The train felt as if it was moving at the speed of a turtle. It felt like ages before the busy village streets turned into forests of trees. But slowly, Gray watched as the number of buildings lessened, while the number of trees grew. Gray rested his head on the windowsill and continued starting out. The forest calmed him, but memories flooded from the depths of his memory. Memory after memory, they played in his head like a homemade movie. Most, were good memories.

Gray found himself smiling at the thought of one of them. It was on his 15th birthday, the last time he saw her. The kingdom had halted all activities to celebrate the day with him. Even though he and Mel insisted on a quiet celebration, they still blew it out of proportion. He remembered the sounds of the singing crowds, the parade held by the mages and the huge feast. But most of all, he remembered Mel's smiling face and closing performance.
He remembered Mel as the girl she was, just straying to become a woman. She had looked really pretty in her costume. Her voice was like an Angel's when she sang, and she danced like a queen. She also looked like the kid she was when she tripped and fell off the stage. Gray chuckled to himself but stopped shortly after. This wasn't the time to reminisce.

Back to the rest of the gang, Erza was busily planning a new plan, Natsu was troubles with his motion sickness, Kaito was preoccupied with his thoughts and Lucy was still clueless.

"Umm," Lucy hesitantly whispered, "Erza?"

"Yes?" Erza replied, breaking her train of thought.

"I was wondering... Who exactly is Mel-chan?" Lucy said.

"SAMA. Mel-sama!" Kaito interrupted.

Erza ignored him. "How much do you know about her?"

"Not much. I only know that she is a nakama. "

Kaito coughed.

"Why don't we let our friend Kaito tell you the basics first?" Erza scoffed.

Kaito smirked and turned towards Lucy at the sound of this. "With pleasure mi'lady!" Kaito said mockingly yet eagerly, "Leave the talk to the one who knows best!"
He continued on. "Melanie-sama is our kingdoms one and only princess. She's the village's living treasure too. Everyone adores her very much. That's to be expected though, considering how beautiful and charming she is."

"I bet you, especially think so," murmured Erza.

It might have been Lucy's imagination, but she thought she saw Kaito blush.

"Uh hum," he coughed, " Moving on. The Princess lost her parents at anearly age. So she's very into politics for her kingdom. Her brother is the current king. That's about really all you need to know from my side. Erza-San?"

Erza nodded. "Mel-chan was also our close nakama. In fact, she and Gray were-"

Gray suddenly stood up. "Sorry... Need some air." he said abruptly.

Lucy watched him go. He looked troubled.

"He sees it coming." Erza sighed."See what?" Lucy asked.

"After my turn, it's obvious it's going to be his turn to share the story," Erza explained, "He's going to prepare his thoughts. Leave him be."
Lucy stared off at the direction Gray went but nodded.

"All right," Erza continued, "Let's pick off where I last stopped... Ah yes. Gray and Mel-chan were very close. So close, that she even came to play at the guild for two months once. That's when she unofficially became a member."

Lucy thought about it. "What do you meant unofficially?"

"Meaning, we all recognize her as a nakama. Meaning, she has the mark. But no one outside of the guild knows, not even the council."

"Why? Oh and... Does this mean the princess is a Mage?" Lucy half shouted.

"As to your first question, think about it. It wouldn't do much good if word came out that the Princess was a Mage at a rowdy guild. It would have hindered Silice's development. " Erza sighed.

Kaito flashes a grin. "For your second question, yes, Melanie-sama is a Mage. One heck of one too."

Erza smiled softly to his statement. "I don't know about now, but the magic she showed me when we were children we're quite amazing. I wonder if she found out her magics origin."

"Origin?" Lucy was confused again.

"We'll leave that up to when we meet Mel," answered Gray who just came back.

"Alright," he said, "Is it my turn?"

Kaito laughed. "Finishing preparing yourself?"

"I guess so," Gray said solemnly.

Kaito flashed another grin. "Well, too bad. Save your story for later, cuz' we've arrived."

Lucy looked out the window. "But! We're still in the forest!"

"We go by foot from here. If you want to get in alive," Kaito cackled.

Gray rolled his eyes. All that mental preparation went to waste. Oh wells, though. Being one step closer to Mel was just as well.