"You're finally going through with it?" Zeref boredly eyed both Ivan and Irene. "And you're certain that this will also allow me to address my business with the Fairy Tail Guild?"

Irene nodded with a thin smile. "Of course. Our first target will be the royal family, whom I will be dealing with. Ivan will be targeting the Ishgar Magic Council in Era in the south of Fiore, and you will be able to make your way to Fairy Tail and deal with whatever business you have there. Frankly, I don't care what you do about them."

Zeref narrowed his eyes. "Irene -"

"Our alliance has always been one of mutual interests," She reminded him. "I don't care what you do so long as you do not get in my way."

"I sincerely hope you understand that sentiment goes both ways," Zeref darkly replied. "You see, if you impede upon my work, I shall not hesitate to bring down yours even if it is somewhat destructive to my own. Are you familiar with the concept of mutually assured destruction? Cross me, Irene, and I will destroy you just as much as I'm sure you will attempt to do to me in retribution."

Irene glared. "Don't play me for a fool."

"You are no fool, of that I am certain," Zeref sharply responded, standing up and slowly stepping towards her. "You, after all, have managed to rally an entire empire around yourself while the outside world, from what I know, looks down upon it as tyrannical and violent. That is no small feat. I do believe that many of the people here do genuinely revere you and, to a lesser extent, Ivan. You are not a fool by any means, Irene, but you play dangerous games and you do not seem to consider that as often as you should."

Her face darkened and her hand tightened around the knife she had jammed into the table quite a while prior. "Is that so?" She said in a deadly whisper.

"I'm merely offering you honest advice," Zeref said flatly. "Something that your sycophants do not seem willing to do, and, of course, given the amount of them that you've killed, I cannot say I blame them. But I know better, and you can't kill me even if you wanted to because I, at the present time, cannot die."

"I'm well aware of your circumstances," Irene harshly bit off. "And if you want to go on this wild goose chase to bring your ghost wife with you to go into oblivion with her, then go right ahead. Frankly, I don't give a damn what it is you do with her as long as the two of you stay out of my path. Understood?"

"Given that I have absolutely no intentions of being traceable once Mavis and I can be together again beyond her confines in Magnolia, you have nothing to worry about," Zeref turned to Ivan. "I doubt any of us have forgotten what happened the last time you attempted to attack anyone on the Magic Council, or what happened with Irene's….associate. If you underestimate them -"

"Addressing them will be far easier than you think," Ivan haughtily cut in. "And, then, I will be able to deal with my son and his wench of a wife."

"Heather's brat?" Irene disdainfully shook her head. "Toma and I are going to have words...I wonder if he knows that harming her and killing her children is my real goal. If he hasn't realised by now what he gave up in not choosing me, then he really has -"

"Yes, we're well aware," Zeref rolled his eyes. "You are a blatant sadist, Irene, and I hope you are at least aware of it."

She laughed. "Of course I'm aware of it!" She declared. "It's the only thing that can give you strength. You're far too soft, Zeref, and that's exactly why I don't fear you. You say any number of things, claim to be willing to do innumerable evils and yet all you are going to do is kidnap your plaything. You don't understand darkness, not like me."

Ivan looked between the two of them, for a few seconds almost truly afraid of them. Neither noticed, however, and Zeref merely patted Irene's cheek with a sarcastic smile.

"And yet I am the darkness," He hissed in her ear. "You just haven't quite realised it."


"Siegrain."

Erza stood in the doorway to her brother-in-law's office in Era, her arms crossed. He looked up, a bit startled at first, and then shook his head and waved her in. She slammed the door behind herself with her foot and slowly stepped towards him, looking both annoyed and concerned. Ever so briefly, he was reminded of their very first encounter, shortly after he had been instated on the Council and she had been in trouble for an incident involving her guild. That had been eighteen years before, and it stunned him that she was glaring at him the very same way she had that day. His stomach churned, knowing full well something - whatever it was - must have happened. He met her gaze coldly, and did not flinch when she dropped her bag on his desk and leaned towards him with a menacing look in her eye. After about a minute, she did relent a little but her eyes only seemed to narrow.

"You haven't given me that look in awhile," He noted dryly. "What's going on, Erza?"

"It has to do with your wife," She replied. "I know she went back to Crocus early for a reason, but she was rather evasive on what that reason was...and why she won't seem to take those damn parlor gloves off. Caity is hiding something, and I'd like to know what it is."

Siegrain frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do," Erza said plainly. "Her magic energy has been unpredictable lately, you know. I can't help but wonder why. The only other time that's happened was when she was attacked by that associate of my mother's seventeen years ago during the Eclipse incident."

"I haven't sensed anything," The Wizard Saint smoothly lied, setting down the book he had been leafing through. "And, not to put too fine a point on it, she and I have quite an intimate relationship. I should think I would know if something were wrong."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "You're in on whatever she's hiding."

"She's not hiding anything of consequence," He irritably replied. "There is no problem here, Erza, and you don't need to go creating one."

"Fine," She said bitterly. "I'll simply ask your daughter then."

Siegrain raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that Angel knows anything about the details of my relationship with her mother?"

"The fact that I know this has absolutely nothing to do with anything but her magic," Erza replied. "But, if you'd like to be honest with me right now, I won't object, Sieg."

He hesitated. "I'm surprised you haven't tried berating Evergreen or Freed about this."

"Lucy told me enough," Erza sent him a pointed look. "She reckons your wife has been dabbling in black magic. So, tell me: is that true?"

"Absolutely not," Siegrain bristled a bit at the thought. "You of all people should know that. I'm assuming even Jellal -"

"I disagree with him on this one," Erza shook her head. "Sieg, what the hell is going on and why is the entire Thunder Legion seemingly involved? I'm tempted to ask Laxus, although the chances are he won't be too happy about it."

"Well, that would be because he, like the rest of us, don't want her to get hurt," Siegrain sent her a pointed look. "Erza, you have absolutely no idea -"

"What," She darkly repeated. "Happened?"

Siegrain scowled at her but nevertheless stood up and pulled the book off one of the many shelves with his magic. It did not take him long to find the pages of runes, and, all but feeling Erza watching him, he finally handed it to her. She looked over it in surprise, eventually glancing up to give him a quizzical look.

"Runes?" She pressed, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Are you suggesting she took on one of these?"

Siegrain sighed. "More than one," He quietly admitted. "You are not to tell anyone."

"I won't," Erza promised, staring at the book for another moment. "You said more than one," She finally said. "How many?"

He paused and glanced away. "Five," He whispered. "Five."


"I have quite the story to tell the three of you," Makarov chuckled to himself when his three great grandchildren all immediately perked up. "It's about your parents, too. In fact, it has to do with a time when they snuck off and Toma got….annoyed, to put it mildly, with your father."

Annie giggled. "Grandfather is always mad at daddy."

"Now, now, that's not true," Toma remarked, stepping into the room with an amused smile. "Makarov, are you trying to corrupt them?"

"Not at all!" He cheerfully exclaimed. "I was merely going to tell them about the time Laxus drew Hisui away from a ball only for you to be ambushed by the then two and a half year old twins!"

Fallon and Sylvain nervously eyed each other out of the corners of their eyes before laughing. Annie, however, stared at them sadly and pouted.

"So this was before me," She shook her head and then gestured to her siblings. "That's too bad. I made them crazy."

Makarov smirked. "You didn't let me finish, now did you?"

"If you are taking this where I think you are -" Toma started, trying to hide his own amusement.

"Now, now," Makarov offered Annetta a mischievous look. "Allow me to explain…"

"Laxus!" Hisui had exclaimed, laughing a little. "I told you I have something important to tell you, and -"

"Shh, princess, it's fine," Laxus had grinned and swiftly kissed her the second he was sure they were out of the view of the people in the ballroom. "There's nothing wrong with getting a little bit of fresh air."

"You just wanted to escape my father," She had teased, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. "You told Fal and Sylvain to tackle him, and you know it."

"So I love my kids and my wife," Laxus had smirked. "Is that such a crime, your majesty? Do I need to prove it to you later tonight?"

Hisui had blushed. "Well, either way, I'm glad you love us."

"Of course I do," Laxus had said, gently reaching up to cup her cheek. "Now, what was that important thing you needed to tell me?"

"We're going to have to figure out how to tell Fal and Sylvain, but," Hisui had smiled. "I'm pregnant again."

Laxus had pulled her tightly, briefly startling her. "Our third baby," He had whispered, lightly rubbing her back. "I love them already."

"I know you do," Hisui had softly replied. "And -"

"Laxus!" Makarov had stepped out onto the balcony, startling the two of them. "I hate to interrupt, but you might want to save your father in law...Sylvain keeps trying to taste some of the crown jewels and Fallon...let's just say Natsu nearly set Toma's hair on fire when he was trying to get her attention."

Annetta burst out into almost uncontrollable laughter, wheezing and grabbing onto her sister, who herself was laughing rather hard. Even Sylvain couldn't help himself, although he had turned slightly red at the notion of having tried to put anything in his mouth as a child.

"So!" Sylvain finally exclaimed. "Fallon and I were already crazy before Annie! I knew it!"

Toma shook his head. "You aren't giving your sister enough credit. Annetta is quite the wild child."

"The funny thing is, Toma, she's really not," Laxus smiled when he and Hisui stepped into the room and saw their kids, although he raised an eyebrow when he caught the look Makarov and Toma shared. "What's going on?"

"Just telling them some stories," Makarov waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing bad, Laxus, don't worry."

"You like to sneak off with mommy," Annie slyly joked. "Gramps seems to think you hate balls even more than you're willing to admit and just want to be alone with her."

Laxus nervously squeezed Hisui's hand. "I don't like the sound of this," He whispered.

She hesitantly glanced towards her father. "Please don't tell me this has anything to do with what happened last year."

"It doesn't," Toma chuckled. "You both needn't worry. Makarov won't tell them anything too bad while I'm around."

Fallon raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember anything bad happening at a ball last year…"

"Mom and Freed got in a fight," Sylvain half-whispered to her. "I'll tell you more later."

Fallon shrugged. "Okay," She smirked. "At the very least, sounds to me like things are getting back to normal."

"And not a day too soon," Laxus spoke so softly only his wife could hear as she leaned into his embrace. "Really...I've never been more relieved to have them within the palace walls."

Hisui sighed. "I know…" She whispered, squeezing his hand again. "I feel the same way."