Lucy anxiously peered up at the entrance to the deep pit she'd fallen into, shouting "Natsu?" again when he refused to answer her. She could feel his anger, his magic rising up in the air and creating sweltering heat. And just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by shock and a strange feeling that she knew well. Pain shot through her body a moment later when Natsu hit the ground, but she forced herself to ignore it as concern flashed through her. "Natsu!" she tried again, slapping a hand against the side of the pit. Silence met her demand for his attention, and then a shadow fell over her. She looked up, unable to see the face of the one that stood over her. Instinct had her snagging her key ring in one hand and the hilt of her knife in the other.

She blinked when a voice said, "My apologies, Mistress. I did not realize you were here as well."

"Err," said Lucy, not sure how to respond. She yelped when the earth shot upwards. She tripped when it stopped quite suddenly and would have hit the ground again had a hand not nimbly caught her elbow. "Thank…you…?" she questioned, caught off guard by the intense look she was receiving from the pink-haired woman before her. Lucy was a little unnerved by the woman's maid outfit. "Who – ah! Natsu!" She whirled around, searching for him – and paused when she saw an inferno suddenly explode upwards, directly from a second pit that had opened.

"Found him," she muttered, ignoring the stranger to bolt for the pit. "Natsu!"

The flames vanished immediately as she peered down into the pit. She winced when she saw her very pissed off partner at the bottom; he was much further down than she'd been, and he'd clearly been scratched by an equally angry Happy. The poor familiar was hissing and spitting on the ground at his feet.

The woman who was clearly in control of the pits opening up around them leaned over the edge, too, her eyes as sharp as flint. "You were told of what would happen should you steal from the royal treasury, Master Natsu."

"Yeah, well," spat Natsu, flames curling around his lips, "things like that don't count if you can't remember them."

Master Natsu. Only Gemini had ever called him something similar. She tipped her head to the side, and Lucy studied her for a long few moments, touching the keys at her hip. They were warm, almost as if… "You're a celestial spirit," she realized. "Aren't you?"

She bobbed her head in a curt nod. "Yes," she said, bowing in greeting. "I am Virgo, and I represent the judgement of humanity." She threw an accusing glare down at Natsu. "And I was asked to guard the treasury of the Heartfilia family when Mercurius Castle was turned to rubble some time ago. Thievery is not permitted here."

"I heard you the first time," snarled Natsu, and Lucy glanced back down at him. He looked ready to combust, his face set in a deadly look. "Now get me out of here, or I'm gonna melt the entire place."

He could do it. Lucy knew he could – and he most certainly would.

Virgo blinked at Lucy expectantly, as if seeking her opinion, and Lucy said carefully, aware that many of the celestial spirits had started tests without warning them, "Could you please bring him back up? You have my apologies; we didn't consider it stealing and will put the golden egg back where it came from."

That only served to piss Natsu off further. "Like hell we are!" he barked. "It's mine!"

"It was intended as a gift for Igneel," continued Lucy patiently, ignoring his unhelpful input. "But if it really cannot be taken from the treasury, then I will ensure it is put back."

Virgo narrowed her eyes in silent thought for a few heartbeats. Finally, she nodded sharply. "Put it back," she warned, and then twitched her fingers. Natsu seemingly appeared beside them, as if the ground had never been touched, and he glowered viciously at the celestial spirit. She eyed him coolly in response, although there was a hint of amusement in her eyes as she patiently waited. Lucy got the feeling that she had interacted with Natsu previously, for she said, "Master Igneel is very aware that the egg – and this treasury – still remains, and considers it as his own. It is best to leave what you've found here. If not for your sake, Master Natsu, then for Mistress's sake."

Lucy didn't expect that to do much for the crabby man, but he surprised her by grumbling and dropping his bag on the ground. He gave Virgo a dirty look as he opened it, removed the egg, and promptly shoved it at her. Virgo took it with care and then deposited it safely in a mound of golden coins. Virgo relaxed as she studied it, and then gave Natsu a small smile. "Thank you, Master Natsu."

Natsu blinked, shocked that she'd thank him for doing something he was clearly unhappy about. "Uh, sure." He glanced at Lucy when a warmth sprouted in his chest – and pride. Admittedly flustered, he hastily ripped his gaze away from the pretty blonde and locked his attention back onto Virgo. "So…are we gonna do your test or something?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, though she didn't seem too annoyed with him. Virgo's lips curved into a smirk – something that immediately worried them both. "It would be an honor to give my exam to the daughter of Layla Heartfilia," she said smoothly, bowing to Lucy with a hand over her heart, and Lucy cringed, not liking it.

"Thank you, I think," said Lucy, glancing at Natsu. He had turned his back on them and was focusing on Happy. Lucy bit back a snicker when she heard him muttering apologies to the very unhappy feline, who was glaring spitefully at him, blaming him for what had happened. His apologies seemed to work, because with reluctance, Natsu was allowed to pick the poor familiar up. They must have come to some agreement, because Natsu suddenly pushed Happy into her arms.

"Hey, Happy," said Lucy, ruffling his ears, and he purred at her, shooting Natsu another sharp look that made Lucy want to laugh.

Virgo, however, looked seriously at them as she said, "I represent humanity's judgement." She cast firm looks at each of them. "Humans are known for their judgmental ways…they are the least tolerant of all of the species. If there is but one difference, a human's first instinct is to destroy." Lucy cringed at the brief flicker of anger that crossed Virgo's face. No, not anger – genuine rage and fury. "But they are judgmental in other ways. When one commits a crime, for example, they judge them as they see them: a criminal."

Lucy got a bad feeling almost immediately, simply from that one word. She exchanged a wary look with Natsu when he rumbled a little, clearly feeling the same. Virgo looked briefly amused with their response. She moved backwards until there was a solid amount of space between them, and then snapped her fingers. Another pit opened up between them. When Lucy looked down, her stomach churned with horror. Several men and women were down there. Some didn't even look as if they were alive.

"No one is permitted to steal from the treasury of the royal family," said Virgo in explanation when even Natsu balked a little at the state of those below. They peered up at them from the darkness, and Lucy's stomach twisted when some called for help. "The punishment is severe, just as it always has. In the king and queen's place, I have placed my judgement upon those who trespassed. I wish to hear your judgement, Mistress, and then that of Master Natsu. Work together and pass your judgement on these humans, for if the situation was reversed and they knew of your identities, it is likely that they would put you to death."


The hum that left his lips was thoughtful as Jellal stared out at the cold world around them. Even in the midst of summer, there was snow in the evergreen trees, dusting the world with its white glow. He didn't mind, even as his breath puffed around his face in a cloud. He liked it, even. It kept people away. They weren't brave enough to come in such cold, which he thrived in so long as he could wrap his fur-lined cloak around his shoulders.

A small tug on that cloak had him glancing down. Knobby fingers were grasping at it, tugging lightly. "Done!" the small goblin squeaked, and Jellal found himself smiling a little at the creature. It had decided their fortress a good place to stay and had even taken to acting more like a brownie than a goblin, cleaning up and finding things they hadn't even known they'd lost. Even the dire wolves that trekked in and out – mostly visiting the alpha female that had given birth recently – didn't seem to mind it.

He supposed it was another reminder that not all mythics who were seen as bad or nuisances were like the rest of their kind. "Thank you for your hard work. Treat yourself to whatever meal you'd like in the kitchen."

The goblin beamed at him with its sharp little teeth and was immediately rushing off. Jellal snorted softly before returning his gaze to the treetops out in the distance. He cocked his head as an image flickered to life behind his eyelids.

Fear, and loss, and agony, and fury, and grief, and terror, and vileness, and sheer rage, all gathering in one soul. A victim lingering in the ashes of what had created them, what had turned them into the monster they thought themselves to be. Of the monster they allowed themselves to continue to be. Gold, in every direction, fingers snatching what they could. Avoiding the guardian who threw those down below into the pits of Hell as their judgement by using toys made of rotting flesh. Seeing something particularly valuable upon the pair that now stood before that guardian. One, speaking calmly, the other angrily. Peering through the gold and plotting and planning-

"Jellal?"

He glanced back tiredly, snapping back to the present. He didn't mind this time. Being snapped from this vision had been a relief, as his head had already been aching and had been the reason he'd come outside in the first place. "Erza," he greeted quietly, watching her intently as she limped out to join him. Even with Wendy's skilled magic, her leg was still recovering from the black magic that had injured it so severely.

At least everything had turned out well for Natsu and Lucy, too. That was all that mattered in the end. Everyone was okay. Except for the one in his vision, the master of corpses and death. He frowned at the thought of them, and Erza knew the furrow in his brow well enough to say quietly, "Another vision?"

"I am the Keeper of them after all," murmured a thoughtful Jellal in response. Erza chuckled, but waited patiently, and he eventually said, "It's not one that concerns me too much. There is merely someone who allowed their hurt to twist them into something new. It has happened before, it will happen again."

He cast Erza a kind look, and she searched his uncovered eyes even as they endlessly searched the air, only ever capable of touching hers for the briefest of moments. She stepped forward and fondly touched a hand to his cheek, and he leaned into it before looking back out at the white-covered landscape.

"The vision means nothing to us," he said confidently. "It is of no relation to either of us."

He cast his gaze out over those trees and found that he could no longer see the subject of his visions. Not concerned at all, he turned away and nudged her back towards the fortress's door. "Come, we'll catch a chill out here, and with the luck we've had recently, it would be a bad one."

Erza only chuckled and let him push her along.


"Don't look at them."

Lucy knew exactly what Natsu was talking about. Knew that she should do what he told her to do, especially since he said it so quietly. Despite his best efforts – and she knew he was trying to shove everything he felt back again after Sting's comments – she could feel the concern trickling past the wall he'd put up, the desire to ensure she was okay. She trailed a finger along his arm in silent gratitude.

"I can't stop," she mumbled, unable to tear her gaze away from the bodies resting alongside those that were still alive. She'd known the celestial spirits had a different sense of what was right and wrong – that they were nearly as unforgiving as Natsu.

But this…to see that Virgo had likely let people starve to death simply because they, as human as they were, had thought to take from an unused treasury full of gold…

And, if she was being perfectly honest, it was the first time she'd ever really seen a body. Sure, there had been the one near Aquarius's lake, but she'd not really taken a good long look at it. It unnerved her. Her face was white, and she felt something in her gut churn. Bile rose in her throat, and she whirled away, retching. Natsu didn't say anything when her lunch came up, only waited patiently until she was done vomiting to surprise her with a simple warm touch to the back.

It was soothing, the heat he coaxed to his fingers, and she rasped a quiet thanks that he merely rumbled in response to. "Just don't look," he told her, and she nodded, taking an uncertain breath.

For the first time since starting these trials, she wasn't sure she wanted to continue with them. Even Pisces' test that had required her to reveal her scars...she'd prefer that one over sending people to their deaths.

"We just need to judge if they're guilty or not, right?" said Natsu hoarsely, and she gave a tired nod. "Then let's get it over with and we can help 'em get outta there or leave 'em to rot with the rest of 'em."

"Please," she said tiredly. "Please don't say things like that right now."

"Sorry," he muttered before deciding to simply start it all. He jabbed a finger at one man who was pleadingly lifting his arms up to them, begging for help. He'd been there a while, his face gaunt and gray. "Why are you down there?"

"Please, sir," the man answered, his voice hoarse and full of agony. Lucy felt her eyes burn from the tears she struggled to hold back, miserable. "Please…"

"Why are you down there?" repeated Natsu back, voice even and neutral. "And don't lie. The lady in charge of this place probably knows if you're lying."

"My family was…starving," rasped the man, breathless. "We are poor, and…live on the outskirts…of town. I…heard rumors…of the un…touched treasury. I came in hopes that…even a few coins…could improve our lives…"

Natsu cocked his head, looking at Lucy with a calm look. He gave none of his thoughts away – not even a single emotion allowed her to even guess at what he thought. She blinked, realizing he'd left the decision to her. "That's no reason to sentence him to death," she murmured, the tears spilling over. She looked around. Surely Virgo would get the man out?

But Virgo didn't appear, and Lucy realized they'd likely have to address every living person within the pit before she'd come and speak with them again.

The second man was younger and much like the first. His family had fallen into financial hardship. Their father had bet all of their livelihood away and he'd come for enough money to start a new life.

The third was a woman, and she stared up at Lucy with eyes so cold she shivered. "I came," she said in a voice as cold as the northern mountaintops, "because I wanted riches beyond my wildest dreams." When she grinned, Lucy flinched; her teeth were razor sharp needles. "And because I smelled rot and decay."

"She stays down there," said Natsu before Lucy could even think about making a decision. "She's an ammit. Ammit was a goddess a while back, but she broke her body into pieces to craft more like her. They feast on the bodies of the dead – and the living. They don't have a preference."

Lucy silently nodded in agreement, shivering at the idea of what would happen if the ammit got out.

They passed their judgement on the next few. Several were like the ammit, mostly humans, much to Lucy's disappointment. There were yet a few more of those who'd been wrongfully imprisoned, and Lucy wondered if they'd been kept because Virgo had needed them for her test. Lucy hoped not.

When they reached the last person, however, it changed.

Even Natsu fell silent, staring at the glaring person below. He held himself confidently, clearly new to the pit full of despair and death. The ammit was keeping her distance from him – and Lucy knew why, for on his arm resided an arm band bearing the mark of Sabertooth.

Natsu steadily asked, fighting the urge to clench his teeth, "Why are you down there?"

"I am in debt because of a member of my team leaving our guild and stealing my money," the man answered, holding Natsu's gaze. "So I came here after hearing rumors in town. I wanted to replace what he'd taken. I had to, or my wife would leave me."

Something twisted in Lucy's gut and when Natsu opened his mouth to answer, Lucy cut him off. "Liar," she breathed. "You're lying." She could feel it, wonder if Virgo had impressed some kind of magic onto her.

"You would doubt me?" snapped the man angrily. "I come from a guild, just like you!"

"I can tell you're lying," Lucy said firmly, glancing at Natsu for help. He searched her gaze, uncertain for once. "Natsu," she breathed, "I'm serious. He's lying."

"I believe you," he said simply, and Lucy felt that twist turn to simple warmth and relief. Natsu trusted her so much that he'd believe an un-explainable feeling she had about the man below. He looked down on the man with hard eyes, and delivered their judgement. "You're a liar. You came to steal for some reason you're too scared to state because you know it means we'll leave you here. Too bad you're gonna get left here anyways."

The man didn't look as upset as Lucy had expected. Instead, he grinned widely. "You think? What will Sabertooth think when they hear Fairy Tail left a member to die when they could have helped?"

That brought Natsu up short. Sting was guild master of Sabertooth; likely, he'd take it as a form of revenge for the words he'd spat at Natsu. He'd accuse Natsu of unnecessary murder, and with how Fairy Tail protected its own…not pulling this man out with Sting in the head space he currently was in would start a war between guilds.

It had happened once, Lucy recalled from her readings.

Just once, two guilds had gone to war with one another.

There was nothing left; they'd annihilated themselves.

But Fairy Tail had Natsu – had END – and they would undoubtedly win any war that someone attempted to launch against them.

Natsu wavered, and Lucy fought the urge to touch his shoulder comfortingly as she studied him. He claimed that he'd not forgive Sting, just as he'd claimed about Igneel, but he so very clearly wanted Sting to go back to liking him. And there was a chance that saving his guild member would shift Sting's views.

But Lucy knew better. Something about this man was very, very wrong, and if they brought him out…

"You will stay," Lucy said loudly before Natsu could deliver the condemning judgement on him. She'd let him do each and every other time, but this one…she would do this one herself. If Sting needed to blame someone for a guildmate's death, let him blame Lucy, who had the support of celestial spirits.

The man's grin vanished, replaced with a narrow-eyed look and Lucy paused to take another look at him. "Natsu," she breathed, realizing that something was wrong. "That man…look at his clothes. And the way the others are looking at him. He wasn't there when we started." When had he appeared in that pit? Had they been distracted somewhere?

When she'd gotten ill, she realized.

She'd turned away, and Natsu had, too, giving him the opportunity to-

Her thoughts were cut short when something suddenly slammed into her. Lucy gasped, nearly tipping into the pit. A quick movement on Natsu's part saved her, but knocked him off balance. All it took was pain exploding through his arm to make his elbow buckle. He toppled head-first into the pit, and roared in fury when he hit the ground, surrounded by criminals and decay.

What really pissed him off, however, was the sight, so far above his head, of a half-rotted corpse grasping at Lucy's shoulders with its teeth buried in her arm.


And take a guess at who's here. ;) In any case, this chapter and the next one or two were the two that made me uncertain of the rating of ODAS again. I AM considering upping the rating to M, simply because of some other things later down the road, too. Rereading this chapter as I was checking it over actually made me uncomfortable...hope it made you guys uncomfortable, too, 'cause that was the goal. ;)

Lodemai04, regarding the matter of Lucy not being recognized...don't worry, that's addressed within the next few chapters and in detail later down the road!

On another note, a question that's been brought up a few times: update schedule! To those who've asked, I update on my Mondays. ;) I may do an extra update here or there on Thursdays, but it's been a while.

Thanks to reviewers (stranger1999, madaraswife, aquarius592, itsxoi, Uchida Akira, theHumbleGM, Lodemai04, Sydneste, WhatAnimeHasTaughtMe, ToukaKanekiUlle, BeautifulSamurai, Meow Orbit, FairyTailxFanGirl, Kaito1412, nerdalertwarning, xHallowedFangirlx, NaLuFireSpirit, Eyriegirl, and Lissuin!) as well as those who favorited and followed!