Returning to Magnolia late in the evening was a breath of fresh air for the Dragon Slayers and myself. Our various wounds had healed into shiny white scar tissue on the walk back from the Silver Hills, which had taken us much longer than it had to journey out there. Opening the door to my apartment, I flopped onto my bed as Sting and Rogue fell into different pieces of furniture around the room.

The feeling of dirt and grime against my skin was enough to rouse me from my half asleep state on top of my bed covers. I forced my weary limbs up and across the silent room to the bathroom, where I stepped out of my filthy torn clothes and into the warmth of the shower. Quickly, I washed through my blonde locks and down my body, watching as the water streamed from a disgusting brown to clear within minutes. The pounding of the hot water eased the aches and pains from my muscles and bones, and I had to remind myself to get out before it lulled me to sleep.

Stepping into the steamed air of the bathroom, I pulled a large fluffy towel around me, leaving the water running in the shower. I left the bathroom in a burst of steam and tightening my towel around me, I pulled Rogue up from the chair he was quickly falling asleep in.

"Lucy?" He asked, rubbing a fist against his red eyes, trying and failing to fully wake up, "Where are we going?"

"Shower's hot." I said as I pushed him into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Ten minutes later, I'm dressed in my pajamas lying in my bed with a book, when Rogue exits the bathroom with only a towel around his waist. I pull my eyes away from his tightly toned stomach, hiding my blush in the pages of my book, hoping he hadn't seen. Peeking over the top, he catches my eye and a small smirk spreads across his pale features. My blush worsens and I go back to pretending to read.

Without taking my eyes from the printed words, I hear as Rogue forces Sting into the bathroom much the same way I had, Sting muttering, "I don't wanna," as the door closed behind him.

With both boys clean and out of the shower, we turned out the lights and were all quickly falling asleep, when Sting asked, "Blondie?"

"Mmm?" I don't open my eyes.

"Where are we gonna get the rest of the stuff for the spell?" Sting sounds like he's sleeping as he questions me.

Slowly I push myself into a sitting position, the bed covers pooling around my waist. In the faint light of the moon streaming in through the window, I locate Sting laying stomach down on my couch, his blue eyes glinting in the light from the moon, "Everything else should be easy enough to find in the markets around town," I'm interrupted by a yawn, "the chalk was the hardest thing to get."

Sting looks satisfied enough with my answer and closes his eyes, "Goodnight, Blondie."

"Night, Sting." I whisper into the darkness as I pull the covers around me and fall into a dreamless sleep.


I really need to get new curtains, is the first thing I think of when I wake up, sunlight hitting me square in the face. Rolling over, I'm somehow not surprised to find my nosed pressed into Sting's muscular chest. A light blush settles on my cheeks as I worm my way out of his warm embrace, padding quietly into the kitchen.

When I enter, I'm surprised to find Rogue standing at my stove handling multiple pans of food like a professional chef.

"Good morning," He says quietly, passing me a cup of green tea, as he simultaneously flips pancakes.

"Good morning. I'm surprised you're the first one up."

"I've always been an early riser. I hope you don't mind that I used what was left in your fridge to make breakfast."

"Not at all," I wave off his concerns as I take a seat at the table. I sip from my tea as I watch Rogue cook. It's like watching a dancer on stage. He moved fluidly through the space of my kitchen, flipping the contents of one pan while removing another, only to have something else thrown into it. He never missed a beat, removing the food at the peak of its perfection, nothing burnt, and nothing undercooked. It was it's own form of magic.

"Lucy?" Rogue was standing beside me, a quizzical look in his visible eye. I had the feeling he had been calling my name for a while.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Rogue. Do you need me to help with something?" I ask trying to hide my embarrassment.

Rogue smiles gently, knowing I had been watching him cook, and shakes his head, "No, nothing of the sort," He held up the tea kettle, "would you like more tea?"

I glance down and noticing the empty mug in my hands. I smile at Rogue, "Please," He quickly refills my cup and returns to the food still on the stove before it burns. Looking at the clock hanging above the sink, I figure it's about time Sting joins the world of the waking.

Sting, who is still soundly asleep, is lying shirtless and on his stomach, spread eagle across the entirety of my queen sized bed. He's snoring lightly. He looks softer in his sleep, his face losing the hard edges of someone who has been through too much, his body relaxed and not tensed for a fight. It's a nice change from the cocky Sting I had gotten used to.

"How long are you going to stare, Blondie?" Sting's rumbling voice asks. He stretches as he sits up, flexing every muscle in turn. I can feel my cheeks burning, but I can't for the life of me tear my eyes from his quivering muscles. He smirks, before wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into bed with him. I land on top of him, our faces inches apart. "It's impolite to stare." He teases.

I'm trapped in his arms and in his eyes. I my body is frozen and my brain isn't capable of forming a word let alone a sentence as Sting moves his face closer, shortening the gap between our lips. I can feel his breath fan across my cheek, our lips so close I can almost taste him and at this point I don't know if I want him to stop.

Still holding my eyes, Sting makes the final move, when Rogue appears and quickly, but carefully, pulls me off Sting. "Food." He says bitingly to Sting, before steering me out of my bedroom and into my chair at the table.

I take in the feast in front of me, trying to think of anything but how close Stings lips were to mine and what they would taste like and how he felt under me, anything to get rid of the perpetual blush staining my cheeks.

It was finally dying down, when Sting plunked down in a seat next to me still shirtless. Rogue glared at him and snatched his plate away before Sting could load it with food. "Shirt, or no food."

"Tch. What's got your panties in a twist, Rogue?" Sting was quick to pull a shirt on. Rogue handed back his plate, wordlessly.

Rogue though, made Sting wait for me to fill my plate before they divvied the remaining food between themselves. For the first few minutes, there was silence as we all ate, Sting and Rogue finishing their personal feasts before I was even halfway through mine, even though theirs held easily four times more food.

Rogue excused himself momentarily, returning as I finished my food and pushing the remains to an eager Sting. With no more food to be eaten, we stacked all the dishes in the sink to do later and retook our seats at the table. Rogue brought with him a kettle of tea, the spell book, and a few sizable chunks of chalk, which he spread across the table with infinite care. He passed the book to me.

"Getting right to the point, aren't you, Rogue?" Sting asked with a burp, picking food from between his teeth with a finger.

"Always," Rogue said, straight faced.

Flipping through the pages, I studied the spell and the remaining items we need to collect to perform it. "We should be able to collect all the remaining items today, if we split up. The hardest item to collect was the chalk so the rest should be fairly easy." I tell them, a plan forming in my head.

"Okay," Sting drawls, cocking his head to the side as if listening to something, "what do you need us to do?"

"Sting, you're going to go into the forest on the edge of town and find a Sandalwood tree. With your nose it shouldn't be too difficult. Peel some of the bark and bring it back. And if you run across a stream, bring home some of the water."

I glance at him to make sure he understands. He nods his head, taking this seriously if it means he's closer to finding his lost teammates. "Good. Rogue, I need you to go down to the market, doesn't matter which one, and find four natural candles. Scented, unscented, colored or not, it doesn't matter so long as they are natural." He nods his head in response.

"Where are you going, Blondie?"

Reviewing the items listed in the book once more, I close the book and lay it flat on the table, "The antiques shop. They should have a goblet for a fair price." Meeting both their eyes I ask, "Everyone know what to do?" Nods and grunts of agreement from Sting, "Fantastic."

We get up from the table, change into day clothes, and agree to meet back at my apartment in three hours.


As I walk through the crowded streets of Magnolia's commercial district, I summon Plue to keep me company. It's a nice day, perfect for shopping, with the sounds and smells of people bartering for goods and cooking food from the food stalls. I bypass that part of town, leaving that to Rogue as he searches for candles in that mess, strolling down a few more blocks until I reach the antiques store.

I push the glass door open and a small bell chirps out the arrival of a customer. The store is relatively dark, most of the light coming from the open front windows and a scattering of light lacrimas. "Hello?" I call out as I wander through the shelves, taking note of the odds and ends contained there.

"Hello, Miss." A voice says from behind me. I squeak and whip around, my hand immediately traveling to my keys. It was only the store manager, who gave me a quizzical look, a smile plastered to his elderly face. I press a hand to my heart, "You scared me!"

"My apologies, Miss. Is there something I can help you find?"

"Ah! Yes, please. I'm looking for a goblet." I say, as he begins leading me through row after row of cluttered, over stuffed shelves.

"Any particular kind?"

I tap my lip thoughtfully, "No, any should do."

"Very good," We stop in front of a relatively empty shelf in comparison to the others. "This is our current selection of goblets." He steps back so I can survey each in turn.

"This one." I say after a few minutes of careful study, "I'll take this one."

From the shelf, the manager pulls forth, a tarnished bronze goblet, of medium size. Set into the lip of the cup are five blood red rubies with a scattering of smaller gems trailing down to stem all the way to the base where another five rubies were embedded.

I follow the manager back through the maze of shelves to the front where he rings out my purchase, "Will this be all for you today, Miss?" he sakes placing the goblet into a plain paper bag.

"Yes, Sir." I say, reaching into my purse for my wallet.

"Very good. The total comes to 15,000 Jewels."

It was higher than I would have liked to pay, but none of the others would have worked for the spell she was going to perform. Pulling the Jewels from my wallet, I handed them over in turn for the bag.

"Thank you and come again." The man says as I leave his store.

It seems I had spent more time in the antiques store than I had thought. I walked back through the far more subdued streets of Magnolia, my shadow stretching in front of me. It was still early afternoon, and the quiet streets sent a shiver of unease up my spine. Magnolia was never this quiet. I quickened my pace.

I was two blocks from my apartment when a swirling in the shadows of an alley I was passing caught my attention. Come to think of it, I had seen a similar movement to the shadows in the antiques shop when I entered. Focusing not on the swirling shadows, but instead on getting to my apartment in one piece, I quickly passed the alley. From the corner of my eye I caught a flash of red, and when I peered into the shadows saw it again.

Fear jumped through my veins and I ran the rest of the way to my apartment, feeling the malicious gaze of red eyes on me the entire way.


Sting and Rogue were sitting on my front stoop waiting for me when I arrived. Sting was tossing a long strip of bark into the air and catching it with alternating hands, a Tupperware of water sat beside him. Rogue looked to almost be meditating, his eyes closed and his breathing slow. When I came to a sudden stop in front of them, his eyes popped open, picking up on my fear, and scanning the area for any sign of danger. "Lucy?" he asked standing up, Sting following suit, grabbing the container of water on his way.

I pushed through the two of them to my door, fumbling to get the right key to the lock, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds. The feeling of being watched still lingering.

Sting neatly plucked the keys from my trembling fingers, looking at me curiously as he opened the door to my apartment. "Blondie? Everything okay?" he asked as I slammed and locked the door behind us.

I took a calming breath before turning to their curious and concerned faces. "I think so."

"Did something happen while you were out?" Rogue asked, guiding me from where I was still standing against the door to a seat at the kitchen table.

"Not really, no. Just," I shuddered, "When we met in the forest, I was attacked by a creature made of shadows. Two of them, I think. They almost killed me there and I'm pretty sure they are following me." I shudder again.

"What makes you think they're following you, Blondie?" Sting asked, sitting beside me. Looking in his eyes I can tell he doesn't think I'm joking as he remembers the bloody state they found me in in the forest.

"I saw them lurking at the edge of the forest when we left Woodland, and while I was out just now I saw swirling shadows both in the antique shop and along the streets on the way home. The ones on the street had glowing red eyes when I looked close enough."

Picking up on the panicked tone in my voice, Sting grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to face him. "Hey, calm," He took a deep breath and I mimicked him, "calm. Good. Now," He looked over my shoulder at Rogue before meeting my eyes, "whatever these shadow creature that are following you are, we," Rogue placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a small smile, "aren't going to let them hurt you. Okay? Do you understand, Lucy?"

Sting only calls me 'Lucy' when he's serious. Silently, I nod my head first at him and then to Rogue.

"Fantastic." Sting leans back in his chair.

"Sorry about that," I mumble after a few minutes of silence.

"Nothing to be sorry for." Sting says.

When no one says anything else, I reach across the table and pull the spell book toward my, flipping easily to the marked page, figuring no was as good a time as any to start the spell. Rogue followed my every move as I stood up, and grabbed a chunk of chalk from the table as I move into the living room.

Rogue elbows Sting in the ribs as he gets up and the two of them followed me.

I begin to clear away the furniture, pushing it to the outskirts of the room. With Sting and Rogue helping, we cleared a large area right in the middle of the room. I pulled back the rug to reveal a dark wooden floor beneath.

I grabbed the chalk and began tracing a circle onto the floor. "Sting can you grab the book from the table?" I connected the two ends of the chalk tracing, having created a perfect circle on the floor. "And the candles?" I say in after thought.

Sting returns with the book and candles, and hands them to me. "Will this really find them? Rufus and Orga?"

I place the candles on the circle, one facing north, one east, one south, and the last one facing west. "If it works as planned, yes. I'll know how to find them." I step into the circle. "Rogue, would you bring me the goblet and the water? Please?"

Silent as night, Rogue retrieves the items from the kitchen and hands them to me. "Thanks." He nods.

I sit facing west, folding my legs gracefully underneath me, and place the goblet in front of me. I fill it 3/4th of the way full with the water Sting brought back. Glancing at the book, I then light the candles in a clockwise order staring with the one in front of me. Then I light the Sandalwood bark, not so it's on fire but so it remains smoking.

I motion for Sting and Rogue to sit, "This may take some time."

I close my eyes and take deep breaths, centering myself into a meditative state as Capricorn had taught me. I remain that way for a long time, fully relaxing into it, missing the questions glances Sting and Rogue shot at each other.

Feeling as if I had been put under hypnosis, I reached deep inside myself to where my magic lived and released it. The air around me shimmered gold. I reached forward, an image of the Memory Make mage held in my head, and dipped my first finger into the goblet, swirling it clockwise, my magic bleeding into the water.

"Let the water reveal to me the location of Rufus Lore. Let the water show me where he is." I chant, finishing the fourth swirl of my fingers in the water. Removing my fingers, the shimmering water flashes and an image slowly forms. Sting and Rogue lean in to try to see, but I motion them back.

The water shows the ocean, white tipped waves cresting onto an empty beach. Atop a cliff, sits a light house and a man with long golden hair tied back, dressed in a red vest jacket with a white long sleeved shirt underneath. His black boots scuffed a trail as he moved back and forth near the edge a feather-plumed hat tucked under one arm so as to not let it blow away. He looked like he was performing magic.

The image soon faded along with my magic, leaving the room dark. Sting and Rogue were alternating glances between each other and me.

"Well? Did it work?!" Sting asked, not being able to bear the silence anymore.

I nodded my head. "I know exactly where he is." I told them.

"And Orga? Do you know where he is?" Rogue asked, a tinge of hope lacing his usually monotonous voice.

At that I shook my head. "I'll have to perform the spell again to find Orga."

"Well do it!" Sting practically shouted in excitement. He was finally going to be with his team again!

"Give me a minute!" I snapped at him. Little did he know that performing a spell of this caliber was no easy feat, and it took a huge drain on my magic. Rogue of course noticed this, and when I met his eyes he gave me a sympathetic smile.

I grabbed the goblet and passed it to Sting.

"I thought you were going to do the spell again?"

"Of course I am, but I need fresh water. Go dump that down the sink." I pointed toward the kitchen.

"Here," Sting handed back the not empty goblet.

"Thank you." I said as I refilled it with what was left of the water Sting had brought back.

Returning to the meditative, near hypnotic state, I released my magic, swirling my fingers again in the goblet.

"Let the water reveal to me to location of Orga Nanagear. Let the water show me where he is."

Again the water shimmered, revealing a scene similar to Rufus' on its' surface. I studied the image intently, and released a happy sigh as I realized where Orga was.

The water returned to normal, the image fading away. Sting stood and turned on the lights in the apartment, as Rogue helped me stand and snuff out the candles.

Sting returned and he and Rogue turned to me, hopeful expressions on their faces.

"Well?" they asked together.

I smiled at them, a real big, bright smile, "They are together."

The excited grins that broke out on both boys faces made mine grow even bigger.

"Pack your bags; we're taking the first train out to Cedar, tomorrow morning."


Another chapter done. I finally planned out the rest out this story and figure it to be around 25 or so chapters.

Let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Side note: The poll is still up so vote away!

~Jordeng2