Chapter 49: A New Adventure Begins! Welcome to Edolas!
Dante looked out the window from his seat on the moving train, the passing scenery flying by as the train sped along to its destination. He was on his way back from the prison where he visited Sorano. Thinking back for a moment, Dante remembered Sorano's sad look when he had to leave her for now. They were cuddling on the bed when Lahar announced from the other side of the door that the visit was ending in just five minutes. With reluctance Dante and Sorano began to dress themselves.
Once they were dressed Sorano looked at her master with a sad look, he was going to have to leave her soon. Dante, wanting to comfort Sorano closed the distance between them. He placed a loving kiss on her lips, and she returned it with the same love and passion. The two of them remained close as they tried to make the most out of their last moments together. Needing air the two of them drew apart, each looking into the other's eyes while they remained close.
"Sorano remember that this isn't for long. I will visit as often as I can, and I promise I will work hard to get you out of this place" stated Dante with conviction in his voice. Sorano couldn't voice a response due to her bubbling emotions, so she simply kissed her master lovingly on the lips. They were interrupted by Lahar announcing he was coming in and soon enough Sorano was being led away from Dante in her chains.
Remembering this sad departure from Sorano, Dante cursed the fact he couldn't do anything in the moment. He wished he could just break Sorano out of prison right there and then. With his power he might have been able to pull it off, but he knew that wasn't how Sorano wanted her freedom. If he wanted to free Sorano, then he would have to do it the right way. He would have to use his influence with the magic council as one of the ten wizard saints to appeal for Sorano's release.
The first thing Dante was going to do when he got back to Fairy Tail was talk with Master Markov. Dante would need Markov's help with his appeal, Markov had much more pull and influence built up with the magic council. He hoped that with Markov's help, the combined voices of two wizard saints could free Sorano from prison.
As Dante was thinking these things, he continued to look out the train window. He was admiring the scenery as it flew by, he was almost home. Suddenly, however, Dante saw a blinding light in the distance. Seeing this blinding light Dante's heart skipped a beat, that light was coming from Magnolia. Knowing that whatever that light was could not be good, Dante stood up. The train had stopped moving at this point in response to the blinding light but that didn't stop Dante. He ran over to the closed train door and ripped it open as he used his takeover magic.
Dante transformed into his Angel Soul Gabriel form as he stepped out of the stopped train. He spread his wings and flew high into the air before speeding towards Magnolia. Flying as fast as his power allowed him Dante hoped that everyone back home was alright. Traveling at the high speeds he was it didn't take long before Dante was flying over Magnolia. What Dante saw as he flew high above Magnolia filled him with confusion and despair.
Dante was flying over the place he knew Magnolia should be, but nothing was here. He was flying over a barren wasteland, as if a bustling city didn't once exist here. Picking up the pace Dante flew quickly to the part of town where Fairy Tail was supposed to be. Dread filled him as he saw that the guildhall was also missing, but it seemed that Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla had survived whatever had happened.
"Thank god you guys are safe, what the hell happened? I was on my back into town, and I saw this blinding light and now everything and everyone is gone" stated Dante hoping that someone had the answers.
Carla happened to be the one with the answers and Dante almost didn't believe her. Apparently, Carla and Happy, while they were born in what Carla called Earthland, they were originally from an alternate world called Edolas. This alternate world was a counterpart to Earthland, but it was running out of magical power. The blinding light that appeared in the sky was something called the Anima which Edolas used to steal magic power from Earthland. Rage filled Dante when he heard that everyone in Fairy Tail was turned into a magical lacrima and taken to Edolas.
"We need to save them. Can we go to Edolas Carla" asked Dante wondering if there was any way he could save Mira and the others. Carla went on the explain that it might be possible to save everyone, and she had certain geographical knowledge of Edolas, but she laid out a few conditions. Her first condition was to not question how she knew any of these or for Happy to ask her about their origins. Carla's next condition was one that Dante could not accept, she asked that if she or Happy did anything to endanger them that they must kill them.
"Carla, I don't know you very well, but I can't imagine you or Happy doing something to endanger us. Besides you are both members of Fairy Tail and I will never raise a hand against a fellow guild member in such a way" stated Dante in a confident and serious tone. Carla seemed to reluctantly accept these words for the moment.
"So how do we get to Edolas Carla" asked Wendy. Carla explained that they would have to fly through the hole in the sky which would take them to Edolas. Happy and Carla each took on the job of flying Natsu and Wendy while Dante flew into the air himself. Dante's world spun around as he passed through the hole in the sky along with Natsu and the others.
When the world stopped spinning, Dante was amazed along with the others at the strange new world that they found themselves in. The floating islands captivated Dante and the others as they continued to fly through the sky. It seemed Edolas was remarkably different from Earthland Dante thought. While Dante and the others were flying through the skies, Dante suddenly felt his magical power leave him. He was suddenly transformed back into his normal form, and immediately felt the drop in altitude.
Dante looked to his side while he was falling quickly towards the ground and discovered that both Happy and Carla were having the same problem he was. As the ground quickly approached at a frightening speed, Dante braced himself for the rough landing. He crashed through serval trees, luckily the branches broke his fall enough that he didn't break his neck when he hit the ground. Grunting in pain as he looked around him, Dante was relieved to find everyone else had made it relatively safely to the ground.
"What happened, why did my magic stop working" asked Happy in a confused tone. Dante was about to ask the very same question as Carla responded.
"I told you tomcat; magical power is low here in Edolas" responded Carla. Dante swore to himself with this knowledge, he didn't think that would mean his own magical power would cease to work in Edolas. Suddenly Dante realized rescuing Mira and the others was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.
"Wait so that means our magic isn't going to work here?! That sucks" responded Natsu in his typical loud tone. Dante had to agree with Natsu, things were now much more difficult with any magic.
"Magic or no magic we have to save everyone. Are you guys still with me" asked Dante. Everyone nodded their head at Dante's words and soon they were all following Carla's direction.
It didn't take long before they ran into some travelers who reacted oddly to seeing Happy and Carla. The travelers reacted with great fear at seeing Happy and Carla which was strange to Dante and the others. Dante knew Happy his entire life and while Carla was a newcomer to the guild he would hardly think of them as scary or intimidating. After the travelers reaction, they all decided to wear disguises to be safe.
After donning disguises, they all continued to walk following Carla's directions until a large monster approached them looking hungry. Natsu rushed forward and punched the monster with all his might, only to find that it had no effect thanks to Natsu having zero magical power. Natsu backed up in fear as Dante noticed the others also shaking in fear at the monster looming over them. Smiling to himself, Dante confidently walked forward towards the looming threat.
"Dante what are you doing" asked Happy in a worried tone as Dante faced down a monster without any of his magical power.
"Come on Happy have some confidence in me. I am one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards. It just so happens that I have the perfect strategy to face a monster while I have no magical power" responded Dante with a confident smile as he stood in front of the giant monster without a hint of fear. Happy and the others smiled at Dante's words thinking that he really did have a plan to save them.
"Really?! What kind of plan is it" asked Wendy in a curious tone with a smile on her face at the idea of Dante having a way to stop the monster. Dante chuckled lightly before he responded.
"It's a simple but elegant plan. Listen up everyone, when you are faced with a monster, and you have no magical power to fight it there is a simple way to get out of trouble" responded Dante with a smile as he paused for dramatic affect.
"RUN" yelled Dante as he turned around and ran as fast as he could away from the monster. Everyone reacted with shock as Dante had them completely fooled.
"That was your plan! Wait up" yelled Natsu as everyone else ran after Dante. Luckily Dante and the others were able to successfully run away from the monster. After taking a moment to catch their breath, they all continued to walk forward. After a short while Natsu spotted the familiar mark of Fairy Tail on a window. Thinking that this must be where everyone was transported to, Dante and the others quickly made their way inside the building with the guild mark. Bursting into the guildhall, Dante and the others were filled with hope as they saw the familiar sight of a crowded guildhall.
This hope, however, was quickly overshadowed by confusion at what they saw. The first thing Dante noticed was that the guild hall looked completely different from usual. Secondly it seemed almost everyone was acting very weird, as if some of them were complete opposites. Gray was wearing multiple layers of clothes, Cana stated that she never once had a drop of alcohol, and Elfman was acting like a wimp. Dante and the others only became more confused when Lucy, who was dressed radically differently approached Natsu and practically assaulted him.
As Lucy was wrestling with Natsu, Carla realized that these Fairy Tail members must be the Edolas counter parts of their friends. Dante thought that this was a good explanation of what he was seeing, all of the familiar faces acting so differently from what he was used to. As Dante was trying to think of what to do next considering his friends were still in danger, someone stepped through the crowd surrounding them that made his heart stop. Time stood still for Dante as his breath died in his throat when he was standing face to face with someone, he thought he would never see again, his little sister Lisanna.
Dante, Natsu and Happy looked at Lisanna with shock and awe as they looked at her like they were seeing a ghost. As Dante was looking at his little sister all the memories of her rushed to the surface. He remembered how she always followed him around, even making jokes about wanting to marry him when she was just a child. That fateful day when he failed flashed through his mind as his breathing became erratic and panicked. Dante tried to speak to Lisanna, he spent so much time wondering what he would do if he could see his little siter again even if just for a minute but now he could think of nothing to say. His powerful emotions overwhelmed Dante as he dropped to his knees, no matter how hard he tried Dante found that he could breathe.
"Dante! Are you okay?! What's happening" yelled Wendy with worry. Dante vaguely noticed Wendy and the others including the Edolas versions of his friends gather around him in worry while he clutched at his chest. He was desperately trying to take in the needed air but no matter how deeply he breathed he felt starved for oxygen.
"I c-can't breathe" responded Dante between deep and desperate breaths. While his vision began to fade, Dante thought he saw Lisanna disappear into the crowd with a sad look.
"I think he's having a panic attack" yelled Wendy with worry in her voice. Dante breathed deeply for a few more moments before he felt himself lose consciousness. His mind was a mess while he tried to processes seeing his long dead little sister as he collapsed to the ground.
End of Chapter 49