"Is that true!?" Erza was taken aback. Just earlier, she alongside her friends learned the reason Wendy was taken to this country in the first place. To supposedly heal a god from his impending death.
Henry chuckled as he hoisted a rake over his shoulder. "I know, it's definitely surprising to say the least. I mean, a land-walker came *here* in Exahelm?"
"Tch, so she came here herself then?" Gray sarcastically questioned while rolling his eyes. After the whole attack at the Fairy Tail guild in order to kidnap Wendy, the group couldn't help but feel annoyed that was the story Hahlos made up.
Erza began to recall back to their first encounter with the green haired angel. She was starting to understand why Hahlos took extreme measures in order to take Wendy here. The red haired wizard knew Hahlos wasn't lying regarding the sickness, but why take Wendy alone in the first place?
Alivia crossed her arms as she looked up ahead towards the large town. "As far as ah'm aware, we never had any land walkers even get close to reaching here. In fact, it's forbidden in this country to even interact with the world below." The Exceed squinted her eyes. "We don't even know how this girl knew about this whole thing..."
Suddenly, Natsu approached the angel and Exceed. He got uncomfortably close to the two and clenched one fist. "Hey! So do you know where she is-"
"HALT, CRIMINALS!" A large figure crashed a couple feet behind the group as the foggy substance surrounded them. The figure exhales through his nose as steam clears the fog revealing a obese knight with a tusk-like mustache.
Henry and Alivia looked surprised seeing this individual as he began to gain attention almost immediately. A small white ball floated down slowly and stood still right next to the newcomer, no longer showing a projection.
"Uh...may we help you?" Lucy asked.
"Did he call us criminals?" Chelia wondered with slight worry.
"What is that thing next to him? A fairy?" Gray inquired.
"You idiots!" Alivia whispered. "That's one of the Tenhei! Show some respect!"
Natsu began to move away from Alivia and Henry as they all faced the armored angel. Erza looked back at the two for a moment. "The Tenhei?"
"They're only our lord's most trustworthy warriors..." Henry whispered, rubbing his hands together and sweating a little.
Balrus began to approach the group, his heavy boots creating imprints in the cloudy substance. "We hath heard reports of an explosion in this area. Does thou know anything about that?" He stops and crosses his arms. "I expect an honest answer out of suspicious people like you all."
"This is bad, looks like the higher ups have already caught on..." Jellal thought as he slightly clenched his teeth. He took a deep breath before passing by his allies. "I can explain that sir."
Balrus raised an eyebrow. "So thou admit it? Such boldness..." He begins to stroke his mustache. "Thou must be new here in this realm!"
"He's actually falling for the disguises?!" Lucy thought while bewildered.
Natsu scratched the back of his head with a blank look. "I have no idea what this guy is talking about..." He whispered.
Jellal turns his head towards the group before giving a silent shush and a wink. He turns back to Balrus and begins to explain. "We apologize for the mess sir, we're travelers and we had an accident on our way here." He gestured his arm to show some of the slight injuries in his allies and himself. "We even got some bruises during it. It's nothing dangerous I can assure you."
Balrus stood silent for a moment as he raised one eyebrow. He noticed the slight bruising on the others which led him to believe the blue haired wizard. "I see, then this accident you all tragically went through...did it involve magic?"
Jellal rubbed the back of his head, recalling what he heard from Alivia earlier regarding magic laws here. "Y-yes...we weren't aware of the rules you had in this country you see..." he decided to tell the truth since he had a feeling the Exceed would rat them out if he lied.
"Does thou hath a permit?" Balrus blantenly asked.
"A permit?" Jellal raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no."
Once again, Balrus stood silent as he stared down at Jellal. It was just long enough to make Jellal a little uncomfortable. He then notice Balrus pull out a blue piece of paper from his pocket as he began to write on it.
During this, the white ball continued to not do anything as it stared at the group of wizards. It made a delayed buzz sound as it seemed to pay the most attention to Natsu and Gray. The two tilted their heads and wondered why it was staring at them.
Balrus finished writing the paper as he gave it to Jellal. "And what's this?" Jellal wondered as he began reading the paper.
"Accident and unaware, it shalt not matter. It is our duty to uphold our guidelines in order to keep our peace intact." The armored angel explained.
"What does it say, Jellal?" Erza asked.
"...It says I have to pay 500 Dalla." Jellal answered with a sweat droplet leaving his temple.
"Huh?!" Natsu was perplexed. "What even *is* that?! Why do we have to pay for some magic accident?!" He peaked over Jellal's shoulder and read the ticket with an annoyed expression.
Balrus raised one finger. "Tis like I said, it is only my duty. The peace here must remain intact for our lord."
Natsu shoved Jellal and began to approach the armored angel with his fists clenched. "Lord shmord! We already said we didn't mean it!" While Natsu approached, the white ball began to sweat bullets.
Alivia glared at Natsu. "You should watch your tongue! You'll just get in more trouble!"
Lucy immediately got a hold of Natsu and tried holding him back. "Natsu! Calm down! Let's not start any fighting!" Despite her pleading, Natsu continued to thrash about in Lucy's grip. Erza had to step in and give her usual threatening look to the fire dragon slayer to get him to back off.
Balrus however, has seen enough. "Your ticket fine has been increased to 700 Dalla."
Erza immediately turned towards the armored angel. "What?!"
The obese angel pointed down at the red haired woman. "You all better not continue to cause trouble, or the punishments will get more severe."
"Woah, he started talking normally..." Gray thought.
Erza decided to hold her tongue. Since they just arrived here and hardly got any information, she thought the best course of action is to not cause any more mishaps until they not only reconnected with the group, but fully grasp the situation.
"Now, if there aren't any more issues. We shalt be on our way then." Balrus bowed as he and the white ball prepared to take off in the air.
"H-hold on a quick moment Mr. Balrus!" Henry called out in which the armored angel looked over at the blonde farmer. Henry began rubbing his hands together and cracked a friendly but nervous smile. "I hate to bother you about this sir, but would you be so kind as to seal up that hole over there?" He pointed over towards the hole in the distance.
Balrus looked over at the whole as he exhaled more steam from his nostrils. "It shall be done, fair citizen." He declared as he marched towards it. The group watched the armored angel as he slammed his fists together.
"Stone Make! Pavement!" Balrus shouted as the hole began to slowly get sealed with stone.
"Melding magic? So it exists around here too...?" Gray muttered.
After the hole got completely sealed, the ranchers around the area gave a round of applause before Balrus turned around and gave a salute to the crowd. He proceeded to take off by rocketing up in the air. The white ball lagging behind slightly.
"And there he goes..." Lucy sighed.
"Heh, good riddance." Natsu scowled. He then felt a chill up his spine as Erza turned towards Natsu with glowing red eyes.
"You fool!" Erza chastises before giving the pinkette a roundhouse kick that sent him flying several feet. Natsu landed in a sea of clouds as it created a miniature explosion of fog. The S-class wizard placed her hands on her hips as Jellal slowly backed off. Chelia watched on with a terrified look on her face.
"Wendy wasn't kidding...she is scary..." She thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And that's how I got the rank I am today!" Argus finished as he had a proud grin on his face with his teeth shining brightly. However, the muscular angel's guests were far from impressed.
"I..uh...see..." Juvia said while she began to grip her hands tightly, appearing far more impatient than before. "C-congratulations...!"
Argus patted Juvia's back which caused her to flinch a little. "Why thank you young lady! It takes a lot of hard work. HA HA HA!"
Carla sighed as she tried to make her tone as friendly as possible. "I'm sure you have many interesting stories sir. But we were actually wondering about that 'land walking girl' you mentioned earlier." She recalled.
Argus paused for a moment before rubbing the back of his head. "Oh ya, must've slipped my mind! HA HA HA!"
"Can I kill him?" Gajeel whispered.
"No." Carla objected.
"Earlier today, we had this big ceremony over her arrival!" Argus began to explain with his arms out wide. "She came here to heal our ruler from an unknown illness!"
Everyone suddenly snapped out of boredom or frustration when the muscular angel mentioned Wendy's purpose. Carla however squinted her eyes in suspicion and even minor annoyance. Wendy was clearly kidnapped, she didn't make any offers to heal this country's supposed ruler. Happy tried to calm Carla down by patting her shoulder, in which the white Exceed closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Woah, that sounds like a heavy responsibility." Sting pointed out. "But what do you mean by an unknown illness?"
Argus pointed his thumb out the window. In the distance was a large castle. "You see the top floor of the castle? That's where our boss is at. We don't know what's going on but his skin is all mummy-like and he's barely hanging on." Argus explained.
"Do you not have any doctors here?" Juvia wondered.
"Trust me young lady, they tried checking him. But no ordinary medicine is gonna work here." Argus answered.
"So is this 'land walking girl' in the castle too?" Gajeel inquired.
"Can't say I met her yet, but she's staying there too." Argus then pointed at Gajeel. "But ya can't see her, we haven't had any land walkers here in *years!* She'll gain too much attention y'hear?"
"A-aye, we understand." Happy said with a sweat drop leaving his temple.
Juvia then stood up from her seat. "Is that all then? We're all still in a hurry."
"HA HA HA! Sorry for keeping ya for so long, I lost track of time there!" Argus chuckled as he took out what appeared to be blue coins and placed them on the table. "Like I said, this meal is on me fellas." Argus then stood up himself and gently squeezed himself out of everyone's way.
"Phew." Sting wiped his forehead as he stood up. "I'd thought we'd never leave..."
"Oh wait! One last thing!" Argus turned around and faced Sting as he got uncomfortably close to the Sabertooth master once again. The larger angel proceeded to lend Sting some more blue coins. "Here ya go! Some Dalla for you all, don't go spending it all in one place!"
"A-are you sure?!" Sting exclaimed.
"Of course! I'm one of the Tenhei! I got more money than I need. HA HA HA!" Argus reassured.
Gajeel abruptly stood up and slammed both palms on the table. "Okay bud what gives?! Why are you being so nice to us huh?!" He sneered.
"G-Gajeel! Calm down!" Happy urged the Iron Dragon Slayer. The blue Exceed then noticed the crowd in the bar staring at the group once again, he began to get nervous.
Argus waved his hand towards the crowd, signaling them to calm down. "Heh, guess it makes sense you don't trust someone you just met. We all roll in different ways young lad." He then turned his back and began to walk out the bar. "Ya see, Exahelm is a peaceful place. We always love meeting new people around these parts!" He opened the door and turned his head towards Gajeel one last time. "Try not to cause any more scenes alright? There are people here who don't take stuff as lightly as me." He finished before finally leaving the bar as the door swung closed.
Gajeel crossed his arms. "Tch. Was that a threat or something?"
"You idiot!" Carla scolded, flying up towards Gajeel's face. "You could've gotten us into trouble! I swear, how did you even manage to make it through Edolas!"
Juvia then noticed the crowd once again staring at them. "Uh, Juvia suggests we hurry up and leave before we cause anymore scenes..."
"Aye..." Happy agreed.
Once everyone left the bar, Sting looked around for Rogue and saw him almost immediately across the way. He waved his hand towards his Dragon Slayer partner and they all met up. Once Sting explained what happened, Rogue was filled in and they all had to think up their next plan of action.
"I wasn't able to spot any of the others sadly." Rogue admitted. "But we now have a lead of Wendy's whereabouts. We should find the others and report your findings as soon as possible."
Everyone else nodded their heads in response.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the rancher's farm, emotions were all over the place. Natsu fully recovered from Titania's wrath, Lucy was currently sulking while Chelia tried to cheer her up, Gray and Jellal steered away from Erza while the red haired wizard was looking over towards the large town in the distance.
"I am so terribly sorry to you all!" Henry repeatedly bowed apologetically.
"This is what happens when you break our rules here strangers. Peh!" Alivia snarked.
Jellal looked at the ticket again and sighed. "A minor setback. We'll be fine." He then folded the ticket and shoved it in his pocket.
"We just got here and we're already in trouble, what's with this place?" Lucy thought as tears comically streamed from her eyes.
"Will you be able to pay for it in time?" Henry wondered.
"Potentially." Jellal guessed. "How long is the due date? I didn't see one written on the ticket."
"24 hours." Alivia answered.
"Are you serious?!" Baffled Gray.
"Well...more so if you don't pay by the due date, the Dalla amount will increase by 100. After 2 days, the punishments get more severe, so from what I've heard." Henry explained.
"That...doesn't sound very fair..." Chelia mumbled.
Erza turned back towards the group and crossed her arms. "No matter, for now we should head to the town. We've been here long enough."
After Erza declared to the others to head to town, Natsu and Gray began to feel their stomachs rumble. Lucy recovered from her minor depression episode and eyed at the two with a very unimpressed look.
"Uh...heh heh..." Natsu chuckled. "We should get something to eat there!"
"Y-yeah. I gotta agree with hothead." Gray rubbed his stomach. "I haven't eaten since this morning.
"You'll hold it in! We have no time to mess around!" Erza practically orders the two boys which caused them both to salute. However, suddenly they heard a much louder rumble coming from her.
"...That sounded like a pretty big rumble." Lucy commented.
"You're hearing things!" Erza denied.
"I dunno...have you eaten at all today?" Gray asked.
"It's nothing!" Erza shouted.
Chelia approaches Erza. "I know we're in a hurry, but Jura taught me that it's best to fill up your strength. I'm sure it won't take long!" She advises with a small smile.
Henry suddenly got a big smile on his face and spreaded out his arms. "Well if y'all want some food, we rancher's here grow the darn best crop in all of Exahelm!" He brags.
"A-are you sure?" Lucy hesitated.
Alivia smirked. "Don't underestimate us. We're able to feed an entire town afterall!" She then flies towards Lucy up close. "However, I know y'all have no money. So we're putting you on a tab!"
"Well...if you're offering." Jellal acknowledged. "But how do you grow so much here anyways?"
The blonde angel and Exceed paused for a moment before the former gave a warm smile and raised one finger. The finger glowed in a green light and a small stem began to grow on his finger. The group all gasped as the magic was very familiar to them.
"Is that...?!" Natsu started.
"Yup! It's Green Magic!" Henry answered. "A lot of us rancher's here know how to use it!" The stem then vanished as he closed his hand. "Don't worry, we all got permits of our own. Since we give a bunch of our food to the town!" He reassured.
Alivia then pointed at one of the patches of cloudy land that had many berries grown. "To make the green magic more healthy, they absorb the water that comes from under the clouds. Sometimes the clouds under our feet get extremely wet and damp and it can be used in our favor!" She explained, appearing a bit bubbly and excited all of the sudden.
Jellal placed a hand on his chin. "Right...that must be the rain she's talking about..." He thought.
"Try not to eat too much alright?" Henry advised, as he began to walk to his small wooden house. "We still have to give the town 75% of our crop!"
"That's so much!" Chelia exclaimed. "How come?!"
Henry opened the door and paused. He then sighed. "It's because we're the only ones who can grow these kinds of food. And our lord here already isn't too fond of us using magic."
"We rancher's have to abide by these laws. We're lucky enough to be able to use some magic as is." Alivia remarked. "It's because of these laws that Exahelm here has been at peace for so many years."
As Henry and Alivia went inside the house to get some food, the group didn't say anything. Chelia noticed that the other ranchers have gotten back to their business once again. Erza found it very particular when she heard Henry mention that their lord isn't fond of magic. She began to wonder what this country's leader is really like and why Wendy was tasked to supposedly revive him.
After they all eat, they would all have to regroup with the others as soon as possible to get some answers and find their friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sunlight wasn't nearly as bright as it was yesterday morning. So Hahlos was able to open the large curtains a bit and let some sunlight in Izanagi's room. The half dead god was still resting in bed on his back as he continued to wheeze and gag. Hahlos was currently pouring his master a cup of water.
The tall angel slowly reached out with the glass in hand. "Master, make sure to take slow sips." He advised as he began to slowly pour the water in his lord's mouth.
Once Izanagi finished drinking, he took a deep breath and turned his head away from Hahlos. The tall angel raised an eyebrow. "Is something bothering you, my lord?"
Izanagi remained silent as he slowly raised his head towards the windows. Hahlos stood up and immediately closed the blinds. "I suppose that's enough sunlight for today." He looked back at Izanagi and noticed his expression showing signs of doubtfulness.
Hahlos sighed and looked down. "Do not stress, it's bad for your health." He looked back and placed a hand on his own chest. "It's like I mentioned, no human has been able to reach this land for centuries." He turned towards the door. "It'll only take a day, this will be over and done with soon. Things have been going smoothly I can assure you."
Hahlos then left the room as the door closing caused a minor echo through the large and open room. Izanagi began to fall asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once again, Wendy had to rub her eyes for a moment as she began to wake from her short nap. The bright white room proved to her that what happened was definitely not a dream. But Wendy did wish she woke up in her Fairy Hills room next to a purring Carla.
However, the Sky Sorceress wouldn't waver. She pulled herself up and stretched, the nap did help her a tiny bit. She sat up and slid off the bed before walking towards the window again. She began to feel a tiny bit of deja vu as she looked at the busy town of Exahelm. The blue haired girl leaned on her arm as she watched on.
Admittedly, she still wasn't so sure if she should be doing this. While the mission was simple, everything about it was extremely fishy. She has had her magic drained before and usually it was from villains who wanted to steal her power. But the people here have welcomed her with open arms and treated her like a hero. She can tell the citizens here are very loyal and passionate which made her smile a little.
She didn't want to let them down, so why does she feel a minor ache on her chest?