The ride to Magnolia and the sprint to Fairy Tail was all a blur. I burst through the doors, searching immediately for Levy and Silas. "Where's Silas?" I asked as Master approached me.

He looked down and sighed heavily, not giving me an answer.

"Makarov," I ground out, fear making it almost difficult to get the words out, "where the hell is my son?"

"He's gone," Master said, finally meeting my eyes.

"What do you mean gone?" I looked around the room for him, but couldn't find him—or Shrimp, for that matter. Neither were there. "Where is he?"

"A Shadow Dweller took him." It was Darrick who answered. He stood against the open doorway, and I noticed a few new injuries on his face and arms.

My knees felt weak. "What?"

"He went outside with Layla and Aiden, and was taken before Levy could follow them out the doors. They must have been waiting for one of the two to leave, because they disappeared with him in an instant."

"Levy went after them," Master said. "The only reason we know what happened is because Layla and Aiden ran back into the guildhall after Levy had already left."

"Damn it!" I shouted, pushing Darrick out of the way as I went outside. I could faintly smell Levy, so I intended to follow her scent and—hopefully—catch up to her. And those Shadow Dwellers. When I did, I would rip the bastards apart for even daring to touch Silas.

Just as I reached the edge of a forest that Shrimp's scent led me to, I heard people approaching. They were speaking quietly, and I automatically recognized their voices. "Salamander?" Lucy came into view first, followed by Gray. Last came Natsu, and I instantly forgot about the other when I saw what was in his arms.

"Shrimp!" I rushed to her, taking her from Natsu and cradling her against my chest. "What happened to her?"

"We don't know," Lucy answered. "We followed after her as soon as Layla told us what happened, and she passed out just as we arrived."

I looked down at the sleeping bluenette. What the hell is going on? Why would she just pass out? All of a sudden, her face contorted in a grimace, and then her eyes shot open. "Levy?" I asked, but she didn't hear me. Her scream drowned out any other sound.

~Levy~

"Race you outside!" Layla shouted, throwing the doors open as she ran outside with Aiden and Silas on her heels.

"Silas, wait!" I called, remembering what Master had told me about his phone call from Gajeel. There were potentially some of Astaroth's followers after Silas and me, so we needed to stay at Fairy Tail until he came home. A few years ago I might have argued that I could take care of myself, but I had been away for six years—and hadn't even held a gun in that time period—so I wasn't about to risk my son's life. I would just wait for Gajeel.

Unfortunately, Silas, being the carefree child that he was, didn't understand that we were in danger. So, he ran outside after Layla without a second thought. I exited Fairy Tail just in time to see a Shadow Dweller snatch Silas and take off with him.

"Silas!" I screamed, running as fast as I could in the direction the Shadow Dweller had gone. Panic and guilt consumed me as the gap between us grew with every passing second. I should have been watching him more closely. I should be able to run faster. I should be stronger than this. Those thoughts kept replaying in my mind as I tried desperately to catch up to them.

Soon, trees began blocking my view of them, and I realized we had entered the forest. If I don't catch up to them quickly, the trees will obscure my view. And if that happened—I shook the thought from my mind. They weren't going to get away with Silas. I wasn't going to let them.

"Mommy!" Silas's fearful plea sent daggers of maternal anger straight through my heart, and I picked up the pace even more. Silas, I'm coming.

"We only need one," a second Shadow Dweller growled, appearing from above and jumping on top of me. Immediately, my hand shot to my gun and I shot it, glad that those instincts had stayed with me over the years. If only the other one could be shot so easily. I wouldn't dare point my gun at it while it was holding Silas. No matter how skilled I used to be, I wouldn't risk accidentally shooting him.

I winced when my mark throbbed painfully, and I looked down at my wrist. Why now of all times? I have more important things to worry about!

"What's the rush?" A voice chuckled before someone grabbed my arm in an iron grip that brought me to an abrupt halt.

I looked up in search of the source of the voice, and found myself staring into a pair of the bluest eyes I had ever seen. My gasp was loud in the silence, and my throat constricted involuntarily.

"Not even a hello, Sunshine?" Marley smirked, releasing my arm.

"Get out of my way, Marley," I snapped, shaking myself out of whatever stupor I had been in.

"You'll never catch up to that Shadow Dweller," he said, sounding bored. "Especially not now that you're just standing here, letting the distance between you and your precious son grow even more with every breath."

"That's why I can't waste my time here with you!" I shouted, pulling out my gun and firing three shots at him.

He chuckled, not even flinching at the bullets hit his chest and fell to the ground, not even leaving a scratch. "You really should get better bullets."

I ignored him, running past him and after Silas. He sighed, grabbing my wrist as I went by and twisting it painfully as he threw me to the ground. "When will you learn? I'm stronger than you are, and I'm still mad at you for trying to kill me all those years ago."

He crouched down, smiling wickedly at me. "And this time, Darrick isn't here to snap you out of it, so it's just you and me. Sunshine." Before I could respond, he stood and kicked me in the stomach. My back met the trunk of a tree, and all the air left my lungs in a painful gasp.

"This…isn't real?" I gasped, trying to catch my breath. He said Darrick wasn't here to snap me out of it, so does that mean this is all in my head?

"Does it feel real?" Marley asked, bringing a booted foot down on my wrist and applying pressure until I felt the bone snap. I screamed, fighting back tears.

"I love that sound," he sighed, his eyes closed as a small smile played across his face. "Your screams are wonderful. So much better than your parents'."

"Fuck you!" I wheezed.

He laughed, lifting his foot a few inches before slamming it back down on my broken wrist. I screamed again, this time unable to fight the tears as they escaped my eyes. "Marvelous," he smiled, clearly amused.

"This is all in my head," I whispered to myself, trying desperately to focus on anything but the pain. "This isn't actually happening. I have to snap out of it and save Silas. He's counting on me to save him!"

"You can't even save yourself," Marley scoffed, "how do you expect to save anyone else?"

"I have to," I said.

"You have to?" He chuckled, "how pathetically sweet of you. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not done having fun with you yet."

"If this is all in my head, then I'll just force you out," I murmured, trying to focus on when exactly Astaroth had taken over. I was chasing after Silas when my mark hurt, then I— I gasped. "My mark!" I didn't know how, but somehow that pain in my mark had signaled when Astaroth took over my mind. It's the same as before in the hospital. Darrick said something was possessing me, so that must be the case now, too.

Another Shadow Dweller must have attacked me without me realizing it, and had possessed me. That's right, because Astaroth is dead. I blew the bastard up six years ago.

"Get out of my head!" I shouted, focusing on my need to save Silas. I got a feeling of déjà vu, remembering my first real job with Gajeel and Lily when we fought the nightmare demon.

"I'm not some created image from some lowly Shadow Dweller," Marley scoffed. "You know deep down that I am very much alive."

"Shut up!" I squeezed my eyes shut as I continued focusing on Silas.

"Shrimp!" I gasped and opened my eyes at the sound of Gajeel's voice. "Gajeel?"

"Damn it," Marley growled.

"Gajeel!" I shouted it this time, hoping he would hear me. He came through the trees at full speed, stopping only when he saw Marley standing over me, his boot on my crushed wrist. I was so happy to see him that tears ran down my cheeks. "Gajeel."

Without saying a word, he raised a gun and aimed. A frown erased my smile when I saw it was aimed at me, however. "Gaj—" Before I could finish, he pulled the trigger, shooting me between the eyes.

~Gajeel~

"Why the hell is she still screaming?!" I growled, watching as Porlyusica and Wendy examined Levy.

"Be quiet," the old woman snapped. "We can't focus with you over there making a bunch of ruckus."

Lily put his paw on my leg. "Maybe you should wait outside—"

"No," I said, dismissing Lily's suggestion. "I'm staying here with Shrimp. You should go join the others." Master had arranged a search party to go after Silas while I stayed with Levy at Fairy Tail. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Juvia, and Darrick had all gone. I may have not trusted Darrick, but I was thankful that he was going to help—even while he was injured.

"She'll be alright," Lily reassured me. "And so will Silas. The others will find him."

"Yeah."

"Wait a minute," Lily frowned, looking towards Levy. She had finally stopped screaming, and was laying sickeningly still on the bed.

"What?"

"What if she's being possessed again?" He asked, turning his gaze to me. "If she did this before, and the purification bullets Darrick had worked, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?"

I nodded, figuring it was our only lead so far. I ran to the supply room and grabbed a gun that had already been loaded with purification bullets before returning to the infirmary. "Try this," I said, holding the gun out.

"You want me to shoot her?" Porlyusica snapped, obviously repulsed by the idea. "I may not like humans, but I'm not turning a gun on a defenseless girl—"

"Lady Porlyusica," Wendy said, "it's a purification spell. It will get rid of any demons that may be possessing Levy."

"Then you do it," she snapped, crossing her arms.

"I'll do it," I said, not wanting to waste any more time arguing over it. I pointed the gun at Levy's sleeping face, closed my eyes, and pulled the trigger. She inhaled the blue mist that burst from the thin shell of the bullet and coughed a little.

"Did it work?" I found myself asking after several seconds of nothing.

"We'll find out soon, I suppose," Porlyusica sighed. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a shout from Levy had all of our eyes returning to her. She sat upright in the bed, breathing heavily as her eyes darted about the room in frantic confusion.

"Shrimp," I breathed, wrapping my arms around her, "thank god. You worried the hell outta me."

"Where's Silas?" She asked.

"He…we're going to get him back," I answered.

A sob escaped her lips as she buried her face in my shirt. "I'm so sorry," she cried, her entire body shaking. "He was right there, but I—I couldn't get to him. It's all my fault. I should have been paying more attention."

"It's not your fault," I told her. "It's that damned cult's fault, alright? Don't blame yourself, Shrimp. We'll get him back. He's going to be just fine."

"He cried out to me," she whispered, just loud enough for only me to hear. "Gajeel, he cried out to me and I let them get away."

I wasn't sure how to soothe her. I knew that no matter how many times I told her it wasn't her fault, she would blame herself until we got Silas back safe and sound. And we will get him back.

~Levy~

The rest of the day went by in a painful haze. Once I finally stopped crying, my emotions seemed to cave in on themselves and I just couldn't feel, well, anything. I heard Porlyusica say something about me going into shock, but I didn't care enough to listen. Silas's voice kept ringing in my head, a painful reminder that I had failed him. I hadn't been able to protect him.

"Can you eat?" Wendy asked.

I stared down at the bowl of soup she was holding out to me, knowing I should probably eat, but not sure if I had the energy to even hold the bowl. "No," I finally managed, closing my eyes. Since I had been put on bed rest for the next twenty-four hours, I couldn't even help the search party. I had tried my hardest to leave the infirmary despite Porlyusica's orders, but Gajeel had made me promise to stay put.

"I can't worry about you and focus on finding Silas, Shrimp. Stay here, and I'll bring him back. I promise," he had said, finally convincing me to stay in bed.

Wendy sighed, putting the bowl of soup on the stand beside my bed. "If you get hungry, it's right here, okay?"

"Yeah."

She left me alone, sighing again as she went. The infirmary was only quiet for a few minutes before Lucy burst through the doors and ran to my bed, pulling me into a hug. "Are you alright?" She asked. "How are you feeling?"

"Did you find Silas?" I asked, focusing on the more important matter.

Her eyes fell to the floor and she pulled away. "No," she said, slowly shaking her head. "We lost their trail just outside of Magnolia. Silas's scent vanished, too. We searched everywhere, but couldn't ever find any more clues."

Tears stung my eyes again, but I fought them. "Where's Gajeel?"

"On his way. He stayed behind to look for Darrick before coming back."

"Darrick?" I frowned.

"Yeah," she nodded. "About an hour ago, Darrick disappeared. We were all busy looking for Silas, so we didn't bother to look for him. Gajeel and Natsu stayed behind, though, when the rest of us decided to come home for the night and make a new plan for tomorrow."

"Lu-chan, we have to keep looking," I urged. "Tomorrow will be too late. We have to find him now, before they can—" I couldn't say it. Before they can hurt Silas.

"We won't be any help to Silas if we're all exhausted," Lucy said. "We need to rest and start fresh first thing in the morning. Gajeel agreed, and Master is going to call up some of his contacts to keep an eye out for him. We'll find him, Levy."

"We have to," I told her. Silas, please be alright.