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43 | an old face

The wizards of Fairy Tail nervously fidgeted around. They had been told that an announcement was going to made around noon, and it had been easy to figure out that it most likely had to do with the purple-haired Dragon Slayer. That and the cloud of gloom that seemed to hang around the Thunder Legion and Makarov, who had been the only members of the Guild to actually see Galatea in the past few days. Wendy had done a body scan on the first day, and Bisca had been brought into the infirmary to talk as well, but other than that, the only people Porylusica was letting into the infirmary was the guests, Makarov, and the Thunder Legion. It made the Guild anxious over her status.

Eventually, Makarov and Porylusica stepped onto the stage. Makarov walked up to the microphone, and his gaze swept the room. The wizards instinctively stood up a little straighter, unsure about what was about to said.

"As many of you, one of our own succumbed to an unknown illness recently. As many of you have likely gathered, our ill brethren is Tea." Makarov said, watching as much of Guild deflated. "After speaking with several of Tea's close friends, Porylusica has reached a diagnosis."

Makarov stepped back and looked up at the Healer, gesturing for her to take the stage.

"Her dangerously low body temperature, body parlaysis, and the ridiculous amount of magic she had used in the past few months all confirmed what I had been dreading when she fell into my care recently." Porylusica spoke, "My official diagnosis is that Tea has an Anti-Ethernano Tumour. "

"Anti-Ethernano Tumour.... what's that?" Gray asked, confused at the word.

"An Anti-Ethernano Tumour is a malignant mass that develops over time, often from years of consistent Magic abuse, or in Tea's case a massive overexertion of Magic. The symptoms are deadly should the tumour grow to large, which is what has happened to Tea." Porylusica explained to the Guild.

"Can it be treated or removed?" Wendy asked, her eyes wavering.

"The only way to remove the tumour is through immediate surgery. Unfortunately, no surgeon in Ishgar has the skills or knowledge to remove the tumour without killing the patient." Porylusica informed the Guild. "There is nothing any of us can do. We will simply have to wait until Tea's body finally gives and she succumbs to the tumour."

The Guild was completely silent. They didn't think it could ever come to this. To think that one of their own was dying and there was nothing that they could do, it infuriated them. Fairies were protective of their own, much more than other Guilds. So to have one of their own members unjustly taken from them was unsettling.

"That is all, we simply wished to inform the Guild of the fate of one of our own." Makarov said lowly, lowering his head. "You may carry on."

"You can't be serious!" Natsu said, "There has to be something we can do! Just because you think there isn't someone that can do it, doesn't mean there isn't someone."

"Natsu. Stop." Laxus called, making heads turn.

"Why aren't you fighting this? You guys are her own team!" Lucy questioned.

"Because we already knew." Freed said, unable to look at the Guild. "We found out last night. So please, just stop. There's nothing we can do."

Freed's voice gradually got quieter and quieter, making the others stop. Of course the Thunder Legion would be effected more than anyone else in the Guild. They were her best friends and her teammates, so the blow came a lot bigger to them. Team Natsu backed off, retreating away from them. It was clear the Thunder Legion needed space, and time to take everything in. And the others would just have to give them that.

For once, Fairy Tail could not fight against this enemy. They would simply to sit aside and watch the evil take one of them away.

Hundreds of miles away, in a large underground cavern slept Her Majesty, Queen of the Space Dragons. Her large frame was curled in on itself, moving up and down slowly as she took deep breaths. Various slashes and cuts littered her body, and she was missing some scales. Courtesy of a recent encounter with Acnologia. When she had taken off from Crocus that fateful night, it hadn't taken her long to find the Dragon King. Their fight lasted for hours, with neither of them gaining the upper hand. Acnologia's couldn't eat Spatial Dragon Magic, as doing so would tear apart his insides. Both flew away from the fight sustaining heavy injuries, and neither had finished the victor. But Andromeda had completed her job, to keep Acnologia away from Crocus. As much as she held distaste for the Fiore Royal Family for enacting such a stupid plan in the first place, she cared too much about Galatea and her wellbeing to let Acnologia cause even more destruction to the people around her.