A/N: I'm still alive. Yay. Sorry for the delay, school's been an absolute nightmare, and I recently discovered Supernatural. You can see the dilemma. Anyway, I didn't really want to cut the chapter off there, but it was getting really long, so enjoy the massive update. Also, you may be questioning why I rated this M. It's not for smut or anything, I couldn't write that if I tried. No, there's going to be a lot of graphic violence later on, such as flashback's to Alice's torture and such. This is not beta-approved because I haven't got a beta, so please don't slaughter me over grammar.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, I wouldn't have brutally removed Aquarius. Rude, Mashima. Rude.
"Excuse me," a male voice interrupted. "Did you say you fight dark guilds?" Alice turned in her seat to face the speaker. It was a young man with blue hair and an intricate tattoo around his right eye. "And you are?" the blonde asked, ignoring his question. "Ah! I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I'm Jellal Fernandes." Alice shook the proffered hand. "I'm Alice, sometimes known as the Queen of Hearts," she said. "And yes, my partner and I fight dark guilds."
Jellal climbed into the seat next to her. "This may be an intrusive question," he said hesitantly. "But why do you fight dark guilds?" Alice looked down at her water, contemplating the question. "Initially, it was for revenge," she answered. "I was captured and tortured by Hellhound Totem some time ago. Destroying other dark guilds seemed a good a way as any to exact revenge. However, after a while, it became my purpose."
The ex-convict frowned at that. "Your purpose?" he questioned. "I was doing something good," Alice explained. "I was cleansing the world of evil, and I saw no reason to stop. It was as good a calling as any."
"I see," Jellal murmured. "Well, at any rate, I won't be fighting any dark guilds anymore," she continued. "Official guilds are banned from hunting them down." The blue-haired mage stood and excused himself, returning to the table he was sharing with Erza.
Alice turned back to Mira. "Our sign is two playing cards," she explained. "The Jack and Queen of Hearts. We leave them at the site of every dark guild we destroy. Eventually, people started calling us the Magic Card Duo, and it kind of stuck.
"Wait just one moment," the barmaid said. "You two are the Magic Card duo. The one that has destroyed six dark guilds in the past year, and taken down the remnants of the Hellhound Totem organized crime syndicate? That Magic Card Duo?" Jack grinned at her. "That would be us, yes," he informed her. "However, as you overheard earlier, Hellhound Totem is still around. We took down most of the power behind their organization, but the guild itself still exists. Since their base was destroyed, it's gotten harder to find them."
Mira took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she processed that information. "Why playing cards?" she blurted. "Why use playing cards as your symbol?" The pair looked at each other, then back at her. "You know," Alice said slowly. "I'm not quite sure. We just started doing it and it kind of stuck. We started calling each other by playing card names, and it just became our thing." The white-haired mage's eyes gleamed. "So, Jack," she said, turning to face him. "What's your real name then?" The black-haired man would've tipped his fedora if he'd had one. "Why, the Jack of Hearts, of course," he responded. Mira glared at him, frowning. "But Alice just said that you started calling each other those names."
Jack laughed at her confusion. "That doesn't mean that my name isn't Jack," he replied, still chuckling.
"Question three," Mira announced, giving up. "Where are you staying? Alice, we have a girls dormitory if you want to stay there, but Jack, you'll have to find a place in town." Alice looked over at Jack at that question, making eye contact. What do you think? she thought, sending it over the telepathic link between them. It was yet another side affect of her magic. Will you be alright without me there? her companion replied mentally. I'll be fine. If I need you, I can just summon you. Can you stay in the Spirit World? It'd make rent cheaper.
"Sounds like a plan," the black-haired man said aloud. "Good!" Alice grinned, turning to Mira. The barmaid had a blank, confused expression on her face. "Okay," she said slowly. "I believe in couple's telepathy and all, but did you just make an entire plan by staring at each other?" Both laughed at that. "It's part of my magic," the blonde explained. "I can communicate with Jack telepathically."
"What exactly is your magic?" Mira asked. Instantly, Alice's open, laughing expression went blank, and she wouldn't meet the white-haired mage's eyes. Jack placed one hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "That's a sensitive subject for her," he told Mira quietly. "Hellhound Totem was asking the same question." The barmaid gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, looking at Alice with wide, concerned eyes. The blonde just stared at her gloved palms, mouthing words and making no noise.
"Rule number one, Alice, rule number one," Jack murmured in her ear, sliding his arm all the way around her shoulders. "You're okay."
Slowly, Alice seemed to come back to Earthland, her whispering ceasing and muscles relaxing. She looked up and smiled weakly at Mira. "Sorry about that," she said with as much cheerfulness as she could muster. "I can answer the question now, if you really want to know." The barmaid tried to protest, but the blonde just waved it off.
"I assume you're familiar with celestial magic?" At Mira's nod, she continued. "I use a unique form of it. While most celestial mages summon spirits to fight for them, I embody their aspects." She giggled at the white-haired mage's confused look.
"See, there are hundreds of celestial spirits, but the twelve most powerful are linked to the Zodiac, and are named after the signs. Each spirit, but most notably those of the Zodiac, has its own powers and personality. I can access the powers of the spirits through a telepathic link. Also, each spirit's personality is unique. If my emotions align with a spirit's personality, I'll accidentally access their powers. My eyes are always changing color, right? That's a side effect of my magic. When I'm accessing a spirit's power, my eyes will turn a color that represents their element and personality. For instance…" she closed her eyes. "Scorpio."
Mira gasped. Alice's eyes had turned a dark red, with a rusty ring around the pupil. "That's so cool!" she almost squealed. "What other colors can you do?" The blonde laughed at her excitement. "I can use ten colors-well, technically eleven, because Gemini is two, but only ten spirits. Any other questions?" The barmaid tapped her chin thoughtfully. "How come you can only use ten spirits?" "I can only embody Zodiac spirits," she explained. "And only those whose keys I've come into contact with."
Mira's eyes narrowed. "You've come into contact with ten Zodiac keys? Which ones?" Alice chewed her lip, thinking. "Well, there's Aquarius, Scorpio, Leo," she said, ticking them off on her fingers. "Taurus, Cancer, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aries." The barmaid's eyes widened, and she grabbed Alice's shoulders over the bar. "You've met Lucy," she hissed. "Where?" The blonde leaned slightly away from the other woman. "Calm down, Mira-san," she said, making placating gestures with her hands. "I don't know where your nakama is."
The white-haired mage released her, and settled back behind the bar. "Sorry, Alice," she apologized. "But you just listed all of Lucy's spirits." "I know," Alice agreed. "I met her three years ago. She overheard Jack and I discussing my magic and let me hold all her keys so I could use their power."
Jack gripped her shoulder, catching her attention and drawing her eyes to his. What are you doing? he hissed over their mental connection. I don't have a choice, she replied. We're just lucky she didn't connect the dots. I had to make up some kind of an excuse, and luckily this one is believable. The black-haired man was silent for a long moment. I hope you know what you're doing. Rule number four. Then he broke eye contact and ended the conversation.
"So," Mira said, bringing both their gazes back to her. "You never did answer the question about where you'll be staying." Alice chewed her lip. "How much is the rent at the girls' dorm?" "A hundred thousand jewels a month," the barmaid replied promptly. The blonde's eyebrow raised slightly. "I see," she murmured, calculating in her head. Taking jobs with Jack instead of Natsu meant no property damage fines, factoring in their savings, and taking into account that her companion wouldn't need rent money…
"I'll take it," she announced. "Who do I talk to?" Mira smiled at that, motioning for Alice to wait a moment. "Erza!" she called to the requip mage, beckoning her over. The redhead nodded sharply at the two newest members before turning to the barmaid. The requip mage looked up from down the bar, where she was sitting with Jellal, and, of course, her ever-present strawberry cake. The redhead slipped of her stool and headed their way.
"What do you need, Mirajane?" Erza asked, her ever-present stiff, formal tone showing clearly in her voice.
"Alice here is planning on living in Fairy Hills," Mira said. "She needs all the paperwork and such." Erza nodded, eyes flicking over to the blonde with a vaguely suspicious, guarded look. Alice ignored it, holding her slight smile in place.
"All the papers are in the top drawer on the right side of my desk in my room," the Titania directed. "Who's giving the tour?"
"I'll do that," Mira quickly answered. "Lisanna can watch the bar for a bit." Alice's eyes narrowed slightly, turning grey. She didn't say anything, but both Jack and Erza caught the suspicious look she sent towards the barmaid.
"If that is all, I will be leaving now," the redhead announced, and without waiting for an answer, turned on her heel and walked back over to where Jellal was sitting and watching her with a disgustingly affectionate look on his face.
"Lisanna!" Mira called to her younger sister across the room. The younger sister looked up from where she had been sitting with Natsu's head in her lap. The dragon slayer had his eyes closed, with a tortured expression marring his features. Lisanna quickly murmured a few words to him that were lost in the hubbub of the room, before gently slipping his head off her legs and onto the hard, wooden bench.
"Mira-nee," she greeted as she approached them. "What's going on?" She glanced over at Alice with a similar suspicious look to the one Erza had worn earlier.
"I'm going to help Alice here move into Fairy Hills," Mira explained. "I need you to watch the bar for a bit while I give her the tour. Is that alright?" The younger mage nodded slowly.
"Sure, I can do that," she agreed. "But can you hurry back? Natsu needs me." She didn't clarify beyond that, but Mira's face pinched with sadness, and she nodded.
"I'll do my best," she agreed. "Let's go, Alice." The blonde quickly followed, but not before sending a curious glance at Natsu, wondering just what, exactly, he needed Lisanna for, and why Mira looked so sad.
XxX
"...And down that hall is Levy and Laki's rooms," Mira said, pointing down another hallway. "And that about finishes up the tour! I'll show you your room, then go grab the rent agreement and such from Erza. Sound good?" Alice nodded, a blank look fixed on her face. "Earthland to Alice?" Mira asked jokingly, waving a hand in front of the blonde's face. Alice jolted, as if awakening from a trance.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "I was talking to one of the spirits. We were going to go see my room?" The barmaid narrowed her eyes at the shorter girl. Alice had been staring down the corridor blankly, but she was definitely focused on the doors down the hall, not some mental conversation.
She shook it off, deciding to talk about it later, in a conversation that she was planning to have with Alice the instant they were alone. Mira planned to force the blonde out of whatever insanity was making her lie.
Oh yes, Mirajane knew. She knew that Alice was actually Lucy, and that Jack was actually Loke. If it wasn't obvious enough from the fact that the celestial mage had the exact same features as her old nakama, the spirits she used were the final straw. So, Mira was going to confront her and get her to spill.
"This is your room!" she announced, stopping in front of a nondescript door. Many of the others had various personal effects on them, or were just made of different materials, but this one was remarkably...unremarkable. Alice glanced over at Mira, who nodded and gave an encouraging push towards the door. Shrugging mentally, she grabbed the handle and swung open the door.
The apartment wasn't anything special, but it was most definitely nicer than Alice's old one from her first stint with Fairy Tail, and certainly better than anywhere else she had stayed since escaping Hellhound Totem a year ago. It was furnished, but sparse as far as she could tell. There was a small kitchen combined with a dining room off to the side, and a living room in front of her, with a large couch, a small table, and a few lamps next to a small bookshelf. In the back, there was a door that presumably led to a bedroom. Alice stepped inside, glancing around for the lightswitch.
The door clicked shut behind her. Alice froze. She slowly turned around, facing Mira with a calculating look. The barmaid was leaning against the closed entrance, arms crossed over her chest, her jaw set and eyes determined. The celestial mage's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What's that about, Mira-san?" she asked, voice calm and steady but radiating warning. Mira stepped forward off the door, uncrossing her arms and leveling her gaze at Alice.
"Let's stop playing pretend," she said. "I know that you aren't who you say you are. You can deny it all you want, but I know the truth...Lucy." The blonde went stiff, eyes widening and jaw clenching.
"Don't call me that," she half-snarled, with far more viciousness than her old self could ever have mustered. "I don't care what you think you know, I am not your old nakama and I'm not about to pretend to be her to make you happy." Mira glared right back at the celestial mage.
"Don't bother denying it," she hissed. "If the fact that you look identical to her didn't make it obvious enough, Jack, other than his hair, looks identical to Loke, who I know is one of your spirits. And you use every single one of Lucy's spirits." Mira clapped her hands. "Did I miss anything?"
"I told you," Alice snapped. "I met Lucy a few years ago and she let me hold her keys. That's why I can use her spirits."
"Yeah?" Mira retorted. "Then why do you wear gloves unless it's to cover up your old guild mark?" Alice rolled her eyes, pulling off her right glove. She extended her hand, palm down. The back of her hand was blank.
"There! Happy?" she growled. "No mark!" Mira's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know where Lucy's mark is if you aren't her?" she questioned, jumping on the opportunity. The blonde's eyes went wide, and for a split second, a look of utter panic and sheer terror flashed across her face, reminding Mira of the look of an animal being hunted. Then her expression went blank and calm.
"I met her, remember?" Alice explained. "It's kind of hard to miss a pink tattoo on someone's hand." Mira looked at her stonily.
"You can deny it if you want," she announced. "But we both know who you really are, and I'll go tell the rest of the guild if you don't explain." Alice inhaled sharply.
"You wouldn't do that," she said with a pleading note in her voice. "Please don't do that." Mira crossed her arms, not backing down.
"Then first admit that you are actually Lucy, and then explain yourself," she snapped. "Everyone thought you were dead, and Natsu has almost driven himself insane worrying about and searching for you. I think we deserve an explanation."
Alice ran her hands over her face, and Mira noted that she had put her glove back on.
"Let's go sit down," she muttered, walking over to the couch. "I'll summon Jack, this might take a while." The barmaid followed her, mentally noting that despite the fact that Alice had basically admitted she was actually Lucy, she still referred to Loke as Jack.
Before she could comment, however, Alice (or Lucy or whoever she was) sat down, bringing her hands up to her temples and closing her eyes. Mira opened her mouth to ask what she was doing as a flash of golden light illuminated the room. It faded in seconds, revealing Jack stepping forward with a concerned look.
"What's wrong? I was in meeting with the Spirit Ki-" He cut himself off, catching sight of Mira.
"She knows," Alice said quietly. "She knows, and unless we explain, she's going to tell the rest of the guild." Her voice cracked, sounding utterly hopeless and broken. Jack grit his teeth, whirling around to face Mira.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed, glaring at her. "Did you not hear her in the guild earlier!? She was captured and tortured by a dark guild! And now you're threatening her? Whatever happened to Fairy Tail being a family? What kind of family treats its members like that?" The white-haired mage took a step back, more than a little bit scared by Jack's sudden rage.
"Jack," Alice mumbled, grabbing his arm. "Calm down. She doesn't know the whole story." The spirit grit his teeth, fists clenching and unclenching.
"That doesn't give her the right to-"
"We've been over this," the blonde interrupted. "I owe Fairy Tail everything, and if they want an explanation, then so be it." Jack turned away from Mira to fully face her.
"If they knew, they'd forgive you!" he argued. "Actually, if they knew, they wouldn't want to know! We're doing them a favor!" Alice bit her lip hard, looking down.
"I know," she half-whispered. "But if they don't know, they can't forgive me. Anyway, it's just one person. We don't have to worry about…" She trailed off, but Jack seemed to understand. Mira, meanwhile, was watching them with her bobbing back and forth like she was in the front row at a tennis match.
"Is there a reason you two aren't dating?" she asked skeptically. "A legitimate reason. Seriously, you even manage to have chemistry while you're fighting." Alice rolled her eyes at Fairy Tail's resident matchmaker's antics.
"Jack is a celestial spirit, Mira-san," she explained, absently twisting her fingers together and staring off into space.
"So? Is there some kind of rule in the contract about relationships?"
"It's not that simple, unfortunately," Jack answered, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall behind the couch. "Our contract doesn't say anything about it, but the ancient laws that bind all celestial spirits discourage it. They don't ban it explicitly, but things tend to go wrong in horrible, nasty ways when spirits get too attached to their masters. And beyond that, there's the fact that I'm immortal and Alice...well, isn't. I'll outlive her by quite literally forever. That's hardly a foundation for a healthy relationship." Mira pouted, but nodded in agreement.
"So," she said carefully, not wanting to trigger another bout of rage. "You were going to tell me the truth?" The Magic Card Duo exchanged a quick look, probably holding some kind of mental conversation. After a few seconds, Alice sighed, running her hands over her face and leaning back into the couch. Jack slid down next to her, gesturing for Mira to do the same.
"Might as well sit down," he informed her. "We'll be here for a while." Mira sat down on the far end of the couch, doing her best to face the other two. She got comfortable in the corner between the back and the arm of the couch, folded her arms, and turned to face them.
"Tell me the truth," she said. "All of it." Alice closed her eyes for a long moment, seeming to collect her thoughts, before opening them and twisting her fingers so tight it looked painful.
"I kept a lot of stuff out of my letters from the very beginning," she began, staring at her hands, which were now clenched together in a tight knot. "It wasn't because I wanted to lie to you guys. I just knew that if I told you anything about what I was getting myself into, Natsu would come charging after me in a heartbeat. I wanted to solve my own problems for once in my life, instead of relying on everyone else. So, I didn't talk about what I was really doing."
"And what was that?" Mira asked.
"Hunting down Hellhound Totem," she said, straightening in her seat slightly. "About six months after I left, I encountered members of the actual guild–not hired thugs or members of gangs controlled by Hellhound Totem, but actual members, with guild marks and everything. They...they killed someone who I had been travelling with. That was when I realized that I had to destroy them. They had their hands in just about every illegal business in existence, everything from drugs to slave trade with other continents. And then they killed someone I cared about.
"At that point, I decided that I had had enough. I summoned Loke, and we went hunting. I still sent letters every month, but at that point, they were completely fabricated. I couldn't risk you guys hearing about what I was getting into, for your own safety as well as my pride. Hellhound Totem was already after me, and if Fairy Tail was involved and they somehow found out… I couldn't risk it. So I kept everyone in the dark.
"After about a year, we managed to track them down to a small mining town in the south. I had been gone for about two years at that point. They had the entire place under their control. The business owners were paying bribes because if they didn't, their families died. The children were forced to work in the mine. All of the girls over fifteen…" Alice trailed off, staring at her hands. Mira was watching her, wide-eyed.
"Sex slavery," Jack said, sliding an arm around Alice's shoulder as she clenched her fingers and tried to collect herself. "Understandably, we couldn't let that keep happening. We got everyone out one night, but we didn't have the firepower at the time to destroy the base. So, Gemini stuck around, copying people and keeping an eye on Hellhound Totem for us. Four months later, we came back, this time with a group of mages we had gathered. All of them had lost people to Hellhound Totem, and we decided to get our revenge."
"I'd rather not go through the details of the plan," Alice continued, having calmed down. "But we essentially snuck into the base, planted some explosives that one of the members of our team had created, and blew the place up. The thing is, the explosives needed someone there to manually trigger them. I volunteered. Everyone else left, scattering across the country so it would be harder to hunt them down. I stayed, and triggered the explosives." She broke off, twisting her fingers so tight her knuckles cracked. Jack gently placed his hands over hers, untangling her fingers.
"Alice was captured," he said quietly. "She was lucky to survive the initial blast. Even though Virgo had built a bomb shelter kind of thing, Alice sustained serious burns and some shrapnel wounds. Then the damned bastards imprisoned her." The spirit's voice shook with barely controlled anger, his jaw clenching tightly. Alice placed a gentle hand on his arm, still shaking slightly.
"They held me for six months," she said quietly, in a detached tone. "I was tortured. They wanted to know where everyone else had gone, their names, and their magic abilities. They kept asking about my magic, too: something about whether or not I had unlocked a gate to the Spirit World. I didn't know what they were talking about, and that just seemed to piss them off more. Eventually, Jack got a small army of spirits together and broke me out. I spent a few months recovering with Porlyusica, which was when I spoke to the Spirit King."
"Wait a minute," Mira interrupted. "You were with Porlyusica? And no one told us?"
"I told them not to," Jack said, face rock-hard. "She didn't want anyone to know."
"They would've asked questions," Alice explained, voice cracking. "They would've asked where I had been, why wasn't I writing, what was happening, why was I so injured? I didn't have answers, at least not any I could tell them. It was for the safety of Fairy Tail. I'm in way too deep, Mira, and the only reason I'm back here is because I can't handle this on my own."
"That and the prophecy," Jack muttered. Mira looked at him in surprise.
"Prophecy?" she questioned. "What prophecy? And what do you mean, in too deep? Too deep in what?" Alice raised both hands in a slow-down gesture.
"I'm involved in a lot of things that are incredibly dangerous," she explained. "Hellhound Totem is just the very nasty tip of the iceberg. There's a massive organization focused on hunting me and my group down. And they are not about to stop until either every last one of them is dead, or they have contracts with all of my spirits and instructions on how to open a gate to the Spirit World. Then they'll kill me and all of my friends." Mira looked at her in shock.
"I'm so sorry," she blurted. "I-oh God, I snapped at you. I'm so sorry." She covered her mouth, utter shame shining in her eyes. Alice waved a hand.
"You didn't know," she muttered, awkwardly dismissing the barmaid's concerns. "At any rate, I should explain the prophecy. Basically, several thousand years ago, when humans were still scattered across the globe and magic was yet be utilized, Celestial Spirits roamed free. They lived alongside people, not necessarily peacefully, but without major conflict. Then, around X020, an emperor rose up. He conquered Fiore, and eventually, the entire world. We don't know his name, but we do know that he recruited hundreds of Spirits unwillingly, forcing them to fight for him. See, he had discovered a spell that would trap them in another dimension, leaving behind a key to summon them.
"This in itself wasn't too bad, and most Spirits would've simply accepted the banishment instead of fighting, but he also developed a way to steal their immortality and make himself live longer. He killed thirteen Spirits before the rest surrendered and joined his military." Alice sighed heavily, running a hand across her face.
"He died in X134, and the empire fell by X135," Jack said, picking up the story. "He knew he was going to die soon, so he gathered all of the Spirits together into a camp. I don't know what kind of insanity went through his mind, but he banished every last one of us to another dimension, using all of his magic and killing himself. The keys were scattered, and the empire fell. Eventually, magic was harnessed, and people figured out how to summon Spirits. Over a thousand keys were destroyed beforehand, though. There's a vast number of us that will never see Earthland again."
"One of those thirteen Spirits that were killed was a seer," Alice continued, seamlessly transitioning from Jack's narrative. "She spoke prophecies. Most of them have either been lost to time or fulfilled, but there's a few left. I don't know the exact wording, but one of them talked about a mage that would unite a certain group of keys and open a gate to the Spirit World, releasing Spirits back into Earthland where they belong. Those keys are the twelve golden Zodiac keys. I have ten of them. Another mage had the last two. The organization got there first. She made it out alive and in one piece, stealing her keys back on the way out. No thanks to her guild, Sabertooth kicked her out, the bastards. She helped us with the attack on Hellhound Totem, but I've got no idea where she is now. It's next to impossible to track a freelance mage down; she could be halfway across the world by now."
"Wait a moment," Mira interrupted. "There's a few things I don't understand. You're the chosen one of some prophecy?" Alice shook her head.
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple," she explained. "In books and such, prophecies are always made about a specific person. In real life, the 'chosen one' is really just whoever happens to be stupid, brave, or unlucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. I wandered into this, and now I'm stuck with it until I either die or fulfill the prophecy-whichever comes first."
"But, if you met the mage who had the other keys, why didn't you just open the gate?" Mira asked, eyebrows drawing together in a frown.
"Because," Jack said, speaking up again. "That would release the Spirits back into Earthland, and that can't happen yet. The organization has the spell that the emperor used to drain Spirits of their immortality. Their plan, as far as we know, is to use Alice to open the gate, and then hunt down the Spirits and steal their immortality. So, before we release the Spirits, we have to take down the organization and destroy all records of the spell." Mira leaned back against the couch, exhaling heavily.
"Can I ask one more question?" she said. Alice made a go-on gesture with one hand. "Why did you come back in disguise?" The barmaid bit her lip, considering her next words. "Fairy Tail–we would accept you. It would take some getting used to, but we could accept that you've changed. I know you know that. So why?" Alice traced patterns on her thighs absently, considering the inquiry.
"A few reasons," she began after a time. "Partially because the organization has people tracking me, and using an alias will make it harder for them. Our aliases are a tad famous, what with the whole Magic Card Duo thing, but no one knows who the real members of the Duo are, except us, and now Fairy Tail. The organization doesn't know that the Magic Card Duo is really Lucy Heartfilia and her Spirit, though. We're as close as we can get to untraceable this way. It's partly because we've already been calling each other Jack and Alice, and this way we don't have to readjust. But mostly…" her voice faded away, and her eyes got a faraway look in them.
"It's easier this way," she mumbled. "I don't have to face the memories." Mira tipped her head.
"The memories?" she questioned, confused. "What do you mean?" Alice sighed heavily, twisting her fingers again. Again, Jack caught her hands in his and held them gently.
"Of the torture," she whispered. "It's easier to deal with, if I pretend it happened to someone else."
A/N: So that's out in the open! Will Mira tell the rest of Fairy Tail? Will Alice? Has the organization found them? What's the organization's name, anyway? Find out at some point, probably in a few months!