Fairy Tail; The Sequel

Chapter Ten ; New Guildmates

"I don't get any of this," Lucy groaned, looking over at her friend for guidance. Unfortunately, she was met with an intimidating view of several piles of books, all stacked precariously on top of each other. "Levy?"

"Yeah?" the girl answered. "What did you say?"

"Does this make any sense to you? I've only gotten through two books and I'm already lost."

"It's fairly simple," Levy replied, much to the other's dismay. "There's the Anima and the Reverse Anima. The Anima is a gate that transfers everything from Earthland to Edolas, while the Reverse Anima is just the inverse."

"Oh! I get it!" Meredy exclaimed, her face glowing eagerly.

"Simple," Lucy deadpanned. "Right."

"But how do we get the Anima to actually...open up?" Meredy asked, pushing her pile of books away. They clattered to the ground, making everyone jump. "Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"Remember the first time the Anima opened?" Levy asked Wendy and Lucy. They both nodded vigorously. That had been an adventure.

"The first time?" Sorano and Meredy chorused. "You mean...you guys have done this before?"

"No," Levy continued, removing her Gale-Force Reading Glasses. She turned to the two girls. "Here's the thing. The Anima can be opened by using a special machine that is located in the Anima Chamber of the Edolas castle. The last time we were in Edolas, there was this battle, and the castle was kind of..."

"Demolished," Wendy finished with a sigh. She brightened up suddenly. "But maybe Jellal- I mean Mystogan- and everyone fixed it."

"For our sake, I hope so," Lucy said, closing her book with finality. "So...anyone come up with a good theory as to why the three brothers are here?"

Everyone shook their heads with embarrassment.

"That's going to be a problem, isn't it?" Lily asked gruffly. "It's all one-sided. The only way to open the gates is to contact Mystogan."

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," Levy said, rubbing her forehead. "That's what everyone needs me to figure out."

The five mages and the Exceed sat in silence, pondering their seemingly unsolvable problem.

"I think this is all making sense now," Erza said, looking at the drawing contentedly. She traced her finger along the pale face of one of the three brothers. "Skull," Erza murmured, following the outline of the sketch. Her expression darkened as her eyes roamed across the man's sharp features. "He looks so weak and helpless now that we know his name. Ryker Coy."

"That's a start," Jellal replied, studying the paper from over her shoulder. The drawing of the three men looked eerily realistic, as if they would jump out of the picture any second now. "We just need to send the brothers' back to where they belong."

"You make everything sound so easy!" Romeo chimed in, smiling up at the blue-haired man. They had a newfound friendship, the three of them, Romeo, Jellal, and Natsu. It was weird, but somewhat comforting. Jellal knew he could rely on the two of them to make a fool out of themselves, which would result in pressure being taken off of him. Weird, but comforting.

"I deserve a break," Erza announced. "I'm going to eat-"

"Cake, right?" Natsu butted in. "I'll ask Mira to make some-"

Erza stared at him suspiciously. "That's kind of you, but I already bought cake from Magnolia Bakery."

The three mages watched as the Titania set off to retrieve her beloved strawberry cake.