"Lady Heartfilia, where have you been?" Lucy shivered at that question as she was not supposed to move out of the realm in which she was trapped in thanks to the prophecy of the guardian of elves hundreds of years back.

She had just returned from the mortal world with Mest after successfully transferring the unconscious mortal to the abode of freaks. Bickslow, the owner of the freak show was least willing to accommodate him and it required a considerable amount of her effort and magic to make him concede. It was also to her luck that he was such a worshipper of his master, the wizard general. She lied to him that she had brought the mortal following the orders of the wizard general.

It was again her luck that Bickslow took whatever she said to face-value and agreed to provide a temporary abode for Natsu for two weeks. It was necessary because at least part of his memories where he remembered her has to return. Or else, she would have to choose a mortal to marry as she was sure that her previous actions won't go undetected in the world of fairies, elves, dragons, wizards, demons and vampires.

But now, she was caught. Caught by the man who is considered to be the Mighty King of Fairies and he had been waiting for her in her chamber.

"Oh! King of Celestials, I am…" she couldn't complete the sentence as she knew that lying was not a solution as Celestial King could read the minds. Sweat beads popped up on her fore-head and she became as pale as lily. Her lips trembled and her whole body shivered as she knew the punishment that awaited her.

But who was to fool the King of Celestials? He knew very well what went through her mind and felt sorry for her. Still, rules were rules and they were in fact laid out for people to obey them for the effective functioning of their world and not to be distorted to suit their minds.

"Did you go to meet the Salamander?" He asked calmly befitting a King. She could not answer and hence looked down and started playing with her toe-nails. He continued gazing at her with a puzzled expression to get a response from her.

In the end, she raised her head and said in a soft voice with guilt. "I could not control my instincts especially when I knew he was in danger. You may give me a fitting punishment." She sounded unwavering and firm which even took the King of Celestials aback.

"Do you think that your true love could save him?" He held her chin with one finger turning her face towards his. "Have you forgotten the hatred that is the base of his existence or do you want to bring catastrophe to the seven worlds? Answer me, Lucy?"

Lucy clenched her fists tight and said with resolve. "I am sure that he will change once he regains his memories about me - about our relationship and our childhood friendship in special."

Celestial King became curious. "How long do you think would take for that? I cannot forever sacrifice my subjects for your childish dreams of Utopia. Lisanna is the latest example."

"He did not do anything to Lisanna. What happened to her was entirely coincidence." Lucy was not the one to retreat.

"May be, but wherever he goes he unleashes chaos knowingly or unknowingly. You cannot deny that Lucy which was the main reason why Igneel, the King of Dragons bound him in a curse, wiped his memories and placed him in the mortal world." The voice belonged to Crux, the King's close confidante' and the wisest person in their world.

"It is also not sure whether the King of Dragons will be able to bind him in a spell like last time as there are more than enough chances for him to be more powerful than last time. Not to forget about his half-brother, Zeref Dragneel, the satanic existence, who was banished to the underworld from the world of celestials by the Great God Ankhseram for venturing into the forbidden realm of death and was penalized with the curse of contradiction." Crux continued.

Lucy knew that whatever they had spoken were nothing but solid truth. But still… she could not deny that she loved him with all her heart. A decade of separation from his was more than enough for her. Then how is she supposed to not live without him for eternity?

The King of Celestials brushed his snow-white moustache and said. "I would like to know your plans for the future, Lucy before deciding your punishment."

"Give me… give me… two weeks time, your majesty. I promise to bring out the humanity in him and make him help us to fight against the evil forces of the dark and the dark overlord Acnologia, not to mention the satanic existence, Zeref, his own half-brother." Lucy was shivering from head to toe.

"What if …you fail?"

"I will be ready to marry a mortal after these two weeks and be an ordinary woman who will be cast out from this world with all the memories wiped off." Her eyes shone with resolve.

"I will agree with that. You can actually leave this realm after tonight's ball to the mortal world. My advice will be to stay in a shrine to prevent the attack from the dark forces." Celestial King laid out his terms and conditions.

Lucy was elated and was more than willing to oblige. She bowed politely to the King and marched off to her room. She was so tired that she fell asleep for hours and only woke up when it was dark.

Upon waking up, she turned her face to the left and glanced at the portrait of a young man in her room from her bed.

"Natsu, do you even remember me? How long are you going to keep me waiting? If you do not return by this full moon, I will have to select another soul-mate. I would rather starve myself to death than offering myself to another. So, please do return within a week, Natsu." She sobbed.

"Lucy, are you even ready for the ball?" She heard her Aunt's voice from the door. She wiped her tears and went on to get ready. Little did she know that pair of dark hawk-like eyes was watching her union with Natsu….

"How many times should I tell ya'll my name isn't Salamander? It is Levin for God's sake." The black-haired teen was yelling at the top of his voice.

The freaks could not stop laughing. Macao, the man who made different kinds of flames out of nothing asked sarcastically. "Then how were you able to produce fire like me out of nothing and that too of a stronger kind?

He did not know what to say as that talent of him was unbeknownst to him until the day before. How could he easily manipulate fire like it was his second nature? It baffled him. Still, he was not prepared to lose in a verbal battle.

"I don't want to talk about that. May be, it is because of some nasty work of freaks like you. But I don't care. I want to go home and meet my parents. They will be really worried and will be looking for me." He yelled louder.

"Then how will you account for your nightmares?" It was from the tall well-built, blue-haired man who was fond of wearing helmets and who was also the owner of the freak circus.

"I watch spooky movies too much. Lisanna has told me it is because of that." He was not the one to lose an argument.

"Lisanna? You know her?" All the freaks seemed genuinely surprised.

"She is my classmate. BTW, why would you all know her?" He became curious.

All of them started laughing until their cheeks began to hurt. Then Wakaba, the smoke manipulator who was smoking a pipe said aloud. "I have never heard such a stupidity in my life - an immortal fairy going for schooling when she is well aware of the secrets of the seven worlds."

The teen held the shirt of Wakaba within his two fists and screamed. "What do you mean by that? Are you planning to say that whatever I saw until now was a mirage and the truth is I am not the one who I really am?" He held his head between both of his palms and cried. "It hurts, you know? But even then, I am glad that at least my parents and sister think that I am a normal person and hence there is still hope for me to live a normal life in a normal world."

All of them felt sorry for him. If only he knew the truth about his parents?

Suddenly he felt the urge to ask this. "Are you also going to say that I have a sister called Wendy and a love-interest called Lucy who is a beautiful blonde?"

All of them looked down; not willing to say a sentence. After all, they were all tongue-tied regarding this matter.

"Fine, then I will find the truth myself and until then, it's a goodbye from me to all of you." He brushed away the tears coming out of his eyes.

Bickslow stopped him. "What if, what you come to know is truly unpleasant? So, I will have two of our kind go with you. Alzack and Bisca, go with the Salamander and take care that he does not fall into the hands of evil forces especially those that consume blood – vampires and demons."

Alzack and Bisca promptly nodded. They were more than happy to follow the order of their Boss.

"Are you implying that I'm a creature of the dark that lusts for blood?" He asked with a frown. None of them including Bickslow dared to disclose the truth as truth was always stranger than fiction.

The darkness was covering the mortal world with its black blanket. But for the creatures of dark, this was their abode – a moment to be free, a moment to feed and a moment to amuse and a moment to live without fear.

At the foot of the vampire mountain stood a tall man draped in a black cloak with red inner lining, tirelessly waiting for a powerful vampire. The mysterious and creepy aura of the dark was not enough to disturb him as his resolve was hard as steel and he was even prepared to die.

"Weren't you able to see the Lord of Vampires?" A sarcastic but magnetic voice came out of nowhere.

"Being one of the stronger creatures of the dark, I hope you know the graveness of the situation as much as I, Jellal?" He wiped his mouth with his towel. "There is hardly any time left before the inevitable calamity. So, I would highly value it if you could help me for the time being until the Vampire Lord personally agrees to meet me."

"Hyberion," the ultramarine's baritone voice was more than enough to freeze any mortal. "Are you forgetting that I could read the minds? But this time, I am not going to help you as there isn't anything of value to me in this deed. I have pretty much stopped offering free service to mortals ever since they massacred my older brother and his family with the help of those traitorous were-wolves and I will never forgive them for that."His voice cracked.

"I am really sorry about your brother. But this isn't just the case about the mortals. It may affect the whole seven worlds." Hyberion's voice wavered.

"How?" Jellal was curious.

"Dark overlord Acnologia's assistant, Zirconis has been freed from his shackles and has woken up from his centuries of slumber. You know what will happen if it gathers four of its comrades and locates the 'cursed' prince, right? There is also the fear of the satanic existence of his half-brother re-surfacing and joining the fray." The elderly person spoke with a firm voice though he was shaking inside.

"So, the seven worlds will be driven to apocalypse?" The tall azure-haired continued after a brief pause with conviction in his eyes. "I take it that you want me to locate the 'cursed' prince and execute him before he reaches his full power."

"It is not that simple. We want you to find and execute all his kin and their soul-mates, so that no one remains to carry forward his legacy." Hyberion's firm voice echoed in the huge hall.

The ultramarine nodded and he knew why he was chosen for the task. He was one of the most powerful with an unblemished record. His eyes gleamed with battle-lust as it had been a while…

But before that, he has to take care of his new 'pet' which brought a smile on to his face. "Scarlet…."

Erza was flabbergasted. She could not believe what had just happened. She was bitten by a vampire? How crazy could that ever be and the worst part is she did not even realize it. Such skillful was he with his tactics. Did she enjoy it or hated it? She did not know it for sure.

"Erza, are you alright?" Simon shook her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, I am. It is true that I was shaken a bit. But now, it seems alright." She tried to put a brave front to cover her insecurities which was so typical of her.

Simon was truly relieved and both of them took back to the shrine where lots of people were gathered outside. The leader of them, Mori came forward and said loudly.

"We won't allow her to enter the shrine until her purification ceremony is over. In the beginning itself, we shouldn't have allowed her to become the shrine maiden as she was the daughter of a murderer. Now, to add up to her sins, she is marked as the mate of a powerful vampire who could drain countless humans without much effort. We will not make the premises of the shrine impure by her presence."

Erza could not hold anymore. "How is it my fault that my father was a murderer? Did I ask the vampire to choose me? I have never seen people as much narrow-minded as you. Shame on you men to isolate a woman to win your game. If you have any issues with me, fight me for real. You can even group together and come against me. "

At that moment, someone hurled a stone at her fore-head and blood started to pour out. Simon saw this and he quickly tore his sleeve and tied up the wound. He held her close and covered her with his body so that the stones won't hurt her. Still, the people did not stop hurling stones and Simon was in a bad condition.

Suddenly, a gun-shot was heard in the atmosphere and the mob stopped their frenzy and turned their glances towards the source. Their throat went dry immediately.

"Fullbuster-sama?"

"I hope all of you have an explanation for your previous action. Unless there is proper justification for your actions, all of you are going to lose your rights as tenants of Fullbuster estate. "He thundered aloud to make the mob slowly drift away from the place with their heads held down in shame.

"I thought Lord Fullbuster was middle-aged." Simon muttered after thanking him.

"I am his son, Gray Fullbuster and will you be kind enough to explain that why does a shrine maiden have the cursed mark of a vampire on her neck?"

Simon explained the events briefly.

"I think he is none other than Jellal Fernandez, one of the most powerful ones amongst them. You won't be able to defend against him. So, I invite you to stay at Fullbuster manor until he is dealt with." Gray said softly with huge concern in his voice.

"Thank you for your concern. But I think I know to protect myself." Erza tried to stand on her own.

"Foolish woman, you can at least learn to defend against him." Gray was irritated. Simon backed up Gray's request and now Erza could not say anything more.

"Fine, I will then work in your manor and pay for your services. I will only come if you agree with it." Gray could not help marvel at her pride even when her life was on the line. She really is a brave woman and will be a real asset to their team if taught to be a Vampire hunter. But the person she is up against is Jellal Fernandez who is considered invincible….

A/N Sorry, I could not include Gajeel in this chapter. I promise to include him sooner. Will Lucy & Erza cross paths? And what about Jellal & Natsu? Will they meet in the next chapter? Stay tuned!