Seems that the desire to write strikes me in waves. Takes them a while to hit, though. No matter! Enjoy!

The night, thankfully, went by without incident. Drake did his best to put his worries to sleep and then himself, finally managing to do so after an hour or so.

It sucked that he was woken up by screeching.

"Drake!" Steph shouted from outside, making him jump up in surprise. "Michael! Wake up! Nashi and Luna are gone!"

...What?

"Huh?" He asked weakly as he rubbed at his eyes.

"They disappeared in the night!" She shouted again. "Get up and get dressed, we need the both of you! we're going!" Still half asleep but understanding, both Drake and Michael stumbled out of bed and grabbed their clothes. Drake struggled to get his jacket on as Michael flexed his hands.

"Drake," he said, "did you sleep with those gloves on?" Drake made a face and looked down at his hands.

"I must have forgotten," he mumbled. "What does it matter? Let's go!" Flying out the door, both men practically jumped down the stairwell into the lobby of the hotel, finding Steph with Natsu and Gray already there.

"Scent trail?" Drake asked.

"I have it," Natsu answered, "You guys should get it in a second." Drake took a sharp inhale, quickly discerning the girls scents. They went out the front door all right, but why they left was unknown.

"Steph, what the hell happened?" He demanded towards the blonde. Steph, looking significantly dismayed, shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know!" She replied, "I slept soundly, and when I woke up they were both gone! I checked the whole hotel first just in case, but they aren't here!"

"It's okay Steph," Gray said calmly, "We expected this to happen."

"You did?" She asked in confusion. Gray nodded.

"It stands to reason that Zoka and Ruli could sense the girls as well, and probably figured something was going on. He probably used his powers to 'recall' them as it were. Luckily, we've got three Dragon Slayers with expert senses of smell. We'll track them down. So get ready for a fight, we're going in."

"It would've been nice had you explained that to us," Drake mumbled.

"What's done is done," Natsu replied. He was all business now. "Let's trail them and put an end to this."

Luna's head hurt. She had slept soundly enough, but trying to open her eyes made her skull pound. Finally, she managed to pry them open, only to not see the roof of the hotel.

Rather, the roof was stone.

Making a face, she sat up, realising she was on the floor. She was in a small cavern on a patch of straw bedding, a cold steel door in front of her. Nashi was seated to her right on her own bedding, head in her hands.

"Nashi?" She asked weakly. "Where are we?" She got no response from the girl, who was shaking. Luna reached out tentatively, placing her hand on her sisters shoulder.

She nearly recoiled from it.

Despair was rolling off of her sister in waves. She was back in Tartarus, in her cold, dark cell. Luna felt as though chains had wrapped around her legs and arms. As though there was a stabbing in her lower back. She could barely contain herself from crying out, but she had a job to do, one only she could do. She focused and sent as many positive emotions as she could to her sister, fighting back the cold inside her. Nashi didn't react at first, but soon she lifted her head.

"Nashi?" Luna asked weakly. "Are you there? It's me, Luna. Do you remember what happened?" Nashi gave no response. She just stared dead ahead and did nothing.

"She doesn't respond to that right now, I'd wager," a voice said. Turning towards the door, Luna saw a small slit had opened and a pair of sharp red eyes stared back at her. "Do you, 545?"

"..." Nashi still didn't say anything. Luna watched her worriedly, trying to figure out what to do.

"What did you do to her?" She demanded angrily. The voice laughed.

"Nothing directly," he said, "it just seems your friend doesn't appreciate enclosed spaces. As soon as she woke up she's been like that. Now, stay still like a good girl. My sister and I will be ready for you soon."

sister?

Luna said nothing as the slit closed and the man disappeared, leaving them alone again. She had no idea how long it had been since she'd disappeared, or if the others even knew. She was all alone at this point, as Nashi seemed to be out of commission.

It was all on her.

She felt anxiety knot up her stomach, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. If she was going to do anything, she needed Nashi. But how could she help her? She'd slipped back into her prisoner persona. She needed to fight it off, like she'd tried too before. But she needed to beat it. But how?

Deciding there was no other way out of this, Luna grabbed her sisters hands. She felt the despair and sadness roll over her again, but she fought it off as best she could. She focused on the good memories, the happy ones she had with Nashi and her friends and family. She gathered them together and, with all her might, sent them to her sister. She had no way of knowing if this was going to work, but she had to try. After all, it was the only plan she had. She focused as hard as she could on sending positive feelings to Nashi, trying to not slip into her own despair. It was hard not too. After all, Nashi's negative emotions could've drowned the average person in despair. But she had to be better. She had to be.

"...Luna?" A timid voice asked. Opening, her eyes, Luna saw Nashi had opened her eyes and was watching her warily. She smiled widely at this.

"Nashi," she said. "It worked. I got through to you." Nashi blinked a few times in confusion, looking around.

"W-Where are we?" She asked. "H-How did we get here?"

"I don't know how, but I think Zoka and Ruli got us to their hideout," she explained. "They've locked us up until their ready for...whatever their plan is. I don't know much more than you." Nashi's eyes vacantly stared at the walls around them.

"I-It's a cell," she said. Luna could feel her shaking. "They've l-locked us up. Like animals. W-We're at their mercy..."

"Nashi, don't focus on that!" Luna said, grabbing her sister gently and forcing her to look at her. "We're going to get out of here. We're going to find the others, and we'll be whole again. Don't slip back to that place. You're strong. We can beat this."

I-I need to get out of here!" Nashi exclaimed in a panic. "I-I can't stay in this place, i-it's...I-I don't like enclosed spaces these days."

"Well, we agree on that I guess," Luna said bluntly, looking around the small cell. "Listen, we can get out of this together. We're more than smart enough to do it. We can do it. I promise!"

"D-Do it fast," Nashi whispered, her arms shaking. "I-I don't want to slip back into...Whoever's lurking in the back of my mind." Luna felt she understood what that meant. The man outside had referred to her was 545. What did that mean? She could ask later, it was clearly nothing good.

"Okay, let's think," Luna said, forcing the topic from her mind. "We have our magic still, but if I had to guess the door is reinforced against it. And I don't know about you, but just punching these cave walls seems like a bad idea."

"Y-Yeah, I'd say so..."

"Hm. We could wait until we're taken from here and spring our escape that way. But that would imply they won't make it hard on us by knocking us out or something. Still, just waiting for the door to open on it's own could work..."

"T-They got us here somehow," Nashi spoke out timidly. "It's p-probably how they intend to get us to where t-they want us..." Luna remembered that now.

"Yeah, probably," she replied. "Of course, we could wait for the others to spring us out. They've got to have noticed us by now."

"You think?" Nashi wondered aloud. "How long have we been gone? What time is it, even?" Luna realised she was right. She had no idea what time it was either. Was it even light out? For all they knew, Steph and the others were conked out. They may very well be on their own.

"So we may have to wait some hours for that," she concluded. "But they'll obviously find us. With Dad's nose, after all." Nashi nodded quickly, her eyes darting around to the walls. She was still fighting '545' off. "Do you have any ideas?"

"N-None that actually help us at all," she answered. "W-We're deep in it now." Luna let out a sigh as she looked towards the door, and the slit were the eyes had come from.

"We sure are," she said.

"That's it?" Steph asked. "Seems kinda low-brow."

Drake would say so.

The scent trail of Nashi and Luna had led them out of the city into the snow, and off into the deep end where the snow was deep and got there feet caught. Eventually, they'd found a hill which had a hole in it that seemed to lead deeper inside. All in all, it was a shitty hideout. No big mansion, no massive mountain or cave system? Kinda pathetic.

"Seems that would be the point," Gray said, "Keeps them off the radar. With what we know, that's what would be best."

"And in a port town to boot," Natsu said, "probably waiting to see if they can get on a boat and get the hell out of here."

"Makes sense to me," Drake replied. "Now let's get in there and bust some heads."

"No time to think?" Michael asked. Drake shrugged.

"What's the worst that could happen?" He asked.

"Well, I suppose we could run into the Demon Lords and then we all get massacred violently and never make it home," Steph said.

"Way to kill the mood," Drake muttered. Deciding together to walk in, Drake followed the others to the mouth of the cave and inside.

It felt like they walked forever downwards, always hopping down and going down an ever constricting tunnel. But soon, the rock began to change. the rough cave floor turned into polished stone. The walls went from dull stone to intricate carvings in the walls, with swirls and patterns Drake had never seen in a carving before.

"What is all this?" Michael asked, rubbing his hand against the wall.

"It's old, whatever it is," Natsu replied, swiping at his nose. "Smells like shit in here." Drake had to agree. The musty smell was damn near unbearable. Zoka and Ruli were clearly not interested in house-cleaning. Descending down the stone stairwell, the group soon found themselves in an opening. Natsu illuminated it with his flames, allowing them to get a clearer look around them.

The designs on the stones had changed. Gone were the intricate swirls and designs, replaced with carvings that looked human.

"I'm starting to get creeped out," Steph said warily. Drake agreed, this was odd. Walking to his left, he took notice of he first carving in the room. The carving featured two human looking figures, one above the other. In between them was a circle with blotches on it. It kind of resembled...a planet, if he had to guess.

"Do you think this is telling a story?" He asked. The others walked over to him, and he pointed out what he saw. "It's like these are telling some kind of story."

"Huh," Gray said, "Definitely looks like it."

"Wouldn't words work?" Natsu grumbled. Drake stared at the carving for a bit, before moving onto the next one. This one also featured two figures, presumably the same, however both now had swords in their hands and wings on their backs. The rightmost figures wings seemed most angelic, while the left was demonic. Were they fighting now?

The next one was a bit more vague. Both previous figures weren't present, instead this carving featured a city burning to the ground. The flames danced around the top of the small buildings, making it obvious to see what it was. Smaller human figures were seemingly running around in the city, in a clear panic.

"What the hell have we stumbled upon?" He asked aloud, moving to the next wall. The two figures were back now, but now the demonic one was on the ground. The angelic one had run him through with his blade, seemingly defeating him. So the 'angel' won, then? Was this at all relevant, or was it mere circumstance that two Demon Lords were hiding here?

The next carving made his stomach turn. The demonic figure had been chained up on a wall, with the angel using what appeared to be magic on him. The one after that was much bigger.

Twelve new figures had appeared in the story. The demon was still chained, but his head now hung down. Was he dead? Asleep? He couldn't tell. The angel stood above the new figures, as if to say he was stronger.

"The number twelve sure is important, huh?" Steph wondered aloud from next to him.

"Never mind that," Gray replied from the next wall over. "You guys should see this." Drake looked at Steph, who shrugged at him. They walked over to Gray to see what he was talking about, only to see the final carving. They were missing the context from the last few, but Drake wasn't sure how much it would help.

The final carving in the room featured the demonic figure again. He was bigger than he had ever been, and an evil smile was carved into his face. And next to him law a circular carving, made from pitch black stone. It was representing Earthland just like before, but this time it was blackened and dead. The flames returned, dancing atop the planet.

"I hope this is not relevant," Steph mumbled.

"What is all this?" Michael said. "There's only these vague pictures to go off of."

"That, my intruders, would be how your ancient ancestors described a potential end of days." The new voice resounded off the walls around them, making dirt fall from the roof. Drake couldn't identify the source, but he was nowhere nearby. "I believe they always referred to this portion of the story as a 'what-if' scenario. But enough of that, I'm sure you're eager to retrieve your girls, right? That's why you came here."

"That means you're one of the Demon Lords," Natsu said, "correct?"

"Indeed I am! My personal name is irrelevant, you see, but I am Zoka. Demon Lord of Virtue. Or Purity, or others. They all sound cool."

"Ben!" A new voice sounded, this one young and feminine. "You said we'd introduce ourselves together!" 'Ben' grumbled at this.

"Damn it, Zoe! I told you, let me do the talking! We're supposed to be their enemy!"

I told you I wouldn't fight unless you treated me like the equal I am!"

"YOU'RE ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD! WE ARE NOT EQUAL!"

Drake had no idea what was happening. At all. And judging from the looks he was getting from the others, they had no idea either.

"Enough!" Ben shouted, "Listen up, Fairies! I know you came to get us to put your girls back together! Master Hades told us as much! But unless you have a way to bend us to your will, you'll get nothing from us! Got it?!"

"Not even if I exorcise you with Devil Slayer Magic?" Gray asked in a deadpan tone.

"Uh," Ben started, "No?"

"That's reassuring," Natsu said.

"You'll still haven't introduced me!" Zoe screeched. "I'm Ruli, the Demon Lord of Corruption! Could you at least say that much for them?!"

"They know who you are, they could figure that out on their own!" Ben shouted. "Gah, forget this! Listen you lot; come and get here if you think you can, but be wary. It doesn't take much to make a Shade of someone! Come to close, and another Natsu Dragneel might impede your path! Haha!"

There was no more talking from the two after that, leaving the group in stunned silence.

"I feel a distinct lack of intimidation right now," Michael said flatly.

"They definitely haven't worked out their villain monologues," Drake agreed, making him snort.

"They sounded like kids," Steph said. "Can we justify hurting them?"

"If they just did as we asked them, there's no need," Natsu replied as he cracked his knuckles. "But as Ben just got done telling you, they work with Hades. That's not happening."

"We won't beat them up too hard," Gray said as he stretched his back. "I hope. You guys ready to go?"

"More ready than they are, apparently." Drake answered.

"Am I the only one who feels like their attitudes were all wrong?" Michael asked. "I mean, why was the Demon of Virtue trying to sound all evil while the other sounded like a sweet little girl?"

"Want to ask them before they kill you?" Natsu demanded.

"Zoe I told you a million times I would do the talking!" Ben shouted as his little sister, who puffed her cheeks up in irritation.

"Then introduce me when you're talking!" She shouted, bright blue eyes aflame with rage. She pushed her white bangs from her eyes, crossing her arms. "If you just treated me better, I wouldn't need to interrupt you!"

"You are literally the worst little sister in the world," Ben snapped at her, rubbing at his temples. Zoe's attitude mattered not. Nor did Fairy Tail's strike team coming for them. After all, they were almost done what they had been asked to do.

He looked back at the pink haired Shades, who were both resting inside a circle made from the Primaglyphic language on the floor.

"Focus up, Zoe," he said. "Hades said that if we could capture these girls again, we needed to transmit all her latent magical power to him through another Shade."

"I know, I know," Zoe said. "So once we make the new Shade and seal it with the Primaglyphic circle, We send it through the portal. Trust me, I know. Is the circle ready?"

"Not yet," he said. He may have lied a little bit to Fairy Tail. Creating a perfect, living, breathing Shade required time. Creating duplicates that died after a while wasn't hard, but a full blown Shade required time for them to both pool their magic together. After all, it was only when Virtue and Corruption, Purity and Poison, Good and Evil came together could life be born.

"Come sister," Ben said. "We have much to do."

I got a chapter out faster! I'm so cool. Anyways, I thought it would be funny to have Zoka and Ruli be bickering siblings because, I mean, I thought it would be funny. Every other Demon Lord takeover wizard has been either normal or a psychopath, so I figured this'd be fun. Was it? Let me know! I hope you all enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 376: Cave of Wonders