My eyes snapped open and I sat up in the cot, gasping for air. Kali stirred next to me but didn't wake up. She was back in her exceed form sleeping at the end of the cot. I started petting the exceed and lulled her deeper into sleep. After making sure I wouldn't wake her up, I swung my legs over the side of the cot and put on my shoes. 

I quietly maneuvered past the other cots of sleeping wizards and made my way to the door. I silently closed the door behind me, stepping into the dark hallway and looked out the window. The skies were dark, but the horizon was turning orange with the rising sun.

I wandered through the guildhall quietly. The building was already silent, but I didn't want to disturb the sullen peace. Most wizards in the hallowed hall were fast asleep, but I could hear a few voices coming from the main hall. 

As I made my way through the hallways of the second floor, I passed the cracked door of the infirmary. My curiosity led me to poke my head inside where I heard the rhythmic snores of slumbering wizards.

In front of the first curtain I could see Natsu still passed out. His wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, but he still didn't look peaceful in his sleep. I could only imagine where his troubled mind could be taking him. Happy was sleeping at Natsu's feet and Lucy was sleeping in the chair next to his bed. She must have fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up. I smiled to myself and closed the door behind me as I left.

Finally, I came to the balcony overlooking the main hall. Makarov, Mavis, and Warren were stationed in the front of the room, strategizing over the war table. I silently watched them debate and theorize, hoping that they would give me something to do.

Yesterday I had been a little disappointed when I heard that the Fairy Tail teams had already left for the frontlines in the North and South. I had missed my chance to do more work on the frontline and I was disappointed that I was missing out on the action.

"Sir," Warren broke the silence with his alarming announcement. "There's a distress signal coming from the West,"

"From the West?" Makarov questioned. 

"Master," Warren's voice dropped. "It's coming from the future team,"

My heart skipped fearfully and I ran back to the room I woke up in. I thew the door open, grabbed my exceed, and ran out.

"Kali wake up," I said, urgently shaking the exceed awake. 

"What time is it?" Kali rolled her head and opened her groggy eyes.

"Come on, pull out your wings and let's go,"

"Where are we going?" She yawned, spreading her wings and grabbing my shoulders.

"There's a distress signal coming from the West," I explained. 

"Uh-huh,"

"Kali, its the rest of our team," I said. Kali snapped awake and launched us out of the window, breaking the glass.

"Which way?" She asked. I pointed her in the direction that the distress signal was coming from and we sped away as fast as we could. 

After 15 minutes of flying at max speed, I spotted something below. I instructed Kali to land and we descended onto the ground. The crime scene we landed in made my stomach sink with fear.

The ground was broken in several places and several rocks jutted out of the ground. Some spots were frozen with chunks of ice scattered on the ground. But the thing that scared me the most was that there was no one here. 

"What happened?" Kali asked with a nervous tone.

"Zeref must have sent someone ahead of him," I picked up Gale's backpack and began to search the contents for clues.

"But all of those scouts were super weak," Kali continued to search the area anxiously.

"I don't think this was a scout," I said. I finally found the portable lacrima that had sent the distress signal. It had been sending the signal for a few hours before we finally got it. I handed the bag to my exceed partner who looked puzzled by the situation.

"But where are our friends?" Kali dropped the bag and continued to search the site. 

"I don't know," I inspected the scene for more clues that would hopefully lead to my friends. That was when I saw a peculiar thing. There was a puddle of water on the ground. I knelt down and placed my fingers in the puddle. Kali joined me at the puddle and watched as I licked my finger. "It's salt water,"

"Like from the ocean? What's a puddle of sea water doing in the middle of the desert?"

"I don't know," I answered. 

"Hold on, there's another puddle over there!" Kali pointed a few feet away where a larger puddle was sitting. As I approached it I saw that there was something floating in it.

"Snow?"

"So a puddle of sea water and a melted pile of snow. This investigation is getting weird," Kali rested her feline chin in her paw. "Oh wait, you can track their scents right?" 

Kali's comment suddenly made me feel stupid. I smacked my hand against my forehead and started sniffing at the air. I could smell the scents of my friends, but they were long since faded and to my surprise, the trail didn't lead anywhere. I also couldn't smell the scent of whoever attacked them. Whoever attacked must have known that I would come looking for them and used a spell to camoflauge their scent.

"It's like they just vanished," I explained.

"Maybe they did," Kali theorized. I thought about her theory for a little bit, feeling like she might be onto something.

"Well, there's not much else we can do here. Let's go back to the guildhall and tell Master what we found," I said with a disappointed voice.

"You don't seem all that worried about them," Kali pointed out. She picked me up by my shoulders and we started flying back to the guild.

"I'm worried..." I explained. "but I also have faith in our friends. They're so much stronger than they used to be, and all I can do right now is trust that they can handle it," 

Another 20 minutes passed and we finally came back to the guildhall. On our flight back, the sun had finished its ascent and morning had officially arrived. As soon as I opened the door I was greeted with a lot of shouting.

"NASHI YOU COMPLETE FOOL!!" Makarov boomed. "DID YOU LEARN NOTHING FROM THE MISTAKE YOUR FATHER MADE YESTERDAY?!?! YOU CAN'T JUST RUN HEADFIRST INTO A DANGEROUS SITUATION!! FOR ALL WE KNOW IT COULD HAVE BEEN A TRAP!!"

"S-sorry master," I sheepishly apologized. Makarov sighed and I followed him to the war table.

"Did you at least find anything?" He grumbled. 

"The future team's been kidnapped!" Kali announced.

"We don't know for sure that they've been kidnapped," I corrected. "No one was at the crime scene, but we know something definitely went down. We found sea water and melted snow at the scene,"

"That's odd," Makarov stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Warren, I need a situation report from you please," Mavis asked.

"No movement from Zeref's division out in the West. Seems to be a stalemate up north, but I'm optimistic the tables will start to turn once Gajeel and his crew finally get there. We haven't gotten any kind of status report from the Four Emperors of Ishgar, but I can see here that one of the 12 vanished and the other two are currently heading this way."

"What about Hargeon?" I pointed out.

"One of the 12 there vanished too,"

"Maybe that means somebody took them down," Kali reasoned.

"I'll need time to formulate a new strategy," Mavis said. I could tell that she was thinking hard about our next move, but time was something we didn't have on our side. I sighed and walked upstairs, Kali following close behind me. 

When I stepped into the infirmary I saw that Happy was the only one awake. He turned to me and smiled.

"Hey Nashi!" He cheered. I grinned and pulled up a seat at the foot of the bed.

"Any updates?" I asked.

"No," Happy said, looking back at Natsu and Lucy who were still asleep. "I hope he wakes up soon though,"

"Me too,"

"This is Natsu we're talking about," Kali climbed onto the foot of the bed with Happy. "He'll be back in the fight in no time,"

"You're right," I affirmed.

"So has the rest of the future team come back yet?" Happy questioned. I looked down and Happy noticed the shift in my mood. "What's wrong?"

"I think they're in trouble," I explained the crime scene we found after following the distress signal. "I mean how does sea water and snow get all the way over here?"

"I don't know," Happy thought aloud. "The closest place to the ocean from here is Hargeon,"

My eyes shot wide with realization. "Happy that's it!" I stood up a little too fast and knocked over my chair, making Lucy stir in her sleep. I froze for a second to make sure I didn't actually wake her before whispering, "I know what happened," 

I rushed out of the room and raced down the stairs to where the others were still gathered around the war table.

"Master," I announced, slamming my hand on the table. "I know what happened... There's one person we didn't account for in this war... Lilith,"

"Lilith?" Makarov exclaimed.

"She was one of the original members of the Spriggan 12 before god Serena joined them. I think she's the one who attacked the future team,"

"What makes you think that?" Mavis asked.

"Lilith uses dislocation magic," I explained. "She can essentially teleport anything she wants by changing its location. This time she sent my teammates to two different locations, but her spell caused a couple of things to take their place,"

"So where are they?" Kali asked.

"The frontlines," I answered. "There was a puddle of sea water from the Port of Hargeon and some snow from the northern front. I'll bet anything that they came through when Lilith sent my team there,"

"It's a long shot, but its the best lead we've got," Mavis said. "Warren, get word to our teams on the frontlines. Tell them to be on the look out for our missing wizards,"

"On it,"

"I hope your hunch is right, Nashi," Makarov stroked his beard.

"Me too," I added. I was even more worried now that I knew they were likely in the heat of the battle. From the looks of that crime scene, they put up a fight before they were sent away. That means they were probably injured.

"In the meantime, we need to figure out where Lilith is," Mavis pondered. 

"She was with the western army when Natsu fought Zeref," Kali said.

"But the western army hasn't moved," Makarov pointed out. "Why would she go ahead of her group?"

"Zeref probably took notice when none of his scouts came back. I'm willing to bet he sent Lilith ahead to clear the path," Mavis explained.

"Or maybe my team got too close to the army and Lilith spotted them," I hypothesized.

"Whatever the reason," Mavis continued. "It's likely that she returned to her position after attacking the future team,"

"I swear she's gonna pay for hurting my friends," I growled. "NEXT TIME I SEE THAT W-"

"Take a walk and simmer down," Makarov smacked me in the head, making me bite my tongue. I glared at him for a little while before his stern gaze forced me to retreat. I grumbled and rubbed my head as I walked up the stairs to the second floor.

"Dumb old geizer," I grumbled out of ear-shot. I slammed the door behind me as I walked into the infirmary to find that Lucy was finally awake. She was pouring herself a glass of water when she noticed me storm in.

"Hey there," She greeted. I picked up my chair and grumpily slumped into it, propping my feet up on the end of Natsu's bed and folding my arms around Kali. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"My team is on the frontlines," I explained, telling her what I told Happy and Makarov.

"Wow," Lucy mumbled. "I really thought we were done with Lilith,"

"It feels like she's taking revenge," I explained. 

"She probably is," Lucy offered, taking her seat in the chair next to Natsu.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked.

"Just trust that your friends can handle themselves," Lucy advised. "There's not much that you can do for them here except have faith that they're capable enough to handle the situation,"

"Yeah you're right," I said. I unconsciously started scratching behind Kali's ears as she sat in my lap. "It's just hard not to worry,"

"Welcome to my world," Lucy giggled, glancing at her sleeping partner. I looked at her curiously.

"How do you do it?" I asked. 

"Well," She stared at her future husband, whose face had become peaceful with sleep. "I just remember all of the tough situations we've been in before. He's made it out of a lot of bad fights before, and he gets stronger every time," She smiled.

I couldn't help notice the small blush on her face.

"And then there's you," She smiled. "I know we're the same age and I know you can handle yourself, but I guess my instincts won't let me do anything but worry about you,"

"Aw Mom," I got out of my chair and hugged the Celestial wizard who happily returned the gesture. "I promise I'll always come home," I whispered. I felt her squeeze me tighter and kiss the top of my head.

"You'd better,"

"First Master!" Warren called out. "One of the Spriggan 12 from Hargeon just fell off the radar! That means one more down!"

 "Woah!" Kali beamed. "That means almost half of the 12 have been taken out,"

"And I haven't faced a single one of 'em," I cried, realeasing myself from the embrace.

Just then I heard the guildhall doors open and the rest of the hall went quiet. 

"That's weird, I wonder who's here," Lucy pondered.

"I'll go check," I offered. I stood up and carried Kali out of the infirmary. We stood on the balcony of the second floor and watched as a man in a black suit and a blue turtleneck entered. He had scruff on his face and a skull tattooed on his forehead. The aura he gave off was haunting.

"Wow, it's a nice guild you got here," He spoke with a Cockney accent. "Wood infused with the fragrance of alcohol. I'd heard this was an old guild, but it seems you've done a spot of remodeling."

"Hey, who are you?" Macao declared. 

"I'm one of the distinguished members of the Alvarez Empire's Spriggan 12. Name's Jacob Lessio if you're curious," He grinned.

I felt a drop of sweat drip down my head as his magical presence overwhelmed the room. He was more powerful than Brandish. But how did he get so close to the guild without alerting Warren's radar?

"It was a good idea to track us like that," Jacob explained. "But you see, we have this crafty old wizard named August in our ranks. He realized our movements were being watched, so he had to go and fix that, now didn't he?"

"So you're gonna take us on all by yourself?" Max questioned.

"It's what I prefer, makes more sense for me," Jacob said as he walked inside. 

I silently dropped Kali, who shifted into her saber tooth tiger form. We crept around the railing of the second-floor and cautiously made our way to the stairs. As Lessio continued to lecture, he sat at one of the tables and ordered a drink, which Makarov refused.

"You should know I'm an assassin by trade," He continued. "Although I find it unbecoming to brag, my targets never meet me twice. You see, I don't work in the shadows like your average assassin. Because I don't need to hide. The bodies and witnesses all disappear. That simple. No one left to tell the tale,"

"I hate to break it to you, but we're not that easy to get rid of," I snarled. The assassin looked at me curiously. 

"You seem familiar," Jacob grinned.

"My name is Nashi Dragneel, if you're smart you'll remember that name,"

"You're Sis Lilith's project," He smiled sinisterly. "Lucky for you, she asked me to bring you back alive," 

The assassin clapped his hands together and the room was rushed with a dark force. I held up my arms to block whatever attack he was using, but it was useless. His spell rushed through my body instantly making my muscles felt weak and my vision dark and blurry. 

"She didn't say anything about not hurting you first,"