Erza and Lucy made their way toward the village that was sitting nearest to them; so far they hadn't seen anyone, but looks can be deceiving. "I'm sure that if they're were people there, they'd probably help us," Lucy said, kicking a pebble down the path they were on.

Erza nodded. "And once we get ourselves situated, we need to find the others." She frowned. "I don't know if everyone else is together, but I just hope that Varian isn't alone. Without his magic..." She didn't finish her sentence, but Lucy understood what she meant.

"Yeah..."

"That mountain is really tall..." Wendy marvels.

Edo-Lucy grinned. "Yep, but it'll be no problem for the helicopter."

Edo-Natsu looked at his feet, fingers anxiously twirling his fingers together. "Yep, it'll make it. For sure."

Carla frowned. "If you say so."

Rain was on her knees, clutching her head in pain. Gray and Jellal's eyes were glued to the figure taking small steps towards them. The strange thing about the figure, however, was that it was like their clothes were puffy and odd.

Rain mumbled out a weak, "Varian..." before she collapsed with a groan. Gray barely spared her a glance before his eyes were on the figure again. When the figure was one step away from the mages, a candle was lit, spreading light throughout the chamber. And in that light was another Jellal, his own shocking blue hair reflecting the light.

Mystogan.

Erza and Lucy were surrounded, standing back to back.

"Who are you?" a voice demanded from the crowd around them, every villager holding a weapon. "What do you want from u-" His voice was cut off with a screech.

"Look! It's Knightwalker!"

"What? No way!"

"She took my Ma away!"

"Don't let her out!"

Erza let out a breath. Well, wasn't this great? These people thought she was Erza Knightwalker. Fantastic.

"I'm not Knightwalker. My name is Erza Scarlet, and I'm from Earthland." Gasps ensued, as well as some outraged, "She's lying!"

Lucy decided that they may know Edo-Lucy. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, but what happened to you?" one of the villagers asked.

Lucy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

The villager who had originally spoken stepped forward. "Why are you with her, of all people? They may have apologized, but they still ruined lives. Especially her." He spat the last word with a look of disgust.

Lucy winced. When she had left Edolas all those years ago, she had assumed the kingdom had gone back to its peaceful ways. She should have expected that most people wouldn't have accepted the fact that their tormentors would ever apologize for their sins.

"Okay, I know that there is a slim chance of you believing me, but what Erza said is true. We aren't from here. We're from a place called Earthland, and we need to find our friends."

"Mystogan!" Gray exclaimed. "You scared me for a second."

Mystogan grimaced at Gray for a second before collapsing to the floor, the dim light of the candle flickering out. And darkness surrounded them once more.

"Mystogan, what the hell?" Gray, thankfully, caught him before he face planted on the ground.

Jellal was still staring at his other half and Rain remained unconscious. 'Great,' Gray thought. 'No one is going to be useful at this point.'

Varian was still lying on the ground when he came to consciousness. He groaned, and attempted to push himself up on his elbows, but was unable to. I can only hope that Rain heard my message. He thought to himself as he fell back to the ground, unconscious once again.

He woke to the sound of crackling fire in the night. He groaned, causing the person humming to stop and waddle over to where he was.

"Oh! You're awake! And just in time for dinner!" The old lady gave him a happy, toothless grin.. He attempted to sit up, gaining some help from the little lady. Once he was comfortably seated, the lady left for a moment, coming back with a bowl of soup.

"Eat up, dear- you need to restore as much magic as possible. Your friends need you."

Much to Lucy's surprise, a ragged, wrinkled old man stepped out of the crowd. "I believe you." She nearly fainted with relief. One person in the crowd believed her. One person was better than none.

"Oh come on!" a teenage girl cried, throwing her hands up with frustration. "Grandfather, how can you believe them? They're just feeding us more lies!" The crowd roared with agreement, the girl looking at the Earthland mages with a smug expression.

"Earthland wizards have come to us once, it's no surprise they'd manage to find their way back here again!" the elderly man grasped Erza's hands with his own shaky ones. "Look at this girl-Erza Scarlet-brave and bold." He tilted his head back and gazed at her with a sort of fascination. "But then look at her eyes, they show determination and a little bit of loneliness and fear. But most of all... they shine with compassion and love."

"That can't be right," a little boy spoke boldly from the arms of his mother. "The Fairy Hunter is emotionless. The king may have forgiven her, but that doesn't mean her heart of stone is gone." The boy buried his face in his mother's shoulder, flushing red.

"But she's got a friend," another villager pointed out, nodding toward Lucy. "Erza Knightwalker has no companions. She walks alone."

The teenage girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. But don't let your guard down. Just in case." Despite her sharp words, the villagers began to lower their weapons.

"Come," the senile villager said, tugging at Erza's hand. "I can offer you a place to stay until you're ready to leave."

Lucy willingly stepped forward, but Erza asked cautiously, "Will we be guaranteed safety?"

"I do not know how the villages in Earthland work, but in Edolas the safety of a human can never be guaranteed."

Satisfied by his answer, the titania followed the strange man.

"Mystogan's clothing is even heavier than it looks," Gray huffed, gently lowering the King of Edolas to the ground. "Bring Rain over here, will ya?"

Jellal obediently searched the ground for the girl and dragged her over to where Mystogan lay. "Mystogan came from over there," the blue-haired man said, nodding his head towards the general direction. "That must be where the exit is."

"So what do we do?" Gray asked exasperatedly. "Carry them both in that direction? I feel like that'll end in disaster."

"We can't stay down here forever," sighed Jellal. "And I don't know what's wrong with either of them. They need medical attention. Are they even breathing?"

Gray reached out to take Rain's pulse, then Mystogan's. Both were strong and steady.

"Jellal?" a voice shrieked. "Jellal! Help! J-Jellal!"

Jellal leaped to his feet wildly, his heart hammering in his chest. A blood-curdling scream erupted from somewhere in the cave. "Erza!" Jellal shouted, blindly trying to follow the scream."Erza!"

Gray scrambled to his feet, and stepped forward, trying to follow Jellal. "Erza?" he panicked. Had she appeared here too? Dammit, why hadn't they searched the entire place earlier?

"N-no," Mystogan coughed, his hand circling around Gray's ankle.

"Let go of me! Erza's in danger!" Gray insisted, shaking his leg out of the other man's grasp. Another scream followed.

"Erza!" Jellal sobbed. She was close, so close, yet so far away from him. He was helpless, shrouded in darkness, alone.

"It's not Erza," Mystogan pleaded weakly. "Don't go. It's the eidolons."

"Eidolon?" Gray murmured. 

"A phantom look-alike of a human..." Gray's eyes widened at Mystogan's words. 

"Jellal! Jellal don't take another step!" The raven-haired boy lunged forward, nearly tripping over Rain's unconscious body. "Jellal! It's an eidolon! It's not Erza!"

He could no longer see the figure of the blue-haired mage; he had wandered too far into the chamber.

"Jellal!" Gray yelled again. He couldn't lose another one of his comrades. He couldn't be left alone in the dark.

"She's gone," a heartbroken voice murmured somewhere to his left. "I lost her again."

"We're lost aren't we?" Erza whispered, almost to herself. "I thought you said you were taking us to your house. We've been walking for a while."

"Didn't your mom teach you not to follow strangers to their homes?" Lucy hissed in the scarlet-haired girl's ear.

Erza chuckled dryly. "I can't seem to recall."

"Here we are," the man said, sweeping his hand towards a small cottage. Built with smooth stone and entwined with vines, the quaint cottage smelled of lavender and sweet bread. WIth her mouth watering, Lucy strode up the steps eagerly. It seemed like ages, waiting for the villager to pull out his keys and unlock the door for his guests.

Inside, it was small, just as expected. A low, wooden table took up much of the room, as did the hand-knit rug and the chairs. A kitchen area to the left and beds to the right; it was definitely a homely place, according to Lucy.

"We need to find where the others are," Erza said, the second they entered the house.

"The others?" the man repeated, sitting on the couch closest to the kitchen. "More people came with you?"

"It's a long story," Lucy said.

"Make yourself comfortable," the villager told them, patting the couch good-naturedly.

The two mages sat stiffly on the sofa across from his chair. Erza sat back straight and hands in her lap, while Lucy's heels kicked a wooden leg of the furniture, anxious.

"There are a lot of strange things in Edolas," the elderly man said, with a knowing smile. "but if you and your friends managed to find a way to enter Edolas, I'm sure you will be fine. There's nothing a Fairy Tail wizard can't do, eh?"

Erza's eyes widened in wonder. "H-How..."

"You and Edo-Fairy Tail mages are very different, but there is one you have in common."

Lucy grinned widely at the man. "Our friendship!"