Present: Edolas

A/N:

Next chapter! I still don't own any songs! Also, Edolas will be this chapter. It won't be the same as it was in the manga. Parts will be skipped, others may be shifted around, all depending on what I want to do!

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Evangeline sat at the bar, downing yet another vodka shot.

"Mira," she called at she held up her shot glass for another fill. Instead of filling the glass, Mira took it.

"Evangeline. You've had ten shots and its only 2pm. I'm cutting you off," Mira said. Evangeline sighed and rested her head on the bar top.

"Mira so mean," Evangeline said. Mira gave Evangeline a look.

"Ev, you gotta stop just coming to the guild to get drunk," Mira said. Evangeline shook her head, though it didn't work very well since she still had her face on the bar top.

"Gray took all my booze before he left. Need booze here," Evangeline said.

"Evangeline. Look at me," Mira said, her tone leaving no room for resistance. Evangeline picked her head up to look at her friend.

Mira slapped her. Hard. Everyone who was at the guild stopped talking and looked over at the two.

"Get yourself together, Evangeline. You are not someone who tries to forget her problems my drowning herself in alcohol. Stop hiding. Now go home and sort through your feelings and stop being a hypocrite," Mira said. Her voice echoed through the guild hall and everyone heard her loud and clear. Mira wanted to be the supportive friend, but that wasn't what Evangeline needed. Evangeline needed someone to push her right now.

Evangeline held her left cheek where Mira had slapped her and looked at her with wide eyes. She stayed silent for a moment before she blinked and dropped her head.

"Sorry, Mira," Evangeline mumbled. Mira put her hand on her shoulder.

"We love you, Evangeline. I'm sorry I had to do that, but someone needed to," Mira said. Evangeline nodded, then stood up.

"I might take a vacation for a while," Evangeline said. Mira nodded.

"That's a good idea. Just tell us where you're off to, okay?" Mira told her. Evangeline nodded to her before she left the guild.

Evangeline took to the streets of Magnolia with no real destination in mind. Her mind was still foggy from all her alcohol that morning. And the day before. She was dreading the hangover she'd have the next day.

She ended up outside Kardia Cathedral. It was currently having repairs done from the damage caused weeks ago from the Battle of Fairy Tail. She stood there for a few minutes staring at the building before walking towards the cemetery. It had been a long time since she visited her parents' graves.

She found the graves without really needing to think about it.

"Hey Mom. Dad," Evangeline said softly. "Sorry I haven't stopped by in a while. A lot has happened recently." Evangeline sat down on the ground.

"Remember how I told you that Laxus started changing after his father got expelled? He kept getting worse. Whatever darkness his father instilled in him before he was banished kept growing. The dragon's lacrima probably didn't help either. He didn't tell me about it. I could have helped him, but he didn't tell me. It kept getting worse until he actually attacked me. I've got a scar from that, now. I lost most of my magic for about a year. We got a divorce after. Then a few weeks ago, he made everyone in the guild fight each other. I was the only one who would be able to beat him aside from Gildarts, who is still on his 100-year mission. He'd completely lost control over himself. I fought him. A little bit into our fight, I heard something. I heard his thoughts. I finally learned your magic," she said.

"There's more, though. There were two voices in his head. The Laxus I married was still there. The darker version had taken control, though. My magic had come back and I was able to use light magic to get rid of that dark voice. We talked for a bit after that before he knocked me out. He told me he loved me still. That he always would. Then the next day, I woke up to find out that he was gone.

"He told me to find someone else because I deserved better. I don't want anyone else. I don't know what to do now, though. No one knows where he is. I miss him. Part of me feels the same way as I did after you two died. It feels like part of me is dead, except this time there's no one there to help me bring that part of me back," Evangeline finished. She felt better just getting the last few statements off her chest. She still loved Laxus. She never really stopped. Had she feared him, yes. But that didn't matter. She still loved him the whole time. And he had loved her too.

The wind picked up and blew two leaves past her. She closed her eyes. She remembered something her parents had told her when they realized she loved Laxus.

"Love is painful, Evangeline. You can feel lost and alone. Something your father told me when he proposed was 'I lost my way all the way to you and in you I found all the way back to me.' You will find yourselves in each other. Sometimes, love is shown in leaving. Love that is meant to be always finds its way back," her mother had told her. Evangeline hadn't known what she meant, but now she understood.

"Thanks, Mom. Dad. I feel better now," Evangeline whispered as she stood up and made her way out of the cemetery and decided to go back to her apartment. She paused, though. No, she decided she was going to go her home.

Evangeline didn't know that there was someone following her. He was watching her as she walked around Magnolia and then when she had gone to her parents' graves. He stayed in the trees to give her some sense of privacy. He made a promise to make sure she was okay, and he intended on keeping that promise. He watched her stand and leave the cemetery. She was walking to her apartment first, but then turned down a different street and took to the outskirts of town. He was confused as to why she was going there until he saw the large house on the horizon after half an hour of walking. He hadn't noticed that Evangeline stopped walking, and accidentally got too close.

"Gajeel, did Mira put you up to following me?" Evangeline said. Gajeel froze. She turned to face him. "It's okay. Sorry you heard my sob story."

"Not much of a sob story, Evangeline. You had something you needed to talk about," Gajeel said, embarrassed he had been caught.

"Yeah," Evangeline said softly. "Is it stupid that I feel a lot better now?"

"No," he said. "Not stupid. A bit weird to talk to dead people, but if it works it works." Evangeline laughed quietly.

"Thanks, Gajeel," she said. She started walking towards the house again and Gajeel followed.

"Whose house is this?" he asked.

"Mine," Evangeline said. Gajeel's jaw dropped.

"This mansion is your house?" he basically shouted. It was even more grand the closer they got.

"Mhmm. Laxus and I bought this three years ago. I wanted a house that reminded me of my parents' house, and this was the only one that made me feel like I was at home. It was way over our budget, but we took a lot of S-Class jobs and managed to save enough to buy it. I didn't want to take out a loan because I hate being in debt," Evangeline explained.

"Do I even want to ask how much this was," Gajeel thought out loud.

"70 million," Evangeline said. Gajeel paled.

"Holy fuck that's a lot," he said. "How?"

"Well, there's a lot of people who like to try and fight me because of Aspen. They want to kill me to get her sealed into whatever and then seal her into something else. I don't quite understand it because Aspen won't cooperate with the vast majority of people, so there's no reason to take her. But because of that, lots of dark mages come after me. Most of them have large bounties on their heads. Within Fairy Tail, collecting bounties is generally frowned upon, but I kind of have a free pass because they come after me anyway. Between the bounties, and both of us doing S-Class jobs, it didn't take too long. We were staying at my parents' home before and we ended up selling it eventually to pay off the loan on it," she said. Gajeel whistled.

"Damn," he said.

"Anyway, feel free to come in," Evangeline said as she got to the door. It didn't have a key because it unlocked to her magic. She entered and looked around. It was exactly how she remembered it. Gajeel followed quietly behind her. He stood in the foyer and let Evangeline have space to walk around her home.

Evangeline wandered into the living room and saw the photos on the wall of her wedding. There were also several other pictures of Evangeline with Laxus and also her family and the other kids at the guild back in the day. She went straight for the large picture of her and Laxus on their wedding day walking out of the cathedral. There was a table under it and on top of that, she found their rings. She had no idea how Laxus had gotten her diamond ring to put in on that table, but she assumed he probably had Freed get it. Beneath their rings was a letter. She gently moved their rings off the letter and carried it over to the couch to open.

Evangeline,

After leaving my other letter with your necklace, I decided I needed to write something else. I didn't trust that Mira or Gramps wouldn't open that one. You deserve more.

You might be wondering where I got your ring. Surprisingly, Gray agreed to get it for me just before I left. I had no idea that you still had it when I approached him about it, but I had hoped you'd saved it.

I'll start by saying I never wanted any of this to happen. I thought I'd be able to pull myself off the path I was heading down, but I wasn't able to. That's my fault. I didn't want to burden you with my problems, but in doing so I broke my vows to you. I also ended up hurting you. The day I did that was the worst day of my life.

Now, as for the rings. I broke my vow to you once, and I intend on never doing that again. You are too stubborn to actually do what I asked you to do, so here's the deal. I have no idea if I'll ever be allowed back. I shouldn't be, but something gives me a feeling I'll be back someday. Keep those rings with you, Ev. Keep them safe until I come back for you. That's my promise to you.

Wait for me to come home, love. I'll be back before you know it.

Evangeline finished the letter and she set it down on the coffee table in front of her. She went back to the table with their rings and picked them up. She carried them up to their bedroom and found a silver chain that belonged to an old necklace of hers that she no longer wanted. She strung both rings onto the chain and put it on. They rested just over her heart. She then wandered into her closet and found the bag that held her wedding dress.

"You had better come back, idiot," she said as she touched the dress. She took a deep breath and then returned to the foyer. Gajeel was still there, leaning against a wall.

"Ready to go already?" he asked her. He had figured she would be there a while longer, but then he caught a glint of the rings on a necklace she wore.

"Yeah. I'll be back another day," Evangeline said as she opened the door and left the house. Gajeel followed after and made sure the door closed.

"The rings?" he asked, curious as to why she had them.

"A promise," was all she said. Gajeel made sure that she made it back to her apartment before going back to the guild.

"He left their rings for her?" Mira asked, blinking. Gajeel nodded.

"She said it was a promise," he told her.

"He intends on coming back for her," Master chimed in. "Evangeline wouldn't be able to move on from him. I think we all know that."

"Really?" Gajeel asked. Mira and Master nodded.

"They grew up together. Everyone just always assumed they would be together because they always were. If there are soulmates, those two would be the definition of it, really," Mira explained.

"We were all surprised they waited until they were 19 to get married," Master added while Mira nodded.

"While I was disappointed for a while, I think it's better they didn't have any kids yet. God forbid all this happened with kids in the mix," Mira sighed. "But, here's to the future!" Gajeel decided that this was a good time to escape. The guild hall doors opened to show Team Natsu with an extra kid with them.

"We're back!" Natsu shouted. Erza brought the new girl to the bar to get her guild stamp.

"Evangeline isn't here?" Erza said to Mira. Mira shook her head.

"I sent her away for now. She's been drunk at the bar for a few weeks while you've all been gone," Mira said. Erza sighed.

"I was worried that would happen. Where has she gone?" Erza asked. Gajeel re-entered the conversation.

"Mira sent me to follow her to make sure she was alright. She was pretty drunk. She went to visit her parents first then she seemed to change back to normal Evangeline. Then she went to her house, not the apartment," Gajeel said. Erza stared.

"She went to the house?" Erza said. She wasn't expecting Evangeline to go back yet, but Evangeline surprised everyone sometimes.

"Mhmm. She's back to normal now. She's got the light back in her eyes that's been gone for a long time," he said. "She went back to her apartment for now if you want to see her. Also, who's the kid?"

Erza then remembered that she was getting Wendy her guild stamp.

"Wendy Marvel," the girl said.

"She's a dragon slayer as well," Erza added. Gajeel narrowed his eyes.

"You dragon disappeared on July 7, 777 as well?" he asked. She nodded sadly.

"Well, that makes three of us, kid," Gajeel said. Wendy smiled. She wasn't alone.

"Wendy, I'm going to take the team to go see Evangeline. Would you like to meet her?" Erza asked the younger girl. Wendy nodded.

"It's not a good idea to invade someone's house who wanted to be alone," a white cat said as she floated up next to Wendy's head.

"Nonsense, Carla. Evangeline has a rule. If we need her, her door is always open for us, regardless of the time or circumstances. Our rule is that we will always be there if she needs us. Right now, I think she needs us," Erza said. The rest of Team Natsu, who had made their way over, nodded in agreement.

"Now, let's go. I gotta go see what my sister got herself into while we were gone," Gray said. He was eager to see her, especially after learning she turned into Cana 2.0.

Evangeline was sitting on her couch with hers and Laxus's rings in her hands when she heard a knock on her door.

She stood and went over to let whoever was there in. She was still holding the rings in one of her hands. She was surprised to see Team Natsu there.

"Oh, hey guys," she said, blinking. Her brain was still foggy from the alcohol. "Come in." Natsu and Happy quickly went over to her couch and crashed onto it, while the rest slowly trickled in. They had a new blue haired girl and a white cat with them.

"What's your name," she asked the girl with blue hair.

"Wendy Marvel," she replied. "Sorry to come meet you at your own home. They kind of dragged me." Evangeline laughed softly.

"They do that. It's perfectly fine, don't worry about it. Feel free to come visit whenever you need to. My door is always open for you," Evangeline said. Wendy looked at the rings in Evangeline's hand, specifically, the diamond ring.

"Woah, that's a pretty ring," Wendy said quietly. A small smile appeared on Evangeline's face.

"It's mine, thank you," she told the girl.

"So, you found it then," Gray said from behind her. Evangeline turned to him and nodded. Gray sighed.

"I went today. Mira slapped me to bring me back to my senses earlier this afternoon," Evangeline said. Gray blinked.

"She actually slapped you?" he said. Evangeline nodded. Gray sat down in one of her chairs at her dining table. "Huh."

"I needed it, though. You stole all my alcohol, so I was drunk at the guild. She told me to pick myself up and not hide my emotions away, and that I was being a hypocrite. So, I went to visit my parents and talked to them about the whole situation, then I remembered something that made me feel better. That's when I decided to go to the house, and I found the rings and the note. Also, where did you find it?" Evangeline said.

"It had fallen under your bed. Took me hours to find it, but I knew you still had it in this apartment somewhere," Gray said. Wendy had no idea what was going on but wasn't going to ask. But Carla decided to ask anyway.

"And why would you need to find an engagement ring? If she took it off obviously there's a reason. She shouldn't have it," Carla said. Surprisingly, it was Erza who spoke up.

"That was incredibly rude of you to say without knowing any of the situation at all, Carla. Please refrain from making such comments again," she said, her tone hard. Gray and Natsu glared at the cat. Carla felt scared.

"Let me explain. My husband, ex-husband, whatever to call him, I don't know at this point. There was a situation a few weeks ago that involved him pitting all the members of Fairy Tail against one another. That led to his expulsion. However, it's not entirely him that caused that battle. His father was a terrible man who sent Laxus down a dark path. He didn't want to involve me, which was a mistake. It ended up hurting us both," Evangeline said as she lifted her shirt to show the scar that Laxus had made on her skin. Everyone was silent.

"That being said, something dark took hold of him. He was, at one time, a very kind and caring person. Gray, Natsu, and Erza can attest to that. After his father was expelled, he changed. He was more power focused, just like his father had wanted him to be. He never showed this side around me, and I was usually able to calm him down. Until a year ago when I wasn't able to, and the darkness completely took over. That's why I have the scar. Until I faced him during the Battle of Fairy Tail, I had lost most of my magic. I regained it after I faced my fear of him, and I actually learned a magic that my parents had. That's how I learned that there was a war going on inside him, and the dark was winning. I destroyed that darkness.

"Now, by this point, we were already divorced. I never stopped loving him, though. He never stopped loving me. Sometimes, love makes us do stupid things like hide our burdens from one another. Sometimes we lose ourselves when we hide those things, and the only way to find ourselves again is to return to the ones we love. That's why I have these rings, now. He made me a promise that he would come back to me, and we'd find ourselves again," Evangeline finished. Erza wrapped her friend into a hug, then one by one Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy joined in. Evangeline stuck out an arm to grab Wendy and bring her into the hug.

"This is how Fairy Tail works, Wendy. We do not suffer with our burdens alone. We let each other in. Now, I have shared some of my burdens with you, officially marking you as part of my family," Evangeline said as she held the girl closer. Wendy wrapped her arms around Evangeline and felt herself start to cry. Evangeline moved one of her hands to run it through the girl's hair. The members of Team Natsu separated from Evangeline to let her have her moment with Wendy.

"I'm sorry I started crying, I don't know why," Wendy said, her voice uneven. Evangeline held her closer.

"It's okay to cry, Wendy. You don't need to have a reason. All of us will always be here to hold you until you can dry your tears," Evangeline said. Wendy tightened her grip on Evangeline. Meanwhile, Carla was stunned. Happy seemed to notice this.

"Evangeline is special, Carla. She's able to read thoughts now, and she can see your memories and read your emotions. She's not doing that right now, though. She's just forming her own bond with Wendy, just like she's done for all of us," Happy said, smiling.

"She makes no sense," Carla retorted.

"I don't need to make sense, Carla. No one needs to as long as they know how to follow their heart," Evangeline said. "If you follow your heart, it will not lead you wrong."

"And forming bonds to people you don't know is you following your heart?" Carla asked.

"The bonds that withstand time and hardship are formed purely from the heart," Evangeline said. "We fight strongest when we are fighting with our hearts. That's what sets Fairy Tail mages apart from all others. Our hearts lead our battles, just as they lead our bonds." Carla was silent after that. Wendy looked up at the older woman and saw her smiling down at her. She couldn't tell what the glint in her eye was.

"What are you thinking about, Onee-san?" Wendy asked. Gray smiled at Wendy calling Evangeline her big sister.

"She's proud of you," Gray said. Wendy tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Proud of what?"

"I can read your memories, Wendy. I saw you fighting against Oracion Seis to protect your guild even though you were terrified. I saw you sharing your pain with your team. You may be young, but in many ways, you are quiet grown up. I look forward to watching you continue to grow," Evangeline said. Wendy smiled with teary eyes before she buried her face back into Evangeline's chest.

"Thank you, Onee-san."

"So, Wendy, you'd like to learn more offensive dragon slayer magic?" Evangeline asked the girl at the guild one day. Mira was watching the two from the corner of her eye. Wendy nodded.

"I'd like to be more helpful in battle," Wendy said. Evangeline looked her over.

"Come with me. You can roar already, yes?" Evangeline said as she stood up. Wendy stood as well and followed her.

"Yes, Onee-san," Wendy confirmed.

"Good. We will work on that first, since we will probably be able to make it stronger," Evangeline said. She stopped walking just outside the guild hall and grabbed Wendy's hand, then teleported them to the forest nearby.

"Woah," Wendy said as they appeared in the clearing. Evangeline giggled.

"Yeah, that's the reaction most people have the first time they travel by lightning," she said.

"I didn't know you could do that," Wendy said.

"Laxus taught me. He was a lightning mage before he got a hold on his slayer magic. I've adapted some of the techniques he taught me to make them suit myself more. Let's just hope you never have to see them," Evangeline said.

"Why, Onee-san?" Wendy asked. Evangeline sat on the ground and motioned for Wendy to do the same. She started recounting the battle where her parents died. Wendy stared at her wide eyed through the entire story.

"That's how destructive my magic can get. That's also why, in the event I ever see the future, I tell no one about it. I cannot interfere because the Gods don't appreciate someone trying to manipulate fate," Evangeline finished.

"I'm sorry, Onee-san," Wendy said as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"There's no reason to be sorry, Wendy. We must grow and learn from our mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others so that we may better protect those that are around us," Evangeline said as she stood. "Now, let's get started with your roar."

Evangeline critiqued different parts of Wendy's roar, which the girl responded to. At the end of the day, Wendy's roar was about twice as big as it originally was. However, it was nowhere near as power as Evangeline would like for it to be.

Their training kept up for a few more weeks until Evangeline felt Aspen pull hard on her seal. Evangeline felt a huge vortex of foreign magic start to swell around Magnolia as she and Wendy were walking back to the guild.

"Anima," Aspens voice screamed at her. It was too late, though. This Anima was massive, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She felt herself get lifted off the ground, and then fell into darkness.

The next thing Evangeline knew, she was on the ground in the middle of nowhere. She sat up and held her head.

"Ugh, what the hell happened," she muttered before looking around. In front of her was Lucy, but it wasn't Lucy. "And who the hell are you, pseudo-Lucy?"

"Says the one who fell out of the sky," the Lucy retorted. "You just so happened to fall right in front of the guild, and if I didn't see the guild mark on your hand, I would have killed you already."

"Wait a second, let me think. I was in Magnolia, then an Anima opened right over the city," she thought aloud. The Lucy was before her right away.

"Anima? You were sucked through an Anima?" she said, placing her hands on Evangeline's shoulders. Evangeline nodded.

"Then you are from Earthland. You are in Edolas right now," Lucy said. Evangeline nodded.

"Mystogan told me of this place. There's limited magic here, thus why the Animas keep opening in Fiore. This time, though, they messed with the wrong town. They have Earthland Fairy Tail, please help me get them back home," Evangeline pleaded. Edo-Lucy sighed.

"I'll see what we can do. For now, just come inside the guild. Be prepared to get attacked by a few people, though. Our Evangeline… Well… She left a few months ago after she accidentally let our location slip. She felt horrible because it also led to Master's death," Edo-Lucy said. "Anyway, let's go. It's safer in the guild."

Evangeline followed Edo-Lucy into the building. She was quickly astounded by what people looked like and how they acted in Edolas as compared to how their Earthland counterparts acted. Gray was cold and dressed in layer, and constantly following Juvia. Juvia was blowing him off. Bisca and Alzack were all over each other. And, most surprising to her, was that Laxus was there sitting at a table. He looked up at her, then did a double take.

"Evangeline?" he said in disbelief. "I thought you'd never come home." Evangeline shook her head.

"I'm not your Evangeline, I'm sorry. I'm from Earthland," she said, smiling sadly at the Edolas counterpart of the man she loved. It broke her heart to see the hope shatter from his eyes.

"My apologies," he muttered as he turned away.

"It's alright," she said as she walked over to him. "As shocking as it is to see a version of me, I'm in a similar boat. My Laxus left me under similar circumstances."

"So, we've lost each other in both worlds, then," he said sadly.

"Only for now. Your Evangeline will return in time, I promise you that much," she said as she sat next to him.

"How do you know that? It's been months," Edo-Laxus said.

"My Laxus made me a promise on our rings that he would come back to me in time. We just now need to both be patient and wait for the ones we love to return to us," Evangeline said, gripping the rings around her neck.

"How are you so sure?" Edo-Laxus asked.

"Have faith in the ones you love, Laxus," Evangeline said as she stood and walked away from him.

Members of Edolas Fairy Tail watched the interaction curiously. They realized that Earthland Evangeline was a lot like Edolas Evangeline. Edo-Lucy snuck out of the guild. After Evangeline left the table Laxus was at, everyone returned to their regular life.

"So, Evangeline, what's magic like in Earthland," Edo-Juvia asked. Evangeline turned to face her.

"Magic is different for everyone in Earthland. People can use many different types of magic. We all contain magic within our own bodies that we channel into our spells," Evangeline started. More members of Edolas Fairy Tail started listening in. "For example, I use Lightning Magic, Mind Manipulation Magic, Emotional Manipulation Magic, Requip Magic, Obsidian Sealing, which is a Dark Magic, and also Light Magic. I channel my magic through magic seals that I create with my magic in order to cast spells according to whichever magic I want to use at that time. That doesn't include my mind magics, though. Those don't require a magic seal."

"Woah," various members of the guild said.

"There's more, too. There is also holder magic. The kind of magic I use is a caster magic. My Lucy uses holder magic. She channels her magic through celestial keys to summon spirits to fight with her. She needs to push her magic through the key itself in order to summon the spirit, thus why it's called holder since she needs to hold the key to push magic through it. Holder magic seems to be more similar to magic here, except here the magic is held within the item," Evangeline finished. Various people around her were nodding.

"So, rewind for a second here," Edo-Levy said. "You use both Light and Dark magic. Isn't that contradictory?"

"In a way, yes. Anyone can learn any type of magic in Earthland. However, I have a lot of help. I have a demon that I named Aspen sealed inside of me. How that came to be is a story in and of itself that I don't have time for. I'll summarize it to the Magic Council screwed up and I ended up the next demon container. However, Aspen liked me, and the Council is okay with me living. Should they attempt to remove Aspen from the seal, I would die. Because of Aspen, I have an affinity for Dark Magic. By myself, I have the affinity for Light Magic. Therefore, I can use both," Evangeline explained. Edo-Levy furrowed her brows then nodded.

"Sounds like hell, really," Edo-Levy said bluntly. Evangeline let out a soft laugh.

"It is, sometimes. But isn't everything hellish sometimes? Life sucks, we just have to continue living," Evangeline said. The guild got quiet. "We live on for those who are no longer with us, and we live on for those we don't know yet. You're all still here, even though you've lost many along the way. Keep going. Live on. Push through the pain that you are feeling and turn that into strength. That's what Fairy Tail does."

"She's right," Edo-Laxus said, surprising everyone. "That being said, you aren't our Evangeline. We need to figure out how to get you home." The doors to the guild burst open to show Lucy, Natsu, and Wendy. The Earthland Lucy, Natsu, and Wendy. The three looked at Evangeline, and the two slayers recognized her scent. They both went to her and crushed her in a hug.

"I'm so glad you aren't stuck in the lacrima, Onee-san," Wendy said, teary eyed. Evangeline narrowed her eyes.

"Wendy, what do you mean by lacrima?" Evangeline said, freeing herself from the grip of the slayers.

"There's a massive lacrima floating above the capital. It's everyone in Magnolia, including Fairy Tail," Natsu said quickly. Evangeline froze.

"This isn't good. This is bad, this is very, very bad," she muttered, and then turned and started pacing. Just then, an alarm sounded. All four Earthland wizards looked confused.

"The Fairy Hunter," several members said. Everyone from Edolas Fairy Tail started moving around, and Levy took her station at a massive computer.

"Prepare for the move, everyone," she said. "Hold on."

Evangeline did not follow after the other Earthland wizards and grab onto something. No, she was still frozen. Thankfully, Edo-Laxus grabbed her and pulled her close to him. The guild hall vanished from its old location and reappeared somewhere else.

"Evangeline?" he asked her once they had settled and stopped moving. She shook her head.

"Sorry, emotion overload," she said quietly. "Earthland Erza is opposite of Edolas Erza. Whereas your Erza is trying to kill everyone in Fairy Tail, my Erza would die to protect any of us. Caught me off guard, I'm not sure why." Edo-Laxus let go of her and shook his head.

"It's okay," he said before he stalked back to his table.

"Evangeline," Lucy called to her. Evangeline looked over to the blonde. "We have to get to the capital. There's a town nearby and we can go there." Evangeline nodded to her and walked towards her.

The Earthland group followed Edo-Lucy to the town, and they ended up fighting a group of royal knights. Edo-Lucy ended up disappearing, and the group were feeling pretty put out by this. Evangeline especially found herself annoyed, until she heard a car on the horizon. It pulled up next to the group, and the window rolled down.

"I heard you needed a ride," Edo-Natsu said. The group piled in, and after dropping them closer to the capital Natsu pulled his other self out of the car and they got into a fight. Or more like Earthland Natsu scared Edolas Natsu, which everyone pretty much saw coming. Eventually, Evangeline pulled her Natsu away from Edo-Natsu, who was a mess without his car. Edo-Natsu drove back to his guild and the group continued towards the capital. Happy and Carla ended up finding them then.

"Edo-Natsu said that we just continue this way and we'll get to the capital in no time. Just be patient," Evangeline said after Natsu complained they weren't there yet. The group arrived almost an hour later, and they snuck into the city after stealing some cloaks. Evangeline found the giant lacrima that her companions had referenced.

"Let's go towards the castle. That's where Anima is coming from, so we should be able to reverse it from there," Evangeline said.

"How do you know that's where it's coming from? And how do you seem to know a lot about this?" Lucy asked.

"Mystogan had asked for my help dealing with Anima in Earthland, but then I got sick. Be careful, the king is insane. I'll go check out the lacrima chunk that citizens are talking about," Evangeline said. Natsu and Wendy nodded.

"Also, how can you use your magic here, Evangeline? You didn't take one of the pills Mystogan had," Lucy said. Lucy was the only other one in the group able to use her magic.

"Aspen, I think," Evangeline said. Lucy nodded at this, then turned and started walking to the castle with Natsu and Wendy. Evangeline found the lacrima chunk, but also felt Gajeel there. He started attacking the lacrima, and in no time it shattered to show Gray and Erza. Evangeline rushed in and helped hold off the knights that arrived.

"This way, to the castle. Natsu and Wendy are this way," Evangeline said, but then stopped when she saw Lucy running her way.

"They were captured," Lucy shouted at her. "We need to break them out!"

"Who was there?" Evangeline asked her as Lucy finally reached the group. They had lost the knights for now.

"Erza Knightwalker. I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything," Lucy said, looking sad. Evangeline shook her head.

"Escaping and finding us was the right thing to do, Lucy. If you were captured we wouldn't know where they were," Evangleine said, comforting the younger woman.

"So, we gotta rescue flame brain and Wendy now?" Gray sighed. Erza smacked him upside the head.

"We will always rescue our friends, Gray. Stop complaining," Erza said firmly. Gray nodded, scared of the woman. Gajeel gave a pill to Gray and Erza.

"You'll be able to use your magic here," he explained after the two looked at him in question. They both swallowed their pills.

"To the castle to break out some dragon slayers?" Evangeline asked. The group nodded in unison.

They made their way to the castle and encountered Pantherlily and Erza Knightwalker. Gajeel decided to take on Pantherlily and Erza decided to fight her Edolas self. Evangeline and Lucy continued farther into the castle. Evangeline sent lightning at anyone that dared to try and come after them.

Eventually, Evangeline found them in the dungeons. She brought Lucy there and they found Natsu and Wendy. Wendy was tired and teary, and Natsu was unconscious.

"Wendy, what happened?" Evangeline asked.

"I'm sorry, Onee-san. They sucked out our magic and are using it to crash the lacrima into Extalia for everlasting magic," Wendy said, tears streaming down her face. Evangeline's eyes hardened.

"Not on my watch,' Evangleine said. She shocked Natsu, who then woke up.

"Oh, Evangeline," Natsu said as he bolted up.

"We have two cities to save, let's get going." Carla and Happy came back and brought their slayers up to Extalia. Lucy also found her way onto the floating island. Evangeline felt a pull to stay where she was.

The lacrima disappeared. Evangeline blinked.

"Evangeline," a voice said behind her.

"Mystogan, or should I say, Jellal," Evangeline said as she walked over to her friend.

"I sent the lacrima back through the Anima to Earthland. Now, we need to overthrow my father," the blue-haired man said.

"Ah, my son," an old man cackled behind them. "Do you really think you could overthrow me? When I had the promise of magic for everyone? It is our right to magic, and you took it away."

"No, Father. This place is not meant to have magic," Mystogan said. Evangeline focused her magic on the man. He ran away from them as she caught onto his thoughts. Her eyes widened.

"He has a dragon machine," Evangeline whispered. She felt the slayers land behind her.

"It's a good thing we have dragon slayers, then," Natsu said, his fists alight with fire. "I'm all fired up!"

"Good luck," Evangeline told them as she boosted their confidence.

Jellal and Evangeline left the castle and watched as the dragon machine left the city and the slayers followed. Evangeline locked onto a few familiar magic signatures around.

"Fairy Tail is here," Evangeline said. She left his side and ran to find them. They were fighting off the military, who were trying to stop anyone from getting close to the castle. Evangeline sent a massive wave of lightning towards some of them.

"Need some help?" she asked as she teleported through her lightning to the side of her comrades.

"It's about time you got here," Edo-Lucy said. Evangeline let out a laugh.

"Let's kick some corrupt government ass," Evangeline said as she tapped deeper into her magic.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Edo-Lucy smirked as they both went to work fighting again.

It didn't take long for most of the army to get beaten by the last wizard guild and Evangeline. Members of Edolas Fairy Tail were amazed at the power Evangeline was showing, and they knew that she wasn't even really trying. She didn't tap into her other magics. Evangeline felt the dragon machine go down and she smiled to herself. She felt the slayers returning from their fight. She had a thought come through Natsu that made her stop.

"Oh, Natsu, you are such an idiot," Evangeline muttered to herself. "Not you, Edolas Natsu, my Natsu."

"What is the dunce planning?" Edo-Lucy asked. Evangeline smirked.

"You'll see," she said as the spectacle started. Natsu pretended to be the Dragon King and fight Jellal while giving him a proper Fairy Tail sendoff. Jellal "beat" Natsu after the sendoff was complete, and Jellal reversed Anima again to pull all magic out of Edolas. All the Earthland mages started to glow, as did the Exceeds. Edo-Laxus came up next to her as she slowly lifted into the sky and grabbed her hand.

"Thank you," he said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

"She'll come back, just like Earthland you will come back to me. Wait for her. The best things in life are worth waiting for," Evangeline said as she let go of his hand. She started to float up into the sky, but before she got too far away, she added, "She loves you."

"He loves you too," Laxus said she Evangeline finally disappeared into the sky. He stared up at the sky where she had disappeared to. Someone came up behind him.

"Laxus?"

Evangeline opened her eyes and found herself in the forest she was in before she was sucked into Edolas. Her hands went to her neck and found her necklace with the rings on it still there. Her hands closed around the rings as she looked up at the sky. She smiled. She saw her Edolas self coming towards Edolas Laxus. They would be fine. They would be together. She just needed to wait her turn.

She figured Wendy must have been somewhere else in Magnolia when she left for Edolas, so Evangeline decided to go to the guild. She picked out a familiar magic signature and her eyes widened. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it before.

Lisanna was back. Lisanna was alive. The Edolas Lisanna was actually Earthland Lisanna.

Evangeline burst into the guild and locked onto the girl in question. Mira and Elfman had just let her go and Evangeline made a b-line for the girl. She wrapped her arms around the young woman and nearly crushed her with the force of her hug.

"I missed you so much, Lis," Evangeline whispered as tears trickled down her face. Lisanna hugged the older woman back.

"I missed you too, Evvie," Lisanna said, tears gathering in her eyes. They let each other go and looked at each other. Lisanna's eyes went to the rings around Evangeline's neck. She gently lifted the rings so she could look at them.

"We divorced, but it's a long story, Lis," Evangeline said. Lisanna looked confused.

"What?" Lisanna asked. Evangeline put a hand onto one of Lisanna's shoulder and brought her to table and sat her down.

"You know how Laxus was an ass to most people after his father was banished?" Lisanna nodded. "That's kind of when everything started. There was something dark growing in his mind, fighting for control over him. He didn't tell me. Eventually it got to the point where he lost control and he hurt me. That's when we divorced. I lost most of my magic at that time. A few weeks ago, before the Fantasia parade, Laxus sent us into he Battle of Fairy Tail. His dark side took over completely. I fought him. My magic came back, and I ended up figuring out how to read thoughts. That's how I found out about the darkness. I used light magic to get rid of it, and then we talked after. I was unconscious when he was banished, and I fell apart after that. I went to our old house and found our rings there, and also a promise that he'd come back. That's why I have the rings. It's his promise to me that he'd come back. Now I'm waiting for that day to come," Evangeline finished. Lisanna stared sadly at the rings still in her hand.

"He'll come back. I know he will," Lisanna said. "I'll poke him around once he gets back for making you sad." Everyone who was around the table, which was most of the guild, started laughing. Evangeline looked around the guild and saw who all was there. To her great surprise, Gildarts was there. He was looking right at her with a sad glint in his eyes. Evangeline left her spot at the table she was at to let Mira and Elfman glomp their sister again.

"Well, I can't say I saw that coming," Gildarts said as Evangeline sat down next to him at the bar. Evangeline sighed.

"It was a lot," she said. Her brought her hand around the rings again and held them up for her to look at.

"I remember before he proposed, he came to me to ask if he could," Gildarts said as he passed her a beer. Evangeline's eyes shot over to him.

"Really?" she said, blinking. Gildarts laughed, then nodded.

"Yep. He asked me if he could marry you. I told him it wasn't my place to say anything, but I did tell him your parents would approve," he said. Evangeline smiled. "Then he went to Gray and got frozen for a while before Gray decided it was okay." Evangeline laughed at this.

"I can't believe he did that," she whispered.

"He was scared you'd say no. I have no idea why he would think that, but when it came to you he never really thought things through logically," Gildarts sighed, taking a gulp of his beer. "That kid seriously thought you didn't want to be with him." Evangeline laughed and took a drink from her own beer.

"This is true. He's always been like that. He always wanted to protect me, even if I was always the one saving his ass until he finally broke away and started going on jobs with the Raijinshu after we got engaged," Evangeline sighed.

"I never understood why he started going with that group. They were good kids, don't get me wrong, but you two were always strongest together. I remember when you two went on the SS-Class job a few months after your promotion to take out the group of wyverns near the northern border and came back with not even a scratch," Gildarts laughed. Evangeline shook her head.

"Those were good times," she sighed. "I miss those days. Maybe I'll take an S-Class job and bring his team with me. It's been a while since we've all gone on a job together. Probably about two years now honestly." Gildarts nodded.

"Make sure they don't isolate themselves. I know they try to sometimes," he said as Evangeline stood up to go to the Raijinshju table. Evangeline raised a hand about shoulder high to let him know she heard him.

The Raijinshu were talking among themselves when Evangeline sat down at their table. They hadn't even noticed her coming their way.

"Miss Evangeline," Freed said, surprised to see her. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence with us?" Evangleine rolled her eyes.

"Freed. I am your friend. There is no need to use the formal tone with me. You did save my life, remember?" Evangeline said before taking a sip of her beer.

"Very well, Evangeline. You seem much happier now than you've been in a long time," he replied, noticing that her eyes had a spark of life back in them. She nodded. The group then noticed the rings on the chain around her neck. They all smiled to themselves. They knew Evangleine and Laxus did much better together.

"So that's why," Evergreen said before she wrapped her arms around her friend. Evergreen was sitting right next to get at the table.

"It's good to have you back, Evvie," Bickslow said as his babies repeated Evvie.

"Would you guys like to go on a job with me? I want to take an S-Class job again, and I trust you all. I also haven't gone on a job with you in years," Evangeline said. She saw Evergreen and Freed's eyes widen at her question.

"We'd love to, Ev," Evergreen said, hugging her again. The males at the table nodded to her.

"It'll be an honor to work with you again," Freed said.

"Nice to have you back, Boss Lady," Bickslow said. Evangeline smiled brightly.

"Great, I'll pick one out. We'll head out tomorrow at 10?"

Evangeline woke up a bit later than she intended, but thankfully she could teleport to the train station. She put on light wash skinny jeans and a long sleeve black top. She threw on her leather vest, previously a jacket before she had to take the sleeves off years ago and grabbed her bag and left her apartment. She didn't have time to eat cereal at home, so she would have to eat on the train. She teleported to the station and found Freed and Evergreen already there. Bickslow would be there at exactly 10, as always. Five minutes later, and exactly on time, Bickslow appeared and the group boarded the train and found a compartment.

"So, what's the job?" Evergreen asked.

"We are going to Rose Creek. A new dark guild had popped up and has started hijacking the trade route through that area. There have also been numerous disappearances and deaths reported," Evangeline said.

"How many members are in the dark guild?" Freed asked.

"At least thirty, from what I've found out. I have my channels for information, as you know. They have several stronger mages, at least A-Class. The stronger mages tend to wear red, apparently. They like to set themselves apart for a fear factor. There are two S-Class mages. Leave them to me," Evangeline said.

"Who are the S-Classes? They must have bounties," Bickslow said. Evangeline nodded.

"Evan and Dylan Rett. The twin crushers as they like to call themselves. They use magic similar to Gildarts. Given my experience training with Gildarts, I know how to counter crash magic," she said. Evergreen looked concerned.

"Those two have bounties of 5 million each on their heads. They are ruthless," Evergreen said. Evangeline looked to her and her eyes softened.

"Trust me, Ever. Remember, I'm stronger than Laxus," she said, winking. After another half hour spent strategizing, Evangeline left and went to the dining car to get something to eat. While she was gone, the Raijinshu proceeded to talk about their absent companion.

"She definitely seems herself again," Evergreen said after Evangeline left the compartment. Freed and Bickslow nodded.

"Hopefully Boss is doing alright," Bickslow muttered.

"Laxus will be fine. As long as Evangeline is happy, he will be happy. He knows she's waiting for him to return, and he will make sure he comes back to her," Freed said.

"Also, remember he told us to try and look after her if we could. This is our opportunity to do so," Evergreen added.

"How do you feel about her taking on the twins? I'm a bit worried, not that I should be," Freed asked.

"Boss Lady is strong. Her magic is back and more powerful than before, especially since she's been working with the tiny dragon. None of us stand a chance against those two, especially together. We weren't the ones to train with Gildarts for months. She knows everything about crash magic," Bickslow said, his tone more serious than usual.

"Of course I worry, but we'd worry about Laxus doing the same," Evergreen said. Freed sighed.

"You're right. I must believe in her strength," Freed muttered.

Evangeline re-entered the compartment oblivious to what her friends were speaking about. She never liked digging into other people's heads for information because it was a breach of trust. She took her seat next to Evergreen again, then requiped her sound pods and put them on to listen to music for the rest of the ride. It would be several hours until they arrived in Rose Creek. She ended up falling asleep.

Evergreen nudged Evangeline awake once they reached Rose Creek. The group went to the mayor's residence to get more information about the job, but Evangeline knew everything the mayor knew.

"We should do this sooner than later. Their guild is about three miles outside the south side of the city. They aren't expecting us right now, sot he faster we get to them the better. Is everyone ready?" Evangeline asked. The Raijinshu all nodded. "Good. Let's get going."

They stayed about a hundred yards away from the guild hidden in the trees. Evangeline felt out for the members of the dark guild. She felt the stronger magic signatures and noted what they felt like. She also felt the that the twins were there, but they were flaring their magic, as if using it. Feeling their emotions, she felt joy from them. She knew they were beating someone from that.

"More victims inside. The twins are beating someone. Ready?" The group broke and Evangeline manipulated the emotions of everyone in the area to be beneficial to her and her team. She blew the doors off the dark guild's hall with a blast of lightning.

"Let's play," Evangeline shouted over the chaos that unfolded before her. She quickly knocked out all of the weaker members to get them out of the way. The Raijinshu had locked onto their targets and separated them. That left Evangeline with the twins.

"Well, well," one of the twins said.

"I wondered when we would meet the Demon Goddess," the other finished. Evangeline raised an eyebrow.

"Demon Goddess. That's a new one. Sorry to disappoint, but the demon won't be joining us today," Evangeline said. "It's a shame the two of you chose this path. I have no mercy for those who kill for pleasure."

"Then let's dance," one said.

"Goddess."

The twins sent a crash attack towards her, but she easily dodged it. She planned on getting a gauge of where their power was. Right away she could tell they were nowhere near her or Gildarts's level. They sent another barrage of magic at her, only for her to dodge again.

"Stop dodging," they growled in unison.

"You know, it's kind of creepy that you two say things in unison and finish each other's sentences," Evangeline smirked. She felt them get riled up and heard them thinking about using All Crush at the same time. Evangeline's smirk turned into a smile, not that the twins noticed.

"All Crush," the twins called together, but were surprised when a black wall formed in front of Evangeline. The wall deflected the magic back towards its casters.

"How? That attack can't be reflected by regular magic," she heard one of the twins mutter. She really hated not knowing which was which by looking at them, but it wasn't important in that moment.

"That's because it isn't regular magic. That is called Obsidian Reflection. It can reflect any attack thrown at it, including nullifications magic. It's new. I hope you enjoyed the demo," Evangeline said as she lowered the wall. "Now, my friends have finished their fights with your other members. I'm getting bored. I thought you were S-Class wanted criminals, but I guess I was wrong."

That made the twins furious. They started throwing magic at her, causing dust to stir into the air. They couldn't see her, but kept attacking the spot she was in. Suddenly, the twins felt a massive sense of dread. They stopped attacking, and the dust cleared. Evangeline was standing behind them, and she had flared her magic power. The twins fell to their knees.

"How?" one of them asked. Evangeline dug into his mind and found out that this twin was Evan.

"How can you be so powerful?" Dylan, the other twin, gritted out.

"I fight for the sake of others, not my own. Now, I don't feel like handing you over to the Rune Knights as you are right now. You have tortured and kills thirty people. You strung them up out back of your guild hall after they were dead, and tortured your next victims in front of the bodies," Evangeline's body seemed to start glowing. However, it wasn't her light magic that was coursing through her. It was her dark magic. The Raijinshu recognized what she was about to do and fled.

"Fear not the darkness you soon see. The world will only become as dark to you as your soul's true colors. Rise, Servants of Lilith. Bring these souls forth for judgement," Evangeline said as shadowy humanoid figures crawl out of cracks that formed in the ground. They grab onto the twins and hold them still. Evangeline could hear them screaming but paid no mind.

"Burial of the Wicked."

The Raijinshu could hear gut-wrenching screams coming form the remains of the dark guild's building as Evangeline finished her spell. They watched her walk out of the building and continue towards them.

"Sorry you had to see that. They decided it was a good idea to broadcast their thoughts about how they killed everyone to me. So, I banished them to Hell for a few years. Their bodies will live until they awaken in a few years once they have been tortured long enough," Evangeline stated. The Rune Knights then showed up, led by none other than one of Evangeline's favorite council employees to annoy: Lahar. He noticed her and immediately let out a big sigh before he walked over to the group.

"What should I know before I send anyone in there," the main said. He knew how Evangeline worked in the past. Some of the things she had done were downright twisted sometimes, depending on how pissed whoever she was fighting at the time. She was the kindest person ever if she thought you savable, but if she deemed you unable to be saved, she withheld nothing.

"The twins will be catatonic for a few years. I decided to send their souls to Hell," Evangeline said, smirking. "Don't worry, there's no random body parts flung all over. If there are, it was the twins' doing." Lahar looked at her then shook his head.

"I do not get paid enough to deal with you," he muttered. Evangeline let out a loud laugh.

"Also, you owe us 10 million jewels," Evangeline added. Lahar fell over.

"God damn it all!"

Evangeline sat on the train back from Rose Creek looking out the window. The sun was setting, and her group wouldn't arrive back in Magnolia for several more hours. It didn't help that the days were getting shorter because winter was fast approaching. She looked around the compartment to see what everyone else was doing.

Freed was reading a book, as usual. Evergreen was looking at one of a stack of magazines she had brought. Bickslow was asleep. She relaxed, satisfied that everyone was alright. There was a reason she didn't like to go on harder jobs with people who didn't know her well. She could scare the shit out of them when she got serious. Or bored. Bored was mostly more dangerous than her being serious. She shook her head at the thought. She pitied anyone that claimed to be a good fight and ended up boring her. She felt Evergreen start to drift off next to her, and the next thing she knew, her friend was asleep just like Bickslow. That left herself and Freed awake. Freed seemed to be waiting for this.

"Why did you resort to using that?" he asked, not even looking up at her from his book.

"The way they killed. Also, they were supposed to be more of a fight, and I got bored," Evangeline answered honestly.

"Are you afraid of losing control of the dark magic?" Freed asked again. Evangeline felt doubt rolling off of him, but it seemed self-directed.

"No. I trust myself and my magic. All three of you should, too. There is no reason to fear your magic, Freed," Evangeline said. Freed tensed.

"But we have hurt others," Freed said, his voice lower. Pain seeped into his voice.

"We all have. Grow from that. Learn from it. Everyone has forgiven you, so you should forgive yourself," Evangeline told him. "Now, I think I'll get some shut eye for a while. Remember what I said, Freed. Forgive yourself." With that, Evangeline requipped her sound pods and went to sleep.

Freed mulled over what Evangeline had said for the rest of the trip. He woke the others when the train was arriving in Magnolia.

Evangeline teleported back to her apartment. She went inside and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

-----

A/N:

Okay, done! Next chapter will be a flashback, as usual. Thanks for reading!