"I'm still perplexed by the circumstances surrounding Belserion's death," Org frowned, looking over the report co-authored by Erza, Caity, and Siegrain. "All three of you were present, yes, but this….she was really killed by a member of the royal family?"

"I suspect anyone there would have done it," Caity said shortly, anxiously adjusting her glasses. "Erza even came close, though, yes, ultimately it was Mira who killed her."

"This will be….interesting to reckon with once the Alakitasia Magic Council responds," Belno eyed the three of them critically. "It's almost impossible to believe this was merely two weeks ago."

"Yes, it is," Siegrain agreed, casting a worried glance towards his wife before looking back to them. "I don't imagine this will be something from which we heal quickly, but heal we shall."

"There's still the matter of Ivan Dreyar to be addressed," Michello put in, a bitter note to his voice. "As he is currently in the custody of the royal family -"

"He has to face formal trial," Org cut across, sending the Fernadeses in particular a sharp look. "By chance, has that issue come up?"

"Laxus and Hisui haven't really been considering much other than their family recovering from what happened that night," Caity said, pausing to take in a deep breath to try to calm herself. "It hasn't crossed their minds yet, and I'm sure they'll be willing to foster that as necessary. I hope none of you have forgotten what Irene did to Hisui, let alone to Annetta, Fallon, and Sylvain. It was one of cruelest things I have ever seen, and I -"

"Yes, we all saw the details in the report," Leji raised a hand to silence her. "We also saw what you did, or, rather, what you and his royal highness Freed Justine did. Is it true you honestly took on five runes that you cannot control well?"

Caity began to respond indignantly, but Erza cut across.

"Please consider the circumstances," She said calmly. "Obviously, under normal conditions, such an act would have been more thoughtfully analysed. None of us were in a great state of mind, and I am asking that to be recognised. The much bigger matter is what will come in the aftermath of this diplomatically."

"That is a fair point," Org agreed, albeit sending a sharp look to the Fernadeses. "I sincerely hope that now we are no longer in such precarious straits that you two will refrain from reckless and impulsive courses of action."

"Of course," Caity said coldly.

Siegrain sighed, reminding himself that, though he wanted to argue, it was true enough that he and his wife had gone to various backchannels and relied heavily on their own spying to get some of the information they had over the years. Laxus and Hisui had always known that, but their colleagues were another matter. He suspected only Erza was close to knowing the full truth, followed by Belno, who seemed to never have anything escape her watch. Difficult as it was to even silently admit, he knew that things were going to finally be calm enough for them to feel comfortable acting entirely within the confines of "accepted practice." They never had broken the law, so far as he could recall, but they had certainly bent it. He could see her stiffen out of the corner of his eye, well aware that she was still quite tense from everything that had happened.

More than any of them could ever put into words, they all were.

"With all due respect to the royal family, of course," Crawford said, breaking the terse silence. "I simply cannot fathom why one of them would commit the assasination. Yes, Belserion put them through hell for the better part of two decades, but it is not within….it's unbelievable."

"This was a warranted killing," Michello said, a dark look crossing his face. "And, as we all know, plenty of people, the royal family included, did not seek for this to end in blood. There was no other option, and, grim as it is, it has been done and was what needed to be done."

"Be that as it may, officials in Alakitasia are not likely to take very kindly to that fact," Leji shook his head. "We need to be prudent in how we approach this, otherwise we will make it worse. I respect the decision of the royal family to not have a part in the matter for the time being given the circumstances, but that does mean much diplomacy falls upon us, or, to be more accurate, our envoys."

"Reasonable," Erza said with a slight frown. "I am sure there will be more than a few questions when all is said and done, but we have time, now, to prepare."

"Indeed," Org agreed. "We will have to be careful in how we approach this."

"Speaking of which," Caity said, a notable edge to her voice. "I would recommend we not engage until we receive a formal reply. The situation in Alakitasia is falling apart already, and, I'm sure, that the power vacuum there will not be easily filled, even by that continent's Magic Council. Realistically speaking, the only person still alive who could legitimately fill that would be Ivan Dreyar and, frankly, he's never going to be anywhere near there again. Not after what he has done. He is a traitor, and will be dealt with as such."

"True, Dreyar needs to be brought to trial," Leji stroked his chin in thought. "Although, is it possible, the best course of action may be to release him under house arrest? He is nearing seventy three, after all."

"No, absolutely not," Belno sharply cut in. "That would not be enough to hold him accountable. Whether or not he is much of a threat on the basis of his ability to fight is up for debate, but the severity of his crimes is not. That cannot be an option, regardless of the fact that he did ultimately cooperate with the authorities to save his life. I needn't remind all of you that he had been plotting to not only kill the royal family but to kill all of us as well to further destabilize the kingdom."

Silence befell them again, and an uncomfortable edge was in the air.

"Time will tell with that situation," Erza eventually said. "We have time to sort things out and come to terms with the solutions going forward. Let's take that time….after all, it has been far too long since we've been granted the opportunity to take such time in making decisions."


"Annie?" Laxus let out a sigh of relief when his daughter perked up and waved with her uninjured arm. "You look like you're doing a little better."

Annie glanced up from her book, jumping a bit at first.. "Where's momma?" The youngest princess worriedly asked. "She seemed upset this morning and Fal said…"

"That 'Sui wants to be alone?" Laxus finished.

Annie hesitated. "Basically," She said. "Sylvain took it harsher though."

"He usually does," Laxus paused for a few seconds in thought. "What'd he have to say about it?"

"He said momma is never going to get better," Annie said quietly, blinking back tears. "Is that true? It's not true, is it?"

Laxus shook his head. "That boy…" He muttered, probing his forehead. "Look, Annie, I know that, in the last few months especially, your mother has been exhausted and sick from both what happened and overworking herself. It hasn't made her feel any better, but she just doesn't know what to do and hasn't for years….honestly, I think she probably still feels guilty about what Fal and Sylvain had to go through in the first place, not to mention what happened just two weeks ago."

Annie's face fell. "Oh…."

Laxus fell silent for a few seconds but then finally went on. "I probably don't need to say this to you, but I will anyways because it's important. Even when it is not her fault, Hisui has always taken the things that have happened to all of us as a personal failing, not only as a queen but as a mother, and even as my wife."

Annie stared at him. "But momma's always been here for us and she's a great queen!"

"Of course she is," Laxus agreed."But it's going to be awhile before she truly feels better about everything. Sylvain probably is thinking along the same lines as Toma, and, while I get their concern, it's not entirely accurate. We've all been through a lot these last few years, and we're all trying to come to terms with it...and I I think we will, it's just going to take a little while."

Annie looked to him, her eyes wide. "But momma's going to be okay, right?"

"Of course she will be," Laxus managed a small smile. "'Sui's going to be fine, we all are. Alright? I'm never going to let anything happen to her."

Annie nodded. "Okay."

"Really, Annie," Laxus went on. "It's going to be okay, it really -"

He turned around in surprise upon hearing footsteps from the hall, only to see his wife, albeit still looking rather tired. Laxus pressed an affectionate kiss to her cheek and then stepped aside, still standing in the doorway while she came over to their youngest, tightly embracing her. Annie closed her eyes, comforted by the scent of her mother's perfume and crying a little. Hisui gently reached up to brush the tears away from her daughter's eyes. Seeing the worried look on her face, Laxus came over to them and sat down beside his wife, resting a warm hand over Hisui's knee. She startled briefly but leaned into his embrace. Annie glanced between her parents and tried to move her still injured arm to hug them but couldn't quite move it. Hisui flinched but took her daughter's hand, reassuringly patting it.

"Your arm is still bothering you, isn't it?"

Annie looked down at her hands. "I hate this," She said, fighting back tears again. "It hurts a lot, all the time and I can't really use it...I just feel….like I'm less. That I was the lucky one and now I'm the only one who got screwed over…"

"Annie…" Hisui lightly pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "Whatever you need to feel better, we'll make sure you get it. Alright, love? I promise."

Annie swallowed hard. "Is my arm ever going to heal?"

"It should," Laxus said, patting her shoulder. "Okay, Annie? We'll have Porlyusica take a look at it again this week."

"Exactly," Hisui smiled, wrapping an arm around her husband. "You'll be fine, Annie, we promise."

Annie looked down at her hands. "What about the winter ball?"

Laxus and Hisui glanced between each other. He gently squeezed her hand.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Hisui finally told her. "But…"

"I actually have an idea for how to help with that, if you want to go to the ball," Laxus said, standing up and walking over to the curtains. "It may sound strange, but you could always tie your arm to your dress."

Hisui raised an eyebrow. "You can't possibly be talking about tying her up with a curtain."

Annie looked between her parents, confused. "Please don't tie me up. Fal already did that when we were kids."

Laxus and Hisui met each other's gaze, laughing a little.

"I remember that," Hisui said, ruffling her daughter's hair. "Don't worry, Annie, we won't do that to you."

Annie giggled herself. "Thanks, momma."

"We can get it done before the ball," Laxus went on. "That won't be a problem."

"It is only a week away," Hisui reminded him.

"We can, though," Laxus shrugged. "We've gotten plenty done in less time."

Annie smirked. "Like dealing with that time Fal stole a car and crashed it?"

Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Fallon is never going near a car again."

"No, she isn't," Hisui stood up and loosely embraced him, smiling a little bit when he stole a kiss. "Well, regardless, it is Annie's decision."

"It would be fun to enjoy the ball," Annie mused, still giggling. "Thanks….I'm glad we can try to get better."

Laxus nodded. "It will be, Annie. Of that I'm sure."

"Yes," Hisui softly agreed. "Finally, we can start to move on."