Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did... things would go down very differently canonverse.

"Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken.

~Jane Austen

Arc of Fairies

Chapter 7

Post Tempestatem

\~.0.~/

Unknown Location

The room was quiet

There were no words to be exchanged, no thoughts that could be put together coherently enough to share. The news that they received naught but two days ago, was still too hard to swallow. Too incredulous and simply... unbelievable.

The newspaper and wanted posters laid bare on the table for everyone in the room to see. The headline of the newspaper mocking their disbelief and the faces on the posters only adding even more insult to their pride.

Their eyes skimmed over the photos again and again. Memorizing each feature, every line of each serious expression that crossed the faces on the paper.

"It is of no coincidence," spoke the tallest one of the group. He had long white hair brushing the top half of his back, and a long white beard and mustache. His eyes narrowed in on the wanted posters.

"All marines that were interviewed who encountered these three individuals reported seeing the same mark on some part of their bodies," he continued, "It is of no doubt that these three are affiliated with one another." He turned to face all the other individuals and examined their reactions to the evidence. "And we all know what that means."

One of the men sighed. He leaned back in his seat and tapped his staff once on the floor. This one was a bit shorter than the first one that spoke, with his white hair done in dreadlocks and wearing a black hat on top. Just like his companion, he was also sporting a mustache only his was shorter, and cleanly trimmed.

"Three," he whispered. "How can we be so sure that there are only three?"

"We can't," answered the first one, "But the fact that they revealed themselves to the world means that there could be more than we know of. This could be a plan of attack for all we know. They could've been in hiding this whole time and have now decided to make their move."

"Which leads us to the next question," spoke another man. This one was bald from the top side of his head and had a long mustache that curled at the end and hung on mid air. "What is their purpose?"

"Hmmmm," hummed another man in contemplation. He was tall as well, with blondish hair, tanned skin and short mustache. "Well, these two," he pointed his finger at two posters, "were said to have been hiding with the 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh before Kizaru found them. Unfortunately, they managed to escape and no one knows of their whereabouts thus far."

"Silvers Rayleigh?" asked the long-mustache man. "I thought he was dead."

"That was never confirmed," replied the man with the staff. "It was just assumed. But, now we know better."

The tall man raised a brow, "Are you implying that Kizaru was not able to take him down?"

"Of course not," replied the tanned man. "This is Rayleigh we're talking about. The man most likely escaped and is now back in hiding."

"What about the third one?"

"He was the one that defeated Raiden in one of Whitebeard's islands."

"So he is allied with Whitebeard?!" exclaimed the tanned man in shock

"The others could be, too."

"'The Strongest Man in the World', and 'The Pirate King's Right Hand Man'," spoke the man with the curly mustache, "Allies such as these would benefit them greatly... and put us at a disadvantage."

The others remained silent for a second. Lost in thought as to what all this meant, only for the silence to be broken by the last one of the group to speak.

"I think we all could use some positive thinking." The last man spoke. This one was different from his other companions. Instead of wearing a traditional suit, he was wearing a white robe that was open enough to reveal his emphasized ribs. He was bald, wore glasses, and had a long katana gripped in his hands.

He stood up from his seat and walked towards the posters. He picked up one of them and narrowed his eyes. "I know we're all aware of the disaster these people could bring."

The rest stayed silent.

"But we also know that we have something they don't," he gripped the poster tightly, crinkling it with his thin fingers. He turned to the others in the room, making eye contact with each and every one of them.

His eyes were intense, and looked nearly maddening if one were to stare at them long enough.

"We cannot let these people run wild for much longer. There's too much at risk."

He turned his head back and glared at each and every one of the posters.

"Too much at risk."

\~.0.~/

Yuki Island

"You have to let the others know, Laxus."

"But most importantly, be careful who you trust."

Laxus' eyelids calmly slid open. He blinked a couple of times in an effort to rid himself of the sleepiness. The blinds had been open, letting in what little sun the dark clouds of Yuki Island allowed to filter in.

He groaned and slowly sat up, being careful not to jostle his injuries. He yawned and looked around the room he was currently occupying, while trying to remember the events from the day before.

Ace had arrived as soon as Raiden and his men boarded their ship and left. The raven-haired man had stared at the ship until it faded away in the horizon while Thatch filled him in on what happened. As soon as Thatch finished with his recounting of the events, Ace had turned to him and smiled. "I knew you had it in you, Lax-san."

Laxus had offered no response. The rest of the crew brought the civilians back to the town who proceeded to furiously thank the two division leaders as well as Laxus, who then remembered that he had to head back and get Makarov. Two crew members, however, volunteered to go bring Makarov to the town while Laxus and Thatch got patched up.

And while Laxus got patched up alongside Thatch, and the rest of the crew and Ace helped clean up the town, they both shared a very interesting conversation.

"How did you do that?" asked Thatch.

Laxus groaned as the elderly lady brusquely dumped some alcohol to the wound on his back. "Do what?" he managed to filter out through gritted teeth.

Thatch turned to him with a serious expression, ignoring the older man who was tying up bandages across his abdomen. "How were you able to stand in the water for so long and not be affected?"

Laxus' eyes widened. Shit. He had meant to keep his powers secret, or maybe pass it off as a devil fruit (that is, if nobody has eaten the lighting fruit before already), but not only had Thatch seen his magical abilities, he had also seen that knee-deep water had no effect on him and thus, was suspicious that Laxus hadn't, in fact, eaten a devil fruit.

So, Laxus did the only thing he could do. He stumbled to come up with a plausible lie.

He cleared his throat. "W-well-"

"Looks like we'll stay here the night."

Laxus internally sighed and thanked whatever ultimate being was up there looking after him as Ace walked in and stood before the two injured fighters with his hands on his hips.

Thatch blinked. "What?"

"I just dialed Pops," Ace continued as he took a seat in the bed in front of the duo. "He said he wanted us to stay, at least just in case if Raiden decides to come back."

Thatch sighed. "I guess that makes sense."

"However," Ace shifted his gaze from Thatch to Laxus, who cringed internally at the scrutinizing gaze, "He's pondering what to do with you."

Laxus blinked and pointed at himself. "Me? Why?"

"You fought a Vice-Admiral," spoke Ace as if it were obvious. "The Marines aren't going to let that go. They're going to come after your ass like a hound on meat and assume you are part of Pops' crew. I can assure you there will be a Bounty on the newspaper tomorrow morning."

Laxus' eyes widened and he looked down at the stone floor under him.

Crap. This put a gigantic, pain-in-the-ass wrench in his plan. Of course it would be him who would have a bounty placed on his head not even a few days after waking up in Whitebeard's ship. He was supposed to keep a low-profile. He was supposed to be subtle and stealthy like a ninja while he looked for his friends. And though he knew that his friends weren't going to be quiet during their time here, he wanted to at least have the upper hand that the World Government wouldn't know he was affiliated with them.

But, if they caught a glimpse of his Fairy Tail mark...

He looked down at his chest and stared at the newly placed Fairy Tail mark that he had woken up with. He had removed it long ago after leaving the Guild, yet here it was again. His shirt had ripped during his fight against Raiden and though he had the ability to make it fade away for a short time, it had completely slipped his mind during the battle. So there was no doubt his affiliation had been exposed. He could only hope that the others had enough sense to hide their marks.

"Don't worry."

He flinched when he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder. He looked up to meet Ace's kind, friendly eyes, smiling at him assuringly in an effort to comfort him.

"You're a cool guy Laxus. You helped Thatch and saved the people of this island that belongs to Whitebeard. We owe you one."

Laxus chuckled and shook his head. "You saved my life and my grandfather's life. We're even."

"Ah, well there's also another reason why we want to help you."

"Hm?"

Ace's smile stretched across his face.

"We've taken a liking to you."

The sound of knuckles rapping on wood brought Laxus back to the present and he looked to the door at the other end of the room.

He cleared his throat. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Thatch, with the same cheeky smile he always wore.

"Morning, Lax-San~!"

Laxus cringed.

Following after Thatch, was Ace, who was carrying in his hands a bundle of papers.

"How'd you sleep?" asked Thatch as he approached the younger man.

Laxus nearly sighed. Not well. "As well as I'll ever sleep, I guess," he muttered.

He was surprised when he felt something on his legs and turned to see that Ace had dropped the bundle of papers on top of them, and he was wearing a pretty serious expression with the hints of a smirk, barely visible on his face.

"You might want to take a look at that.

Laxus blinked at the man, but turned to the papers which he proceeded to grab with his uninjured hand.

His eyes widened as soon as he read the headline.

\~.0.~/

Little Garden

Lucy stretched her arms up into the sky and sighed in content. The light that filtered through the cave opening was greeting her with a brand new day, one which she was eagerly looking forward to.

Soon after finding the ship they decided to use, they came back to Dorry's part of the island as nighttime approached. Though the ship seemed to be in good shape, there were still a few small repairs that could be made if they wanted to get to the next island.

So, they brought back the treasure they found to Dorry's cave, who then proceeded to explain to them the basics of navigation.

"This, my friends, is a log pose," stated Dorry as the bracelet/compass thing that Lucy had found rested in the middle of the palm of his hand.

"Log pose?" asked Natsu.

Dorry nodded. "It's used to navigate the rabid ocean that is the Grand Line. Without this, you might as well be floating aimlessly in the middle of the ocean. Either that or death."

Lucy looked shocked at the last statement.

Dorry lowered his hand holding the log pose to the ground.

"So, it's basically a compass?" asked Natsu as he grabbed the log pose from Dorry's palm.

"In a way. You see the needle right there?" he pointed his large index finger at the log pose, "The needle sets into an island's magnetic field, then once you've reached that island, you wait until the needle grows accustomed to the island's magnetic field so it can move onto the next island."

"It's pointing in a different direction," noted Lucy, "does that mean it's pointing to the next island?" she asked.

Dorry nodded. "It's directing you to the next island."

"So we can move on," cheered Natsu.

"Well, kind of," muttered Lucy under her breath.

The sound of the volcano erupting took the mages by surprise, and both looked up to see Dorry already rising to his feet and grabbing his weapon. "Well, I'll see you little humans soon. It's time."

The ground quaked as Dorry moved away towards Broggy, who had already risen from his own place and was now approaching his fellow giant.

Lucy stared at them for a while before looking back down at her log pose.

The ship was going to take a while, but at least, they were one step closer to moving on and looking for their friends.

Lucy sighed as she grabbed the strange compass next to her that she had picked up the day before. She eyed the strange device for a second, tilting it a little bit and noting the way the compass still continued to point to her left no matter how much she moved.

Dorry managed to explain a little more about how the ocean worked in these parts, and to say that she was nervous about their upcoming trip was an understatement.

She was scared. Frightened almost.

From what Dorry told them, this "Grand Line" was a pretty frightening thing. The ocean was unpredictable, and the weather even more so. The ship they had picked up Dorry told them was good enough to possibly survive the ordeal, but that all depended on their navigation skills which they had close to none.

Not to mention Natsu's motion sickness would mean that Lucy would be mostly on her own when it came to navigating.

Although...

Lucy gripped the key holder hanging from her belt loop and eyed them intently.

Normally, Lucy would've called for one of her spirits by now, or at the very least Aries in order to get a change of clothes since hers were completely ruined. But... she couldn't. Sure she had the magic for it, but her gut told her there was something strange going on, and though part of the reason she didn't call forth one of her spirit was because she was still exhausted from the ordeal at Tenrou Island, she was also unsure as to what would happen if she called forth her spirits in this world.

Would she even be able to?

Narrowing her eyes, Lucy gripped one of her golden keys and raised it up.

Only one way to find out...

"Oi, give it, you stupid bird!"

Lucy was brought back from her flashback by a scuffle going on outside. She stood up and walked out of Dorry's cave to see Natsu fighting with a strange bird wearing a weird hat and a red backpack hanging from its front. It's large beak was holding onto a bundle of papers that Natsu was desperately trying to grab from its grasp.

As weird as the scene was, it certainly wasn't the most amusing thing Lucy has seen Natsu do.

"What are you doing?" she muttered from afar.

Natsu continued to groan as he held onto the newspaper, making it seem like a game of tug of war. He turned to Lucy for a second, however, and smiled at her with that childish smile of his.

"Oh, Lucy, you're awake!" he exclaimed.

The bird tugged the paper particularly hard once again, pulling Natsu and taking him by surprise.

Lucy rose a brow. How had the paper not ripped yet?

"Ho? A News coo?" spoke Dorry's baritone voice as his large figure appeared from between the trees, dragging with him the body of a large Triceratops.

The News coo seemed surprised by Dorry's appearance as its beak dropped in shock. The sudden action caused Natsu to fall back on his butt with the wrinkled paper grasped firmly in his hands. He blinked for a second and then smiled, raising his prize up in the air. "Ha! I win!"

The News coo was shaking and staring at Dorry with wide, frightened eyes.

The giant approached the terrified creature only for it to take a few, tentative steps back.

Dorry dropped the giant triceratops, causing the ground to shake and making the bird fall on its tail. He bent down and stretched his palm out. The bird squawked but eventually froze and blinked at the item in the middle of Dorry's palm for a few seconds.

It took a few slow steps forward and stretched its neck to pluck out the golden coin from Dorry's hand, then without hesitation, it turned around and flew away.

"What's a News Coo?" asked Lucy as she watched the creature fly away.

"They're what their name implies," shrugged Dorry, "They deliver the newspaper to islands and ships that they find."

"Ooooohhhhhh," was Lucy's only reply. Though she was a bit impressed.

"WHAT?!"

Lucy yelped in surprise from Natsu's outburst. She turned to the young man and saw him reading the newspaper he had ripped off the bird's beak, and noted the way he was gripping the paper too tightly.

"Natsu' what's wrong?" She walked up behind him and peeked over his shoulder to read the headline.

Once she did, her eyes widened just like his.

"EH?!"

\~.0.~/

Yuki Island

Laxus' hands shook as he gripped the piece of paper tightly.

The brown poster was brand new, and recently printed, most likely overnight. But, how they managed to print it out so fast was beyond him.

And how they managed to grab a photo of him without him noticing left him even more flabbergasted.

The poster had a picture of his bloody face, frowning and glaring at whom he could only assume was Raiden during their battle. The photo showed only the upper part of his torso up to his head, thus leaving his Fairy Tail mark out of the picture, though the tendril-like marks embracing the left side of his chest and bicep were still visible.

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Thunder God" Laxus

94,000,000 Berri

Laxus sweatdropped. "When did they take this picture?"

Thatch whistled as he looked at the Wanted poster. "Not bad for your first bounty, kid."

"It's to be expected," smiled Ace slightly, "He did fight a Vice-Admiral and came out on top... with your help of course," he added at the end when he saw Thatch subtly glare at him.

Now, Laxus was not familiar with how currency worked here. But he did know that 94 million was a big, BIG, number.

"Your story also came out in the paper," continued Ace, oblivious to the man's state of utter shock, "It says that you attacked a Vice-Admiral that was trying to protect an island owned by Whitebeard, making it seem like you were the bad guy. But that's to be expected of the World Government."

'Paper?'

Laxus put his poster down beside him. Ace had handed him not just his wanted poster, but the newspaper as well, which was hidden by the eyesore that was his face.

As soon as he read the headline, however, he wished that Ace had just left him to drown in the water.

"'Shanks' Brother' Gildarts Clive attacks Tenryuubito and escapes with 'Fortune Dealer' Cana."

Laxus felt like he almost couldn't breathe. Ace's and Thatch's voice faded in the background as he continued to read the article. It wasn't that long due to lack of eyewitnesses after what happened, and it was mostly speculation about where the man and woman came from.

But it did talk about how one day ago, a man who had already garnered a bounty by destroying a Marine base and attacking a Vice-Admiral, made headlines once again by attacking a Celestial Dragon (whatever that was). Apparently, this was one of the biggest crimes anyone could commit, and to make matters worse, the woman that accompanied him attacked the wife/mother.

They eventually called an Admiral to come after them, but it is not known whether Kizaru defeated them or not. Though the lack of information suggests that they managed to escape.

Laxus' felt his breath stop as he saw the photo at the bottom of the page.

Oh, he recognized those two figures alright. Recognized them all too well.

Gildarts and Cana stood side by side in the middle of a kneeling crowd, both of them ready to fight as the two figures of the Celestial Dragons laid on the ground while their terrified son stood in the background.

Laxus' large eyes examined the photo before flipping it to next page to see if there was more information, and so he could read his story. Instead, a bunch of papers, similar to his wanted poster, dropped onto his lap.

Laxus eyed them curiously before his eyes landed on two of them with familiar faces printed on them.

' 'Shanks' Brother'?' he wondered as he eyed Gildarts' bounty, 'Who the hell is Shanks?'

He eyed Cana's poster as well, nodding internally at the sound of her rightfully deserved nickname before another thought came to him.

'Are there more?' he wondered.

He flipped through the pages of the newspaper, looking for more wanted posters of his friends.

'There has to be one for Natsu. The guy can't go five steps without causing wreckage.'

But the lack of posters of his friends took him by surprise and further worried him.

'There's no more.'

He flipped the pages again before stopping on one specific page that made his eyes widen in shock.

"New Whitebeard Crewmember, 'Thunder God' Laxus, Fights Vice-Admiral Raiden in Whitebeard Territory."

He didn't have enough time to read it before a the door slammed open and one of the civilians walked in covered in snow.

"Ace-san, Thatch-san, Laxus-san!"

"Yes?" asked Ace, who had given up on grabbing Laxus' attention.

"Makarov-san has awaken!"

He couldn't help it. Laxus had a panic attack.

\~.0.~/

Little Garden

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Shanks' Brother" Gildarts Clive

250,000,000 Berri

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Fortune Dealer" Cana Clive

30,000,000 Berri

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Thunder God" Laxus

94,000,000 Berri

Lucy's eyes skimmed over each and every face, each and every title and name. She knew these people alright.

Cana with a concentrated face, as she rose a card in the air.

Gildarts with a one of the most furious expressions on his face as he glared at something, or rather someone, in the distance, standing in the middle of a crater and building rubble.

And Laxus with a bloody face and angry expression, preparing himself to fight.

"W-what is this?" asked a horrified Lucy as she gripped the papers tightly.

Natsu laughed. "Haha! Look at Gildarts' bounty! I don't know how much beli are, but wow! 250 million?!" He had one of the biggest and goofiest smiles, which was what he was known for after all. "What did he do exactly? I'm pretty sure it was something great!" He raised his fists in the air, "I'll show him. I'll get a bigger bounty than him!"

"NO!"

Bam!

Natsu groaned as he gripped his head tightly, the bump forming on his ead from Lucy's fist swelling up rapidly.

"Whyyy?"

Lucy looked surprised and annoyed at the same time as she gripped the papers.

"We've only been here for a few days and already they get in trouble?! Now what are we going to do? We're supposed to keep a low profile if we want to get out of this world without a hassle!"

Natsu chuckled. "Well, what do you expect, Lucy?"

Lucy turned to her partner, who was simply smiling despite the bleak situation.

"We're Fairy Tail," he responded with a wide smile.

Lucy's eyes widened slightly.

The Fairy Tail guild has always been criticized for its ostentatious, boisterous, and rash actions. The Magical Council was always after Makarov for this very reason. They were reckless, annoying, and caused a lot of damage most of the time.

But, they weren't bad people.

And it didn't exactly come as a surprise that this had happened.

And after reading the article about Gildarts, Cana, and the Celestial Dragons… Lucy felt – and still feels – sick to her stomach from what she read.

According to the article, the attack had been unwarranted. The Tenryuubito - as they were called - were simply taking a casual stroll in a place known as Sabaody when they were suddenly attacked by Gildarts and Cana. But, that did not bode well with Lucy.

She knew Gildarts. She knew Cana. They wouldn't attack a family - of all things - of strangers for no reason. There had to be one. Which meant that either the writers of the article were lying, or something else went down that caused Gildarts and Cana to lose their cool, and it wasn't being covered by those that wrote the paper.

It was disconcerting. But, at the same time, it was a great relief for both mages.

Their friends were alive and well, and causing chaos along the way like always.

So she smiled, and sighed. "I guess."

"Besides," Natsu eagerly ripped the paper from her hands and held them up high, "This is good news! Our friends are okay!"

"There's still others missing though," Lucy pointed out.

"That's okay," smiled Natsu, "Pretty sure we'll see their bounties soon enough."

"That's not exactly a good thing," muttered Lucy. But it was no use. Her partner was already too excited to listen to her.

"I'm so fired up!" He raised his fists to the air and looked back to smile at her, "We have to move it Lucy! If we want to get our own bounties~!"

"NO!"

\~.0.~/

North Blue Ocean

Her hands gripped the papers tightly and shook slightly. This… this was not good.. but it wasn't bad news either.

"They're alive."

She heard her friend say softly from behind, as she looked at the posters herself over the shorter one's shoulder.

She felt her eyes slowly start to burn slightly. She wiped the tears that began to form in the corner of her eyes with her sleeve and smiled.

"Yeah," she said softly, "They are."

"Oi! Get inside! The Captain says we're about to submerge!"

"Coming!" called out her friend.

She hugged the papers tightly to her chest, and smiled.

'We'll find you guys. Just wait for us.'

\~.0.~/

Unknown Island

"I knew they wouldn't be able to stay still."

The man looked over the posters, scanning every familiar expression and smiling almost maniacally underneath his mask at the sight of them.

"Laxus-kun has a big bounty himself! I wonder what he did? Oh, there's an article" he spoke in excitement as he eyed one of the wanted posters with a gleeful look. Then he turned serious, "I honestly expected Natsu or even Erza getting one of these first, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he spoke as he read the paper headline.

"Does this mean that Gray-sama is here as well?" he heard his partner ask almost excitedly.

Bickslow smirked.

"Most likely, we're all here," he stated.

"What do we do then?" she asked.

He looked over the bodies of the unconscious marines and smirked lightly. Three small, childlike voices next to him cheered, and three familiar wooden figures floated next to him.

"We stick to the plan," he stated. He turned around and his smile grew as he saw the shape of a familiar ship growing closer.

"Eventually, we'll cross paths..."

\.~0.~/

Loguetown, Marine Base

She was pissed.

He could tell by the way she gripped the papers with unnecessary strength and glared at it to the point that he thought they might burst into flames.

But, she was also relieved.

Just as he was.

The sight of the wanted posters was, to be honest, a blessing and something that brought joy to their hearts. But, at the same time, it caused a feeling of dread in their hearts, due to the consequences this could bring.

Gray grabbed one of the posters that had slipped from the newspaper and smirked.

"Erza-san, are you okay?" he heard the small voice of Tashigi ask.

Erza stopped shaking and glanced calmly at Tashigi, who flinched slightly.

Erza sighed before letting a small smile grace her lips and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"Do you… know them?" asked a timid Tashigi.

She took another long look at the posters in her hand before eventually shaking her head.

"No. We don't."

Gray stared at Erza for a second before shaking his head as well.

No, they did not know these people...

... For now.

\~.0.~/

Moby Dick

"Gurararararaararara!"

Whiteboard's laugh echoed throughout the whole ship, and probably even scared a few birds away.

The ship, which was now sailing to Yuki Island, vibrated with the man's volume intensity, and continued to do so when the laughter suddenly turned into harsh coughing.

"Captain! Be careful!" scolded one of the nurses.

"Bah!" Whitebeard waved her off.

"To think that the guy would get in trouble not long after leaving the ship," spoke Marco as he leaned from the railing of the ship, holding a paper of his own.

"But, 94 million berri? That's a pretty big bounty," continued Jozu, looking at the paper over Marco's shoulder.

"Well, he did defeat a vice-admiral," said Vista with a smirk.

"So," Marco addressed Whitebeard as the man continued to stare at the new wanted poster, "What are we going to do about him Pops?"

Whitebeard didn't answer. Instead, his smile widened as he continued to eye the poster.

\~.0.~/

South Blue

"You're still here?"

To say that he was surprised Kidd had a library in his ship (let alone the fact that he even knew how to read) would be an understatement.

The man's ship was impressive, that was for sure. It was larger than what Gajeel expected, but it made him wonder how such a large ship had survived thus far when the captain wasn't even competent enough to recruit a navigator before even sailing away. Although, that first mate of his with the weird mask seemed to steer the ship without trouble... even if it was obvious from today's earlier storm that he was no expert.

Still, it was a rather sturdy ship so it wasn't that surprising that it was still intact after such a long time. There were plenty of rooms for the entire crew, as well as a dining area, kitchen, and many more. The fact that they bothered to even install a library was pretty amusing, since nobody in this ship seemed to have the mental capability to read.

Unless if you counted Levy, but they weren't exactly part of the crew. Kidd just thought they were.

Levy sat on a small table placed in the middle of the room, which was stacked with books from the three shelves covering the walls which she obviously rummaged, judging from the mess and all the loose books strewn around the room.

Levy paid no heed to Gajeel as she continued to silently read the book in front of her.

Gajeel walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder to see what she was reading. He rose a dark brow.

"What are you reading?"

Levy sighed as she closed the book, leaving her finger on the page she was on so as to not lose her place, and showed the cover to Gajeel.

"'Brag Men?'"

Levy opened the book once again and nodded.

"What's it about?" he asked as he continued to read over her shoulder.

"It's a book containing many different stories and tales about the Grand Line," was her simple statement.

"Eh?" Gajeel poked at his nose, obviously uninterested. "How boring."

"Then why are you bothering me about it?!" she yelled.

"Is it going to help us in anyway to get back home?" he asked, as he proceeded to look over the various books that Levy had chosen and put on the table. He picked one up that looked a lot like a children's book titled "Liar Noland" before flipping over the pages.

"I don't know," stated Levy, not removing her eyes from the book. "The book itself says that these tales are nothing but that, tales. That many of them are hard to actually even be considered believable," she flipped a couple pages back and turned the book to show Gajeel a painting of what seemed to be a large island with lush vegetation. Nothing abnormal about it really.

"For example, it talks about an island where dinosaurs still roam and two giants are fighting against each other for honor," she put the book back down and continued, "There's even stories about a civilization living in the sky, and these things called… 'Devil Fruits.'"

That caught Gajeel's attention. "Devil Fruits?"

Levy nodded.

"According to this book, Devil Fruits are fruits that grant special powers to whomever eats it, but in return, they become a hammer in the ocean. They can't swim, the water weakens them, and they sink almost immediately."

"I've never heard of something like that," stated Gajeel.

"There's another thing I find to be odd," continued Levy, "If we are indeed in another world, like Edolas, Then this Devil Fruit is the closest thing this book gets to mentioning magic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, magic isn't mentioned at all in this book. Sure, the things it talks about sound magical, but a lot of these - from phone snails, to Devil Fruits, to islands in the sky - don't mention magic at all. It's like the concept itself can't even be fathomed."

"You trying to say there's no magic here?" asked Gajeel, "Then how do you explain that Freak's magnetic mumbo jumbo?"

"Devil Fruit," Levy shrugged, "Besides, don't you think there was something weird about his powers?"

"Weird?"

"Gajeel, be honest with me," Levy looked at him straight in the eye, "Were you able to sense any magic within him?"

Gildarts' eyes widened. "Now that you mention it…" he muttered, "I was able to feel something, but I wouldn't say exactly that it was magic."

Levy nodded. "That's what I'm getting at here. We know that Edolas was a place where magic didn't derive from within a person's ethernano, rather it existed in the area around them and was able to be manipulated into being used as energy or weapons. But, here? Based on what I read, people don't even seem to believe that magic exists. I can't really explain Kidd's abilities, nor what the book seems to tell me here, which many are impossible stories, but I don't think it's magic. At least, not the magic we know of."

Gajeel's eyes were as wide as saucers now.

"Wait, but if that's the case… then how is it that my magic reserves came back after resting from my fight with that bastard?"

Levy tapped her chin in thought, "I'm not saying magic doesn't exist. But, I don't think the people here know how to manifest it, or even if they did, I don't think they would be capable of utilizing magic in any way whatsoever. In our world, only a few can use magic, but here, people seem to depend on a Devil Fruit in order to gain abilities similar to ours. They're not born with them, rather they acquire it. And though it's similar to magic, at the same time it isn't. There's magic all around us, that's for sure, but people in this world aren't aware of it because they can't use it unless they have a Devil Fruit. At least, that's my theory."

Gajeel was about to continue his questioning when suddenly, the door burst open and Kidd walked in with Killer, wearing a big-ass smile on his face.

"Ah! Here you are! Been looking everywhere for you."

Gajeel rose a brow. "You actually walked into a library without bursting into flames?"

Kidd frowned and glared at him, "I was about to say the same thing to you. Didn't think you could even read, ya Pierced Freak."

"You wanna start something, Clown Face?!"

Killer placed a palm on his Captain's shoulder, stopping him from initiating another fist fight with the new member.

"Kidd, you came for a reason."

Kidd blinked. "Ah, yeah."

He cleared his throat and continued talking, eyeing both with a serious expression.

"We're going to be approaching an island soon. Since we weren't able to restock in the last island thanks to a certain idiot-"

"Oi!"

Kid ignored Gajeel's exclamation and continued, "We're going to have to make a pit stop at Ryuuji Country."

Kid's expression turned even darker as he mentioned the name. "Do you guys know about Ryuuji Country?"

Gajeel simply looked away, and Levy tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"It's a country under Martial Law," spoke Killer.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "Martial Law?"

"It means that the whole island is protected by Marine officials who restrict the citizens and take away basic rights during a time of war," explained Kidd.

"We're going to a country in the middle of a war?" asked a flustered Levy as she stood from her seat, "Why?"

Kidd smirked, "There's somebody that I have to see there before we head into the Grand Line."

"But how are we going to get in?" asked Levy. There was something obviously going on here that did not bode well with the short girl.

"We're going to go deep under cover," continued Kidd, "No messing around, no nothing. We're going to leave our ship a few miles away from the island in the middle of the ocean and sneak in."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" asked Gajeel.

Kidd's smirk widened into a cocky smile, "Let's just say that somebody behind us has the perfect disguise."

A few miles away, following Kid's ship, was a Marine ship...

Where the screams of terrified Marine soldiers echoed throughout the ocean.

\~.0.~/

Amazon Lily

Mira sighed as she stretched her arms over her head and wiped her eyes.

She fell asleep again.

Nobody could blame her though. She was tired after all. The events that happened the day before kept replaying in her head over and over again on constant replay, even invading her dreams, and just thinking about what happened yesterday made her even more exhausted.

"I am willing to give you a pass."

She looked around the room, not surprised that it was empty once again. The only person allowed inside aside from the Empress, was the elder lady, Nyon, who didn't come in that often, opting to avoid the couple (or more specifically, the MAN), as much as possible. Only coming into the room to check the man's vitals every few hours and giving Mira something to eat.

As for the Empress and her sisters, she hadn't seen them since the duo was dropped off in the room and the Empress left with a prompt 'There are guards outside' and eventually walking out, slamming the door behind them.

She looked up at the bed in front of her, and saw that not much has changed.

Freed was still unconscious after being knocked out the day before by Sandersonia. He was covered in bandages and pumped with enough painkillers to make sure that he wouldn't be in pain whilst he slept.

"Marigold!"

"Gyaaaahhhhh!"

Mira shook her head. She lost control back there for a second. She didn't know what happened to her, all she knew was that her anger at seeing Freed so injured and nearly killed made her lose her mind, and in the process nearly take two lives.

But what shocked her the most, was what she felt after she turned into her Takeover form. There was a connection there... between her, and the three sisters that pit them in that situation at the stadium.

The power that overtook her blinded her for a second, and when she woke up, she had two snake sisters lying unconscious at her feet and an arena filled with unconscious women.

The only one not knocked out... was Boa Hancock herself...

The one who stood promptly and proceeded to face the woman that had inadvertently invaded her island and knocked out all her soldiers.

And what ensued was one of the most dramatic battles Mira has ever partaken in. One that exhausted both her and the Empress until neither fighters could keep going and Mira finally managed to convince her that fighting was the last thing Mira wanted to get into.

It's been nearly eight hours, and Mira has not heard anything from the Empress, who was still pondering on Mirajane's choice of words... and her offer.

"You keep zoning out like that. It's freaking a lady at my age too much, ~nyon."

Mira flinched and looked up to see Elder Nyon entering the room and closing the door behind her. She promptly stood up from her seat and bowed lightly, nearly wincing at the pain the movement caused.

"Elder Nyon."

Elder Nyon waved her off as she walked closer, and stopped in front of her. Mirajane straightened and stared at the short woman.

"The Empress has finally come to a decision."

Mira's eyes widened, but she quickly relaxed her posture.

"She wishes to speak with you," Elder Nyon then glanced at the unconscious man on the bed, "and only you."

Mirajane nodded.

"Ok."

\~.0.~/

Yuki Island

Laxus stared at the door for what felt like forever.

The man who told him that his grandfather had awoken had brought him to the little house where his grandfather had been taken while unconscious. According to him, Makarov woke up and started ranting like a madman, asking about his children and a dragon, trying to leave the bed in his state until eventually, they managed to tie him down to the bed.

Laxus smirked. Yup, that sounded like Makarov alright.

Worried about others before himself.

It was that mentality and love that nearly got him killed in the first place and left Laxus without a family.

"They have to know Laxus. You need to find a way back home."

His smirk disappeared.

His grandfather was awake, and though that came as a big relief to him, at the same time, it placed a large weight of dread on his shoulders that he couldn't ignore.

The conversation that he had to have with Makarov was not going to be pretty at all, and it would most likely ruin both of them.

"I'll be with you."

He took a deep breath in, and let it out. He eyed the door with renowned determination and found his resolve strengthening with the reminder of those words.

This wouldn't be easy, but he knew that it had to be done.

He wrapped his hand around the knob and twisted it.

\~.0.~/

Somewhere in the Grand Line

The large ship sailed calmly on the ocean.

Its crew members were running around getting things ready, eager at the sight of land in the distance.

The captain of the ship, a man with long, unkempt hair being held back by a headband, smiled widely as he removed the telescope from his eye.

He turned to a crew member standing next to him and gave his order.

"Go get Miss Tuesday and let her know we're close to land."

The crew member nodded before running off.

The man turned back to eye the island and continued to smile.

The wind blew strongly, pushing against the sails of the ship that had a large skull with purple wings and two swords crossing behind it. And on the sail on top of that one, were painted two large words that struck fear in the hearts of many.

Baroque Works

\~.0.~/

Unknown Location

The overweight man walked past all the other cheering pirates. The sun was setting, yet already the party had been going on for a while. The News Coo that he had paid just minutes ago had left something that needed the Captain's attention though, so he couldn't afford to join back in on the fun yet until he delivered the news to his Captain.

"Hahahahaha! You should've seen the look on Mihawk's face!" Laughed the boisterous Captain. "Poor fella, didn't see it coming!" The rest of the crew laughed, but Lucky Roo ignored all that and though he continued to smile, he stood next to his Captain and shoved the paper in front of his laughing face.

"Oi, Captain, look at this," he spoke.

The Captain stopped laughing and eyed the paper. His eyes widened slightly before he suddenly grabbed the poster and observed it. Slowly, a smile graced his blushed, drunken face and he laughed once again.

"I can't believe this!" he cried out as he flipped the poster to show it to the rest of the crew, "Why didn't anyone ever tell me I had a brother?!"

The crew stopped laughing and stared at the poster silently with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Eh?! The captain has a brother?!"

"How come you didn't tell us?!"

Shanks flipped the poster again and observed it. "Is he older or younger than me? Never mind! Look at this first bounty!" he waved the poster.

Lucky Roo took a bite out of his chicken leg. "Captain I don't think-"

Shanks ignored him. "Let's CELEBRATE! Bring more drinks!"

"But, you're already drunk!"

\~.0.~/

End Chapter

Post Tempestatem (After the Storm)

A/N: Okay, so I know I said that this chapter would have a different title... but, halfway while working on this chapter, I realized that it would work better if I added a transition before the big reveal that is about to come in the upcoming chapter. As such, I wrote this little chapter that serves as a way of telling the aftermath of the events of the last chapter.

Next chapter will be the one I had previously announced, "Aperito"... or who knows, I might change that, too.

It will also explain a lot of things that need to be addressed...

Also, there is a reason why I did not show Mirajane's and Hancock's fight, but don't worry, there will be a flashback to it soon enough. So, not to worry.

Aaaand for those of you who are tired of the back and forth change of scenes, don't worry, we're reaching that point where that finally changes.

Normally I would take the time to respond to each and every review from last chapter, but it's one in the morning and I have finals coming up. I'm also terribly exhausted, so I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed! You have no idea how much it means to me that you guys actually take the time to write a review for this story that I actually enjoy writing! Thank you all so much!

As I stated earlier, next chapter will finally be "Aperito" and it will be one heck of a ride.

Until next time!

Edit (05/02/17): IT was one am when I posted this, and I was exhausted, and I know that's no excuse, but I forgot to thank my super duper awesome beta TheCatLounge! Who has helped me so much, this story is practically a collar now and it wouldn't be possible without them. Thanks friend!