A Railgun In Fairy Tail, Book 6: Apocalypse

Old Enemies and Unexpected Friends

"Am I lost...?" Mikoto muttered. "Or does this tree just look like the one we already past."

"Actually, this is the Twin Pine Forest." said Lucy. "Every tree is supposed to look the same...right down to the lower forked branch under the right side."

It had already been about half a day since the group had heard about the dark plague that was spreading itself over the continent and next the entire planet. So far the group had managed to make it extremely close to the small peninsula that was supposed to be where they would find the Hydra Head Guild headquarters...then find their way over to the coast where they would somehow be able to find the Gate of Entry.

"Really, it's like Mikoto said." said Happy. "Every tree looks exactly the same!!"

"I heard a story about this forest." said Nicole. "It was said that an old paranoid mage used to live here. He was a perfectionist who absolutely hated even the slightest flaw. So he cast a spell...and this is what happened. Rumor is, that the spell to make everything look the same down to the last twig took a toll on the man...and he died. They say his ghost still haunts this place in the form a hulking skull masked monster."

"You mean like that skull masked monster that we saw back in Edolas?" Natsu asked.

"That?" Nicole said. "That was likely a hollow."

"Hollow?" said Mikoto.

"You see the souls I use for my Dragon Slayer powers are spirits...creatures who were ghosts to begin with and have no real guiding intelligence except for those that control them." said Nicole. "Like ants. However, human souls are different. If they have enough despair or they don't move on and stay in the world of the living long enough...they become vicious soul eating monsters called Hollows. They actually don't taste that bad.."

"Wait!" said Lucy. "You've eaten those things?!"

"I'm a Ghost Dragon Slayer...of course I have...fortunately for Hollows, when they are destroyed, the human spirit inside immediately departs for the afterlife...so it's not like eating an actual human soul. Not even my mother would have done such a horrid thing as to eat a soul with guiding intelligence."

"Anyways." said Mikoto. "Coming away from all the ghost talk, I think we've just about made it."

"Eh?" said Natsu. "What makes you say that?"

Mikoto pointed near the top of the tree line where a mountain could be seen. In the center of the mountain's top, a large swirling black vortex could be seen. Well, nothing said dark guild like a giant evil mountain.

"What are those things writhing all over it?" asked Elli as she sat atop Mikoto's head for a better view. "It looks like...hmmm multi-headed worms."

"Hydras.." said Mikoto. "Of course...and now that I think about it...why don't we ever have any fluttering fairies around our guild?"

"Nobody knows if they're real or not." said Happy shrugging.

"You come to a world filled with magic, dragons, and demons." said Mikoto. "And yet, they're still wondering if fairies ever existed....of course."

"Anyways, it looks like we're only about 5 miles from the base of the mountain." said Nicole. "I'll send some shadow spirits to scout ahead for us..in the meantime we could split up and look for possible ways to go around to the coast without being seen."

"We'll be trying to go North East." said Lucy. "So I guess that's the sensible direction to look. Teehee...which means I'll finally get a chance to use this little guy!"

"Wait...are you talking about..?" Mikoto began as her cheeks began to redden.

"That's right!" said Lucy winking. "Open! Gate of The Compass!! Pyxis!!"