The group got to Oshibana Town quickly, which not only made Natsu happy, but Kayla was relieved as well. Normally she would of been like Natsu and dying from motion sickness, but this time she only felt slightly light headed and nauseated, which was still annoying on a long train ride.

"We head straight towards the manor the job description mentioned." Erza said. "The requestor said not to meet with them beforehand, only afterwards." She said before walking down the street.

Kayla followed behind them, her eyes wondering around the town. It was large, and populated, though it was smaller than Magnolia. The cheery atmosphere around her made it hard for Kayla to believe that it housed a Dark Guild— though, that was years ago, and a lot can happen in a short amount of time.

The group finally got to the edge of the town, and after some walking through a forest, they stopped to see a large, abandoned manor. Nature had started to take it over, Moss growing up the walls, along with vines that looked like they were there originally but were now overgrown throughout the whole building. The stone path in front of it was overgrown with grass and flowers. Though, even as it was deteriorating and falling apart, the manor still held a grand feel to it.

"It's like something out of a storybook!" Lucy said dreamily as she looked up at it, then her expression changed, showing that she was thinking. "It's almost as if I've been here before."

"Let's not linger here." Erza said, "The faster we get this journal the faster we can get back to the guild." It was obvious that Erza wanted this job to be done fast before they got into too much trouble with Laxus. As they all nodded in agreement, they walked through the doors of the manor, both being barely held to the wall by some vines.

Once the group walked in, they decided to split up. Natsu and Happy being placed on a team, Gray and Erza being on a team, and Kayla being placed with Lucy. It wasn't long after that when everyone went their separate ways, Kayla and Lucy heading upstairs.

As they walked down the halls, Kayla started to get the feeling that this place was familiar, just as Lucy mentioned before they entered. Each time they looked in a room, she would get a small flash of the room where it wasn't destroyed by plant life. It was almost surreal.

"Erza said that many wizards have tried before to find this journal, right?" Kayla started, trying to keep her mind off of the weird familiar feeling she was getting from the manor.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah. Though I guess it is someone's journal. They probably have some personal stuff written in there along with those dark guild plans. If it were mine, I would keep it somewhere hidden and protected too."

"Yeah..." Kayla muttered quietly, before something popped in her head, She looked at Lucy the same time Lucy looked at her.

"A secret passage!" They said simultaneously.

"There has to be one in an old manor. The only question is, where would it be?" Kayla said, "And if no wizard has found it before, so it's none of the typical secret passages," She glanced at Lucy, "We should split up, if we find something, notify the other."

"Right!" Lucy said, and the two of them parted ways, Lucy retracing their steps back and Kayla going further down the hallway and into the manor.

Now that she was alone, an eerie quiet washed over her, only broken by her footsteps echoing along the halls. She stopped walking in the hallway and looked around. The familiarity of her surroundings was almost overwhelming, she just couldn't place a finger on what exactly was familiar. Walking over to the arching window and looking out onto a garden below.

The garden had long overgrown it's original design. The labyrinth maze was no longer a maze and instead just a large patch of bushes, roses of multiple colored littered the hedges. The flowers that used to be trimmed back periodically now took over the pathway, giving the garden splotches of colors.

'Mommy, mommy! Look at this!'

Kayla pulled away from the window with wide eyes as the voice rang through her head, as she stared down at the garden with wide eyes, a memory flashed in her head.

A young girl was running through the garden, a wide smile on her face as she stopped in front of an older woman, her blonde hair tied up in a bun with a braid wrapped around the base of it. She looked down at her with a warm smile.

"What is it, Kayla sweetheart?" She asked, her voice holding a warm authority to it.

"Look what I can do!" The girl raised her hands, and sparks shot around them. "I can do what daddy can do, see, see!"

The older woman looked down at Kayla, her smile faltering before returning to the way it was. Though her eyes were clouded with some emotion the young girl seemed oblivious to. "That's great." She stood up and placed the teacup she was holding on the table before she stood up. "Why don't we go inside and get some lunch."

The young girl, getting distracted momentarily from the mention of food grinned and nodded, the two of them headed into the building.

Kayla felt a stinging in her chest as her eyes widened. This manor, and the familiarity of it. She used to live here with here where she was just a little girl, up until she was dragged away to Death's Storm.

"Sweetheart." A voice said, echoing around the halls, and Kayla looked down the dark hallway to see a familiar figure standing not too far off, pale blue eyes meeting stormy gray ones.

"Mom?" Kayla asked, her voice cracking slightly.

Her mom placed her finger to her lips and turned around, starting to walk down the hall.

"Mom! Wait!" Kayla shouted, running after her. Though no matter how close Kayla seemed to get, her mom always stayed the same distance in front of her, until she suddenly disappeared, making Kayla skid to a stop. The walls were lined with pictures. Her mom's caring expression looked at her from each of the pictures. Though there was one in the middle that was a portrait of Kayla sitting in her mom's lap, a wide grin on her face. There was a man standing behind the chair the two of them were sitting in, but the portion that is face was painted on was ripped and falling.

Reaching up, Kayla pressed her and against the frame of the portrait, pulling away with a squeak as a small spark traveled trough her and the seal on her arm pulsed slightly. Looking back at the picture, she saw that it was now at an angle, stepping to the side, she saw that there was a passage behind it.

"I should go get the others." Kayla said quietly.

***

"Woah! Secret passage!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was kinda just open. I guess with nobody took care of it and the manor getting old the hinges got weak." Kayla said. She had pulled the whole portrait open so the rest of the group wouldn't see the picture. She didn't want the others to see the picture.

"Good job." Erza said, giving Kayla an approving smile as she headed into the passageway.

"It's kinda creepy in here." Happy said as he floated next to Natsu— the pink haired boy being the only source of light in the passageway.

Soon, the tunnel led them into a large circular room, a podium in the middle holding a leather bound journal.

"Is this it? It's kind of anticlimactic." Gray said, looking at the journal. "If this journal is so important, I would expect some type of beast guarding it."

"Do we just walk up and grab it?" Lucy asked.

"No. We have to be cautious." Erza said, looking back to the group, "Wait, where's Natsu?"

"I got the book!" Natsu shouted, holding the journal in his hand as he grinned.

"Erza just told us to be careful, Flamebrain!" Gray exclaimed.

"What did you just call me, Ice Queen?" Natsu growled, butting heads with Gray as his hands started to flame.

Her eyes widening, Kayla darted forwards and grabbed the journal from his hands, letting out a sigh of relief once it was safely in her hands. She watched as Erza walked over to them and punched their heads.

"We need to get this journal back to the requestor, we don't have time for fighting you two." She said sternly.

"Aye!" They shouted before Erza nodded and walked out of the room. Before she left, Kayla took one last glance at the room, noticing a small white butterfly sitting peacefully on the podium. Smiling slightly before she turned and followed after the group.