After Gray and Juvia lost in the first competition and Lucy lost to Flare in the battle portion, morale was low in the Fairy Tail inn.
"No matter what happens, I will always believe in each one of you," Master Makarov declared.
"Man those Raven Tail people suck! I'm gonna make them pay for doing that to Lucy and Asuka."
"We just have to keep pushing forward," Erza commented.
Emi was the next one to speak up, getting up from her seat next to Laxus: "I believe in all of you as well. I know that Fairy Tail will win!"
Everyone smiled at the enthusiasm radiating off the woman, slowly coming out of their funk. The members decided to take a walk around Crocus, all going in separate directions with groups. Laxus and Emi traveled as a couple. Erza also went off by herself to speak to Jellal in private. Wendy remained in the infirmary from having all her magic drained from her. The rest of Fairy Tail walked around in groups.
"What you said seemed to cheer everyone up pretty well."
"You think so? I'm glad."
Laxus and Emi continued down the main road to explore the different flower carts.
-------------------------------------
Sabertoth's inn was tense. They had won first place in the competition, but everyone was still on edge from Master Jiemma. There was no time for celebration in Sabertooth; perfection and victory were a requirement and therefore did not deserve a celebration. Rogue and Sting sat in a corner with Lector and Frosch, talking about how Sabertooth will obviously win. Suddenly, Sting stopped talking.
Rogue decided to question the dragon slayer, obviously shocked that the rather talkative guy would suddenly grow quiet. Lector jumped onto the table so that he and Sting were face to face.
"Sting, are you okay?"
"Lector..."
"What is it, Sting? What's wrong?"
"I smell her."
Rogue looked at Sting with a confused look.
"Are you talking about the same person you questioned me about when I came back from that mission?"
Sting suddenly stood up and ran out the door, Lector immediately flying after him. Rogue looked at Frosch before calmly standing up from his seat.
"We should probably go follow them before they get into trouble."
"Fro thinks so, too!"
---------------------------------
"Laxus, look at all these flowers! I love this town."
Laxus hummed in response before spotting an ice cream stand. Emi followed his gaze and grabbed his hand, dragging him to get some ice cream before they continued to explore. They ran into Romeo and Macao on the way and they all decided to travel together, Emi sharing whatever she learned in the newest book she read.
----------------------------------
"Dammit! Where the hell is she?"
"Sting!" Lector yelled as he finally caught up. "Do you really think it's her?"
"I haven't caught her scent for years, but I know that smell no matter how long it's been. I smelt it on Rogue a week ago, but this is the real deal. I can tell that she's here, Lector. It's not someone who bumped into her this time. The only problem is..."
"What is it, Sting?"
"I can smell her literally everywhere in the city. Every direction smells like her, which means that she's traveling with people."
"You can definitely track her down, Sting! You're the most powerful dragon slayer there is, so nobody can stop your nose!"
"Let's start over there."
"Right! We're going to finally see her again!"
--------------------------------
Bickslow and Freed followed Evergreen around the city. They spotted the royal palace and saw the infamous flower gardens.
"Emi would love this, wouldn't you agree?"
"Definitely. She'd probably drag Laxus here in a heartbeat," Bickslow responded, his babies chanting 'heartbeat, heartbeat.'
In another part of Crocus, Juvia, Gray, Lucy and Natsu explored the shops scattered around town. They crossed paths with Rogue, who looked around quickly before going to head down an alleyway.
"Hey you!" Natsu yelled. "You're that guy from Sabertooth. The one that killed your dragon!"
Rogue looked at Natsu and replied with a quick "excuse me" before disappearing in the shadows.
"Where could that idiot have gone? He needs to learn not to run off like that."
-----------------------------------
Cana went straight for the local bar, saying that it is rumored to be the best in Fiore in terms of booze quality. Wakaba decided to join her, saying she might need someone to walk her back to the inn.
Levy, Jet and Droy decided to go to the bookshop near the center of town. Well, Levy decided and the others followed. At the shop, Levy found multiple books that she wanted to read. However, as she was checking out she saw a book that stood out to her. 'Dragons and Disaster: A History of Dragons and Dragon Slayers?' It sounds like something Emi might want to read.
Levy quickly grabbed the book and added it to her order before asking Jet and Droy to help her carry the books back to the inn.
--------------------------------
Sting ran as fast as he could to the different parts of Crocus. He jumped on top of the buildings so he could get a better vantage point for both sight and smell. He wouldn't have to compete with the crowds as much from the roof of the building, and he would be able to look at the crowds more effectively. Sting stopped running once he got to one of the sources of her scent, the gardens.
Of course. I should've guessed. This is definitely her.
"Found her."
"Way to go Sting! In the first try! You're the most powerful wizard ever!" Lector gushed.
Sting jumped down from the building and started running through the gardens before her scent became further away, signally that she was no longer in the gardens.
"Dammit."
Sting's nose picked up on another potential source and he ran after it. It led him to the city's bookshop. Yes. Definitely here. I'm sure of it.
"A bookshop?" Lector questioned before his eyes lit up in excitement. "Of course! She loves books. Your nose is super great Sting!"
He looked around the building before entering the shop. When he couldn't find her, he went over to the counter and asked the person if she had seen someone matching the woman's description.
"I'm sorry, sir, but nobody matching her description came in today."
Sting let out a groan before exiting the shop. Just as he was starting to run to the next location, a shadow appeared below him and grabbed his ankle, causing Sting to fall face first on the roof.
"What the hell, Rogue?! Let me go! This is important."
Rogue looked at his partner in confusion. He had never seen the wizard get so worked up. That is, until he said that he had somehow come into contact with the woman in question when Sting smelled her scent on him.
"Calm down."
"No! Let me go, Rogue."
----------------------------------------
"Crocus sure is a wonderful city, don't you think?" Emi asked as she turned to Laxus.
He nodded before continuing to walk. They had all decided on a curfew to meet back up at the inn in order to make sure everyone got back safely. Macao, Romeo, Laxus and Emi finally arrived at the inn and found that the others had already arrived.
"I hope we aren't late, Master Grampa. Someone got distracted by ice cream."
-------------------------------------
"I will help you look if it is so important to you, but you need to calm down."
"Rogue, let Sting go!" Lector pleaded. "We need his nose to find her."
Sting then grabbed Rogue by the collar, a serious look in his eyes that Rogue had never seen before. He sighed before letting go of the collar and crossing his arms.
"Fine. I'm calm. Now let me go before I lose her scent."
The shadows that had been restraining him had recoiled, allowing Sting to move freely again. The two dragon slayers and their exceeds walked as fast as they could as Sting tracked the scent.
"Why exactly are you preventing me from running?"
"Because," Rogue explained calmly, "I know that you'd just run off if I let go of you."
Rogue pointed to the shadow that had a hold of Sting's collar, "This should stop you from going too far."
"What am I? A dog?"
"Fro thinks so, too!"
-------------------------------------
"Man, it's been a long day," Lucy stated as she came back to the inn from her shower.
"Tell me about it," Gray agreed.
"Lu, I got a bunch of books that we can read."
"Levy, that's awesome. Leave it to you."
"Oh Emi, I bought you a book too! It's on dragons and dragon slayers."
"Really? Oh my goodness, that's perfect! Thank you so much, Levy."
------------------------------------
The two dragon slayers made their way through the city when Sting noticed that all the different sources of scents came together and were all gathered in one place. He deducted that they were all returning to a base point. He turned to Rogue, sharing what he thought.
"She has to be there then," Rogue spoke up, supporting Sting's idea.
Lector spoke up, yelling, "Let's go!"
The group finally found the source, and screamed when they found the inn that she was staying at.
"Fairy Tail?!"
Rogue groaned, saying that he wasn't in the mood to deal with Natsu yelling at him again. Sting's eyes turned dark as he let out a low growl. Rogue turned to Sting and looked at him questioningly.
"Sting, maybe we shouldn't--"
Before Rogue could finish his sentence, Sting had aggressively kicked down the door to the inn. All of the Fairy Tail wizards got into a fighting position; the only person that would do that, Natsu, was already present, so they were on guard.
"WHERE IS SHE?!"
Natsu was the first person to step forward, face holding anger.
"I don't know who you're talking about buddy, but you should leave before I get a hold of you and your partner here. You both think that because you're a part of Sabertooth that you're all that. I could never forgive someone who could kill their own parents. Out!" Natsu made a "shoo" noise and waved his hands to push them out.
"Where. Is. She?" Sting snarled, completely ignoring everything Natsu had said.
"Child," Makarov addressed Natsu, "let's see what he wants first before you pick a fight."
"But Gramps!"
"I do not agree with Sabertooth's ideology either, but we should hear him out before we come to any conclusions."
"Fine. What do you want, asshole?"
"Natsu, Master Grampa?" Emi spoke up as she entered the room with Laxus. "What's going on?"
Sting and Lector stood in shock before Lector started flying towards Emi at top speed, yelling, "Lady Emiko! We finally found you!"
Lector started crying as he shoved himself into her arms, earning a confused "huh?" from the woman.
"Um, I'm sorry, who are you?"
Lector whipped his head up to look at her before flying out of her arms and hovering in front of her.
"I'm Lector of course, remember?" The exceed's face fell as he saw the blank look in her eyes.
Sting stood there with a shocked look on his face, taking in the sight of her before he walked towards her, not hearing Lector's conversation with her. He held a soft look on his face and he smiled wide at the woman.
"I finally found you. Thank god."
Sting went to hug Emi, but she backed away from the dragon slayer and moved back to Laxus's side. Sting's face dropped as he looked at the confusion and fear in her eyes. Something clicked in his head, causing his heart to drop.
"Do you not know who I am?"
"You're Sting, right? From Sabertooth?"
"Yeah. Do you know anything else?"
"I'm sorry, I don't. Am I supposed to?"
Lector flew back over to Sting before landing on his head, whispering, "Why doesn't she remember? How could she forget us, Sting?"
Sting went to step closer to Emi, but Laxus moved so he stood in front of her. He had his arms crossed as he stared at Sting with an unknown look in his eye. Sting started to aggressively walk towards Laxus when Rogue held him back.
"Enough. Don't cause trouble. Master will kill us."
Sting continued to glare at the lightning mage, causing a dark and tense atmosphere to roll into the inn. Laxus and Sting gave each other a threatening look as they stood apart.
"Laxus?"
The mage turned to Emi who had a concerned look in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her, which caused her to continue.
"I don't want to be here anymore. It's making me nervous. I'm going back to the room."
Emi slowly moved away from the two wizards and asked Levy to come with her.
"What did you do to her?!" Sting yelled.
Laxus looked at him, clearly bored, replying, "I didn't do anything. It's not my fault she doesn't remember. Where have you been for three years, huh? If she's so precious to you, why haven't you come to her before?"
Sting became even more irritated as he snarled, "I've been looking for her for three years and I looked everywhere I could think of and came up empty. I finally came to find her and she's been here at Fairy Tail the whole time?" Sting yelled the last part.
"Actually," Erza interjected, "Emi has only been a part of Fairy Tail for a very short time. She's been with Laxus for two years in Hargeon."
The look on Sting's face only darkened as he looked at Laxus. Pure hatred filled his eyes.
"You!"
Sting went to lunge at the lightning dragon slayer when Rogue's grip on his collar tightened.
"Don't cause trouble, Sting. We don't want the Master to get involved."
"Laxus!" Levy yelled as she ran into the room. "Something's wrong with Emi. She just collapsed and started screaming."
The anger in Sting's eyes immediately disappeared and was filled with concern. Laxus went to move to Emi's location when Sting stopped him.
"Let me help."
"Get lost," Laxus grunted as he left the inn's main room.
"She's in danger you know," Sting suddenly revealed.
Laxus stopped in his tracks before turning towards the Sabertooth member.
"You're a dragon slayer, right?"
Sting looked at him in confusion and Lector responded with, "Sting is the strongest dragon slayer there is!"
Laxus ignored the exceed and continued, "How old are you?"
"Twenty-two. Why?"
Laxus grunted before giving the dragon slayer a quick "follow me" before disappearing into the sleeping quarters of the inn. Sting ran right behind the lightning mage with Lector flying soon after.
"What was that all about?" Levy questioned out loud.
"Beats me," Gray replied, "but I can tell that those two are gonna have problems down the line."
"Did you see the way they were looking at each other? It was super scary," Cana commented.
"They're love rivals. Juvia can tell."