A/N longer chapter and still couldn't get it all in, so...uh...might be another update soon since I'm already well into 38 LOL. To those reviewing, THANK YOU, I know I've said it before I'll say it again, it helps to have the feedback, the impressions you guys are getting so I know if I'm relating the story well and clear enough but without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter, Kairi, don't worry, I would never give a Pradesh boy to anyone who didn't deserve him, Bickslow is my darling dearest character and his family is just too fun...DESNA
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Lucy woke in confusion, blinking and trying to deal with a headache that almost made her eyes water as she sat up, looking down she frowned, the plain beige sheets and brown blankets were not hers, she'd just changed the sheets and comforter of their bed because Cobra was coming home and he liked the black set and honestly, seeing him stretched out on the black sheets in all his caramel skinned, toned and gorgeous glory was a favorite of hers too.
Looking around her eyes widened and hand flew to her hip. No keys, no whip…she was in a strange room, sparsely furnished with no windows and walls made of what looked like heavy stone.
Fear flooded her realizing she had definitely had her keys on her hip, Cobra got after her about even moving around the house without them on her, insisted she get out of that habit and start always carrying them every minute of every day even when she was at home with him.
He'd gotten her a bracelet that when she opened her hand a certain way, would call her keys to her and she was still wearing that so immediately flipped her hand open, felt the magic pull and saw something against the wall move.
Her keys were enclosed in some sort of case on the wall! Jumping from the bed she hurried to it and frowning in frustration, it wasn't a case, it was a hunk of some sort of clear hard almost crystal like thing and her keys were there, she could see them, encased inside of it.
The Crystal was vibrating slightly, the magic of the bracelet calling for the keys.
Frowning she checked to see if it was firmly attached to the wall, it was, but maybe she could get it loose.
"Mate of the Poison Dragon Slayer Cobra. You're awake, lovely." Lucy snapped her head around, narrowing her eyes as she saw the opposite wall was partially just composed of bars beside a heavy metal door.
On the other side stood a tall regal looking man with thick black hair and striking green eyes, handsome, very handsome, but his aura was bad, dark, malicious and Lucy faced him, glaring at him.
"Well, I must have missed the formal introductions because you've got me at a loss." She said coldly.
He smiled "I am Nuryev Allsaidian, crown prince of Seven. I would tell you it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'd be lying. No…I'm not at all happy about this, I'm not happy at all I've been reduced to this action, revenge really is pedy and I know it, but…my mother has new plans, and I've come up with a way for Seven to claim an untapped strength Fiore has not ever put a leash on." He said.
He cocked his head "Did you know when you mate with a Dragon Slayer part of their soul mingles with yours?" He didn't wait for her to answer, turning and starting to pace slowly by the bars. "It's true, it gives your soul protection similar to what your mate has because of his dual souls. I didn't know that when I brought you here, I'd fully intended to just rip your soul out of you and start building a new Lacrima, but it seems it's true and what I didn't know cost me a perfectly good Seith mage." He sighed, leaning against the wall opposite the bars and looking at her.
"So, I can't harvest you, or any of the mates to the dragon slayers like I had originally planned, but, I can still achieve what my mother wishes." He smiled and Lucy maintained her hard glare.
Nuryev studied the woman, he'd been studying her for many hours now, keeping her under, but was getting nowhere, so he'd left her finally to get more research started, go over what his people had gathered for him so far.
His mother had plans. While she wanted him to sire children for the sake of preserving her dynasty, she also wanted what Fiore had, the Dragon Slayers were an untapped resource as far as she was concerned.
Research made it clear Dragon Slayers sired more Dragon Slayers, and his mother had seen even the carefully bred and conditioned berserkers of Pergrande put down by Dragon Slayers.
So, she wanted them.
She wanted him to find a way to start a breeding program like Pergrande had for their Berserkers, had given him freedom not to be in her bed or his aunts if he could sort out how to make it happen.
At first he'd thought to make another Lacrima like the one he'd controlled the dragons with. Use the souls of the dragon slayers mates to build it.
So he'd had a hunter collect the first mate they could get their hands on, which turned out to be this Celestial Mage, who was mated to the Poison Dragon Slayer Erik, according to the mark on her neck he'd had translated. Erik it turned out was the infamous "Cobra" formerly of the Oracion Seis.
He had footage of Cobra fighting both Motherglare in Hargeon, and Levia in Magnolia, watching it his mother had smiled in that deadly icy way of hers "Yes, I want him, and the black haired Boscan…Oh! The blonde…yes the blonde….all of them, collect them all my son, if you find a way to make it happen I shall take my pleasures from them instead of you in between having them sire children for a breeding program. Yes, figure it out, you need not report to my bed until you have answers so long as they come quickly." She'd said.
So he'd tried to take the celestial mages soul, he'd rip that out, put it into a control lacrima and then drain her magic from her body into a very valuable magic lacrima, Celestial mages were rare, it would be a valuable thing to have, add that with the keys she possessed, the contracts on the spirits would release when she died, so he'd have those keys to offer with the lacrima containing her magic.
It had been a wonderful idea. But when the Seith had gone to pull out her soul he'd found it wasn't alone within her, the dragon she was mated to protected her, its soul attacking the Seith and Nuryev had almost been unable to sever his contact with the Seith before the dragon soul had killed him.
He'd been furious, had contemplated killing the woman, raping her, something, but if he killed her the Slayer mated to her died and the Queen wanted him so she'd be furious. If he raped her it could send her Slayer into a frenzy before he'd gotten the man in hand. No, he'd wait.
He was experienced at being patient, biding his time, he could do so now, needed to.
By keeping her well, healthy, safe, her slayer would only suffer the separation from her, longing to find her, none of his nastier compulsions would be triggered.
So he would scare her some, might torture her a little to speed her slayer along in his search for her, then, when the man was too distracted by his frenzied need to reunite with his mate, he'd be easier to catch.
Tranquilizers and such wouldn't work on the Poison Slayer, he'd be an interesting challenge.
The Boscan the Queen wanted would also be interesting, his mate was herself a Dragon Slayer, the two were healers. Nuryev wanted to see if he impregnated a Dragon Slayer bitch if maybe he himself could father Dragonblood children, if so, the Boscans mate and the golden haired bitch who had killed Dain were suddenly incredibly important to him, because then, Allsaidian blood could join with Dragons blood and create a line of Draconic royalty for Seven.
He narrowed his eyes on the Celestial mage who looked unafraid, glaring back at him, oh how he wanted to break that arrogance down, reduce her to terrified whimpers while he fucked her bloody…he had to keep her alive, for the slayer she was mated to, but alive didn't need to mean unbroken once he had the Poison Slayer contained.
"You won't be able to control any of them, definitely not my mate." She said with certainty. This man, Prince Nuryev, she knew the name, he was the one who had been behind killing Sherria, the one who had animated Motherglare and controlled the dragons from the Eclipse gate.
He smiled at her again "Your arrogance is only a display of your ignorance, Lucky Lady Lucy. Such a ridiculous laughable nickname, when were you ever lucky?" He laughed and turned and left her.
When he walked away she turned back to her keys encased in crystal, running her hand over it, tears in her eyes. "Loke…Virgo…I don't know if you can hear me but please…please help…"
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Cobra caught the strange scent the instant he was in his house, followed the paths his mate had taken that morning as she'd cleaned their home, changed the bed to his favorite sheets, a detail that made his heart clench in his chest.
Outside…tracks that were not hers, a bit of her blood in the snow, laced with a powerful tranquilizer that would have knocked a Vulcan on its ass. The fish food canister sat by the pond, along with the heating Lacrima she'd been changing out.
Brokenly he lifted the canister and tossed a little food into the pond, watching Lucys koi gobble it down before he took the canister back inside and put it away. He looked up as Gajeel came into the house, followed by Natsu and Emzadi.
Gajeel met his pained eyes with understanding. "So there's a good scent, find anything else?" The Iron slayer asked and Cobra shook his head, leading the other slayers out into his back yard to silently watch them all gather the same details he had, refine their grasp of the scent of the person who had taken Lucy.
He had gotten past fury while walking through his house, finding the fuckers scent here and there, wondering if he'd searched the house before or after he'd hit Lucy with the dart that had taken her down.
Now he was letting it boil in him, letting his dragon seethe, embracing the darkest parts of himself that would grant him the insatiable heartless cruelty that would let him hunt this person down and retrieve his mate before he watched this person die, screaming.
The poisons pumping through him were his absolute worst, some he wasn't sure even he could cure once they were in someone. Painful ones, nightmarishly laced with the darkest most horrible skills he had possessed while a dark mage.
As he waited for the others to finish, watched Laxus enter, having been busy checking in with the master and no doubt his mate, he nodded toward the back yard and Laxus silently went there.
By the reading nook, under the rounded windows she loved so much was the box for the fucking Christmas tree she had insisted they buy. There was eggplant in the fridge, fresh parmesan and tomatoes, she'd been planning his favorite dinner, sex on his favorite sheets, then was likely going to spring putting up the fucking tree on him.
Right then, he'd put up a hundred of them, he'd sleep on her damn pink sheets, fuck her on them even though he'd told her he damn near couldn't look at the gaudy things and keep an erection. He'd eat hamburgers with her though they made him gag, anything to just have her there, safe, with him.
He closed his eyes, he couldn't feel her. He hadn't noticed the difference when he'd been in Peace Village, so far from her, he knew she was alive, his heart and soul would already be dying inside him if she weren't, but the distance had muted the connection to her so he couldn't feel it when whatever had happened had happened to her. He only felt the absence of her now, as if she were far away, asleep. Maybe she was, likely she was, she'd only been taken a few hours ago. Cristoff had gone back, retrieved the other slayers, the decision made quickly the more hunters on the trail, the better.
The master was trying to reach Sting with Sabertooth, hoping to get through to Yukino and ask her to relay a message through her spirits to Lucys, see if they knew anything.
Once the others were done Cobra turned and led the way out of the house, taking up a punishing pace immediately as he followed the scent. The sun was still up, and while it was below freezing, the scent lingered in the still winter air and the chill had the streets fairly empty.
He tensed when a shadow flew past him and glanced back, saw Gajeel narrowing his eyes after it. It didn't have a scent, and it wasn't his magic.
Cobra picked up the pace and they left Magnolia, heading out into the forest to the east.
The scent was even better here and that bothered him, he slowed. Gajeel coming alongside him.
"Not right, I smell hunter, like medallion carrying mercenary type, I've known a lot of them. They don't leave scent trails this strong, they aren't this careless." He said unhappily and Gajeel nodded "Spread out them, we don't all follow the track, you follow it, we'll flank you just in case."
Cobra nodded and Gajeel fell back, the others quickly spread out and it turned out to be a damn good thing they had because Cobra stopped up short about a ¼ mile later, reaching to the side and ripping a branch loose he tossed it ahead of him and a trap sprung, bigger than he expected, the edge of it winging him and sending him spinning into a tree as it snapped shut, magic flared around it and within an instant, it vanished.
Staring at where it had been he looked around at the other slayers.
"That trap just teleported." A voice above them said.
Cobra snarled and in the next moment he was in the tree, swinging poisoned talons at an assembly of shadows that dissipated, reforming on the ground by Laxus.
A young man in all black stood hands up "Easy guys I'm on your side."
Laxus snarled, cuffing the young man and sending him sprawling. "Fucking Vander." He snapped. Emzadi grabbed the young man by the back of the neck and hauled him to his feet "Dumbass, you don't pop out at pissed off Dragons. You should be back at the guild." She snapped.
Cobra growled, moving past them "I do not have time for this." He spat. "There are more traps, the path the guy set is all about trapping at least one of you, probably the stolen womans mate is who they want most. Look, this is what I fucking do, I stalk things, hunt them, break into places, I'm a sneaky Shadowquip, let me help." He begged.
"Don't get killed, if you do Kaleb will make me endure whatever punishment you are currently avoiding by being here." Emzadi snapped, following Cobra.
Vander grinned and vanished into the shadows.
Two more traps, each doing the same thing as the first and Cobra stopped.
"This is taking too long, and how the fuck could they lay these traps so fast, it's only been a couple of hours since Levy found out she was missing. You couldn't lay three traps that big with teleports attached in that little time." He snarled.
"The path may have been laid on their way in, if they have teleportation magic as handy as we've seen they may have teleported out with her." Laxus said, Natsu was crouched low in the loamy soil looking over the path. "Tracks facing in both directions…I hate to say it, but Laxus is probably right." He said.
Cobra spun, slashing poisoned claws across a tree and the group watched in alarm as the tree instantly started dying, shrinking, fell over and an acrid smell started wafting up from it.
"Shit…um, well, I could ride one of the traps through…" Vander offered, appearing beside his sister. Emzadi frowned at him. "Hand you to them on a platter? I don't think so." She snapped.
"No, trigger a trap and cling to the outside while it teleports, I can stealth sister dear, they wont see me and since I'm on the outside of the trap the possible effects wont hit me or contain me, I can find out where it goes, I have a com lacrima…I can call once I find her…seriously, they're expecting a pissed off half crazed dragon slayer, not a Shadowquip. How many times have I done shit like this?" He sighed at his sisters steady frown.
"Do it. But if you don't call within an hour I'm taking the next one." Cobra snarled.
Emzadi narrowed her eyes then leaned over and kissed her brothers cheek. "Don't flirt with death, no matter how pretty she is." She said smiling.
Vander grinned "Don't you ride him either sister." He winked at her and took up a jog on the trail, vanishing again, a moment later, about 30 yards ahead, a trap sprung and teleported away.
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Kwin frowned as another trap came into the chamber empty. Glaring he stood, walked into the chamber and hauled it aside in case another came through. He shoved this one over by the others, first tug it had seemed heavier but moved better with the second. The assembled gunmen all relaxed and returned to their positions. Once the trap was out of the way Kwin returned to the other side of the protective glass to wait for more.
"Shit, that's 4, 4 more. If the bastard doesn't fall into one we'll have to try and hunt him and fuck I don't want to go back out there and dance around a pissed off Dragon Slayer out of his mind over his whore." Kwin muttered, glaring over at Davis who was leaning back in his chair behind the glass drinking and looking too relaxed.
"Take it easy shithead, if the dick doesn't fall into one of these we've got other tricks the Prince gave us, he said if this doesn't work we just wait and let him start coming unhinged a while, once he starts acting stupid we should be able to get a collar on him. Mean time Luriss should be picking up one of the other little dragon whores as we speak, so then they'll really start getting frantic." The two men snickered and Kwin leaned back in his chair, he didn't think he had, but he must have leaned back too far because his chair fell over and he was soon cussing on the floor rubbing a bump on his head while Davis laughed his ass off.
Neither man noticed the door behind them opening and closing silently.
The compound wasn't overly complex, once a council outpost it seemed.
Vander moved swiftly and silently through the complex, drifting between stealth and just remaining in the shadows closed doors weren't a problem for him, shadows passed everywhere in the dimly lit facility.
Once outside he started getting his bearings, climbing up to the highest point on the outpost to look around carefully, study the stars, find mountain ranges.
He was still in Fiore but only just. This old outpost sat a few miles off the road that led to the border with Seven from Autumn City. Frowning he moved swiftly back inside and started checking rooms, trying to be swift, he had less than an hour before Cobra came raging in on a trap and possibly landed himself captured.
There were about 12 gunmen in that room and while some looked to be sporting dart guns, others had other devices, the men were ready for an enraged Dragon Slayer.
It sounded like they were after another one of the mates too, they hadn't said which, but he needed to find Lucy and get the information back to the Slayers.
Blonde hair, busty and very pretty was all he had gotten from Kaleb when he'd asked about the missing woman.
There was nothing though, just a lot of old dusty rooms. Hurrying he checked for a basement, a lot of these places had some holding cells, so that was a possibility too.
He found them, there were 7 of them, re-enforced ridiculously, with strange looking chairs that had massive restraints on them. But while they were clean, recently cleaned and worked on by the looks of them, they were empty.
Lucy wasn't there.
They had to have moved her somewhere else. Racing with time he rushed from the facility and out into the woods, carefully stretching his shadows out seeking traps, sensors, security, anything.
Finding nothing he climbed well up into a tall tree and reformed into his usual form. Pulling out his com lacrima he dialed Laxus, the only one of the slayers out there he'd known other than his sister.
"Vander, what did you find?" Laxus asked "Is she there? Did you find her?!" Cobra demanded.
"No, she isn't where the cages teleport in, it's an old council outpost near the border with Seven, they have cells set up that look like they're meant for you slayers. Hey, you guys need to make sure the other mates are OK, when I was in there the men were talking about some guy named Luris about to capture one. They want to drive you guys into a frenzy so you fuck up and make mistakes." He told them.
Laxus froze "Emma…" He breathed and the com went dead in Vanders hand. Sighing the young mage bit his lip and dialed another number. Kaleb was glaring at him.
"Where the fuck are you?" His brother demanded. Vander smiled "Uh…helping find the missing woman…Lucy yeah…helping to find Lucy. Hey before you yell at me more, dudes here have one hell of a portal network going on in Fiore and were talking about abducting more of the mates, they're trying to catch the Dragon Slayers big brother, capture them for something and seem to be using the mates to get at them." He said, Kalebs eyes widened and the man cursed in Boscan.
"Cana…" He said looking off to the right.
"Already calling Levy…" he heard Canas voice,
Kaleb looked back at him. "Allright, where are you?" He demanded.
"By the stars and judging by the mountain ranges around me, just off the road that travels between Autumn City and the border with Seven in Fiore, rode a teleport equipped trap out here to an old council outpost. About two dozen men here, mercenaries, well equipped, they talked about a prince giving them things to use on the Dragon Slayers." Vander replied.
Kaleb nodded. "Ok, you remember Wisos? Him and his team are in Autumn City, I'll let him know you're out there, but stay put, find out all you can, if they get a mate they might move her through there." Vander nodded.
"Kaleb?" He called, Kaleb looked at him and he smiled "Tell the Dark Bitch I wont be there for her lesson tomarrow would you?"
"Don't push me Vander, just because you've managed to position yourself to help with a crisis doesn't change anything, you're going to resume your duties as soon as this is over and Lucy is home. Only thing that might get you out of it is if I let Kurino have you instead of me week after next, 5 days as her entertainment." Kaleb said.
Vander made a face "I'd rather train the bitch." He admitted.
"Kaleb, Levy isn't answering…" Cana said and Kaleb cursed, "Fuck, position yourself to watch Vander, they might be bringing in another mate." The com went out and Vander drew in his magic again, melting into shadows and flying back into the complex swiftly. He knew his way around it now so found the chamber he'd come into quickly, slipping through a crack in the doors weather stripping and finding a shadowy spot off in a high corner overlooking everything.
He could hold his shadow form for hours and it looked like he might need to do just that.
After an hour he slid out, returning to his tree, there had been no activity, even the men waiting in the room were pissed off and bored so Vander figured he needed to find out what was going on back in Magnolia.
Laxus picked up on the second tone "Vander, hey, ok, all of the mates are safe here. Thanks for the heads up." He said. Vander nodded "What about someone named Levy?" He asked, Laxus smirked "Ruby swallowed her com lacrima. Levy is fine. We're all going to stay at Cristoffs, his place is pretty heavily runed and warded because of Ruby staying there. Try to get comfortable if you can, I found the outpost on a map, you're about 5 miles from Autumn City, should see the lights from where you are." He prompted and Vander looked around, the sky was fully dark now, and he could in fact see light illuminating the sky off to the west.
"Yeah I see em." He said.
"Ok, well, how fast can you cover that distance?" Laxus asked.
"20 minutes, 15 if I push it." Vander replied.
"Ok, stay in Autumn City then and wait. Your brother is pulling intel and routing some of your guilds spies and we're waiting to hear back from some of Master Makarovs contacts." Laxus told him. Vander nodded "You got it boss." He smirked, he'd heard Bickslow call Laxus that a lot over the years and the Lightning Slayer snorted "Damn shit, be careful, and thanks for doing this."
The Com went dark and Vander was soon shooting swiftly along the shadows, it was easiest at night and he could move far faster than he could ever run. When he got to Autumn City he slid into an ally and formed up, donning black pants a black jacket and shirt and stepped out into the busy streets. He'd find himself an Inn, a hot meal and soft bed and maybe something pretty to keep him company and wait to hear from Magnolia what his next move would be.
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Wendy was deep in concentration, she trained every day, sometimes twice a day with Cristoff in her magic, she'd joined his morning workout routine too and knew she was benefitting from all of it.
Her husband was a patient teacher, an affectionate one too, it made it all easier. Her attacks were swift, precise now, her heals getting better every passing week.
For all her study, all her training though, what she quietly enjoyed working on getting very good at, secretly to surpass his wildest expectations in, was what she was doing now.
Running her tongue up the length of Cristoffs erection she lay between his spread legs on their bed, reveling in the throaty growls and heaving breaths she was drawing out of him.
He'd been right, the best way for her to learn this had been practice, with his guidance, since it was him she wanted to drive into a shattering of his control, she wanted him coming undone, he had stamina, skill, experience, but she was determined and she was relentless.
"Wendy…" he breathed and she hummed, making him shudder as her head bobbed and she got a rhythm going, sucking up as she pulled back, squeezing and pulling with her lips then hovering at the head and working her tongue over the velvety warm flesh hollowing her cheeks again as she plunged down his length. Flatten her tongue over him, then suck her way back to the tip.
She knew she'd found the right spot to focus her tongue on when his hips flexed involuntarily and he threw his head back.
"We…Wendy…I'm…" He warned her, she felt his thighs tense, the muscle under her arms taught and then she was smiling feeling him shudder and release into her mouth.
The texture wasn't her favorite, but the taste of his essence certainly didn't bother her at all and she swallowed it down, licking him clean before smiling up at him wickedly.
"Gods woman…" He panted.
"That's what you get for falling asleep before I got my nightly fun." She chided, not resisting when he reached down and pulled her up onto his body to lay on top of him.
"You were in the tub for over an hour." He pointed out.
"I was tired and I've missed our bathroom, my little spa." She returned.
He shook his head at her "I love you, and I love what you do to me." He said softly. She kissed him, reaching up so she could bury her fingers in his thick black hair and hold him so she could really enjoy it, slant her lips across his, moaning softly when he opened for her and his tongue met hers.
She never got tired of this, of any of it. She couldn't ever sate her desire for him because it had no limit, grew just like her love for him, every day. His arm circled her and he rolled them over, and she wrapped her legs around him, heels immediately pressing into his firm ass.
"Mmm, I might let Cana grab this….I swear it's got to be better than Laxus' and I want it acknowledged" she grinned up at him and he smiled back at her. He'd indulge anything she wanted tonight, she'd spent hours crying, her eyes were still puffy from it.
Terrified for Lucy, worried about Cobra, who at first had refused to come to their house. Laxus and Emma were in their room, Gajeel and Levy in the one beside it, Natsu and Ruby across from them leaving an empty bedroom. He'd finally agreed, and a short time ago, Cristoff had gone in and put the man to sleep. Not a heavy one, any commotion could wake him, but there was no way he would sleep without Cristoffs magic and the man needed rest.
One day Lucy had been missing, and Cobra was so miserable it was heartbreaking to be near him but they had gathered around him anyway, insisted he needed to be safe so they could resume searching in the morning, not that they had any idea where exactly to look yet.
Having Vander stationed by where those traps had been set to teleport to was a minor achievement, a touch of progress and reassuring, but they only knew now Lucy wasn't where the traps were set to bring the Dragon Slayers.
That left all of Earthland to search.
Getting Wendy to stop crying hadn't been easy, she loved Lucy, and was terrified her kin was suffering somewhere alone. Cristoff had managed to calm her with a shower followed by a hot bath and she'd emerged ready to lose herself in him and he meant to help her achieve that goal.
So when he slid into her and started snapping his hips roughly into her body it was to consume her, and it worked, her eyes rolled back and she moaned digging her nails into his back.
He held her against him as he took her, he'd never say it, wouldn't let it show, but this scared the hell out of him too. Wendy was his world, he'd be no better than Cobra if this happened to her, he held her tighter, nuzzling greedily into her neck, running his tongue over the mating mark and feeling her body tense and strain into his, felt her moan as much as heard her. Then, she tensed again, her walls clamping down on him as her orgasm raked through her body and tore his control away, consuming him in the same pleasure through the depths of their bond.
A while later, he'd exhausted her, had nearly exhausted himself, and she slid into one of her soft nightgowns while he pulled on some boxer briefs and sleep pants before they curled up in each others arms and finally fell asleep.
Both were so distracted, neither noticed the tiny tube push through the weather stripping between the glass doors that led out onto the patio, the odorless gas that started filling the room also escaped their notice and both fell beyond regular slumber into blackness.
Natsu was snoring peacefully, he liked the room he and Ruby shared in Wendy and Cristoffs house. Ruby loved the park across the street and large queen sized bed was even nicer than the bed Lucy had had in her old apartment, that he guessed now belonged to Cana.
Ruby woke him though, highly unhappy about something, flapping her wings and hissing and growling and he finally came to and realized the whelp wanted out of the room.
She pretty much house trained herself, there was a sand box in the back yard for her Natsu kept clean and she had figured that out quickly. He figured she needed to go out but when he opened the door she screeched, and his bones shook with it, it was an alarm, a warning, an alert, there was no doubt about that and he chased after her as she shot down the hallway screeching. "The fuck…" Gajeel stumbled into the hall, Cobra slamming his door open, the Poison slayers eye flew wide as he drew a deep breath.
"Fuck! Sleep gas!, open windows! He shouted and sucked some in, feeling his lacrima kick in, he heard Natsu collapse on the stairs then he heard Ruby snarling and screeching and a man shouted downstairs and he and Gajeel exchanged looks and bolted for the staircase. He blew out reversal gas, dissipating the sleep fumes as he ran, jumped over Natsus prone form and saw Ruby tangled around a man, her teeth clamped on the mans right arm, her long tail wrapped around the other one while all four of her clawed feet raked him leaving bleeding slashes across his chest and thighs, Hearing something he turned and shouted "NO!" Just as two men crouched over Wendy and Cristoffs unmoving forms held up a lacrima and vanished. Turning he lunged at the man Ruby was fighting and ripped off the mask on his face, blowing some of the sleep gas they'd used right in his face. The man tried not to breath in but finally had no choice and went limp instantly, falling to the floor and Natsu scrambled over, cooing and coaxing a pissed off Ruby from the mans limp body.
He looked up as Laxus and Gajeel came down "They got Wendy and Cristoff…"
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What possessed Vander to leave the hotel room at 2 in the morning had a lot to do with the waitress he'd taken there. The woman was beautiful, busty, and holy hell had she been a wildcat once they were in his room.
He'd had some lusty women but she'd been crazy, it was fun, the sex was good, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it, but she wanted him to have breakfast with her in the morning, said she had to show him off to her friends.
Yeah, he wasn't someone that liked being "shown off" and she'd gone from being a great fuck to clingy wanted to be his girlfriend way too fast. It wasn't long after he'd gone down on her, then fucked her, that second orgasm seemed to cue her crazy.
So he'd fucked her again, much harder, had her screaming, and she'd passed out after she came, he was out the window about five minutes after that.
He'd much rather spend his night listening to the mercenaries bitch.
So he was perched in the room, not expecting much, when all hell broke lose.
Two men teleported into the room and Vanders heart froze in his chest when he saw his brother unconscious, his wife right next to him, also clearly drugged somehow.
He couldn't figure that out, Cristoff was resistant to drugs, his healing ability, and the purification given to him by the holy light saturation because he was a knight handled things like that.
Yet there was no doubt as the men hurriedly clamped magic control manacles on him, bound his hands behind him and did the same to Wendy, that his brother was knocked the hell out because Cristoff would have fucked up every man in that room easily on his own if he hadn't been.
He was sort of one of Vanders heroes, and looking at his wife, well, he assumed she was, she was wearing a ring that bore their family gems so yeah, his wife, he could see why his brother was in love, the woman was beautiful, no doubt about it, couldn't be much older than Vander either, but then Cristoff wasn't much older than Vander either.
"Put them in one of the cages for transport and call the prince, he's gonna be thrilled we caught the mated pair of slayers!" Davis said, then frowned "Where the fuck is Luris?"
The two men who had teleported in looked down "There was some sort of beast in the house, not a dog, I didn't get a good look at it, it attacked Luris, drug him out of the room we were in, we had no choice but to leave him Davis, the other slayers were coming, they were all staying in that house!"
Davis groaned "Fuck….we'll have to get someone to get him out of there if they don't kill him. Ok, get the fucking cage ready to teleport on to the Prince. He'll be so happy to get these two we might slide by with this fuck up." He snapped. Once Cristoff and Wendy were secured in one of the trap cages a new lacrima was affixed to a slot on it and Vander slid to it, melding from shadow to stealth gear, remaining silent and invisible on top of the cage as the man activated the lacrima and Vander felt the familiar rush of a teleportation.
As soon as the cage set into its new location Vander was looking around. They were in a small yard with a very grand building rising up around it. He watched, clinging carefully, as the cage was lifted onto a cart and brought inside. The walls were heavy stone and there were no windows, lighting was dim, which meant he'd be able to move about pretty freely.
The servants got the cart and cage into an open chamber with three hallways leading off of it and Vander blanched when he saw who was walking toward the cage.
Fucking Queen Kressa Allsaidian and her sick as fuck son Prince Nuryev.
His training had saved him, his blocks were all up, he was partially shifted into shadow to mask scent, sound, and thought, something he always did when in motion. Nuryev was a mind control mage, and Queen Kressa had succubus magic.
Kressa was beaming as the couple was removed from the cage, each one placed onto a rolling gurney. Vander shifted fully to shadow and slid from the cage to the ceiling carefully avoiding moving any shadows.
"Oh Gods above look at him…he's magnificent!" Kressa was laughing, already running her hands over Cristoffs bare torso.
She bent over him, kissing his mouth and Vander gaged a little since his brother couldn't. Running her fingers through his hair she looked at Nuryev. "I want him first, before we start breeding him I have to have him." She said firmly.
Nuryev bowed his head "It will take a little time Mother, I warned these things are delicate, complex, his dragon soul will not allow his body to perform for anyone but her." He said nodding toward Wendy.
"Kill her then." Kressa snapped.
"No!" Nuryev lunged forward when a guard started forward with his sword to see the Queens command obeyed.
"No, if we harm the mate we harm the slayer, besides mother, this is a female slayer, remember what I said about me possibly being able to sire Dragon slayer children? We need to find out if I can using her or the other female. And we have to keep her healthy for that and so that we can use her to control her mate so he can please you and breed for us." He explained.
The Queen frowned. "Fine, but I want him soon son, I'm willing to use toys….yes…" She smiled. "Bring him to my chamber, strip him down and make sure he's adequately sedated for at least…three hours. I can wait to feel this hard between my legs." She said, running her hand over Cristoffs groin and cupping him with a horrid smile. "I'll play with him a little tonight then I won't suffer as much waiting for you to make him ready for me to enjoy while he's awake." She laughed, waving at the servants who wheeled Cristoff out while Nuryev instructed the others to take Wendy to her "cell" and have her settled.
Vander hesitated, unsure whether to follow Cristoff or Wendy. Ultimately, he was willing to bet Cristoff would be brought to the cells and he was afraid the Queen was going to hurt him.
Wendy was just being settled into a cell, likely to sleep off the drugs, so he followed Cristoff as his brother was wheeled down the hall to an elevator that took them up three floors.
This level had windows, and he saw outside for the first time. A city stretched out beyond the opulent grounds…holy shit, he had to be in the Royal Palace in Hesta, capital of Seven.
Lovely, in the palace itself in the heart of Seven, Bosco had operatives here, hell he'd been here himself a few times in the last two years, but it wasn't going to be easy getting into the palace grounds and now three of their nakama were captives.
Cristoff was wheeled into a large chamber with a massive bed that looked like something out of a nightmare.
Chains and manacles emerged from several places, even dangled from above and there were various things around the room…they looked like torture devices and he saw whips looped and hanging from hooks here and there.
A physician approached Cristoff, bending over him, checking his eyes, breathing, before taking one syringe after another from a tray held by a servant. He injected three different vials of fluid into Cristoff before waving to the servants. "The queen wants his clothing removed and place him on the bed chained to the headboard as a precaution. Those drugs should last at least the three hours she wants." The man said emotionlessly.
He was moved to the bed, laid down on it, sleep pants and underwear pulled off of him and his arms chained to the headboard, which looked frighteningly capable of holding even his brother.
Vander watched the servant toss the syringes and then good place the vials they had been drawn from into a cabinet and he made a mental note to investigate that when the opportunity came.
He wasn't sure if these idiots knew, they must know, they couldn't have drugged Cristoff successfully if they didn't, but whatever they were pumping into the Lunar Slayer had to be pretty potent or it just wouldn't work on him.
The Queen entered, her sister with her and Vander grimaced, these sisters had taken Seven completely, changed the way the kingdom ran, and all because the late king had fallen in love with a maniacal bitch. Until Queen Kressas rule, relations with Seven hadn't been especially friendly but they had been stable, since she had come to power after her husbands death, first as steward because the Prince wasn't old enough to become King at the time, then the Prince had abdicated the throne to her when he was 17 and had become again heir to the throne instead.
"Oh….oh Kressa…he's divine!" Her sister hurried to the bed, climbing onto it eagerly and the Queen was grinning.
"I told you. Wait until we get the others, there's a sexy one with one eye, looks all kinds of nasty, and a big beefy blonde and…oh! One with hair longer than this one, with piercings probably all over him, each one just delicious in his own right but this one, we already have his mate, and once Nuryev figures out how to use that to control him? Oh the fun we're going to have…" The queen laughed and joined her sister hovering over Cristoff and Vander didn't want to watch.
He wouldn't leave his brother, and was scrambling through everything, he was certain the manacles that bound his brother were probably magic canceling, Nuryev was a mind control mage, the Queen would be sure her toys could handle her son since it was common knowledge she had no qualms at all about incest.
It was almost two hours later the women slid from the bed. "Gods, I can't wait to hear the noises he'll make, to see his eyes, watch him writhe. Too bad the potions didn't work on him, I would have enjoyed a little ride." The Queens sister sighed. The Queen shrugged "I was warned they likely wouldn't but I couldn't wait to have some fun with that body. Once Nuryev works out how to use his mate to get him hard, we'll have some very good fun with him and start breeding him to some of the maidens I've been collecting."
The women left and servants came in hastily.
"Lets get him down to his cell before the drugs start wearing off." One of them said. They unbound Cristoff, hefted the big man over onto another gurney and then Vader was following them back into the elevator, down to the first chamber they had come into and into another hallway.
As they went down the hallway they started passing large "cells" that looked like hotel rooms almost, from what he could see they were sparsly furnished but the beds were nice, not piles of straw on the floor, and each had a small bathroom.
He could tell they were magically sealed too, so he couldn't risk following Cristoff into his. They passed one and her heard a gasp "No..Cristoff, oh Gods…" the woman inside was near the bars and she had to be Lucy, blonde, big chested, beautiful, wide brown eyes looked in horror as Cristoff was pushed past her cell.
He was taken into a cell just past the blondes and Vander saw Wendy already in there, still out cold on the bed.
They lifted the man from the gurney and laid him beside Wendy then left, sealing the chamber shut behind them with a small white lacrima. Vanders eye locked onto that.
The man dropped it into his pants pocket and Vander grinned, oh…too fucking easy…
A few minutes later, he returned to the hallway and started methodically searching for cameras, found one in each chamber positioned over each door facing in to monitor the prisoner in the cell, the two in the hallway were easily angled in the dimly lit hall so he'd be able to avoid them without anyone noticing they'd been tampered with.
He let his shadows stretch through walls, and aside from the magic seals on the walls ceilings and floors of the cells, which honestly…weren't strong enough, Emzadi could have flicked a wrist and blown out one of the walls, seriously, these people were idiots if they thought these cells would hold pissed off Dragon Slayers.
Carefully he went and placed his own "toys" through the chamber, the hallways. Tiny devices that would vibrate the lacrima on his belt if someone approached.
Once those were in place he returned to the cell row and dropped down in front of Lucys cell.
"Lucy…right?"
Lucy had gone and sat on the bed but her head snapped up and she looked wide eyed as Vander materialized by her door.
"Hi…I'm Vander, Bix and Cristoffs little brother." He said in a soft voice. The cameras didn't handle sound, but he didn't want his voice to carry.
Lucys eyes lit up and he frowned "Don't react Lucy, there's a camera on you." He warned and watched her drop her head again, looking miserable once more.
"Ok, so you're in Hasta, the capital of Seven inside the Royal Palace, the Queen has decided to gather the Dragon Slayers and start some fucked up breeding program. You saw Cristoff, Wendy is in the cell with him next to yours. They aren't hurt, just drugged. I'm gonna find a spot I can't be easily overheard and get word to your guild and mine. I can move around in here undetected, I'll be close by, trying to figure out how to get you out of here, I already have a lacrima key for the cells. Just filling you in ok?" He told her.
She sighed. "Vander, my keys are sealed in the crystal on the wall, can you find out about that? I can't leave them here…" She said firmly.
Vander looked and saw what she was talking about, Celestial Mage so they sealed her keys…fuckers were smarter than he thought.
"I'll find a way to get them out or we'll break the fucking thing off the wall and take it with us." He promised and she sighed again, this time in relief.
"I'll check back with you as soon as I can." He told her and Lucy watched as the young man seemed to dissolve into billowing shadows and then was gone.
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Cobra was pacing in front of the bar, impatient.
Kaleb frowned almost two days since Lucys disappearance, Cristoff and Wendy had been gone for a day, Vander had not responded when he'd tried calling him after Wendy and Cristoffs abduction and he was ready to kill his younger brother.
Knowing Vander, he'd gone to Autumn City, found at least one woman and fucked himself into exhaustion and was laying on some bed sleeping off a hang over while intermittently fucking some pretty thing until he got his strength back and had forgotten he was supposed to be listening for their call.
It might be too late now anyway, even if he did finally get through to his damn brother it might be too late to catch up with whoever was abducting the slayers and their mates.
He had people he could send to the outpost, he could overrun the place easily enough and get information out of the men there but even after Bickslow had done his work on the man they had caught in Wendy and Cristoffs house, all they knew was what they had already known.
The Prince of Seven was behind this. The men he'd hired had been painfully educated in how to handle the slayers, including orders not to harm them if it was avoidable and not to touch any of the women in any way that would anger their mates.
The handling orders would have been reassuring if not for who was giving them.
Cobra was about fit to be tied, the man alternated between being miserable and so angry even Bickslow wasn't testing him.
He sat unhappily near Kaleb and Mira pushed a glass toward him, it was the iced tea she made for him, using Lucys instructions, the appleseed and Oleander tea with lots of sugar she had ordered for him with his lunch before he'd left for Peace Village.
He grabbed the glass and managed a thin nod of thanks for Mira , taking a long drink, the poisons flowing into him, giving him the welcome rush and euphoric haziness, Lucy loved getting him high on cyanide anymore, said he was easy to take advantage of when he was under the influence.
She tried to get him to say he loved her every time too…he wished he'd said it now, wished he'd said it a hundred times a day because it still wouldn't have been enough.
Kaleb was idly twirling his lacrima in his hand, Cana sitting on the barstool beside where he stood, idly leaning on his shoulder and twirling a lock of his pale blonde hair in her fingers.
The Lacrima lit and Kaleb flipped it on, eyes widening as Vander smiled at him.
"Vander you worthless ass, where the fuck have you been?!" He snarled.
"Easy, easy big brother, keep it down I'm trying to keep a low profile here, I've been doing some teleport hitching with our brother and his wife." He replied. Everyone froze, Cobra put his drink down as Kaleb drew a breath.
"You're with them? Where?!" He demanded.
"Fucking Hasta, in the royal palace. Tell Cobra Lucy is here, she's fine, safe, doesn't have a scratch on her, just pissed they sealed her keys in a crystal." He said and Cobra let a breath out, relief flooding through him followed swiftly though by desperate fury.
"So I already made a couple of calls, I've been playing dodge guard and it's tough to get a signal out of here with the lacrima. Dad got the Princess to assign us some nice help, there should be a Boscan airship reaching you some time today, call Dad for the details on that shit. I've stolen a cell key, kinda feel bad about that, guy I took it off of got hella beat for losing it but shit, I figured we'd need it." He smirked, lifting up a small lacrima.
"So yeah, guards should be coming back this way in 2 minutes, I can get in and out of where Lucy Cristoff and Wendy are being held. Cristoff and Wendy just woke up a little while ago, Cristoff will need a bath in fucking bleach after what that skanky queen did to him while he was drugged out but he's not hurt, neither is Wendy." He said.
"Why are they doing this?" Kaleb asked.
"Breeding program, they keep talking about using the mates to get the slayers to breed for them, want like their own little army of Dragon Slayers." Vander replied.
Kaleb made a disgusted sound. "Ok, keep doing what you're doing…little fucker…good job, check in again as soon as you can and keep us posted, I'll call father." He snapped.
"You know "Master Kaleb" I'm just about as tall as you now, you should stop calling me little." Vander smirked.
Kaleb glared at him "Don't get cocky jackass, you still ducked out of facing richly deserved punishment I may still force you to complete."
Vander rolled his eyes "Yeah, maybe I'll drag the stuck-up bitch up here, she seems to have a taste for trying to murder people, she'd fit right in."
Mira winced and behind her, Lisanna who had been ordered to work gruesome hours at the bar and in the potion shop as well as endure 3 hours a day of hard physical training with her brother ducked her head and turned red.
Once off from talking to Vander Kaleb called his father and Arman Pradesh looked grimly at him. It wasn't common at all for the calm, charming man to look angry, but he did and Bickslow, standing near Kaleb drew a slow breath, just like Emzadi and Kaleb did when they saw his expression.
"You will recover your brothers and sister in law from Seven, say it." Arman snapped. Kaleb lowered his head "I will recover Cristoff, Vander, Wendy and Lucy Father, I swear it." He said softly.
Arman nodded, "Are Bickslow and Emzadi there? I want to see them." He demanded. Kaleb pushed off the bar and moved so his brother and sister could come to him and face their father.
"Both of you, you will not rest until you recover your siblings and friend, say it" He snapped. Bickslow and Emzadi both lowered their heads.
"We swear we will recover them father." They both said in unison.
"Good. Now, I've secured a Boscan gunship, the Aisipal will be there within the hour, her captain should contact you Kaleb, I expect you to bring to bear every ounce of your might my son, your guild, everything at your command, I want my children back. The King has authorized us to use whatever force we must but will not commit more than the Aisipal to this mission. I have already told Vander, the King would not object to the end of the Allsaidians. Leaving Seven in chaos could benefit both Bosco and Fiore. There are no formal orders, this is proceeding as a rescue mission, just be aware collateral damage is…encouraged." Arman told them firmly.
"Yes Father." The three Pradesh children answered in unison. Cobra blinked, he couldn't hear Bickslow or Kaleb but Emzadi rang like a bell, no hesitation, absolute conviction. She would walk through hell for her family, for anything her father asked of her without question or hesitation. The depth of loyalty, of love, was immense.
He felt that with only one person, Lucy. His mate was his entire world, everything that had ever mattered to him before her had fallen away to insignificance, his future, his everything was her. Seeing that depth in a family…it awed him.
Arman had instilled that into his children, and his devotion to them, to bring all he had of power and influence to bear like this for his children. Cobra made a vow, when he got Lucy back, when they had children, he would be a father like Arman.
"I love you children, I have a great deal to get done, I am trying to get out of Atla so I can get to you all, look out for your friends and each other." He said firmly and then the lacrima went dark again.
Everyone moved quickly, they had less than an hour before the Aisipal arrived to collect them.
Boscan airships were the fastest, best designed in Earthland, allowing Bosco to be a major player in foreign trade and have a lethal aerial military force. The ships were faster than trains, and unhindered by terrain demands. Designed to handle the sometimes-unpredictable weather over the Grass Sea of Bosco caused by its odd levels of humidity that were effected unpredictably by cycles of both the sun and moon as well as the abundant wild life that lived in and on the Grass Sea.
Design secrets were jealously guarded for the ships, and they were never sold, all of them belonged to the Crown of Bosco. Business' could lease them, but maintenance was only available through government engineers so the country kept its firm hold on one of its greatest assets.
When a ship went down or out of service, every part of it was broken down and either re-used or destroyed.
The jewels of the fleets were sleek, swift gunships. They couldn't carry much payload beyond their ammunition stores and had small crews, but they were fast, powerful, a single Boscan Gunship had kept the Sevenese from getting out of Gallowstown during the invasion. This gunship in fact. The Aisipal was the only airship Bosco had sent, holding their fleet within their own borders in preparation of the assault on Seven that would come after their mage and military forces had helped Fiore end the invasion.
Her Captain was a bold older woman who had served in the Boscan military for 25 years. Captain Kryta. When she'd gotten her new orders, spoken to the Boscos most decorated Ambassador and the King himself about this mission, she'd stocked her ship with ammunitions from the water ships off the shore of Gallowstown and gone full steam to Magnolia.
This was a chance for real glory, being the first Airship to pierce the heart of Seven was an honor she meant to prove herself well worthy of. She had been worried she would be left hunting down Sevenese left overs in Fiore while the glorious battle against Sevens homeland raged.
Fortunately, as they cleared the lake above Magnolia and saw Fairy Tail come into view, she knew her time had come, she would not be missing this great battle at all.
Her lieutenant teleported down to the ground to collect their passengers. She was to take them right to Hasta, assist them in the mission they had there that the King had said could result in the end of the conflicts. She and her crew were to aid them in every way, and when her eyes fell on the Guild Master of White Sea, she smiled, grateful to see this wasn't just a group of unknowns, here was a man she knew had military experience, who was a leader and her confidence soared.
"Master Kaleb, I am Kryta, Captain of the Aisipal, welcome aboard sir, my ship and crew and I are at your disposal, ordered to aid you in any way we can." She said, bowing.
"Thank you Captain, once everyone is aboard, we need to reach Hasta as quickly as possible." Kaleb told her, turning as the last of their team came aboard via the ships teleporter.
The Dragon Slayers, Laxus, Cobra, Gajeel, Natsu and Emzadi along with Freed, Bickslow and Erza. All stood before them. As the ship got underway Cobra followed everyone after the Captain to go to the ready room at the back of the ship. Looking toward the horizon, he narrowed his eye "I'm coming for you baby." He growled.