The Traces Left Behind

"I-I don't know anything." Joe Bluegarden replied.

"You don't have a library or another secret room somewhere?" Meliodas asked.

"N-no. The Council confiscated everything I owned that was magic related... this large mansion is essentially empty now." Joe said. The dark aura around Meliodas receded and his demonic features vanished. He let out a sigh.

"Well that's a shame. How about you give me whatever bottles of booze you have left and…" Meliodas's lighthearted tone vanished briefly and turned serious again. "Leave my friends alone."

"Y-yes! Of course! Right away!" Joe exclaimed as he scurried off into his mansion.

---

Late the next morning, Meliodas sat in a train on the way back to Magnolia Town. The train was mostly empty as many people did not want to travel during a large storm. The few people that were on the train were sleeping. As he sat down in his seat, he stared out the window. Outside, there was a heavy downpour of unrelenting rain. 'Looks like it's going to storm all day.' Meliodas thought to himself.

As he continued to stare out of the window, he noticed something peculiar in the clouds. In the distance, Meliodas saw the clouds begin to swirl around a singular point. From that point, the clouds opened up followed by what appeared to be a large vortex that shot out from the hole. Meliodas's eyes widened with surprise. 'That's right above Magnolia?!'

Meliodas stood up from his seat as he watched the vortex touch down. He could sense a tremendous amount of magical power coming from the clouds.

The train suddenly came to a screeching halt. The people who were taking a nap flew out of their seats and fell onto the floor. A voice rang out over the intercom.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, there will be a delay to Magnolia Town. Please remain calm and in your seats."

As the message finished, Meliodas ran through the corridor and opened the emergency exit of the train and jumped out. Wings of darkness sprouted from his back and he hastily flew towards Magnolia Town.

---

Meliodas arrived shortly at where he thought Magnolia Town was. Except the landscape had completely changed. It was completely flat, with occasional mounds of dust and debris here and there. There seemed to be a light snow that fell to the ground from the clouds.

Meliodas continued flying above the clearing when he heard the shout of a familiar little girl.

"IS ANYONE HERE?!"

Meliodas turned his head and saw Wendy standing all alone. He quickly flew down and landed next to her. Wendy noticed Meliodas approaching and gave him a tearful look.

"Wendy! What happened here?!" Meliodas questioned.

"T-the guild...it's all gone…" Wendy said. Meliodas looked all around them. Not a single person or building in sight. Just as he was about to speak, a head popped out of the ground right next to them.

"Natsu!" Wendy exclaimed.

Natsu pushed himself out of the ground and stood up. He looked around in complete shock as to what had happened.

"Wendy? And Meliodas! What happened here? Is this Magnolia?!" Natsu questioned with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know the specifics, but I saw it on the train back here. A hole in the clouds opened up and a large vortex sucked the entire town up." Meliodas replied.

"I-It swallowed up the whole guild and town! We're the only ones left!" Wendy cried.

"N-no way…" Natsu said in disbelief.

"It appears this was because of the special magic that you dragon slayers possess." A voice said from above them. All three of them looked up and saw a white cat slowly floating down towards them.

"Carla!" Wendy exclaimed. "You're okay!"

Carla landed on the ground next to them. She looked over at Meliodas who was also there.

"On the other hand, it looks like you lucked out. You weren't in town when the Anima struck, so you didn't get sucked up." Carla said.

"Anima…" Meliodas commented, remembering the term Mystogan said to him on their brief mission together. "Don't tell me that Mystogan…"

"Wait, you know about Mystogan?" Wendy questioned. Meliodas nodded.

"Then I suppose you're also aware of Edolas, aren't you Meliodas." Carla added in.

"Mystogan brought it up briefly but I don't know the specifics. I believe he mentioned something about parallel worlds..." Meliodas replied.

"Well that hole that opened up in the sky was actually a gateway to Edolas, the world on the other side." Carla continued.

"The hell are you all on about this Edolas crap?!" Natsu exclaimed. "Just tell me where everyone went!"

"Natsu calm down! That's what we're trying to figure out." Wendy responded.

"Natssuuuu!" Another voice called out from the distance. Everyone turned to the voice and saw a familiar blue cat flying towards them.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted out cheerfully.

"Where is the town?!" Happy cried.

"Happy too...I guess Natsu and Wendy were saved because of their unique magic and I wasn't in range of the Anima...but why are both Carla and Happy still here then?" Meliodas questioned.

"We're both from Edolas, that's why." Carla answered. Natsu, Wendy, and Happy turned their heads to Carla with a shocked expression. Carla's face became gloomier as she continued talking.

"We're the reason...that the town and guild disappeared...Edolas is a land that is losing its magic. As a result, the king made a spell to absorb magic from this world and bring it to Edolas…it's a hyper dimensional space spell, Anima."

"So that's why Mystogan was travelling around, closing these Animas then…" Meliodas added in.

"That's correct." Carla answered.

"So this one was too much for Mystogan to handle, and in turn it swallowed up the entire town." Meliodas said.

"Meliodas, I'm surprised you know so much about this!" Wendy interjected.

"Yes, that is quite strange, considering that you are not from Edolas, Meliodas." Carla added. "I find it hard to believe that Mystogan would reveal this to you, considering who he is as a person."

"That is true, but I don't think we should pry into-" Wendy's comment was interrupted by Meliodas.

"It's fine Wendy." Meliodas said with a friendly grin. "You guys would find out sooner or later anyway. Mystogan and I shared something in common being that we're not from this world to begin with."

"WHAT?!" Natsu yelled. "What is all this otherworldly crap?! Just give me back my friends!" Natsu shouted into the cloudy skies.

"Y-you're not from here?!" Wendy exclaimed. Carla looked at Meliodas with a surprised expression. Meliodas returned a casual laugh at her before continuing.

"So what does this Anima have to do with you?" Meliodas asked.

"Yeah...how is it mine and Carla's fault?" Happy asked.

"Because...we were sent on a mission from their kingdom and sent to this world." Carla replied.

"But you two were born here weren't you?! You hatched from an egg HERE!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Yeah! I found Happy's egg here!" Natsu added.

"I've never been to Edolas, that much is true. But the mission and information about Edolas has been ingrained into us. We were meant to be born aware of everything from our birth." Carla said. She looked over to Happy, who was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"And how do you not know a thing about our mission!" Carla shouted spitefully. Happy returned a nervous look before looking away.

"Now, now. No need to be so harsh." Meliodas said. "So what is this mission of yours anyway. You guys can't be some sort of catalyst to open Animas right?"

"I can't say…" Carla said remorsefully.

"But Carla…" Happy added in. "I want to know. Please tell me what I-"

"I said I can't say! If you want to know so badly, remember it yourself male cat!" Carla shouted angrily. Happy returned a saddened look to Carla before looking to the ground. Meliodas looked at the two cats, then looked at Wendy and Natsu.

"This mission…You don't have to answer, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it has something to do with dragon slayers doesn't it?" Meliodas said with a grin. Carla could not contain the look of surprise on her face as she looked at Meliodas. She quickly looked the other way.

"I don't care what this has to do with us!" Natsu interjected. "Since things are straightened up here, why don't we go to Edolas ourselves!"

"Nothing's straightened out! What are you on about!" Carla shouted at Natsu.

"Well since nothing's straightened out, the only way to straighten things out is to head to Edolas right?" Meliodas said.

"We can go there…but there's no guarantee we can even come back to this world." Carla said glumly.

"That's not a problem! If my friends are all there, then I don't mind staying there at all!" Natsu said.

"Me too!" Wendy added in.

"I don't mind a bit of world hopping." Meliodas said with a cheeky smile.

"Aye...we can save everyone!" Happy added.

"Fine…" Carla said, looking at all of them. "But there are a few conditions I need you all to follow. You'll all have to disguise yourselves as we can't be caught. They especially can't know about me and the male cat. Also I can't be your navigator, as I know nothing about Edolas apart from the knowledge I was born with. Second, do not inquire about my mission." Carla said, looking at both Happy and Meliodas. "And third, if the male cat and I end up doing something to betray you, then kill us immediately." Carla said with a serious expression. Wendy and Natsu returned a nervous glance at each other.

"I'm sure it won't come to that." Meliodas said reassuringly as he put a hand on their shoulders.

"Then we'll go now!" Carla exclaimed as she suddenly jumped towards Wendy and picked her up, soaring up into the air.

"Wait up!" Happy yelled as he picked up Natsu and trailed right behind them. Meliodas looked in the sky at the two dragon slayers and two cats flying towards the clouds. 'This Anima might be the key to me returning to my world. If it comes to this... I will miss these guys if that's the case…'

Meliodas shook the thought and jumped up high into the air. Wings of darkness appeared on his back as he soared into the sky and caught up Happy and Carla.

"Meliodas!" Carla yelled as they flew faster. "You'll have to stay extremely close to us. We're going to use the traces left from the Anima to get in thanks to our wings!"

"Right!" Meliodas said as he slipped right in between Natsu and Wendy, flying between the two of them.

"Male cat, we're going to break through right now! Release your magic!" Carla shouted.

"Aye!" Happy responded.

The three of them increased their speed as they flew straight up into the air. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the sky and they flew through.

The next moment, Happy, Carla, and the Dragon Slayers found themselves hovering high above the land of Edolas. The land consisted of many plateaus and floating islands. Strange creatures unknown to them flew high above the ground.

"So this is Edolas…" Carla said as she looked down below them.

"Wait! Where's Meliodas?!" Wendy exclaimed. Everyone looked around them, wondering where Meliodas went.

"That can't be. He was right there with us. I saw him go into the Anima with us!" Carla said in disbelief.

"Aye...I think we have a bigger problem…" Happy said nervously as he and Carla's wing's suddenly vanished.