I stared at my arm in disbelief, unable to do anything but stare in horror. I nervously raised my other hand and grazed my fingers across the scales. They were perfect golden ovals layered like armor in four rows. Ther were so smooth and beautiful, but I knew that they didn't belong. They struck fear into my heart.

I quickly ran to one of the drawers and grabbed a roll of bandages. I hastily wrapped my arm to conceal the scales before anyone could see them. With all that's going on, I don't want to add this to the top of the list of everyone's worries.

I ripped the tape with my teeth and examined my handiwork. It was messy, but it would have to do. I stared at the bandages for a moment and ran my fingers across where the scales were hidden. I could feel them through the bandage, even though they were hidden from sight. 

I'll deal with this later... Whatever this is...

I took a deep breath and ignored the new situation. Pushing aside my anxiety, I made my way to the door. When I stepped into the hallway, I could hear more talking coming from the main hall below. I leaned over the railing and saw everyone gathered around the war table, but they weren't staring at the table. They were staring at the Spriggan 12 member commanding their attention.

"August and I have been close ever since I was a little girl. I may be able to talk him out of an attack," Brandish explained.

"Uh, thank you. That's a generous thing for you to offer," Makarov pointed out.

"No way! It's just a ploy!" Mest argued. "There's no way we can trust her! She's just trying to escape," He snarled with a frustrated hiss.

"I think we should trust her guys," Lucy spoke up. Her posture was confident and convincing. I was impressed by her determination, she had grown a lot more confident over the past year.

"Lucy!" Mest yelled.

"That settles it for me," Natsu grinned and slammed his fists together. "I'M GONNA KICK THAT OLD DUDE'S BUTT!"

"PAY ATTENTION FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, WOULD YA?" Lucy slapped him in the head.

I couldn't help but giggle at the sight. It was fun just to watch my parents bicker and argue as if they were already married.

Then my attention was drawn back to Brandish. She sure didn't look like she was plotting an escape. Besides, I think she would have done it by now if she was. I glanced over at Mest who wore a sinister expression. It was obvious that he still didn't trust Brandish, but something about his demeanor made me hesitant to trust him.

"Then it's settled," Makarov ordered. "Natsu, Lucy, and Brandish will go East to intercept August,"

"Hey, I wanna come too!" I announced.

Everyone looked up to the second floor where I was raising my hand.

"Nashi!" Natsu grinned happily.

"Please Master," I begged. "I'm sick and tired of staying at the guildhall,"

Master shared a look with Porlyusica, who nodded to confirm that I was clear to fight. Makarov sighed with frustration.

"I suppose it can't hurt to cover our bases," He muttered.

"Yes!" I pumped my fist and ran down the stairs. "This is so great! I can't believe I'm gonna meet the wizard king!"

"I can't wait to fight him!" Natsu high-fived me and we shared huge identical grins.

"You can count me in too!" I looked over to see Kali who was proudly sporting her human form. She awkwardly strolled over to my side and slung her arm around my shoulder happily. "Can't let you have all the fun,"

I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I could tell that something was bothering Kali. Despite her grade-A acting skills, I could see a look of confusion behind her eyes. I noticed her glance toward a hallway and followed her gaze. There was nothing there, but it was clear that Kali knew something I didn't. 

Did something happen while I was asleep?

"Family road trip!" Natsu cheered, wrapping his arms around us proudly. My train of thought was interrupted by my family's enthusiasm. 

"Aye!" Happy added, Flying to our side gleefully.

"We're not going for fun Natsu!" Lucy barked. "This is a war we're in! Nashi, you almost died earlier today," She sympathized.

"But I didn't," I grinned, giving finger guns in hopes of lightening the mood. 

My finger guns failed me when Lucy bit her cheek and narrowed her eyebrows at me. Clearly not enthused by my attitude towards the event.

"Who says we can't have fun on the way?" Kali asked. Her question struck a chord with Lucy. Kali tilted her head and gave her a fanged smiled. "You seem to have forgotten, Lucy. Ya gotta find the little good things hiding in the bad stuff. Focus too much on the storm clouds and you'll never see the silver lining,"

Lucy's surprise turned into a smile and we all shared a look of love and respect. 

"Family road trip?" I questioned sheepishly. Lucy couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Happy cheered.

- - - - - - 

One hour later:

"So this August guy," Natsu pointed out. "I gotta wonder what kinda wizard he is,"

"I heard he mastered every kind of magic on the planet!" I amazed.

"Whoah really?!" Natsu exclaimed with equivalent wonder.

"Please don't do anything to test him," Lucy pleaded. "The whole point is to negotiate," She emphasized. She stopped and glared at Natsu, myself, Happy, and Kali. "That goes for all of you,"

"Yes ma'am," We groaned.

"You'd be obliterated before you even knew what hit you," Brandish warned from the back of the group. "So keep that in mind,"

"Aye sir," Happy sweatdropped.

We were all walking through the remains of a ghost town on our way East to meet with the wizard king, August. I was curious as to what had destroyed this town. I wasn't aware that the war had reached this area of Fiore. Maybe it was abandoned before the war.

"The August I know is warm and kind-hearted," Brandish continued. "And I believe he's the most reasonable member of the 12. However, he's also... quite loyal. His support for the emperor will be hard to sway,"

"So how are you gonna get past that minor detail?" Kali spat, flying to Brandish's shoulder with a cocky grin.

"No idea," She said with a bored tone.

"Well that's comforting," I said sarcastically. That was when I heard a scuff in the dirt coming from behind a nearby tree. Natsu must have heard it to because I saw him pause out of the corner of my eye.

"You can't hide Mest. I know you're there," He announced.

I turned around and glared at Mest, who seemed surprised to be caught. To be honest, I wasn't happy to see him, but I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it's because of the bad feeling I got from being around him, but something about him definitely felt off lately.

"What do you expect?" He almost snarled, making me dislike him even more. "I can't believe you'd put all your trust in this girl,"

"Hey," I snapped. "She's bailed us out more often than you think," I disputed.

"Just get over it man," Natsu added. "It's not like she's a bad person,"

"But did you have to take off her sealstone? She's still our prisoner!" Mest argued.

"Dude, you need to relax," I folded my arms crossly.

"Yeah, don't sweat the small stuff man!" Natsu grinned.

"Natsu! Is there anything going on in that spiky head of yours?!" Mest yelled.

I rolled my eyes at our suspicious guildmate. Something about him being here gave me a bad feeling.

"You can go home now Mest," I said. "We've got it from here," I started to walk away before Lucy grabbed my shoulder and whirled me around.

"What is your problem?" She hissed quietly. "Why are you being so rude?"

"He's up to something," I glared at Mest who glared right back at me. "I don't trust him,"

Natsu noticed my deathly stare at Mest and took note of the way Lucy was holding my shoulder. He approached us and ushered us forward a little ways until we were out of earshot. Happy and Kali joined the group huddle and all eyes were on me.

"Excuse us, just a little family squabble," Natsu grinned back at Mest and Brandish, before turning back to us."Now what's going on?" He asked with his forced smile, trying to keep the mood upbeat.

"Trust me, he's up to no good. I can feel it," I stated confidently.

"If Nashi says something's up then something's up... probably," Kali affirmed.

"It's Mest, he's our guildmate. What could he possibly be up to?" Lucy folded her arms.

"How long has he actually been our guildmate? Less than a year?" I argued. "Keep in mind that he's the same guy that left us to die on Tenrou Island,"

"Yeah, but he also helped us find Gramps," Natsu countered.

"And he saved Wendy and Carla from Tartaros," Lucy added.

"I'm not saying he's a bad guy," I tried to explain. "I'm saying he's up to something and I don't trust him,"

"Well we can't just send him back to the guild alone. He could get ambushed on the way," Lucy folded her arms. "He'll just have to come with us,"

"But Mom-"

"If you don't trust him, then you keep an eye on him," She told me.

Wow, I'm not even born yet and she's already treating me like a child throwing a tantrum. I huffed and rolled my eyes, earning a smack in the back of my head from my fed-up mother.

"Lose the attitude," She ordered, stalking away from me.

I rubbed the back of my head and pouted, watching her walk towards Mest to tell him he can join our trek. Natsu noticed my continuous glare at Mest and observed the wizard before turning back to me.

"Wow, you really don't trust him," He pointed out.

"You didn't see his face after we decided to accept Brandish's help. He's plotting something. I can feel it," I said, turning back to my father who was looking at me with a concerned expression.

Speaking of concern.

"Now that we're alone, what are we gonna do about our 'situation'?" I whispered.

Natsu's eyes widened a little and he turned me around so we were facing away from the rest of the group. "Keep your voice down," He hissed. 

"Have you told anyone?" I asked.

"No I haven't told anyone! Have you?"

"No," Happy, Kali, and I said in unison.

"Well what are we supposed to do?!" I argued. "Has anyone figured out an alternative solution?"

"No," Happy and Kali answered defeatedly.

"We'll figure it out later," Natsu procrastinated. I gave him a dead pan expression. "Lucy's got enough on her mind," He explained, softening my expression. "It's best if we keep her out of this for as long as we can,"

"Doesn't she deserve to know?" I asked.

"I promise we'll tell her. Just not right now," He glanced back at Lucy who was talking to Brandish. She was really taking Kali's words to heart. She was smiling, enjoying the good things as they happened instead of focusing on the bad stuff. 

Natsu was right. We can't burden her with our secrets. Not when she's finally starting to see the bright side of things.

"Hey," Brandish spoke up, addressing everyone. "Are we really gonna walk all the way there?" She asked.

"I'M NOT GETTING IN A VEHICLE!!!" Natsu and I screeched.

"My only form that can carry all of you won't last long enough to get all the way there," Kali sheepishly explained.

"And I can only carry one person at a time," Happy added.

"I know what we can do," Brandish snapped her fingers and all of a sudden, Happy grew to be 60 feet tall. I stared wide-eyed at the gigantuous exceed who towered over everything in sight.

"You're huge!!" Lucy shrieked.

"Ahaha! Yeah, that is awesome!" Natsu cheered.

"Seems like we can ride him now," Brandish threw herself against Happy's leg and hugged the exceed. "So let's jump on this big ball of fluff!" She cried with a cutesy face.

I noticed Mest's suspicious glare toward Brandish, which in turn, made me glare at him. I wasn't about to let him off easy just because no one else suspected him. I knew it in my gut... he was up to something.

We all boarded Happy's giant back and he sprouted his wings to take flight. Our takeoff was a little rocky, but once we were in the air it was nothing but clear skies and smooth flying.

I had seated myself towards the back of the pack, away from the rest of the group. I watched as Brandish used her magic to mess around with my parents. It was nothing dangerous, just playful banter as if they were old friends.

I'll admit it was nice to see Brandish so happy. In my timeline, she only showed up once in a blue moon, but she always interacted with Mom like they were old friends. It was pretty cool to watch the original friendship form for the first time.

My hand drifted up to my right arm as my thoughts fell back into the anxiety of what lies beneath the bandage.

What am I going to do?

Is this the start of the dragonification process? If it is, how do I stop it? Or at least how do I slow it down? Do I try not to use my magic as much? That's not really an option right now...

More importantly... Do I tell anyone?

I glanced back at my family. For the first time in a while, they were laughing almost care-free. I couldn't burden them with yet another worry.

I ran my fingers across the bandage, feeling the individual scales beneath it. In a sense, it was almost calming to feel them. I knew that they meant trouble, but I couldn't help but feel soothed by running my fingers across them. It was like an old habit. Like when you bite your nails or fiddle with your hair. It was a nervous tick that somehow calmed me down.

"Hey Nashi,"

I snapped to my senses at Kali's voice. She scooted closer to my side, noticing my hand on my bandage.

"You good?" She asked.

"Me?" I pulled my hand away from my arm and forced a smile. "Yeah I'm good,"

The exceed narrowed her eyes at me, but dismissed the subject. 

"You seemed pretty pissed at Mest earlier. What's up with that?" She questioned, casting her gaze at the aforementioned wizard. I followed her gaze and narrowed my eyes at the wizard who had begun to scold Natsu and Lucy for playing games with the enemy.

"Call it instinct or a gut feeling," I explained. "Something just doesn't sit well with me,"

As soon as I said the words, I felt a twinge in my gut that alerted me to a dangerous presence. Everyone else must have sensed it because the air was silent.

"Whoa, you feel that?" Lucy was almost in awe.

"Magic power," Natsu confirmed.

"There's no mistaking him," Brandish said simply.

"Wait. You can't be serious. He's this strong?" Mest had a look of horror on his face.

I was the first to move. I stood up and moved to Happy's head to get a better look at the landscape below. I caught sight of a tall old man with long white facial hair that matched his actual hair, standing at the bottom of a hill. He eyed us carefully, as if deducing how much of a threat we would be.

"That's why he's called the Wizard King," Brandish explained.