"Wait, what are you doing?" I hear Andromeda inqure of someone.

"I'll kill 'em for doing this to her," I hear Draco exclaim, cracking his knuckles. "They're her family, aren't they? Some family they are!"

I keep my eyes closed so I can listen to the conversation for a while, also I feel like my head's exploding over and over, pulsing pain comes in and out. If I open my eyes it might get worse.

"Those two wizards already went to take care of them," Andromeda points out to him.

"I ain't trustin' them!" Draco proclaims hotly. "They're part of that guild with that other one who killed Aki's brother!"

"You didn't hear her say she's glad he's dead? or how much he manipulated her?" Andromeda asks him. "He made her do horrible things, and she decided she was glad he's dead."

Draco is silent for a while. "More reason to go after those two. They need to pay for what they did to Aki."

"Draco, go back," i splutter, choking on air. my throat is so dry. "Andromeda, you too. Thank you both for saving me."

"I can't leave you here alone," Draco insists.

I open my eyes then and prove my earlier fear correct. "Argh!" I exclaim, squeezing my eyes shut again. "Draco, don't worry about me." My eyes were open long enough for me to see Draco and Andromeda had changed into their human forms. This form lets them stick around longer in the human world without using so much magic.

"Do you even know where you are right now?" Andromeda asks me.

I think about it and shake my head. "No, I don't."

"The Fairy Tail guild master brought us to a friend of his. She's a healer and she's the reason you're alive. But this is still Fairy Tail territory. I'm worried if we leave you here you'll be in danger."

"You need not worry about the girl," an old man's voice assures my spirits. "I saw everything that happened. I won't let harm come to her. You have my word."

I risk opening my eyes again and keep them open so my eyes can adjust to the light and I can get used to the pain. "Andromeda and Draco, go back," i command them and they both vanish. "Thank you, but I can handle things from now on."

Draco fights angrily against the gate closure but Andromeda makes him stop. I close my eyes against the light again andd sigh heavily, relaxing my tense muscles.

"Are they them?" I ask the old man, rolling onto my side without opening my eyes. I feel something touching my forehead, something goopy and warm. Whatever the woman is doing, it's making my headache go away.

"They are, indeed, Natsu and Lucy of Fairy Tail," the old man answers me.

"Oh, no," I groan into my hand. "So it's all true. I am a murderer."

"Not by your own wit," the master argues me. I open my eyes to find him watching me from where he's sitting. The healing woman is standing over me, scowling down at me. She's done rubbing the warm solution on my face.

"Close your eyes again," she orders me and turns to leave the room. "You don't want to know how badly this would hurt if it got in your eyes."

I close my eyes again and try to ignore the weird algae scent and wonder what the accompanying scent is. It's something fruity and citric. "If only I could turn back time and realize sooner how my family was using me," I say bitterly.

"Hindsight is twenty/twenty," the master tells me. "Please, would you tell me exactly what your magic and combat skills are? I'm curious. I suppose you should tell me about your brother as well."

"My brother? He practiced shadow magic, though he wasn't very proficient in it. he could only possess another person's shadow for short periods of time, and that's only when he's managed to catch the other oerson. He also used control magic, like what he was doing to me. He was better at the manipulation than anything. His fighting skills were alright, though I've always been faster than he was." I pause, making sure I didn't leave anything out about my brother's power. I didn't, so I continue. "I've been training my body for combat since I was two," I tell him. "My mother taught me speed magic, my father taught me how to fight along with strength, durability, and endurance stuff like that. When I was five, they started teaching me their venom and fire magic. When I was ten I invented a sort of… combination magic where I would combinee the fire, venom, and my combat skills to turn my arms and legs into sharp blades, like swords. I called that vemon flame blade magic because I couldn't think of anything that sounded cooler. I try not to use this magic, I only came up with it to please my family. When I was 14 I decided to learn Celestial Magic, and they supported me as long as I kept working with my brother while I looked for and collected keys."

"Inventing magic?" he asks, sounding surprised. "That's quite impressive."

"Yeah," i say drily. "More like depressing."

He doesn't respond for a while so I continue. "What's worse is I don't know why they both had to become Celestial Spirits and why I had to get their keys. It's such a messed up twist of fate that I ran into you all and rubbed it in your faces what I did. And they don't remember being human. I wish I could fix that but I don't think I could! I'd need to ask some high level spirits who might know how, but I don't have any high level spirits," I ramble, getting more and more frustrated. "I screwed up again and I don't know what to do to fix it."

"Calm down, child," the guild master instructs me, his voice coming closer to me. I open my eyes for a split second before I remember the woman's threat and shut them again. "If you think you can find a way to return the memories of my children, I have something I can give you that might help."

"What's that?" I inquire curiously. "And why would you want to help me? I killed two of your guild members. How could you trust me?"

"Because I can see what kind of person you are," he says simply. "I will show you what I have for you later when I take you back to the Fairy Tail Guild Hall."

My eyes shoot open. He's going to deliver me to Erza to have her kill me. "Oh." I nod, fine with that.

He turns toward the door and leaves the room now. I close my eyes again to force myself to go back to sleep. My dreams are filled with the scent of Algae and citris.

When I wake up again the healing woman is staring down at me disapprovingly. She makes me get up and do some coordination exercises and then kicks me out of her house. Thankfully, I feel well enough to be out. I wonder if she would have kicked me out either way.

"Don't mind her," a white haired woman says. I turn away from the door and find her standing with a tall brooding blonde guy with a scar over his eye. The old man is standing with them. "She doesn't like people much," the woman finishes.

"We couldn't find your parents," the blonde guy tells me quickly, before I can ask. He goes back to glowering at me, a look of irritation on his face.

I stare at them apprehensively, considering my chances of escaping them. I could probably do it, but that'd be cowardly. "Are you all going to take me back to Fairy Tail?" I ask them.

The old man nods. "By the way. My name is Makarov Dreyar. This is my grandson Laxus Dreyar and this is Mirajane Strauss. They are both S class members of the guild."

I don't know what that means, but it sounds impressive and more than a little intimidating. It's a subtle threat, I think. I nod. "Hello Laxus, Mirajane, and Master Makarov. I am Aki Yoru."

"Good for you," Laxus says coldly.

"Be nice," Mirajane scolds him.

"No," Laxus refuses and motions for me to start walking.

Makarov sighs and starts walking through the forest. I follow him and Mirajane and Laxus follow me. I feel as though I'm being herded into a slaughterhouse.

When we enter Magnolia I watch building after building pass us until I spot the flag, that Fairy Tail insignia that I've always dreaded seeing. I remember seeing it on Natsu's shoulder after I realized he was a guild member. I remember seeing it on Erza's arm after she'd murdered Adam. I remember Gray's mark on his chest, because he'd taken his shirt off for some reason when he approached me.

Makarov opens the doors into the building and I pause just outside the door until Mirajane puts her hand on my arm. I look back at her and she smiles encouragement. I smile back at her and walk into the guild hall, groping for confidence and dignity. If I'm going to die here, I don't want to be remembered as dying like a total whimp.

Immediately I spot Erza standing with Gray and a few other people I haven't heard the names of. As if in sync, everyone's eyes flash in my direction, each pair of eyes stare at me with a mix of murderous anger, hatred, and resentment. "Nobody is to hurt her," Makarov says right off the bat.

"We learned some things when we found her in the forest," Mirajane explains quickly. "Her brother is the one responsible for Natsu and Lucy's deaths."

"She's the one who stabbed them," Erza argues.

"Under her brother's influence," Gray counters. He looks at me knowingly. "Is that right, Aki?"

I nod sadly and look down at the floor. "it doesn't excuse what I did. I delivered the final blow. Adam is dead, and I'm grateful for it, but I still feel as though I should receive punishment in his place. So please, kill me now and get it over with. I know that's why I'm here."

Nobody responds to this, which makes me feel even more overwhelmed. I continue, "I feel absolutely abominable for what happened. It's something I'll never be able to live with."

"She says she thinks she can restore their memories to them," the master says casually. "If she has the right help." He walks away from me, leaving me with Mirajane at my side. I watch Makarov go into a small room to the right of the entrence and comes back out with a key ring. It has two gold keys and two silver keys on it.

"I don't know why she's saying she's here to die when I told her that she's here for me to give her these," he says, holding up the keys for me.