Firefall || Fairy Tail

7 : t o . c r o c u s

Nothing. Three months of roaming across Fiore and the Mythics hadn't been able to find the slightest sign of Acnologia. And even though Kia was finding minor traces of Zeref, none were solid enough for them to have a direction to start searching in. With everything, Kia should have been able to find him. She should have been able to figure out what he was thinking or where he would go after he ran from Tenrou Island.

"It's been awhile since we were on a wild goose chase." Verani yawned as she poked at their campfire.

Amber nodded, "Yeah. I was going to say it's been since we headed out a few years ago, but it's technically been about a decade now."

The blonde shivered, "Please don't remind me. It's so weird."

Kia was only half hearing their conversation. It wasn't as off putting to her, but it also wasn't a completely new experience either. She was honestly a little surprised that neither one of her best friends had decided to ask her to compare notes.

"Earthland to Kia."

The pink-haired girl blinked a few times, "Sorry. Did you say something?"

"No. Not really." V answered, "but you were starting to worry us with how deep you were in your head."

Amber nodded, "That's usually not a good thing."

Kia shook her head, "Sorry. Just trying to see if there was something I could have missed somewhere."

Verani chucked her stick on the blaze, "Will you stop beating yourself up about everything? You didn't cause the seven year sleep nor did you willingly let Zeref and Acnologia run around free for just as long."

Kia sighed, "I know. It's just that I saw him leaving the island that day."

"We know." Amber reached over to place a hand on her friend's knee. "But we both know that you can't kill him yet."

"Plus," V added, "if we had gone after Zeref, then we wouldn't have shown up when we did to help with Acnologia."

Reluctantly, Kia agreed. All of their friends were safe and that was nothing to be aggravated over. Deep down, she knew that she had made the right call, but she also couldn't help but feel like she missed an opportunity, especially after not being able to find him or that book for so long.

A rustle nearby caused all three girls to snap in its direction. Amber's hand hovered over her daggers as static began crackling up V's body. Reaching outward with her magic, Kia could sense only one person. She signaled that to the others as she continued to examine their life energy; there was something oddly familiar about it.

"Wait..." though she whispered the word, her friends looked at her in confusion. Before either of them could ask her what she was talking about, a voice came through the darkness.

"I see you've matured well, Kia."

A smile crept across the Phoenix Slayer's lips as the older blonde woman stepped into the light glowing from their campfire.

"It's good to see you, Anna."

||~x~||

"What were you doing in Crocus?" Kia's brows furrowed, "I thought you were going to avoid larger cities?"

"Normally I would," Anna smiled softly, "But I caught word of the returned Fairy Tail members competing in the Grand Magic Games. It's been so long that I wanted to check in on them."

Kia sat straight as a stick, "Wait...them? Do you mean all of them are there?"

The other nodded.