The afternoon sun bathed the expansive estate on the shores of Lake Sciliora in a warm, lazy gold. Inside the master bedroom of the mansion Blake had built, the world felt small, quiet, and perfect. The curtains were drawn slightly to block the harshest rays, casting the room in a soft, ambient twilight.
It has been three days since Blake and Cana had finished their quest and returned to the daily rhythm of life. But today, they had stolen a few hours for themselves.
We can see Blake and Cana cuddling in Blake's house. They lay tangled together on the massive plush bed, a chaotic mess of sheets and limbs. Cana was resting her head on Blake's chest, while Blake's arm was wrapped securely around her, his fingers idly playing with her long brown hair.
"You know," Cana murmured, her voice husky and content, "if we ignore the guild for another day, Makarov might actually send a search party."
Blake chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest against her cheek. "Let them come. I installed new security runes on the gate. It'll take Natsu at least twenty minutes to burn through them. That gives us plenty of time."
"Twenty minutes?" Cana smirked, tilting her head up to look at him. "You underestimate the destructive power of a bored Dragon Slayer."
"And you underestimate the strength of my architectural paranoia," Blake countered, leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"Maybe we should just retire," Cana mused, closing her eyes. "Buy some land. Grow grapes. Make wine. You can scare off the seagulls."
"Sounds boring," Blake whispered.
"Sounds perfect," she corrected.
It was a moment of absolute peace. The kind of moment that usually precedes a disaster.
Then, all of a sudden, Blake stands up.
The movement was so abrupt that Cana nearly tumbled off his chest. He was out of bed in a flash, his body tense, his eyes wide and locked on the ceiling—or rather, through the ceiling, at the sky above.
"Blake?" Cana sat up, confused, pulling the sheet around her. "What is it? Did Natsu actually break in?"
Blake didn't answer immediately. His face was pale, his expression one of intense concentration. His Observation Haki was screaming. It wasn't a monster. It wasn't a dark guild. It was a pressure change on a planetary scale. A void had opened in the sky, a massive, magical vacuum that was descending with apocalyptic speed.
The Anima, Blake realized. It's here. Already?
Sensing that, Blake concludes it was time for the Edolas arc. The timeline was moving, and it was moving fast.
"Cana," Blake said, his voice hard and commanding. "Grab your clothes. Now."
"What? Blake, you're scaring me. What's happening?"
"No time."
Blake didn't wait for her to dress. He grabbed his coat and threw it around her shoulders. He grabbed Tensa Zangetsu from the nightstand. Then he grabs Cana's hand and lifts her on his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"Blake! Put me down! What the hell?!"
"Hold on!"
He kicked the bedroom window open, shattering the expensive glass. He didn't run for the car. There wasn't time to start the engine. He needed raw speed.
"Geppo!"
He kicked the air, launching himself from the mansion with the force of a cannonball. He moved faster than he ever had, blurring through the forest, away from the lake, away from the town. He pushed his physical limits, his Haki coating his legs to withstand the strain of the supersonic travel.
And take her out of Magnolia so that they both are not sucked into the portal.
They cleared the city limits in seconds, landing on a high ridge overlooking the valley where Magnolia nestled. Blake skidded to a halt, setting Cana down but keeping a firm grip on her arm.
"Blake, what is wrong with you?!" Cana shouted, pulling the coat tight around her. "You can't just—"
She stopped. She followed his gaze.
The sky above Magnolia was gone. In its place was a swirling, kaleidoscopic vortex of purple and black energy. It looked like a storm, but it didn't blow wind; it sucked reality. Lightning that looked like cracks in the universe arced across the clouds.
Then, once outside Magnolia, they see the whole town is being sucked out by a portal.
It happened in silence. There was no explosion. No scream of dying earth. The magical barrier of the Anima descended, encompassing the entire city—the guild, the cathedral, the houses, the people.
The ground trembled.
And then, in a blink, the city was simply... deleted.
Where the vibrant, bustling town of Magnolia had stood seconds ago, there was now only a massive, perfectly spherical crater of smooth, barren earth.
Cana, seeing this, is shocked.
Her eyes were wide, reflecting the empty crater. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She blinked, waiting for the illusion to fade, waiting for the town to pop back into existence. It didn't.
Her knees gave out. She collapsed onto the grass, staring at the void where her life had been.
"Blake..." her voice was a broken whisper. "The guild... Dad... everyone... are they dead?"
She grabbed his shirt, shaking him, her eyes filling with tears of pure distraught. "Tell me they aren't dead! Tell me you didn't just save me while everyone else died! Blake!"
Blake knelt down, grabbing her shoulders firmly. "Cana! Listen to me! They aren't dead!"
She choked on a sob, looking at him with desperate hope. "They... they aren't?"
"No," Blake said, his voice calm and certain.
"That wasn't an attack. It was a transport spell. A dimensional breach called 'Anima.' It connects our world, Earthland, to a parallel world called Edolas."
"Parallel world?" Cana wiped her eyes, trying to process the information through her panic.
"Yes. Edolas is a world running out of magic," Blake explained quickly. "They steal it from us. And that the whole town is in crystallized form. They turn the magic power—the town and the people—into a giant Lacrima crystal to power their world. And they are all safe, but they are trapped in stasis."
Cana let out a breath she felt she had been holding for an hour. "They're alive... trapped, but alive."
Hearing that people and guild members are safe, Cana feels relieved. The crushing weight on her chest lifted slightly, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. If they were alive, they could be saved.
"But we can't leave them there," Blake said. "But they should go to Edolas to retrieve them. We have to go get them back."
Cana stood up, her fierce spirit returning. She tightened Blake's coat around her. "Okay. We go get them. That portal took the town... how do we get in?"
Hearing that, Blake points at the Anima portal.
The vortex in the sky hadn't closed yet. It was shrinking, retracting back into the other dimension like a feeding tube, but the gateway was still open high above the crater.
"We fly," Blake said. "We catch the tail end of the spell and ride it through."
Hearing that, Cana says, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
She didn't hesitate. She didn't ask if it was dangerous. She just trusted him. She wore clothes that she usually stores in her cards. Then they both start moving towards the now-disappeared Magnolia.
They ran down the ridge, into the massive, smooth crater. The ground was strange, slick and devoid of any rubble. It was as if the town had never existed.
As they reached the center of the crater, Blake's Haki picked up life signs. Small, familiar ones.
"We're not the only ones left," Blake noted.
When they arrived, they saw Wendy, Carla, Natsu, and Happy talking to each other.
They were standing in the middle of the empty wasteland. Natsu was on his knees, pounding the ground, screaming at the sky. Wendy was crying, holding onto Carla. Happy was looking around, confused and scared.
"Natsu! Wendy!" Cana called out.
The four heads snapped toward them.
"Cana! Blake!" Natsu yelled, jumping up. tears streaming down his face. "You're here! You didn't disappear!"
Wendy ran over, hugging Cana's legs. "Everyone is gone! The whole city is gone!"
When Blake and Cana come near them, four of them are relieved to see that at least Cana and Blake are safe.
"It's okay, we know," Blake said, patting Natsu's shoulder. "We saw it happen."
"This is my fault..." Carla whispered. The white cat was trembling, her ears flattened against her head.
"Carla?" Wendy asked.
"I... I knew this would happen," Carla said, her voice shaking.
She explained fragments of her memories—that she was an Exceed from Edolas, sent to Earthland with a mission to kill a Dragon Slayer, but that she had failed, and now her people were taking everything.
"It's not your fault, Carla," Happy said, stepping forward bravely. "We don't care about missions! We're Fairy Tail wizards! We're going to go get everyone back!"
"Happy's right," Natsu said, wiping his face and grinning, though his eyes were fierce. "We're going to this Ed-whatever place, and we're gonna kick its butt!"
"We have to hurry," Blake said, looking up. The portal in the sky was closing rapidly. "The Anima is retracting. If we miss this window, we're stuck here."
Then all of them start flying towards the Anima portal.
"Carla, can you carry Wendy?" Blake asked.
"Yes," Carla sniffled, transforming her wings. Carla carries Wendy. She grabbed the Sky Dragon Slayer by the back of her vest and lifted off.
"I got Natsu!" Happy yelled. Happy carries Natsu, his wings sprouting.
"Aye, sir! Let's go!"
Blake looked at Cana. He smiled, a challenge in his eyes. "Well? Need a lift?"
Cana smirked. She cracked her neck and stretched her legs.
"Don't insult me, big guy," Cana said. "You think I spent all those months training with you just to be luggage?"
"Try to keep up," she winked.
Blake and Cana use Geppo to Anima.
Blake kicked the air. BOOM. He launched himself skyward.
And right beside him, Cana leaped.
"Geppo!"
She kicked the air, a burst of compressed wind exploding under her boot. She didn't have Blake's effortless power, but her form was solid. Kick. Kick. Kick. She climbed the air, matching his ascent.
They climbed higher and higher, leaving the crater of Magnolia far below. The air grew thin and cold. The swirling vortex of the Anima loomed above them, a massive eye looking down at the world.
"The pressure is increasing," Blake shouted over the wind. "Stay close! Wendy, Natsu, hold on tight!"
They approached the event horizon. The magical pressure was immense, pushing against them like a physical wall.
"Push through!" Blake roared.
Cana gritted her teeth, kicking harder. "I'm... not... stopping!"
And then they pass through the portal and reach the other side.
The sensation was disorienting—a feeling of being stretched and compressed all at once. Colors inverted. Sound became muffled. Gravity seemed to twist sideways. It felt like falling up.
And then, they popped out.
The air was thin. The light was different—a strange, twilight hue that never seemed to fully brighten.
Blake kicked the air one last time to stabilize their descent. Cana gasped, her Geppo faltering as the magical density changed, but Blake grabbed her hand, stabilizing her. Happy and Carla hovered nearby, their wings tired from the dimensional crossing.
Once they passed through the portal, they see floating islands.
Below them lay a world that defied physics. Massive chunks of land floated in a sea of clouds. Rivers flowed from one island to another through the open air. The vegetation was alien, purple and blue hues dominating the landscape.
"Welcome to Edolas," Blake said, looking at the floating continent.
Cana stared at the alien landscape, her eyes wide. "We're not in Fiore anymore."
"No," Blake agreed. "But we're getting our family back."