A week had passed since the mysterious disappearance of the veteran Fairy Tail guild members, and none of the younger crew could figure out why or how this had happened. Nashi and Ur had reported in that all cities and villages in Fiore revealed at least four disappearances in their area. The numbers over the week contined to rise until at least twenty were missing in the villages and over sixty in the large cities. The mysterious man behind this continued to grow more complex as the teens tried desperately to figure out what was going on. 

"Jutla, hey. Have you or Layla found anything yet? It's been a week," Jareth informed them as he entered the library. 

Layla was nowhere to be found, and Jutla was curled into a large pile of books, sniffing. The red head raced towards her, leaning down and playing with her long, light blue hair. "Hey, what's wrong? Where's Layla?" 

"Layla caught the flu, so she's at home resting. Nashi stayed home to take care of her, but that means I'm stuck researching on my own. That's...kind of why it's been going slow, but I didn't want to say anything. I know you're busy being the leader and all," she croaked out. 

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her, Jareth pulling her into a hug. "Don't say that, Little Dragon. We've been best friends since we were little kids. We know everything about each other. And...and..." 

"And what?" Jutla asked. 

"And...I care about you. I care about you a lot," he said, leaning in and covering her lips with his own. 

Her hazel eyes widened at such a sudden gesture, but she couldn't help but to kiss back. She had had a crush on her childhood best friend for over a year now, and Jutla would not waste this opportunity. 

Eventually, they pulled away, Jareth smirking at her. "You can do it, Little Dragon. The fate of our parents' lives is in your hands, and you can save them. I believe in you." 

"Thank you, Jareth, " she said as she wiped a few tears away. 

He ruffled her hair. "No problem, Shorty. In fact, I'll help you since I have nothing better to do." 

"I'm not that short," the blunette huffed out. 

The requip mage chuckled. "Trust me, you are. Now, what kind of books should I look for?" 

"Anything that has to do with dark magic, disappearing magic, disguise magic. I've found several books on each of these categories, but none of them quite matched to the mysterious guy we saw back at the village," she explained. 

"Got it," he said, searching around the scattered books. 

As they searched around, the blunette noticed one odd book on the top shelf. It was out of order and located in a spot that made it almost seem as if it was purposely placed. She peered up at it, noticing that it was in a very rare language. She needed her pair of gale glasses, but Jutla had accidentally left them at home. 

"Hey, Jareth. Can you get that really big book on the top shelf over here? The black one with the long, red ribbon?" she asked. 

Nodding, he walked over and leaned up, attempting to grab the book, "I think it's stuck!" 

"Pull harder! I have a good feeling about this book," she replied with a slightly excited tone. 

Nodding, he yanked on the book, causing one of the older-appearing bookshelves to sink into the wall, sliding over to the right and revealing a dark tunnel. 

"What the hell is this?" the redhead asked. 

"My mom had a theory that our library had a secret! Let's check it out!" Jutla said, using her solid script magic to write lantern in the air, holding her bright word as she scurried down the tunnel. 

Jareth ran after her. "Hey, wait for me!" 

The tunnel had portraits of various guid masters on the wall, all the way back to even Mavis's time. There were even phrases carved into the walls, but these phrases were in a language that Jareth could not understand. Luckily for them, Jutla had studied on this particular language. 

"Apparently there is a secret room down this tunnel that holds the guild's most dangerous information. I wonder what that could mean..." the blunette wondered to herself, though her partner--apparently in more ways than one now--could easily hear her. 

"Who knows, but let's check this out. Maybe we can find useful information on our opponent in here," he hoped as they entered a large, surprisingly lit room. 

There were bookshelves stocked with old, ancient books of knowledge that had never been heard about. The titles of all of these books surprised the duo. 

"Demonic Control Magic? Time Warp Magic? Parallel Universe Magic? What kind of abilities are these?" Jareth asked no one in particular. 

"Soul Capture Magic, Undead Magic, Fabulously Rainbow Magic--oh, this looks promising! Shadow Transportation Magic! This seems to sound a little like the guy we're dealing with," she said. 

"Well, let's read about it!" Jareth said as he grabbed the book from the shelf, opening it up, "It's written in a weird language. Why are the titles in our language?" 

"It's just something weird that they did long ago. Here, I know how to read it." Jutla grabbed the book from the redhead, spreading it out on the wooden table placed in the center of the shelves. 

The book contained long paragraphs explaining what each ability of Shadow Transportation Magic did, and every ability matched perfectly to the mysterious figure that they had witnessed a week before. This magic was described as both deadly and of illusion, as it left no trace of magic behind. Diagrams were also sketched out into the dusty novel of how the abilities affected others. 

"This magic enables the user to teleport mortals into shadow realms where they remain there unless the user allows them freedom...or if the user is killed," she read. 

"Does it say how to kill him?" Jareth asked. 

Jutla read on. "Here it is. To kill a user of Shadow Transportation Magic, one must aim for his weakest area, which is his heart. A heart can never be turned into an illusion, so that is why. But he must be speared through the heart by any known metal. So..." 

"Iron! You can use your iron to spear him! This is your chance to shine, Jutla!" the redhead encouraged.

"Yajee could do it too, you know..." she trailed off. 

"Yeah, but you are more mature than he is. You will actually focus and hit him directly," he explained. 

Suddenly, Jutla developed an idea, smirking. "Well, if you say so, but only on one condition." 

"And that is?" he asked.

She suddenly walked up to him, reaching behind and grabbing his firm ass. "That's mine. Deal?" 

"Deal!" 

~~~

Hai all! If you like the chapter, please vote, comment, follow, and share the booty--erm, I mean--ship babes around! 

Shoutouts go to: 

An_Ordinary_Reader

ZoeyRedbird47

wanderingmind4

LevyLily

amanda1132456