"Lisana..."
"How could this be..."
Natsu and Hapi couldn't believe their eyes.
They had recklessly barged into Edolas, hoping to find their missing comrades, but they didn't expect to find Fairy Tail immediately, nor to encounter such a huge surprise before even entering the guild.
They repeatedly confirmed the girl's face in front of them, tears gushing from their eyes as they rushed forward, shouting together, "Lisana!!! You're alive!"
Lisana suddenly became more panicked, sitting on the ground at a loss for what to do.
"Oh la!" Suddenly 'Lucy' swung a kick, sending Natsu and Hapi flying to the side.
Not satisfied with that, she grabbed Natsu by the collar with one hand and choked his neck with the other, fiercely questioning, "You beast! When did you become so wild? And..."
Natsu was still tearfully calling out Lisana's name.
'Lucy' hugged Natsu, pressing her face against his chest, her tone becoming exceptionally gentle, "Where have you been? I was so worried about you..."
Natsu, slightly snapping out of the surprise of seeing a living Lisana, questioned, "Lucy?"
Rhode watched with great interest, it seemed like 'Natsu' was being bullied by 'Lucy', and this 'Lucy' was clearly different toward Natsu, very bold and straightforward in expressing her feelings.
But when he glanced further away, he was slightly stunned, "Wendy, Carla?"
No, this is not right!
He had just seen a 'Big Wendy' in the guild, how could there be another Little Wendy?
Natsu was muddled and pulled into the guild, Gray happily slung an arm over Natsu's shoulder, warmly concerned about him.
'Mira' hugged Lisana, softly persuading her to talk inside, while Elfman tearfully followed in persuading.
Hapi looked around, wanting to follow Natsu to figure out what was going on, but also wanting to ask Lisana how she has been the past two years.
Wendy and Carla hesitated, unsure if they should approach.
Rhode's eyes were hardly enough, wanting both to know what was happening with Lisana and to see what was up with Natsu.
However, he glanced at Big Wendy before heading outside, "Wendy, Carla, why are you here?"
Wendy exclaimed, "Brother Rhode!"
"Wait!" Carla stopped Wendy, who wanted to rush forward, "I felt something was odd about everyone's appearance from the start, be careful!"
Wendy asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Think about Mystogan," Carla was very vigilant, pointing to the people inside the guild, "Look, Gray, Lucy, and even Jubia, everyone is different from how they are in the guild!"
Wendy was shocked, "Are you saying this Brother Rhode might not be the Brother Rhode we know?"
That way, Rhode could fully confirm their identities.
"Carla is very smart," Rhode praised, then smiled and said, "However, for someone who seems indifferent to the guild, you're quite good at distinguishing everyone here."
Carla said in shock, "Why do you know me... could it be this really is Fairy Tail, just that everyone's appearances have changed?"
"No, this is the Fairy Tail that originally existed in Edolas, the people inside are not our comrades. But I am Rhode from Aslan, pulled here by that magic that suddenly appeared in the sky."
"It really is Brother Rhode!" This time Wendy truly pounced forward, hugging Rhode's waist, tears welling up in her eyes.
She finally saw a comrade again.
Rhode patted Wendy's head, feeling somewhat relieved, but seeing Wendy's reaction, Rhode realized something more unexpected might have happened:
"What happened, how did you get here?"
Wendy sobbed, "Because... because everyone disappeared! Everyone in the guild, the entire city, all disappeared!"
"What?" Rhode's eyes widened.
The ominous premonition came true, things were indeed heading in the worst direction, did Edolas attack Magnolia for magic power?
"It's Anima (soul)," Carla said, "Super Subspace Magic Anima, it's the magic Edolas used to seize magic power from Aslan.
"It's that giant vortex that suddenly appeared in the sky, it absorbed all of Magnolia.
"Wendy and I, along with Natsu and the cat companion, rushed to the vortex center at the last moment to come to this world to save everyone."
"Absorbed..." Rhode tried to calm himself, "Wait, what do you mean by absorbed? Is it like me, transferred to this world then scattered everywhere?"
If that was the case, they only needed to find everyone, defeat the enemy, then return and rebuild the city, rebuild the guild... Though difficult, it wasn't impossible.
But Carla said the answer Rhode least wanted to hear, "No, it's magic that converts all absorbed targets into magic power. Which means..."
Rhode's heart raced, brain rapidly running, seeking reasons to refute her:
"What about the President, he was in the guild! What about Kildas, he wasn't out on a job, right? They're so strong..."
Carla's expression was gloomy, "Even they, it's the large-scale magic experimented by this world over six years, it's not something that can be resisted by individual power, everyone will be turned into magic power."
Rhode instinctively hugged the sobbing Wendy in his arms, starting to understand Wendy's feelings when she saw him, knowing how despairing it was for Wendy and the others to watch the city disappear.
Because, for a fleeting moment, he also felt utterly hopeless.
"No, we're still here!" Rhode couldn't believe the guild would mysteriously be annihilated, "Maybe they, like you, were hit by the magic but unharmed, maybe they're just scattered in this world like me!"
"We survived due to the effect of Dragon Slayer Magic," Wendy softly said, "It seems like Dragon Slayer Mage's magic power is special, so Anima had no effect on us."
Rhode frowned, if it was Dragon Slayer Mage, then he probably counted halfway, unsure if his magic power had special properties, but Natsu always said he did, at least when accepting the little dragon.
So, Anima had only partially affected him, bringing him to this world but not converting him into magic power.
He touched his pendant, unsure if magic power protected him, or if it was the pendant.
Moreover, there's still another Dragon Slayer Mage in the guild, right within the city.
But Gajeel didn't have a flying cat, not knowing what might happen to him.
Putting this aside.
This was no time for panic, nor for wild thoughts.
Rhode took a deep breath, asking, "Any more information? What about you and Hapi, how did you remain unharmed?"