would jab the map with one of her fingers, color high in her cheeks, as she argued some point vehemently to both Gray and Carla. Natsu yawned widely, clearly bored by whatever was happening, and idly flicked a crumb off the table into Juvia's hair – his expression changing to one full of laughter as the water mage's smile soured and she extracted the offending food particle from her hair. Wendy's head lifted from where it rested on the map and the young dragon slayer sent Lucy a pleading look, silently begging for rescue.

Lucy snorted at the scene, and decided to find out just what it was that Wendy required rescue from. When she got closer, she began to pick up on some of what was being said.

"-dangerous!" Carla hissed at Erza. "I will not allow Wendy to be put into severe danger just to provide a challenge for you!"

"That is not what I said," Erza replied with a frown, her normally calm demeanor being tested greatly by the accusation from the white cat. "I am simply pointing out that Wendy has faced much worse dangers than Vulcans before. She does not need to be coddled."

"Vulcans are a pain to deal with though, Erza," Gray added, taking the cat's side. "They gather in huge packs, and there's a good chance of possession if we're not careful. Which, given the strength of our team, could be pretty disastrous. None of us have any abilities that are particularly great with exorcism if one of us gets possessed, or if one's using a civilian body."

"I once saw Natsu punch a Vulcan right out of Macao's body," Lucy interjected, sliding onto the bench beside Wendy. "And Macao defeated like… twenty of them on his own. They're not that difficult to deal with." Then, remembering more about what it was like to deal with a Vulcan-possessed Macao, she felt the need to add, "Though they are creepy perverts." Or maybe that was just Macao? There wasn't all that much difference in his personality from when he was possessed, if she was being frank. He was just a smidge less hairy now.

"More reason not to allow a young child anywhere near them!" Carla slammed her tiny, furry paw into the table in what would have been an intimidating gesture from anyone but her. "We should pick something else."

Erza shook her head. "The reward is perfect, however. And location wise, it's the only one that works for the area we're investigating."

With a shrug, Gray pointed out, "We can do one on the way there, or on the way back though, Erza. We're not exactly restricted to just the lake and its immediate surroundings."

Lucy leaned closer to Wendy, who looked just as exhausted as Lucy did. "Have they been arguing like this the whole time I was talking to Warren?" she asked quietly.

"Pretty much," Wendy said, laying her head on the table and allowing her body to droop into a posture that Carla would find positively abhorrent if she weren't so thoroughly distracted. "Carla still acts like I can't handle myself in a fight, and it's a bit…"

"Disheartening?" Lucy supplied, and Wendy nodded. "I feel you on that one, Wendy. They don't seem to have all that much confidence in me, either."

A calculating gleam shone in Wendy's brown eyes, and she sat up straight. "Should we just tell Mira that we're accepting all three of these job requests? Once they're accepted, the others won't be able to argue about whether to do them or not."

Lucy wasn't sure how she felt about that gleam in Wendy's eyes, but she was all in favor of her proposal. "Excellent idea. After that, do you want to meet my new spirit?"

"Definitely!"

Standing up, Wendy scooped up the job flyers and trotted over to the bar. Lucy followed her a little more slowly, her strangely sore limbs not a huge fan of this up and down business. Belatedly, it occurred to Lucy that she should have at least glanced over the requests before agreeing to do all of them. Especially if they involved Vulcans, and danger. Two things that Lucy did not particularly care for.

But Wendy had already handed them over to Mirajane for approval. "Team Natsu will be taking these jobs," she told the barmaid. "Along with Juvia."

Mirajane looked at the flyers. "I see. Vulcan hunting, guard duty for a cargo shipment, and searching for a rare plant."

Those didn't actually sound all that bad to Lucy. Guarding cargo would be easy with such a large number of people, even if it did get attacked, and rare plant hunting… Okay, actually that one could go either way. Lucy still very much remembered the fiasco with the wyvern and the mega-cold she developed as a consequence. But the job request was… doable. Probably. She'd be sure to go over the flyer details later, just in case. So that she would know what she was getting herself into here.

After a moment's consideration, Mirajane nodded and brought out her logbook. "There shouldn't be a problem with your team taking these jobs." Now that they were recorded as approved, she handed the flyers back to Wendy. "Have either of you ever traveled outside of the country before?"

"Almost did, once," Lucy commented. "That's how I met Natsu and Happy in the first place." When she was nearly sold into slavery and on a boat headed for Bosco, but it still counted, right?

There was also her repeated trips to the Celestial World, as well as the incident with Edolas, but those were entirely different universes separated from the rules of their own reality, so they probably didn't count. Well, maybe Edolas more than the Celestial World. …It hurt Lucy's brain when she tried to dwell on it too hard, so maybe the semantics of it were best left alone.

Wendy looked uncertain. "Does Tenrou Island count?"

Mirajane smiled kindly at the girl. "I'm afraid not. Tenrou Island is Fairy Tail territory, and technically still within Fiore's waters."

Lucy wondered about the Tower Of Heaven's international status, but then decided against asking. It was better to not bring that up. Ever. It had been particularly traumatizing, after all, and Lucy didn't want to have to explain any of it to Mirajane (beyond what Erza had originally communicated to the guild about what had happened there, that is).

"This will be a first for both of us then, right Lucy?!" Wendy exclaimed, looking up at her companion with delight in her eyes. "This is going to be so exciting!"

Shaking off her morbid thoughts, Lucy smiled down at the girl, and gave her a nod. "Yeah! I'm looking forward to it."

Placing one hand on her hip, Mirajane frowned and waggled a finger at the duo. "I know that you two are excited, but there are a few things you will need to know before you leave. International travel is fun and thanks to the Magic Council it's easier for working mages than compared to the average citizen, but there are still several rules that you must follow."

"Like what?" inquired Wendy, her attention returning to the barmaid.

Mirajane reached under the bar, and withdrew a small handbook. "Here," she said, passing it over to Lucy. "We keep these on hand for occasions such as this. It's a travel guide jointly issued by the Magic Council's travel and international relations department and Fiore's consulate. This one is for Seven, specifically. It should outline several laws and customs that you will need to observe while you're there, as well as what documents you will need in order to cross the border."

"Oh, that'll be really helpful. Thank you, Mira!" Lucy told her. "I must confess that I thought it would be simpler than that."

"With Bosco, it is," Mirajane informed them. "That country allows free passage for Fioran citizens, with only a cursory cargo inspection – generally as a safeguard against smuggling and the slave trade. But relations with Seven have been tense in the recent past, so the regulations there for border crossings are little more strict."

With a little reluctance, Lucy had to admit to herself that Warren had just nudged up a few points on Lucy's respect-o-meter. It sounded as if there was a lot to keep straight when engaging in international travel, and even more so since not every country had the same laws and customs to follow. Furthermore, he was one of the few people in Fairy Tail that Lucy couldn't recall causing a big incident apart from his part in the Battle of Fairy Tail years ago, when his hands were forced by the Raijinshuu. It was actually kind of impressive.

Suddenly, Mirajane let out a giggle of mirth, her usual smile returning to her face. "When I said "the recent past" in regards to Seven… That's not quite accurate. The trouble in question occurred well over a century ago, and it was fairly minor, but relations haven't been all that great ever since. The citizens of Seven are a little more prone to holding grudges than those of us in Fiore. Everything should be alright if you just exercise a little prudence while you're there, though!"

"Yeah, prudence is not our team's strong suit," Lucy stated with a note of despair in her tone. She cast a sidelong glance to where her teammates were still arguing. Juvia was about ready to drown Natsu, and the other three looked like they were about to come to blows. All in all, not a particularly unusual occurrence for them. Sweat ran down the back of her neck. "This might be difficult."

Another giggle came from Mirajane. "You better read up on the part about what to do if you're arrested in Seven, then. Best of luck to you!"

Wendy and Lucy exchanged a look of panic. What had seemed like a fun prospect at first, now seemed like a daunting mission.

"So who do you think stands the chance of getting arrested the most?" Lucy questioned, with a short gesture towards their team as punches started getting thrown. "Natsu, Gray, Juvia, or Erza?"

"Gray," Wendy automatically replied, covering her eyes with the flyers. "For public nudity."

"Okay, you don't need to see that." Lucy gently grabbed Wendy's shoulders and steered her out of the guild hall, chaos erupting in their wake as innocent bystanders were pulled into the burgeoning brawl. "I promised to show you my new spirit, right? Let's do that right now."

Outside the guild, standing on the lawn in the back, the sounds of the fighting mages were dulled significantly. It was also vacant, which was a rarity for the summer. Normally there would be at least one person lounging around the pool, or in the shade of a tree; luckily for Lucy, it seemed as if the overcast sky had convinced everyone to take jobs, now that there wasn't a chance of expiring from heat stroke. Therefore, she had the pick of where she wanted to summon Corvus, and wouldn't have to worry about jockeying for space.

Choosing a wide open area on the grass – to accommodate for Corvus's wings – Lucy gestured for Wendy to stand beside her and took out her new spirit's key. The incantation flowed into her mind, the words on her lips without any conscious effort. "I call upon thee in the world of the celestial spirits, and beckon thee to my side. Open, Gate of the Crow! Corvus!"

Shadows began to swirl on the ground before her, and Lucy contemplated whether or not it was a good idea to use the more formal summoning chant for the spirit. Although she had not gotten to speak with him very much as of yet, he seemed like the sort to prefer informality (unlike his grandmother). Then again, she didn't want to risk offending him if she was wrong, either. He hadn't said anything to her about it yet, after all, and she'd already summoned him twice before – once sans the incantation entirely. Lucy made a mental note to talk to him later about it.

Beside her, Wendy tensed, her brown eyes widening at the wispy shadows rising from the ground. She stepped forward, and through a protective arm out in front of Lucy, wind already starting to gather around her and her lips curling into a snarl.

Oh. Lucy had almost forgotten. Wendy had been there for Future Rogue's…

Her heart clenched painfully in her chest at the sight of the little girl standing ready to protect her friend.

Reaching down, Lucy touched Wendy's shoulder. When Wendy flinched at the contact – too wound up to immediately register that it was a friendly touch – Lucy tried not to take it to heart.

"It's okay, Wendy," Lucy told her. "You can relax. This is just my spirit's power; everything is alright."

A slight tremor shook Wendy's body, but she nodded and dropped her arm.

Fully coalesced now, the brilliant white-haired spirit bowed slightly to the humans. "Hello, Lucy. What can I do to help you?"

A smile stretched across Lucy's lips. "Thank you for coming, Corvus. I'd like to introduce you to one of my friends, if that's alright with you."

"I'm happy to meet any friends of yours, Lucy." Corvus lifted his head and smiled kindly down at Wendy. "Hello there. I am Corvus, a celestial spirit. I look forward to working with you and Lucy in the future."

Wendy nodded back, if still a bit hesitantly. Wariness still shone in her eyes, but the tension had drained from her body. "I'm Wendy Marvell. It's nice to meet you, Corvus."

Gesturing towards the spirit, Lucy informed her teammate, "Corvus's grandmother, Phoenix, is the spirit that asked for our help."

"She's beside herself with joy, by the way." Corvus let out a short laugh. "When I told her that you would be looking for her key as well as her summoner. If there's any information that you might need from her, I'll be happy to play messenger for you."

Relief shone on Lucy's face. "Thanks. That'll make the search go a lot easier, I'm sure. The world is a big place to search."

Corvus spread his wings out for a moment, before tucking them back again. "Too bad humans can't fly!"

"My friend Carla can!" Wendy piped up. "She sometimes carries me."

"That sounds really convenient," Corvus commented. "And really nice of her."

Before anything else could be said, the commotion over in the guild hall increased, drawing the curious gaze of Corvus along with the two Fairy Tail mages.

"What are they doing in there?" Lucy wondered aloud, perplexed as to how the raucous brawling could even get louder at all. Normally the friendly fire would sputter out before too long, as well.

A slight rumble beneath their feet was the only warning they received before a section of the guild's wall burst outward, in a gush of raging water.

"AAAAAAAH" came a scream from its direction, increasing in volume as the owner of it was jettisoned from the guild in a powerful burst of water.

Corvus let out a yelp as the jet stream and a person collided with him at high speed in a pink and blue blur.

When the liquid drained away, and the outflow ceased in intensity, it revealed the prone forms of the spirit, and of Lucy's best friend, both of whom were groaning from the force of the collision.

"I feel… seasick…" Natsu mumbled, looking decidedly green.

Corvus wheezed painfully, struggling to get breath into his lungs. "What… what just… was that… what just happened?" The spirit was more than a little bewildered at getting the air knocked out of him so suddenly.

The girls rushed forward to help the two to their feet.

"Are you alright?" Wendy asked, fretting over them. "I can heal you if you're injured at all."

"I'll be… fine," Corvus said. "Just… give me a minute…" Lucy helped her drenched, bedraggled spirit sit up, leaving Natsu's limp, motion-sick body to Wendy's medical attention. "Thank… you," Corvus told her.

A wry smile pulled at Lucy's mouth. "Corvus, I'd to introduce to another one of my close friends." She waved a hand at her rather sorry-looking excuse of a best friend, waves of blue light from Wendy's magic surrounding him. "This is Natsu Dragneel. Normally he's a lot more energetic than this, but give him a minute to recuperate."

Life slowly leached back into Natsu, as the world stabilized around him and the water drained from his ears. "Juvia is a lot stronger than people give her credit for," he commented, shaking himself like a dog. Steam started to rise from his body, his clothes drying as his skin temperature skyrocketed. "Look out when she'd pissed."

"Gee, I wonder who it was that antagonized her?" Lucy asked, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Have you at least learned your lesson?"

"What lesson?" questioned her friend, his face perplexed. "Anyway," he said, swiveling on the lawn to face the person he had impacted with moments before. "Sorry about that, man. Couldn't stop the ride. You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Corvus said. He then heaved a sigh. "It'll take forever for my feathers to dry out, though. I hate the water."

"Oh, I can handle that for you."

As Natsu raised his hands, Lucy let out a strangled screech. "Natsu! Do not throw a fireball at one of my spirits!"

Natsu looked taken aback by the mere suggestion that he would do such a thing. "Come on, Lucy. I know better than to do that. Give me a little credit, here."

"Excuse me?" she responded, unable to believe what she was hearing from Natsu, of all people. "What about all those times you set me on fire? Huh? Explain that to me."

The dragon slayer pretended not to hear her, though Lucy knew damn well that he could with his enhanced hearing. Heat waves wafted off of him, and the water evaporated around them in small wisps of steam.

It wasn't long until Corvus was completely dry. Though he still looked incredibly unamused by the whole thing.

Natsu choked back a snorted laugh, Lucy and Wendy finding themselves hard pressed to not giggle as well. The sudden drenching and drying out of Corvus's feathers had caused them to poof out spectacularly, making him look like a grumpy, round bird. He had more down than Lucy had realized, his arms covered in the small, fine feathers, blending in with his skin.

The spirit shook himself out, and Lucy's composure broke – he looked for all the world like a sparrow that had finished taking a bath. Loud laughter burst from her lips, causing the other two humans to falter as well.

Corvus emitted a small, grumpy noise from deep in his throat. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "Very funny." Lifting his hands, he started to smooth down the feathers to get them flat once again.

Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, Lucy tried to calm herself down. "I'm sorry, Corvus."

"If it's any consolation," Natsu offered, recovering as well, "Happy looks even funnier when his fur poofs out."

With a snort, Corvus left his feathers be, most of them now settled back where they belonged. "I'll take your word on that."

"So hey, I'm Natsu," the dragon slayer introduced himself to the spirit, probably unaware that Lucy had already done so on his behalf. "I'm one of Lucy's friends." Experimentally, he sniffed the air. "Are you one of Lucy's spirits? You kinda smell weird."

"Probably the wet feathers," Corvus stated bluntly. "But yeah, I'm from the Celestial World. I'm Corvus, the White Crow."

"That's super cool man. Welcome to the team! I'm looking forward to working with you."

Since the pair didn't seem about to stand up anytime soon, Wendy and Lucy settled down on the grass with them. They formed a rather strange looking little circle.

"Since we're here right now, want to do a little strategizing for our trip?" Lucy asked, glancing around the group. "It might be good to get Corvus's input on the plans, and give him and Phoenix time to answer any questions we have."

The fire dragon slayer shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

Wendy craned her head a little, looking up at Natsu. "In case you were wondering, we accepted all three jobs, Natsu. So what we need to figure out first is which order to do them in."

His face paled significantly. "Oh no… don't tell me… even the cargo guarding one…?"

"Yes." Wendy gave him an apologetic smile. "Even that one. Which means we'll be taking the train into Seven."

As Natsu groaned in disgust, Corvus seemed to sit up a little straighter, and his eyes brightened. "Another train? I love trains!" Corvus declared. "There's so much to see. They're fantastic."

Natsu shook his head. "I hate them. They make my stomach all wibbly-wobbly."

"Natsu gets motion sick pretty easily," Lucy explained to the curious spirit. "Especially on vehicles. Unfortunately, there's not a lot we can do about it. He'll just have to endure it. Like usual."

"Are you sure we can't walk to Seven?" Natsu inquired, outright pleading with Lucy now. "Or, you can take the train, and I'll follow behind with Happy."

Sweat rolled down Lucy's neck. "You're planning on making him fly you all the way there? Are you actually aware of how far it is? You'll both be wiped out. And it might take you a couple of weeks. It's better to just take the train, even if it does make you sick for a day or two. Besides, our train tickets are comped with this job. It won't even cost us any money." Well, once they took possession of the cargo at any rate. Before that, they had to take a different train to where the requester was at. But Lucy decided to keep that part to herself.

"Nooooo…." Natsu whined, hanging his head. "I don't wannaaaaa…."

To Lucy's surprise, Corvus raised a hand. "What if I take you to the Celestial World?" he suggested, lowering his hand once he had their attention. "If you can handle the brief transport with me, and if we give you some clothes on the other side, you should be alright. Time passes slower there too, so it would feel like a quicker journey overall. Grandmother probably wouldn't object to the company, either. And then I can take you back whenever Lucy wants me to." He turned to look at his summoner. "That is, if you don't need him for the cargo guarding, and if it's alright with you, Lucy."

"Actually, that sounds like a great plan," she confessed. "Honestly, I never would never have thought to use your abilities like that. This opens up a lot of possibilities. So what do you think, Natsu—" Lucy's voice cut out as she watched Natsu grab Corvus's hands.

"You would… you would do that?" Natsu asked, his eyes wide and shining and already overflowing with tears. They flowed like rivers down his cheeks, soaking ground with their torrent. He sniffed mightily, and his lower lip trembled. "You would do that for me, man? You're so… you're…" Natsu hiccupped. "You're so nice! I love you so much!"

Corvus watched as Natsu continued to blubber all over him, still holding onto the spirits hands. "O-okay," the spirit stated, throwing a pleading glance at Lucy. "How… how do you make him stop…?"

Tartaros stirred.

For a while now, the ranks had been swelling. Former humans acclimated to their new bodies, often with extra parts they weren't accustomed to possessing. The increase in fighting force, and the brutal absorption of the lesser guilds formerly under Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart, had been going on for nearly seven years. It took time to test the potential of the humans, time for them to learn how to best utilize their new abilities.

Unbeknownst to the fodder, the final culling of their numbers had yet to truly get under way. The tempering of a blade was a slow process, requiring many turns in the fire, and the metal folded many times over. Soon, though, this blade would gleam, and slash the throat of humanity.

It was time to begin the next phase of the plan.

Eliminating any potential threat to the successful unleashing of FACE, no matter how slight.

"Torafuzar."

The hulking demon gate grunted, and approached the throne in the dimly lit stone room. "Lord Mard Geer."

"This Mard Geer has a task for you." Propping his head up with an arm, the humanoid demon lounging on the throne considered the creature before him. Torafuzar was built for power and speed in the water. Although he was somewhat awkward in his movements on land, there was no demon his equal in aquatic combat. His strength and endurance, along with his formidable Curse, made him more than worthy as a member of the Nine Demon Gates. "You are to assist your fellow Gates in the elimination of the Magic Council's old guard. Your targets will be found along the waterways and ocean fronts."

"It will be done," Torafuzar agreed. He hesitated for a brief moment before leaving – which did not escape the notice of the other demon.

"Speak. Do you have an… objection to your orders?" The words were nearly a purr, and there was no doubt in Torafuzar mind that Mard Geer would love nothing more than for Torafuzar to take a step out of line, just so he could be put back in his place. The other Demon Gates had not challenged Mard Geer's authority in a long, long time, and even immortal incarnations of evil and destruction could grow bored.

Torafuzar needed to choose his next words wisely. "If I may be allowed to do so, I would like to take with me some subordinates. One or two more suited for land operations than I." He may be nigh unstoppable in water, but his body was not suited to moving quickly in the dry.

Mard Geer's eyes narrowed, and his vague smile grew into something more sinister. The sight of it was not enough to chill the bulkier demon, yet Torafuzar tensed. It would behoove him to be wary of that smile – no matter how soft the Underworld King's human appearance seemed. There was a reason this particular demon stood as the leader and strategist of a guild full of monsters crafted from the bowels of dark magic. Even the Underworld King's main Curse was deceptive in its strength, and only the foolish dead doubted Mard Geer's strength and his ability to wield Thorn to its full, deadly potential.

"Very well," Mard Geer agreed. "And do be discreet in your task, Torafuzar. Resistance from the humans is futile, but it would be an annoyance that we do not need."

"Of course. I will depart immediately." With a slight bow, Torafuzar left the Underworld King's throne room, already decided on who he would have accompany him.

Forget The World Outside Our Covers
We're Safe 'Til Tomorrow
Safe 'Til Tomorrow
Safe 'Til Tomorrow

-"Safe Till Tomorrow" by Morgan Page feat. Angelika Vee