Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE BAT

Lucy's POV

Fear gripped me, hands clutching the plush kitten to my chest as I stared at the dark hallway before me, but I couldn't find the will to move forward. Not when I knew what I'd find in front of me, when I exited that hallway. But my feet moved, on their own accord, as the thunder and lightning flashed outside and illuminated the windows. "Lucy-chan, why are you awake?" Zoldeo ran a comforting hand through my hair, my body protesting as I tried to flee, and instead it ran to his arms.

"The thunder woke me up."

He made a soft crooning sound. "I'll stay in your room until you fall asleep, Sunshine." He led me back up to the massive bed, closing the door behind him, and the crash of thunder blocked out the sound of him locking the door. But I knew what was happening. 'No! Stop!' The child that was me didn't yell these things, she laid down and let him climb into the bed with her.

"Lucy, I'm here for you."

It was Erik's voice, calling me, and I turned to look around. 'Erik?' A gentle pressure on my hand made me turn, not seeing anything, and I felt my eyes water as I watched Zoldeo pinning me down. 'Make it stop, make it go away, please.' This wasn't normal, when I retreated from control I usually could control what I'd see, something was wrong.

A gentle touch held me. "I'm trying, you have to find me." But I couldn't move, and I felt frozen as I watched this man rape me, I couldn't do anything. "Lucy, you can! Leave the room, Lucy." The firm command was worried, he was scared for me, and I managed to turn to face the door. I raised a hand, to leave, and heard a whimper.

The large black feline with silver stripes was curled around what looked like me as a child, but this one had scars on her face and arms, the feline snarled when I reached for the door again. 'Cheshire? Gonzales? I need to go.' The feline stood, toxic green eyes narrowed, and I realized that she didn't want me to find Erik.

It was instinct that made me bolt, running through that door, and I realized that my mind was all sorts of fucked up. "Understatement of the century, Princess, but we can fix it. Hurry!" I was spurred on by his voice, running through a twisted version of Magnolia, and I could hear claws on stone as Cheshire gave chase.

I burst through a door, the door to Fairy Tail, and looked around before heading into the basement; using the back entrance I made way for the diner we'd met at instead. Seeing a tanned form sitting inside, and I dodged the tackle aimed for me as Cheshire lunged and shattered the window, Erik held me close and faced the black and silver feline. "We're here for her now, she won't suffer again." The beast snarled but something was keeping it away and I could see Erik's face tensed.

'Ches, I'll be okay.'

I placed a gentle hand on her head, watching the feline as it looked between myself and Erik, and then she turned. 'Good, you always were a needy little brat.' The black feline began to vanish, leaving only the silver coils, and then those too faded away.

Gonzales waved, from across the street, and I watched her jump into the arms of a woman that looked like my mother before they vanished too. I turned to look at Erik and realized he was gone too, the window was no longer smashed, and Magnolia wasn't...it looked normal.

I blinked, watching the light sky fade, and blinked again to see Erik's concerned gaze. "You alright, Lucy?" There was something going on around us but I didn't care.

Instead I let him set me down and nodded. "Y-yea, I think I am. You...you left too?" My boyfriend let out a soft snort.

He looked...happy. "Yea, didn't have much of a choice, I used every scrap of my willpower and concentration to save your ass and get rid of Cheshire. No more mind reading." That made me blink, surprised, and then I heard a low groan of pain.

"Uhh, what did Artemis and Cheshire do?"

I had no idea where we were, who most of these people were, and why I was hurting all over.

Erik sighed loudly. "Very long story, go figure now you develop the blackouts associated with DID." I blinked again, turning to look at the others, and frowned again. I recalled talking with Zeref, more accurately it had been Artemis talking with him, but after handing him back a photograph I didn't remember anything.

It was a soft hum from Mirajane that made us turn to look at her. "We might want to vacate...like right now. I, uh, set explosives earlier. I think I tripped the timer." It was hard not to stare at her for a second before we were high tailing it out.

"Jesus fuck, Halphas, what is your deal with explosives?!" Elfman sounded distraught and I could imagine why, though whatever issues or trauma had struck Mirajane still needed to be worked out it appeared, the woman simply shrugged.

It was a little hard not to laugh.

Laxus' POV

"Mavis, you said that you could shut him down for good?" Erik would have to focus on Lucy, for now, so we had to make sure that things got handled legally. While the manhunt was a policy instated by the King of Fiore...it didn't extend to Alvarez, which meant they could imprison her for murder if it came down to it.

Which couldn't happen.

I watched as Mavis nodded, pulling out a tablet PC from her bag, and began clicking a few buttons. "I've been biding my time, gathering as much information as I could, and putting certain people in power. The current King of Alvarez is in my pocket, we've been trying to shut Zeref down from the shadows, but now we've got him where we want him; along with all his financial records and his stash." The little blond woman rolled back onto her heels, looking amused, and turned to look at where Erik held Lucy against him.

"I take it the police are on the way?"

Mavis nodded, when asked, and I couldn't help but feel some relief. "Who is the King?" I watched the smile blossom on her face, one that made me wonder just what she was up to, and her eyes almost twinkled.

"He's an old friend of mine, and your grandfather, named Warrod Cken."

Great-Uncle Warrod was sort of insane but I remembered him, his love for nature was unrivaled, but he was a good man. "So we wait for the police to arrive?" She nodded, which was fine by me, and I watched Gajeel glance over at Lucy and Erik.

"Tch, I can't fuckin' believe we lost Titania because of his scheming."

The pierced man and Erza hadn't always gotten along as friends, they fought far too much, but if you slighted the other they would rise up like wildfire to ruin you. I wasn't surprised he was mourning her now, knowing that the reason Zeref had done all of this was to find his runaway child-bride.

The fact that he was trying to punish Lucy for her parents choosing to smuggle Mavis to safety proved that there was something wrong with him. "I'm done with fuckin' crazy people, you too Mira, too much fuckin' drama." I earned a middle finger for that, which was fine by me, and Elfman scowled.

The massive man looked annoyed. "Nee-chan's been goin' to her counseling, once all this is done she'll be fine, you butt out Dreyar." It wasn't every day the man talked back, having a good respect for authority, but where his siblings were concerned he would fight the world.

"We're all a little crazy, Chief."

That came from Gray, who had refused to be left behind, and I nodded in agreement.

I heard Lucy stir and watched her get set down, she looked lost, and her question confirmed as much. Though I was wondering what Erik had done, I could just ask him later.

"Explosives? Ankhseram above, woman!"

Halphas' little statement was enough to make me evacuate, and make Mavis report to the arriving officers about the explosives, hopefully Warrod was more forgiving than usual with his old age because if she did blow the building the evidence was gone.

Erik's POV

The arriving police had brought a SWAT team, with explosives experts, and conducted a raid on the building while the rest of us were hauled up in various vehicles to head to the throne room directly. I glanced at the vehicle headed for the hospital, only Lucy was within, and prayed for a speedy recovery. "Eh, Lucy'll be fine, stop worrying Erik." Gajeel sounded completely comfortable in his statement, not seeming to recall that she had killed someone on Alvarez soil, but I decided to let the matter drop.

Instead I had to focus on the fact that the Five Dragon Guard was no longer employed by Mavis and would be returning to their kids, which included Wendy, now we had to deal with the fallout. Gajeel had taken Ryos in, Natsu had taken Sting in, and Wendy was now Lucy's. Would Grandeeny ask for her daughter back? The other four were easy situations, Igneel and Weisslogia were friends after all and more than happy to treat the boys as brothers while Metalicana and Skiadrum felt the same.

Of all the people Lucy loved it would always be Wendy first, hands down, so I couldn't help but worry that the pink haired woman would try and take her away. A firm hand on my arm brought my attention to Laxus. "We'll make it work, I promise." I nodded, wondering how everyone could so easily read me, had everyone else become mind readers when I lost my ability or was I just that damn transparent?

There was quiet, at least, as we finished the ride to the palace where King Warrod Cken would be waiting for us.

One of the original founders of Fairy Tail, at that, and I could only hope his loyalty to Mavis ran strong.

Slightly longer than the last two chapters, in order to try and close up any loose ties, but the next few chapters will be much happier than what I've given you leading up to this point.