Slain Among Ice and Fire

by EnergyMageFrea

The truth behind what drives the SaberTooth Guild to be as ruthless and driven as they are has never been clear. Behind the stony face and heartless actions, lay a Guild of people who's true selves are kept hidden, for sake of pure fear of the Master. The only people who know the truth are those in the Guild itself, afraid... and prisoners, in their own ways. Like she was, trapped.

34. Chapter 34- Over-Drive

Chapter 34

Over-Drive

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas

.:+:.

"... Get Sherria...!"

"... O...oh no..."

"... H...ora...! Hold... On...!"

"... She's... B...urning... U...p..."

"... We... Ave to... St...op the... B...eed... ing...!"

"... ay awake...!"

"... W...at... appened...?!"

"... ora... Pl...ease..."

"... is aw...ful..."

"... old... On... H...ora..."

... I...

... I can't... Hear... Them...

... W... What...?

... I... I can't...... I... feel...... N... No...

... E...everything is... On... On fire.. I...

... It... It hurts... I'm...

... I'm... Burning alive...n...no...

.:+:.

The Eclipse Gate shattered

A blaze of burning flame ignited the night sky as Natsu got propelled forward by the Fire Dragon Atlas Flame- sending the pinkette crashing headfirst into the Future Rogue. Natsu's fist swung down hard and heavy against the man's jaw, the hit never disconnecting again until they- along with the heavily battered form of the Dragon Motherglare- were meteored into that Gate through Time that had carried through so much destruction. The metal groaned, crumbling and snapping under the ball of flame and force surrounding both Dragon Slayers and Dragon as they rammed into it, the whole structure giving way under the brutality of that one, final, and utterly determined hit made by Natsu. And a hit backed by the fury and force of the Flame Dragon turned uncle to the Salamander.

Natsu stumbled slightly, panting and out of breath as he got back to his feet after the impact, while Motherglare and the Other Rogue stayed down, spent and unable to even try to get back up again. The Gate was crumbled, broken, in pieces- and with it gone now, all those it had brought through the paths of Time...?

For a second time that night Time began to step backwards, though at a snails pace compared to that one minute rewind that had changed the course of nearly all the lives of those fighting in that city. Gold began to glow off every Dragon, and nearly every destroyed building, road, and whatever else scattered about the city- and around the Other Rogue too, who puffed slightly, beaten and bloody, with Natsu standing above him and looking more so damaged. But still, he had won... Not that it felt much like a win right then though.

"Oi." Natsu grumbled lowly, his eyes locking with the Other Rogue below him, steady. "The Rogue I know isn't gonna turn into you, I don't care what you said. There's no way he's gonna change into you... And what you were saying about Frosch getting killed, that ain't gonna happen either. Hora will never let any of the things you said happen- she's still alive in this future, and in this Rogue's- so your future doesn't exist anymore." Natsu growled quietly, and the Other Rogue blinked, lips curling in a grimace as he huffed and looked away, his eyes finding the night sky and not the pinkette.

"... You're wrong, Hora is not in anyone's future. That part hasn't changed." The Other Rogue replied lowly and Natsu bristled,

"The hell it hasn't- you saw her earlier when we were in the air...! Even after what you did to her, she's still fighting, you didn't manage to stop her, or take away anything-!" Natsu hissed and the Other Rogue grit his teeth,

"You're wrong." The Other Rogue growled sharply, cutting Natsu off and the pinkette stiffened. "I understand what I did in the Palace did not manage to bring her life to an end... But it would have been better if it had, because regardless of her fighting still, or having survived me- Horatia will still die. She will not survive tonight, not even if she managed to avoid being killed by one of the Dragons, she will still die, and there's nothing any of you will be able to do about it... Over-Drive will kill her." The Other Rogue murmured lowly, grimly- and Natsu stiffened, his heart skipping a beat and eyes going wide.

Over-Drive...? Hora had mentioned that, but what did it-?

"... What the hell do you mean, 'Over-Drive'...?" Natsu asked quickly, and the other Rogue grimaced slightly, shaking his head faintly and red eyes fixed on the moon overhead that was losing the eerie crimson color slowly, while the world continued to rewind itself in the same sluggish pace.

"... She never told us what it was, not even after it happened, when Jiemma hurt her... And then when she died... We never knew. I asked hundreds of people afterwards, I asked dozens of the Dragons... But only the oldest of them had any clue." The Other Rogue mumbled quietly, "When humans first began to develop Magical Ability, and have it passed on to them from Dragons, Gods, Devils and other Beasts alike... Magic manifested too quickly for most humans to handle. Their bodies weren't able to contain Magic now suddenly in them, or adapt fast enough- so their Magic took over, grew quickly out of hand, surging inside them, and growing in strength... Their Magic turned wild, uncontrolled, unyielding... almost as if it had a mind of it's own..." The Other Rogue mumbled, red eyes flashing as small hints of... Unease managed it's way into his expression.

And that was the first time Natsu had seen any amount of discomfort, or unease in that unrecognizable version of Saber's Shadow Dragon Slayer the entire night-

"... The Magic became too much, it took total control, and it kept growing and growing... it grew to a point that was leagues beyond what any living thing could ever handle, and certainly not by the humans it was inside of... The Magic went into total, unchecked Over-Drive in their bodies, and it could not be stopped. The Magic ripped them apart, and consumed them entirely- from the inside out... There was no way to stop it, there is no cure... To even attempt would have meant stripping the humans of their Magic entirely, and that would kill them just as quickly as Over-Drive would."

Natsu froze, his heart dropping into his feet and ears ringing as he stared, and the Other Rogue never met his eyes- but the Shadow Dragon Slayer's face did twist, almost painted for just a second, and ever so faintly.

"... Hora told us Over-Drive got triggered for her, whenever she went through a large amount of physical or emotional strain. She said her Magic could get out of hand, and to the point it could kill her... that makes sense, Magic feeds off the state of our minds and bodies... So that is what Over-Drive is, that is what it feeds off of... And it ends with her Magic getting too wild, too hard to control- just as it did for those first Wizards... That is what it did, after Jiemma hurt her... After he nearly beat her to death, for helping Fairy Tail." The Other Rogue murmured lowly, Natsu swallowing hard and eyes flashing.

"B-But she got through it after that happened, right...? How can you be so sure she's not gonna get through it again-?!" Natsu interrupted quickly, only to break off when the Other Rogue's eyes moved finally to lock onto the pinkette, and his gaze was utterly steely.

"You fool, you don't get it." The Other Rogue hissed lowly, "When that happened she was deathly ill for an entire week- an entire week where her body raged with a fever far beyond what even a Fire Devil Slayer should be able to handle. Her Magic sent her health spiraling so far she got to the point where she stopped breathing."

Natsu flinched, his blood running cold and his heart nearly stalling too.

"She nearly died for what amount Over-Drive affected her after what Jiemma did, but do you think what he did even compares to what has happened to her in the last two days? The last two weeks, even?" The Other Rogue kept on lowly, his voice flinty. "She fought and nearly died defeating a Demon of Zeref two weeks from this day. Two days ago Jiemma tried to use the Possession Link to destroy the Lacrima in her chest- the very thing, that in my timeline that killed her. And then add on what I did? The wounds I gave her, the damage she has sustained since, and the sheer amount of Magic she has probably expended since then, fighting in all of this?" The Other Rogue hissed, "There is no way she avoided Jiemma's attempts to kill her with the Possession Link unscathed- she was wrenched apart, her body ripped to shreds from the inside by what he did. I do not care what amount of Healing Magic the Sky Dragon Slayer used, she was still wounded badly even before I attempted to end her life- her being and her Magic have been damaged severely, and rendered unstable with what Jiemma did, and it will have only gotten worse and worse every second she has kept fighting, and using her Magic in any way. Even if she's managed to keep going these last two days, and the rest of this night- she has been doing nothing but damaging herself further, and ensuring Over-Drive has all the fuel it needs to kill her this time around." The Other Rogue growled, red eyes flashing.

"She did not use any Magic when Jiemma hurt her, and Over-Drive hit the first time. She was wounded, but she did not use Magic at all- and it still nearly killed her. So what do you imagine the outcome could be now? Now that she's been wounded extensively, over and over again- and she's been using Magic at a caliber of the likes of that Spell she sent toward me earlier? And what level of Magic she would be forced to use against a Dragon?" The Other Rogue growled lowly, "Even if she manages not to get killed in all the fighting, Over-Drive is still going to hit her, if it hasn't already. There is no way to stop it, and when it does activate, she will die. Her body will not be able to able to handle it at what force it's going to get out of control this time... Her Magic is going to burn her alive from the inside out."

Natsu went stiff as a board, his face falling in shock, unease, and even terror as the Other Rogue held his eyes steadily for a few awful, heavy seconds- and then he shook his head, glaring up at the moon and his body fading to none as Time kept undoing itself.

"... She's going to die... And all those Shadows that have always lurked around me, vying to drag me under and down into the Abyss... They'll have all the leverage they need once she is gone... And so in a year from now... Rogue will Fall..." The Other Rogue sighed lowly, "... In a year... That last bit of light Rogue has left after she's dead will go out, as Frosch gets killed... And then all of this just happens all over again."

Natsu grit his teeth hard, expression turning both scared, and furious all at once and he stepped up toward the Other Rogue, eyes blazing.

"She ain't gonna die!" Natsu snapped, shaking his head rather hotly. "Tch, when Over-Drive hit her before, you took her to Lamia Scale and Sherria managed to Heal her, didn't she?! Even if it wasn't all the way, it made a difference! And we've got both her and Wendy now, they can help Hora out and make sure she doesn't get bad! Plus Porlyusica's a great doctor, she's gonna have some idea on what to do to help Hora!" Natsu hissed through gritted teeth, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "And if Hora's Fire Magic starts to get out of hand, that won't matter either! She was with Gray and Lyon earlier, if there's anybody who can keep her Magic under control enough and keep her from overheating too much- it's them!" Natsu added hotly, "Hora's not gonna die, not with everybody else around to help her! She's gonna be fine! The future you went through is never gonna come true- she's gonna be there in a year, and two years, ten, twenty- fifty years from now! She'll be there for everything, and she will never let Rogue get consumed by shadows, or let Frosch die! Not a chance! Her Future has changed, she's not dead and she won't end up that way- her Future ain't gonna be what you saw!" The pinkette hissed and the Other Rogue simply blinked, unfazed, and rather unmoved by the quick and fervent dispute... Before he looked away after a moment, a small sigh escaping him before he cut it off a bit, his lips pulling into a tight line and red eyes glinting.

Something about the Other Rogue's expression changed just then, in a small way, and it was so hard to see Natsu wasn't entirely sure it was there... But that dead, neutral, and nearly emotionless face of that man that had only changed to show rage- it was now, almost, faintly- hurting.

The Other Rogue shut his eyes tightly, his lips pulling a bit more at the edges and he stiffened, almost clenching his teeth. Natsu blinked, his own eyes widening when he saw the way the Shadow Dragon Slayer trembled a bit, his hands closing tightly into fists and digging slightly into the rubble of the gate he was laying amidst.

"... Tch... I... I don't think I can believe that... I don't see a way for her to... E-Even with all of that... Natsu Dragneel..." The Other Rogue hissed lowly, tensely so and Natsu stiffened, his eyes widening further and staring slightly when the black and white haired Dragon Slayer shuddered slightly, fangs gritting hard and Natsu faltered. "... Damn it... I shouldn't even care what you're muttering about but... Tch..." The man growled through gritted teeth, shaking his head at himself stiffly and grimacing- a hot, exasperated breath escaping him.

"... Hmph... I suppose it was foolish to think I could ever... Not feel anything... Even after all of this... And so long just... burying it... I... I wanted to feel nothing, I don't want to feel anything, or even consider, or... Or... Hope you might be right... Tch... I... I don't know if I can... I don't know if I want to...not... Not after all of this..." He hissed shakily and Natsu's eyes flashed, breathless and fixed to his spot.

This... This was a complete 180 from the person he'd spent the whole night battling back and forth with. The same person who had cut down the Future Lucy without remorse, or wounded Hora with absolutely no hesitation- the Other Rogue had not faltered the entire night on anything. Not on his plan, his actions, or his certainty that the Future would come about as he intended... But now? Now all of a sudden he was faltering, and maybe even...?

Natsu stepped forward half an inch, shoulders rigid and only eyes flashing in the low-light.

"Oi, why did you snatch Hora from your Inn and stick her on the other side of the city?" Natsu asked quickly and the Other Rogue went rigid at the question, red eyes snapping open and locking on the sky instead of the Fire Dragon Slayer, "In your timeline she wasn't out in the middle of Crocus the night Jiemma killed her, right? She was in the Inn with you guys, otherwise she would have run into us and Wendy would have saved her the first time around, right...? So why did you take her, and change that part of Rogue's Future?" Natsu pressed and the Other Rogue stiffened further, his eyes narrowing to slits and still staring at the sky and not the pinkette asking the questions.

He didn't say anything right away, and Natsu just watched, his face falling as the Other Rogue's expression broke a little with every second that ticked by- until eventually the Other Rogue hissed, his eyes scrunching closed furiously without warning, and Natsu's heart skipped a beat.

The strengthening white glow of the moon glittered off the single line of tears that suddenly managed their way passed the Other Rogue's tightly shut eyes, trickling down his cheeks as the man hunched slightly, his breathing hitching.

"... I... I thought it wouldn't matter if... If she died at the Inn or... Tch... I didn't..." The Other Rogue hissed shakily, his hand coming up and covering his eyes as he sucked in a trembling breath, the tears getting a little stronger and hitting the ground in sparkling drops. And with what he said next, his voice broke.

"... I... I didn't think... R... Rogue had to watch her get torn apart again... N... Not if he... D... Didn't have to... I thought... Maybe... Maybe it could work... W-Without having to see her... See her die... R-Right in front of us again..."

Natsu swallowed hard, frowning and his heart clenching terribly despite himself as he watched that utterly unrecognizable version of Rogue suddenly... Crumble

Crumble and cry, because of-

"... T...tch... I... I don't know if... You are right... Natsu... But... w-whatever happens... Please..." The Other Rogue stammered out, his voice shaking badly as his hand pulled away from shielding his face, and those glassy, grief-filled, and still so tearful red eyes locked with Natsu again. "... W... Whether she's there or... You have to warn them... W-warn Rogue... In a year... T-to protect Frosch... Warn him that in a year... F-Frosch gets killed by... By Gray Fullbuster..."

Natsu went rigid, his heart stopping and dropping into his feet all at once- a shiver running up his spine of near the same terrifying chill that had hit him when what Over-Drive had been explained... And his ears rang on that name, over and over.

Gray... Fullbuster...?

"... W...what...?"

.:+:.

"... M-Most of her ribs are... c-completely broken... A... And there's... There's so much internal damage... What... What the hell happened...?" Sherria stammered shakily, her hands trembling as they hovered above the downed Saber, her voice low and out of breath after her quick rush to get there and just... Just try and do anything.

Sherria was rushing still, her Magic mostly spent from all the fighting, but pushing it further and further with every second and every new bit of damage being revealed by her trailing hands, and she felt her stomach flip so hard she wanted to retch. There was just so much, and way more than earlier, and too much to have even really been possible- but still. It was wounds, on top of internal damage, on top of rapidly setting in sickness, and that out of control feel of her Magic- this was the same thing that she'd been brought to Lamia the first time for, and Sherria had been asked to fix... But this was fifteen times worse.

Most of her ribs were broken, there was layers of internal damage run across her chest, in her heart, and lungs, and quickly spreading outward along with the terrible rage and heat of wild, unbridled Magic rushing through her. The very same heat that was making the air stifling and heavy, and hard to breath- though Lyon and Gray were doing their best to keep it in check. There were also dozens of deep gashes and slashes littered about her body, all up her arms, her sides, shoulders- and a terrible wound dug across her ribs and that had not ceased bleeding... And that blood, on top of the blood she kept coughing up...?

Her heart isn't beating enough, she-

Sherria swallowed hard, blue eyes gleaming and shivering rather violently, her hands shaking worse.

- She's lost way too much blood...!

Sherria shook her head stiffly at herself, shaking off the hesitation and the terror as much as she was able, and moving her hands into pressing down firmly on the downed Saber's left side. Her hands cached in blood immediately from the stream of it still welling up under the haphazard tie made up of Lyon's jacket. She swallowed hard, Magic flaring around her hands and eyes darting up toward those huddled around them, or otherwise close but backed up enough to stay out of the heat as much they could- unlike Sherria, Lyon and Gray.

"Do any of you know her blood type...?!" Sherria asked quickly, her eyes darting among Lyon, Gray, Juvia, and Meredy quickly. They stiffened at the question, and Sherria grimaced. "She's lost too much blood, even if I try and Heal her other wounds o-or fix whatever else is wrong, it's not gonna matter unless she gets more blood... Her... Her body's already shutting down...!" Sherria explained quickly, her voice quavering badly at the end and they went rigid.

"... I.. I have no clue.." Gray stammered quickly, Juvia and Meredy shaking their heads and Lyon quick to do the same- but he faltered.

W-wait...

Lyon stiffened, his eyes darting from Sherria, to the Saber under his hands, and then to his childhood friend, eyes glittering and frowning deeply. His mind was racing, nerves on a high and terror running rampant through every inch of him. The constant pushing back and forcing of his own Magic to rise and clash with the heat was exhausting for Lyon, just as it was for Gray, and the strain of it paired with the fear was awful, and made his mind hard to settle and simply think... And least of all to try and remember- shit.

He knew they'd talked about it, so very long ago when they had been so young. They had talked about it, somewhere in his mind Lyon was sure of it- but it was a fleeting thing, a small, almost inconsequential thing- and a conversation of the like that had been so rare... and hell if that inconsequential thing wasn't so important now.

He knew they'd talked about it, the answer was somewhere in his mind, he knew that- but it wasn't coming fast enough. So much so he nearly just asked about it outright, but he stopped again.

How could he ask that without explaining why it mattered, and who Hora was? How could he ask that, and reveal that now... If... If she might not survive at all..? Even if she were to get...?

Lyon swallowed hard, eyes flashing and expression twisting painfully as he grit his teeth, his eyes stuck on Gray, and hesitating a few milliseconds more as he pleaded for his thoughts to come together and save him having to make that awful choice.

The choice to Tell Gray, and risk him finding out who Hora was to him- only for her to possibly get ripped away again? Just as Gray had a few minutes ago for her, before Time had gone in reverse?

Or keep it to himself, not get the answer- and just let her die, when it might be that revealing the truth could save her life?

How was he supposed to make that choice-?!

Lyon hissed, eyes narrowing to slits and eyes flicking away from Gray and to Hora's pale face, his stomach flipping.

He needed the answer to come to him. He needed his mind to settle on that wispy bit of the memory of the conversation still left in his head- so for the half a second, or whole second of him faltering and agonizing on what impossible choice that was- Lyon felt his heart getting ripped in two.

One way she might live, even if it meant revealing that very thing that- in another way- would break Gray's heart if he found out, and she died anyway... And either way, Lyon wasn't sure he could live with going through either of those outcomes. How could he do that to Gray- but also do that to Hora? How he could let her die and not try, even if that meant he risked shattering Gray in the process...?

Lyon stiffened, his eyes shutting tight and shaking his head at himself, before he looked up again, right at Gray- and he grit his teeth harder.

Shit I don't-

"... H-Hora...!"

... And then the single second of agonizing over that impossible choice, got shattered- and by her name being called by two new voices, now full of terror and anguish.

By Rogue and Sting's voices

The hearts of the two Dragon Slayer's nearly stopped, their stomachs flipping as they whipped around the corner in a mad-dash of searching. They didn't even give the several blocks of Flame-Frozen Wasteland a second thought, all they knew the minute they saw it was that something had gone awry- something bad enough to earn that level of Magic, and they knew it didn't spell good for that Fire Devil Slayer they were searching so desperately for now. They hadn't even waited for the Dragons they had been fighting to fully disappear before starting off- the minute Time seemed to rewind, and now seemed to be trying to put all the city back together again (and yet for some reason was leaving the whole of Hora's Magic Wasteland untouched)- they ran.

And the minute they rounded that last corner, they felt a waft of unbridled heat clashing with icy cold rush up to hit them in the face- which immediately set them further in edge. And Frosch and Lector nearly slammed into the two Dragon Slayers for how quickly the two came to a dead halt upon seeing it- the Exceed's barely stopping themselves, and upon seeing her too they immediately bristled, fur fluffing up, eyes wide, and instantly spilling in terrified, glittering tears.

Because there lying on the cobblestone surrounded by Gray, Lyon, Juvia, Sherria, Jura, and some woman they did not recognize- was that fiery head of hair belonging to Hora.

Hora who wasn't moving, covered in blood, her flesh torn and split in way too many places to count, and gasping for what little air she could manage- while a steady stream of sticky scarlet dripped passed the edge of her lips and down her chin.

N-no...

"Atia..!" The Exceed's tearful cries were heart-wrenching on everyone's ears, but Lyon's eyes snapped from Gray and quickly over to the group, heart racing.

The recollection of that memory and the answer Lyon had been searching so desperately for- it never came. But it didn't matter if it did, because without a doubt- if any body was gonna know that answer, it had to be one of those four Sabers.

And if they didn't? Well, then there would be no more time to waste debating, but just for right at that moment-

"-What is Hora's blood type?!" Lyon snapped hotly, startling the four Sabers from their horrified halt, and they jumped. For half a second they didn't seem to register the question, or what it meant, before terror caught up with them again and they were rushing forward, breathless.

"A... A negative...!" Rogue stammered between puffs for air and the beginnings of a strangled sob he barely held back, though the tears were already falling from his eyes as he and his companions staggered to a stop beside the group. Rogue's tears were echoed in his three cohorts already, and only got all the stronger when they got closer and saw all of the damage, blood- everything.

Sherria blanched slightly at the reply though, her heart skipping a beat and fear instantly racking up about five times more.

"A n-negative...? T-that's really rare in Fiore, I don't know anybody-" the Sky God Slayer stammered shakily, while Lyon's head snapped so quickly toward Gray it was almost startling. And more so, the raven-haired Ice Mage faltered, eyes widening at Rogue's reply, before grimacing.

"-That's the same as mine." Gray cut her off, and Sherria, as well as everyone else's heads snapped his way, wide-eyed, relieved, and shocked all at once.

"... R.. Really...?!" Sherria breathed, while Rogue and Sting swallowed hard, their eyes flashing and grimacing faintly- they were surprised, but not so much- though at that moment they hadn't time for surprise or anything else. "T-that's great, I have a Spell for Blood Transfusions, Juvia can help me with it-!" Sherria said quickly with a glance toward the Water Mage, who nodded stiffly, and then she looked back toward Gray. "W-will you be okay to do it and keep using your Magic at the same time...? I don't know if Lyon keeping her cool by himself will be enough..." Sherria asked tensely and Gray held her eyes steady, nodding firmly.

"I'll be fine." He replied lowly, "Do whatever you have to, Sherria, I'll do what I can... I kinda owe her." Gray mumbled quietly, earning tense frowns from those who had been around to see the whole ordeal, and blinks from everyone else- but no one questioned it just then.

Again, there was no time

Sherria started in quickly, directing Juvia, Gray, and just about everyone in between. Sting and Rogue dropped down onto their knees, pressing in close and swallowing back at the heavy dome of heat they entered and that instantly had them sweating- regardless of Lyon or Gray combating it. Lector and Froach hung back with Meredy and Jura watching from a few paces away, the two Exceeds sniffling and shaking from head to tail as they watched, terrified.

Sherria's hands came up off the wound that still refused to stop bleeding, the young girl directing Sting quickly to put pressure down instead and the blonde did as he was told, grim-faced and feeling absolutely nauseated for the slick and marred skin under his palms- so much so, that the way his skin singed didn't even register for him. Rogue put himself on Hora's other side, shoulder to shoulder with Lyon at her head and holding to her shoulder. The Shadow Dragon sniffed, shaking like a leaf and red eyes glittering like mad, tears falling in a steady stream to hit the stone- but none of them ever made it that far, they kept getting evaporated before they could get there. And just like Sting, Rogue didn't care about the way his hands stung and burned slightly when he touched her. One of his hands found a shaky, stomach churning place pressing against one of the other (many) wounds littering her figure and on her lower side, staunching the bleeding from that one as best he could. While his other hand found her lower arm, holding tightly to it and covering another wound that had been torn into her flesh... And not far from the leftover traces of those wounds that he-

Rogue shuddered, his grip around her arm and on top of her side getting a bit heavier, and he had to swallow hard against how violently his stomach flipped. He grit his teeth, his tears falling faster and he held his breath, afraid of letting it out lest he crumble- he couldn't afford to crumble right now, no matter how much terror was running rampant through him, or how knotted, and absolutely sick he felt... And the fact that Hora didn't move, or even flinch when his or Sting's hands pressed hard against the injuries did nothing to help with the sensation, or the fear.

She's not even... Shit... Shit...

Sherria, Gray and Juvia doing what they were doing was a low drone, and yet so painfully clear on his mind- he heard it all, and was aware or every single thing they did, but it was almost hazy and muddled, under that debilitating panic, and fear, and heartbreak. Rogue grit his teeth harder, while Sting's head bowed slightly, the blonde's shoulders hunching as he kept up the pressure and Rogue did the same, both their eyes gleaming and shaking without end- and feeling so utterly useless.

This wasn't supposed to happen, she was supposed to be careful- she'd promised to be careful, and to come back- shit...!

"... Please Hora... Hold on... You... You have to be okay...!" Sting hissed shakily, his eyes shutting tight and swallowing so hard it was painful. "Tch... Hora please...please... H... Hora..." The blonde hissed, his voice breaking on her name.

Rogue stiffened, his own head bowing and hunching in on himself too, enough so his tears had the chance to fall before getting ripped apart by the heat- and they splashed against the limp, bloodied, ripped apart palm of Hora's hand, smearing the crimson stain across her skin.

"... Hora... Please... You have to... Stay with us... D-Don't die... P-please...!" Rogue stammered, his voice barely above a whisper, and so shaky they were barely even words.

"... S.. Stay with us H-Hora... Please..!"

.:+:.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't even fathom how to- she was breaking apart from the inside out and she felt her being being broken apart, the fire leaping at the sudden weakness and raging in all her pain, and confusion, and terror. The flame and furnace surged inside of her, burning and breaking as it washed across every inch of her- burning her again from the inside out, and threatening to break her body just as that Lacrima was splintering with every second that... t..that... That...

... The Black Markings burned across her skin, stretching with more speed and ferocity than it ever had, and consuming her just as the fire was eating her alive from the inside out. Her mind was unhinging, her thoughts rampant and fractured and she just... couldn't

She couldn't think, she couldn't even make sense of herself or anything- not if she was moving, or breathing, or screaming. She was just struggling, writhing and fighting and trying to just... just make it stop!

She lost it, every semblance of control or thought, or even any hold on reality- and the fire consumed it all, it took over- and she lost it.

She just wanted it to stop- anything to make it stop

She was pleading and begging, burning alive and being ripped apart from the inside out- her soul being crushed, and her life being destroyed by nothing but sheer, unrelenting inferno.

S..st...op... P...please...

She got wrenched downward into some place dark, a world made up of nothing but shadow and black, and still the pain just got worse. Her body was getting ripped apart by wild, volatile flame- shredded to bits, every bone, tendon, vein, and nerve set ablaze by hellfire from the deepest pits of hell.

S... St...stop...!

.:+:.

The stone was turning black, fissures and cracks opening up in the rigid surface as the heat got to a degree that not even the earth could handle.

The ice, and subsequent water made from the melting of the Wasteland around them was quickly rendered null. The wind picked up, violent and churning as the stifling heat whipped outward and rammed into everyone with a ferocity, and then rammed ever more violently against the deep cold born of Lyon and Gray's Magic. Both Ice Mages hissed with the effort of pushing against the heat, and against the painful stinging of burns managing passed the guard their Magic brought as they held tightly to the unconscious Saber. The Saber who was still fighting for proper air, her body jerking and squirming under their hands with the sudden upsurge in her own out of control Magic- and each violent surge of it under her skin brought another wild wash of stifling hot air, and another bout of coughing up sticky scarlet that was turning more dark and black. And with each one, even what amount of blood was being siphoned from Gray into her body was not gonna amount to much at all- not if they couldn't get a handle on her Magic tearing her apart like it was... Damn it, it was taking all they had to not get burned themselves- say nothing of actually keeping her from overheating to the point of being burned alive.

And it was just getting worse- even Sherria, Juvia, Sting, Rogue, the Exceeds, and everybody else had to back off or get risk getting hurt. Wendy, Yukino, Happy, Lily, Lucy and Carla had to back off too- though Wendy wanted to do nothing less. The six of them had rushed there after a dire warning from Natsu at the destroyed ruins of the Eclipse Gate- the pinkette relaying what the Other Rogue had said to him about what Over-Drive was in rapidity, and ushering Wendy to head that way. And Wendy obliged without hesitation or question, the young Slayer followed closely by the two Celestial Mages, while Natsu went off somewhere else in search of-

A blur of color and shapes popping into existence not far from the radius of heat caught the frantic, panicked attention of many. The figures of Natsu, a very worn and breathless Doranbolt, and a grim-faced, pink-haired old woman suddenly appearing there at the behest of the Rune Knight's Teleportation Magic, a heavy bag on her shoulder and grimacing.

"... N-Natsu...!" Lucy stammered,

"Granny...!" Wendy breathed, her attention finding the old woman and Porlyusica frowned deeply, her red eyes locking where Natsu and Doranbolt's had immediately, tense.

Natsu had explained what was likely to happen with 'Over-Drive', but this was much worse than even Porlyusica had anticipated- and so quickly too.

"Tch..." Porlyusica clicked her tongue lowly, ignoring the calls and questioning eyes of those who caught their sudden arrival, and instead looking left toward Natsu.

Natsu swallowed hard upon seeing (and feeling) all the wanton heat, and how hard a time Lyon and Gray were having contending with it- his heart dropping into his feet, and the panic that had followed him since the Other Rogue disappeared getting ten times worse now. For half a second Natsu didn't even register that Porlyusica looked his way, he sort of froze- just like Doranbolt did when they arrived- but Natsu was quick to snap himself from it and caught the Old Woman's eyes only briefly, before she looked away and started digging in the bag on her shoulder.

"We don't have time to waste on explanations, she won't survive much longer like this." Porlyusica grumbled lowly, bending down onto one knee and continuing her search in the bag, glass clinking from the inside as she produced two bottles- one of a shimmering milky white color, and the other a dark, muddy-green hue. She popped the corks off both, her narrowed eyes darting from them and toward the Saber covered in blood and squirming with the fierceness of the fire burning inside her and gaining speed, frowning to herself as Porlyusica paused a few tense moments, before her eyes went back to her hands. She carefully, and steadily, poured just under half of the green liquid into the white, turning the milky consistency into something more like a putrid algae color- the liquids glowing dimly as they touched, and then fading again once the Old Lady swirled it a few times. Then she handed the mixture off to Natsu without ever bothering to stand back up, her eyes steady on him, unflinching even- and oh so very grim. Natsu took the glass warily, frowning slightly as he caught the look and how intense it was.

"Get her to drink as much as that as you can, even if you have to force it down her throat." The Old Lady instructed lowly and Natsu (as well as everyone else in earshot) stiffened, "Do it quickly, and be careful not to get it on your skin, as much as you can manage." She grumbled and Natsu paused for a millisecond at it, before nodding stiffly, his grip on the glass growing firmer. He swallowed hard, especially for the whiff of the liquid itself that he caught upon grabbing it- but he started forward and into the heat with little more than a second of faltering when it first rammed into him.

Sting and Rogue swallowed hard too, watching Natsu head straight passed them with terrified eyes- but they recoiled slightly when the scent of the mixture hit their noses just as it did Natsu's, and Wendy and Sherria both went rigid when they caught it too.

T-that smells like-?

They had no time question it and no mind to, not right away- all eyes locked onto Natsu and watched in tense, terrified silence as the Fire Dragon Slayer hurried up to take a knee by the downed Saber, frowning deeply for the heat that had even him a little uncomfortable- and he couldn't imagine how Lyon and Gray were feeling.

Hora wasn't awake, or at least what little consciousness she kept bobbing in and out of seemed to be reserved only for pain, and the sheer and awful sensation of being burned alive from the inside out. Natsu grimaced, his teeth gritting hard and shaking himself out furiously after letting his eyes dart across all the damage littering the Saber's body, and in doing so it had him faltering for just half a second- but half a second was too long, there was no time.

Natsu reached forward, Gray shifting slightly and slackening his hold on the woman's shoulders just enough to give Natsu room- though he didn't let her go, or even dare to. Natsu gulped, his hand moving behind Hora's head and tangling in those fiery multi-color strands of hair, his stomach flipping to feel the streaks blood cached in it on the back of her head. But even then he didn't pause, he just pulled her up, his knee moving behind her shoulders to steady her further, while Natsu bit the insides of his cheeks hard, and he pressed the edge of the glass to her lips. He tilted it up, the putrid looking liquid with it's awful, sharp, bitter, and absolutely rancid scent dribbled down and into her mouth- and Hora recoiled instantly, even with her not being fully aware of what it was, or what was going on.

Natsu's hold on her head grew firmer, Lyon and Gray quick to do the same and hold her down as she started to struggle and squirm more.

"... I'm sorry Hora, but you gotta take it..." Natsu muttered tensely, gritting his teeth and still persistent in letting the liquid flow. His fingers curled into her hair more firmly, Natsu shaking his head stiffly when she continued to fight it, sputtering and almost gagging as he forced it into her throat, and she had little choice but to swallow- while the immediate way in which her face lit up in pain, and distaste, had his stomach churning all the more.

She sputtered again, and Natsu had no choice but to let up for a few seconds while she gasped, struggling for a gulp of air, and one that was so wheezy- and then he had to keep going. He tipped the glass up again, small streams of it breaking passed her lips and out of her mouth when Hora squirmed harder, Lyon and Gray's pinning holds on her body getting a bit more fervent and painful, and Natsu faltered a bit too when she jerked under his hold a bit more than he expected. Natsu readjusted quickly though, grimacing at the feel of her struggling so weakly and yet so fervently against it, and he knew it must have been an awful sensation for her- like she was drowning probably, and on something that was assuredly hardly even palatable, and immediately had her feeling... Well, awful.

"... Tch... Just a little more Hora, come on..." Natsu hissed under his breath, tipping the glass up the last of the way. As she continued to fight the last of the mouthfuls being forced down her throat, Hora's bloodied, ripped up hands dug into the crumbled ground so hard, that the since stalled bleeding from her palms started anew. And even when the glass was empty she didn't still right away, her breaths came in and out fast, ragged and shallow, and fighting for the air she couldn't get while being forced into drinking it- and then she started to squirm even worse, and almost right away.

Hora's face twisted, her teeth gritting, and her whole body growing rigid and shaking terribly. She fidgeted, gasping and hissing as she huffed out pained groans between the raggedy breaths that were just getting worse and more labored- and the heat coming off of her got worse too, more heavy, more suffocating- and Lyon, Gray, and even Natsu flinched at it, but they held her steady all the same. The liquid she'd been forced into swallowing did nothing but seem to make things worse for a few, awful minutes that stretched to a million years- and a million years where it just seemed to ramp up the pain she was already in... And then a few minutes in, she started to squirm less. Her body started losing it's will to fight it, though the discomfort and agony was still clear enough- but even still, the storms of wild, malicious heat whipping about and clashing with the Ice-Mage's Magic started to fade, slowly. And so did the intensity of how her skin boiled under their hands. It did not go away all the way, or even close to it- but it did settle out, just a bit... And then a little more when Hora went rigid under their hands, her whole body tensing under them, and then she shuddered, before curling in on herself slightly, her body spasming painfully. She retched up another mouthful of blood, but one that was smaller than those before it, and mixed with bits of that liquid she'd been forced into taking.

And then she went very still, almost terrifyingly so after all the squirming, and fidgeting, and shows of pain. Her body unwound, the rigidness melting into near limpness, though she was trembling still- and her breathing got a bit shallower, still rapid, and rushed, and hot- but shallower all the same, and her already pale face got a few shades whiter.

Natsu grimaced, trembling slightly himself for the rather rapid, and not at all comforting change- her breathing was still awful, her wounds were still bad, and bleeding. She was hurt still, and in terrible shape, even with the way in which the intensity of her Magic began to taper off to a level that allowed Lyon and Gray take a breath, and Wendy and Sherria to get close again without getting hurt. They could get close again, it eased- but she was still burning up, and to a degree most normal people couldn't have handled- and Hora wouldn't be able to handle it either, if not for the Ice Mages still doing as they had been, and trying to keep the heat at bay enough it wouldn't kill her.

S-shit...

Wendy and Sherria darted forward in the split instant they could do so without getting burned, immediately with their hands hovering and Magic flaring as they set to work again in rushed, panicked tenor. Porlyusica was not a step behind the girls, and Rogue, Sting, Frosch, Lector and Yukino were quick to follow- though they didn't crowd in too much, even if staying back at all was agonizing for them.

"Focus on the physical wounds and the internal injuries, and try to stabilize her as best you can." Porlyusica ordered sharply of Sherria and Wendy both, "Do not Dispel the poison, not unless her breathing starts to get too low- we need it to keep her Magic weakened enough it won't tear her apart." The Old Lady told them firmly, and the two young girls nodded, frowning and their hands shaking as they set to work without a word- but the orders had everyone else go deathly still, eyes wide and ears ringing.

"P-poison...?!" Yukino, Happy, Carla and Lucy stammered,

"You gave her poison...?!" Sting and Rogue snapped hotly, the heated question echoed a bit more breathlessly by Gray, Doranbolt, and Lyon alike- while Juvia, Meredy, Jura, the Exceeds, and everyone stayed quiet, rigid and hardly daring to think they heard it.

"What the hell...?!" Sting hissed,

"A-are you insane...?!" Rogue snapped, his voice cracking painfully and Porlyusica only barely cast them a look from having started pulling things from her bag and taking a knee beside the downed woman.

"From what Natsu relayed to me about what 'Over-Drive' is, her Magic is growing out of control and tearing her body to shreds- to the point it will kill her." The Old Woman replied lowly, "The only chance she has of surviving that is to either strip her Magic from her entirely- which the shock of doing so will assuredly kill her- or find a way to keep her Magic subdued enough it might not get to the point of burning her alive." The Old Lady told them lowly, her red eyes flashing. "There is no cure for this, all we can hope to do is manage it to a point of keeping it from becoming too severe- so yes, the only option I could think of was this. To give her dose of an Anti-Magic Poison that will hopefully weaken her Magic enough, that there is a chance for Over-Drive to run it's course without killing her." Porlyusica grumbled, the Sabers stiffening at the assertions and freezing under the utterly dire look and tone of voice from the pink-haired woman.

"It's not a cure, it's hardly a solution- but it's the only one there is. The Poison itself is lethal to Mages in high enough doses, and with how severe the injuries she has already are, and what havoc Over-Drive is probably going to wreak on her immune system... Even this smaller dose might kill her anyway. But it was either try this and perhaps have even the slightest chance it might help- or her Magic kills her anyway." Porlyusica explained lowly, and their breaths caught in their throats. "All we can do is try and keep her stable, try to keep her Magic from killing her, and hope we can do it long enough Over-Drive might fade on it's own." The Old Lady told them quietly, her eyes flashing as she moved her intense stare on the two Dragon Slayers and glanced back toward the gasping, blood-ridden woman still fighting for air under Wendy, Sherria, Gray and Lyon's hands.

Rogue and Sting shuddered, everyone did- the words sinking in heavy and cold, and their hearts felt ready to give out, especially at seeing the way Porlyusica's expression twisted next as her hands started moving again, and she started pulling out bandages and other things from her bag, and setting to work alongside the two Sky Wizards. She instructed Lyon and Gray tensely to keep up what they were doing, and gave orders to the two girls- while everyone else watched stiffly, tearful, holding their breaths, and their hearts sinking further and further when the seriousness and dire looks on Porlyusica, Wendy, and Sherria's faces became all the more clear... And then for what Porlyusica said next, their hearts felt ready to break.

"... I do not know if anything we do will work, she's in serious condition already, this... This is worse than I've ever seen... I cannot promise she'll survive no matter what we do, I am sorry... But we will try."

.:+:.

The whole village was in a complete state of panic, of destruction and disarray... Homes and buildings, all those structures she had come to know by heart- they lay in smoldering ruin around her, flames dancing, and rubble thrown all about.

It was a massacre

Her family, her brother, her village...

... Her eyes moved from the blackened ice and snow, upward as she felt a massive shadow loom over her. Her wide and terrified gaze moved up to see the Beast standing before her, so massive it was it blocked out the sky. Its cold eyes glittering in animalistic rage and malice, her heart stopping and ice running through her veins as she simply remained motionless. She was too terrified to move, or even cry out as one of its clawed hands lift- sharp talons glinting in the fire-light.

She was going to die...

It swiped downward, she lift her arms as her eyes shut tight in terror- the beasts hand catching her small body and tearing open her skin and muscle and bone with one of the wicked claws, her blood flying into the air and staining the snow- just as hundreds of different scarlet pools already were. The agony that swept through her was gut-wrenching, her vision went black and red at the pain of it tearing across her being, as she was sent flying- her scream of utter pain tearing at the air and her throat.

She fell abruptly silent as she slammed into the ground, bones cracking. She rolled, coming to a halt, unmoving, unbreathing... A large, deep pool of crimson surrounding her body, the wound deep, bone showing through the shredded skin.

My... Family... My brother... Dead...

... E...everybody... D...dead...

...wasn't... He... G...gray... He died...?

...n...no...

.:+:.

It was uncomfortably hot, the air heavy, damp, and humid. The constant evaporation of water and ice that was meant to keep the heat at bay had turned the room into something like a near boiling sauna, and one that was hard to breathe in, let alone keep focus... and Lyon and Gray were progressively having a harder time doing either of those as the hours stretched by, and their energy and strength to keep their Magic up as constantly as they were, began to waver.

They hadn't any real idea how long it had been since fighting with Callan, the terrible Vision (or reality?) of the Mini-Dragons and Gray's apparent death, the sheer destruction and power wrought by the Saber afterwards- or their immediate struggle to keep said Saber alive, and her Magic at bay enough she didn't get ripped apart by what sheer blistering heat had taken so firm hold of her. The whole thing had gone by in something of a rush and a blur, and the whole time both Lyon and Gray could do nothing but keep their Magic up, constant, persistent, and never daring let it waver. Not even when the harshness, and intensity of the fire trying so hard to become tangible kept battering away at them. They didn't know how long already they'd had to keep using their Magic and keep the room, the air, Hora, and the water in the tub she was now submerged in- trapped in a grip of icy cold. And icy cold of an intensity that was only enough to make it that uncomfortably hot, humid it was now... and only barely enough to keep Hora herself from burning out. It didn't matter how hard they pushed their Magic, or how potent they made it, it was never enough. And it was only barely enough to keep her like this, trapped with her body burning up from the inside out, and with a fever to a degree that should have killed any normal person long ago.

And honestly, she was so close to it still- her skin was on fire, her breathing raggedy and labored, the wheezy, shallow breaths coming out in a haze that only mixed with the conglomeration of steam and chilly vapor dancing, and clashing across the waters surface. She could hardly get any air, and what she managed was agony on her lungs and in her chest still full of several broken ribs- even despite Wendy and Sherria's efforts. And despite their attempts too, there was still a fair amount of other damage littering her body, soaked in the water and the wounds turning it muddy pink, and then darker when the Saber's body jerked with coughs that ended with sticky scarlet coming up her throat. The two Sky Wizards had tried so hard, but Over-Drive kept them from being able to help and heal her even half as much as they wanted. They hadn't any clue how long it had been since Porlyusica had arrived, and the rush to get her stable and here and somewhere where it would be easier to keep her cool had occurred- but it had been a long time.

It had been hours, hours that seemed endless and stretched to a million years, and they were exhausting as all hell. Lyon and Gray could only barely keep their focus and attention on what they were doing- and Wendy and Sherria were already exhausted to the point they'd had to take a break, and cease with their efforts. And all the hours were straining for both Ice Mages to a degree they'd never experienced before, it took everything not to let their minds slip, or their Magic to wane, and it took even more to just stay awake, and it was harder still for all the damage, wounds, and the beatings they'd taken while fighting Callan, and the Mini-Dragons weighing them down too. But they couldn't relent, or give in, or pass out- no matter how much their bodies wanted them too. Porlyusica had made it very clear they were the only thing keeping her Magic at bay, so they kept up, even when it was harder and harder to do. And they were intent to keep going, no matter how long it took, or how much it took out of them. Neither of them wanted to see her dead- unsurprisingly on Lyon's part, as he had come to think of the Saber as a friend, and cared for her further after everything he'd learned... But on Gray's?

Gray didn't want her dead, and he intended to do whatever he could regardless of everything else, because he wasn't heartless. Even if he didn't know her, he had a chance to help and he wasn't just gonna let her die without trying... But he was also set on it, because he did owe her after all that had happened.

The more he thought about what 'Vision' that was where he'd gotten killed, the more sure he was that it hadn't just been some kind of warning or phantom image- it had actually happened. It didn't feel real, and he couldn't say he recalled much more than the fleeting, blurred memory of it that was floating around in his head and, already fading. But it was a little too vivid in detail to surely have been just an image, and then upon seeing what happened afterwards- the way she'd looked so scared, pained, and covered in wounds that would have been there from Callan's actions in said Vision, and shouldn't have been there if it wasn't real... And the way Hora had...

Gray grimaced faintly, his eyes cracking open and narrowed to slits as he cast a glance left, his cheek resting in his arms crossed on top of the edge of the bathtub, and one hand dipped into the water- Lyon in a similar position on the opposite side, though his childhood friend's eyes were closed just then, his face buried in the crook of his elbow, and nothing but tense, grim, and exhausted.

Gray's eyes didn't find Lyon though, it landed on the gasping Saber trembling in the water, her body covered in bandages that did little good other than keep haphazard, loose hold on the wounds that hadn't healed- and of which unwound more with every tremor, cough, bit of fidgeting, and ripple of the water that had them soaked through. He bit the inside of his cheek, a heavy sigh escaping him as the memory of it came back. Just as it had been coming back on a repeat ever since things had sort of slowed out of a rush.

.:+:.

"G...Gray..." Hora stammered, her voice so very low and wispy, swallowing hard as she managed another small, extremely uneven step, before having to halt a moment, lest she topple over. Her eyes never left him though, not even as the tears kept coming, and Gray didn't look away either. He couldn't, because he didn't understand how she- a near complete stranger, and someone who had been so jumpy around him- could look so... So completely terrified, relieved, and anguished all at once... And over... Him...? Was he reading that right? Was he the reason...?

But why would she-?

"...Gray... P... Please... Please don't die again..." Hora stammered breathlessly, her voice breaking on the words and he stiffened further, his stomach flipping and a shiver running up his spine. Hora sucked in another shuddering breath of air, dark blue eyes all glassy and swimming in hurt, pain, fear, and so much pleading- and her voice was so full of all of that as she went on. "... P.. Please... Please don't die again... N...not before I get the chance to-" She whispered, before breaking off rather abruptly, her voice dying in the span of a second, and she went absolutely rigid.

.:+:.

Gray bit down on his cheek harder, dark blue eyes flashing as he let his gaze wander from the rapid, shuddering up and down of her chest, and up toward the pain and discomfort etched into her pale face, and clear as day.

It had been playing on a loop in his head the whole time, and each iteration of it left him all the more sure his death had happened, and then gotten rewound... And with each play through of the memory, he became a hundred times more uncertain and confused with it- with the way she'd been crying, and looked so genuinely scared, and sad. He didn't understand why she'd have gotten so worked about about him... And maybe it wasn't him in particular, but just the whole scenario in general that hit hard?

That would make sense right? Even if they hardly knew one another, and with her having been so jumpy around him- it was bound to be an awful experience to see anyone die, regardless of you knew them well or not, yeah..?

That made sense. He knew it made it sense, and he wanted to just chock it up to that and stop brooding over it again and again like he was- but he couldn't.

Because it didn't make enough sense. Not with that last part, the part about him not dying again before she 'got the chance to' do... something.

But... Do what...? And what did it have to do with him...?

Gray grumbled, his eyes dropping closed again and gritting his teeth.

Damn it... Something about her had irked him from the very start, and now? Now it just irked him worse, and he didn't understand it, at all.

... I don't... Get it...

He grimaced, his shoulders hunching slightly and grumbling again as he adjusted, his forehead setting atop his arm instead of his cheek, and blocking out the overhead lights and their glare on his tired eyes.

... And I might never get it... If she dies... I won't ever get to ask what the hell she meant... Tch...

.:+:.

... Scarlet red dripped into the dismal white snow and ice underfoot, his hands shaking and body heaving as he stumbled through that ruin- his blood mixing among the crimson spilt from countless more and ash black soot and smoke. Their bodies lay in heaps of mangled skin and bone and debris on all sides, fires burning low in what little remained of the buildings, everything toppled.

It was swimming in front of him, the world blurring and undistinguished on the edges and getting worse as he gasped and sputtered, his steps faltering as he drudged through the sticky, icy grey and white. His hands were shaking so badly he barely kept hold over the gaping hole in his torso, skin slick with his blood and feeling like he was barely holding his insides from spilling out. His lips twitched in a twisted, agonized smile. He laughed, but only ended up coughing and gasping, his eyes shutting tight at the pain that raced through every inch of him, his steps stumbling even more- until he tripped, and was sent sprawling into the bloodied snow.

He groaned, his breaths tasted of blood and his mouth filled with it as he curled in on himself, his blood spilling from his wounds faster... and he didn't try to curb it, he couldn't care anymore.

The man smiled wryly, pushing himself over stiffly, shaking violently as he did his best to push himself up onto his knees. His clothes were tattered and stained, his hair a mess and his skin torn and shredded in places too many to count. Blood dripped without end from every wound, from his mouth and from his nose and ears, smears of it running through his russet and copper hair.

Deliora was long gone... he was the only thing left... the only thing alive in a city full of death... and he was quickly going to join the masses. Pity the Beast hadn't finished him off, allowed him death without having to hear that damn voice again... pity

He hissed, dragging himself forward, his arms nearly buckling underneath him as he forced himself toward a mound of snow and rubble up ahead, his breaths shaky and wet as he laughed a bit more, his yellow eyes glinting wildly.

Arden growled, pushing himself up the mound as he left a smear of red and bits of gore behind him. His body was screaming, every inch of him threatening to snap and send him falling apart, his bone and skin and muscle all barely holding together and breaking fast.

He stopped, his arms giving out on him as he dragged himself up the lip of the mound, his body collapsing into the snow as it gave way underneath him and he was sent skidding and tumbling down the other side. He screamed, his body slamming into something hard at the bottom and his face burying itself in a sticky, clumped pool of dirt and blood, his breaths raged gasps and Lixue screaming with him at the sheer pain.

Arden came to a halt, his eyes blurred and quickly losing what little light and life was in them. He groaned as he struggled to lift his head from the blood soaked ice,

Arden coughed again, his chin splattered in scarlet and his breath hardly a cloud in the icy wasteland around him. His eyes were dull, the yellow fading fast to some ugly, brown color- before he stiffened, a little bit of light flashing in those eyes as they widened, weakly, looking across the blood soaked snow he lay in as his attention found what his body had smacked into so painfully. A child... her hair black as a raven's feathers and her skin pale, her body broken and bent as she lay there, and he lay with her in a pool of her blood. Her arm was mangled, the skin torn open and the bone poking though the gnarled bits of flesh and muscle, a thin trail of the sticky liquid falling past her thin lips.

... so many dead...

Arden coughed again, his chest felt like it was being torn open.

His fingers twitched, brushing against her thin little fingers, turning black and blue from the cold, her blood smothering against his skin from the wound that had broken her, someone so small-

Those dull eyes flashed, the yellow burning brighter as his felt her blood... warm.

Arden's head lifted ever so slightly off the snow as his heart jumped, a fire burning in his eyes as he tried and failed to get back up, struggling with a vengeance to push himself closer.

... she's...

Something wild lit up in his face, something twisted and frantic as Arden forced his falling apart body to move, forced himself just that little bit closer- close enough his hand clamped down tightly on her arm, uncaring of the way his fingers dug into the flesh and grazed across the fractured bone.

A wicked, tilted grin spread it's way across his face, his eyes flashing again as a wash of gold started up from his arm and toward her- what little life and energy left in him suddenly spurring to action, and the grin twisted more.

... the last... one...

'... what are you... Arden...?!' Lixue snapped, his voice faded and blurry in the man's head.

The skin around his hand and her arm started to singe, the chill air filling with the scent of burning flesh and blood as her arm began to blister, and the wash of gold spreading from his arm blazed brighter, bolder, turning an angry red and orange.

"...he..hehe... guess... y...you... gonna... b...be... wrong... heh...Lixue...!" Arden laughed, his blood dripping from his mouth and strangling the words though he never stopped. Not even as that small, mangled little girl flinched, not when she was drawn back from the icy cold claws of death and forced back to the world engulfed in agony and burning fire in her veins. His hand was turning ebony as his skin burned, smoke rising from her skin as a fire began to leap inside of her, searing the wound closed slowly and burning flesh back together in a wash of blazing white.

The girl whimpered, her blue eyes fluttering open and dazed, her limbs twitching and spasming as she struggled to pull away from what sheer tortuous agony was climbing up her arm and into the rest of her body. Ripped back into the world and with no clue what was happening, she didn't understand-

"... y... ya got...one more... bloody mistake... Lixue...!" Arden smiled, his eyes wild and his expression twisted in something no less than excitement that bordered on insanity and rage. The glow of red and orange got worse, Magic pulsing from him and pouring into her, the wound was melting together and she was struggling against him- no longer weak, her skin a sickly pallor and her eyes glazed in pain and terror. The glow of orange raced over her skin, charring along the inside of her body, singing bones, organs, engulfing everything and it was torture- that little child's voice broke as sobs and screams of pain rung on the air that had been so deathly silent just before.

She was screaming. Writhing and squirming in sheer, fiery agony searing across her body and her mind. Her wrist, arm, and all the way to her shoulder... Her skin was blistering from the insane heat- it felt as if she had dipped it in molten lava.

Someone was gripping her arm tightly, holding on to her, the grip never slipping- even as she tried so desperately to pull away. Her vision flashed black, red... The smell of burning filled her nose and lungs. She just kept screaming... The pain was blinding...

Arden never let up, he was laughing even as his life drained away and he forced that wild, insane Magic into her- forced it to burn the wound closed, forced it to mark across every inch of her body and her soul and claim her, the pain was enough to kill anyone, the Magic was too strong, too jagged and much too uncontrolled- it was burning her alive from the inside out. His copper and russet colored hair was fading into a dull, lifeless grey, his hand burned black and quickly moving up his arm as she thrashed and kicked up blood-colored snow, screamed and kicked and pleaded and cried, her voice breaking, shrieking even long after her throat filled with blood and the taste of something burning sour.

... She wanted it over. She wanted to feel nothing... And still that grip... That grip that burned her skin and sent lava searing through her veins, it kept her away from the numbing embrace of perpetual darkness. It wouldn't let her go.

She wanted to be let go

"STOP! PLEASE!" The girl's voice would have broken the heart of anyone, it was dripping in terror and fear and pain- but Arden couldn't care, he would never let go- he looked at her with the face of want, sheer lust and uncontrollable need. He watched in pleasure and delight as she started to burn, the black running up her body and strangling her- that dirty, blood matted raven hair turning orange and red and all colors it should never have been.

"S-STOOOOOPPPPP!"

"Not... not a chance!" Arden shrilled, his body shaking violently as he dragged her closer to him, pulling her through the snow as the rest of her body started to blister and break under the fire consuming her, eating her... killing her, and still she tried to pull away. Her mouth filled with blood and ash and fire and she felt her lungs burning away inside her chest,

Lixue was screaming, roaring and cursing and Arden still never stopped- he never listened.

The man had pulled himself up, his free hand curling in toward himself as his yellow eyes flashed, sickly and wicked- and yet... hopeful. Hopeful even as he watched that child cough up bits and pieces of her own charred insides right in front of him, black and scarlet pooling from her mouth.

Arden's free hand plunged straight into the center of his own chest, breaking past the damaged skin and shattering what ribs were in his way, a new stream of blood pouring free from the wound and his mouth- the grin never faded.

He ripped his hand free again, bloody and black as his fist remained clenched about a smooth, icy blue stone that seemed to glitter and spark with some unnatural light. The little girl was twitching, her body falling apart and melting from the inside out and all will to fight outwardly lost- if only her mind and her heart had failed so quickly, she still felt it... felt every single second of it.

His hand shot forward, the stone still gripped tightly as he plunged his hand through the center of her chest, ribs breaking and what charred mess of her lungs was left- they were forced apart as he stuck his entire fist inside her body, moving organs and bone and leaving a giant, nestled hole for that stone to set. Her skin, and her body, covered head to foot in pitch, jet black- a pulse of blue raced from where his hand remained lodged inside her chest, and she felt like her heart had been ripped in two.

Her body felt like it had been drowned in lava suddenly felt like it had been ripped in half, melted back together, then cut into hundreds of pieces... and then melted again, over and over it when from blinding burning pain to mind shattering cold, it lasted years, it lasted too long and she felt her mind breaking under it all just as her body shattered with it.

Arden ripped his hand back out from her body again, leaving the stone as his breaths shuddered to a close. His yellow eyes dulling to grey and all light gone as his hand fell limp from having been holding to her so tightly, his face falling as a ghost of smile remained etched into his face forever more.

She was writhing around in that blood soaked snow and ice, screaming and fidgeting for hours, her body destroying itself, burning itself, and then slapping itself back together- the flames raged and then died, and then raged again and it was a fate worse than death... she wanted to die, she screamed and pleaded and wished she would- begged even- but the pain still kept on.

Her skin was on fire, her veins lava, her heart sheer, agonizing, icy cold- all of it, absolute torture.

She was screaming. Writhing and squirming in sheer, fiery agony searing across her body and her mind. Her wrist, arm, and all the way to her shoulder... Her skin was blistering from the insane heat- it felt as if she had dipped it in molten lava. Her vision flashed black, red... The smell of burning filled her nose and lungs. She just kept screaming... The pain was blinding- someone was... Someone...

... Someone was gripping her arm tightly, holding on to her, the grip never slipping, even as she tried so desperately to pull away- but... This... This one... This hand it isn't... What... What...?

I... It's... C... Cold...?

It... It hurts... I..it...

N-no... No... L... Let go...!

... E...everything hurts... N..n...o...!

L-let go...!

"... S... Stop..!"

.:+:.

The silence got shattered abruptly by a sharp, gasping yelp from the Saber- and who jolted up rather violently in the water with no warning, outside the quickly steadying pace of her body twisting and squirming slightly in the midst of some awful, fever-driven nightmare. She jumped up into a sitting position that did little more than make everything hurt worse, and with the pain amping up, the confusion, fear, panic, and everything in between got a million times worse, and derailed her mind more than it already was. She wasn't aware of where she was, what was going on, none of it. All that ran through her fractured mind was the terror, and the agony, and it taking firm hold had her fighting instantly, moving too much, jostling her broken body way too much- and Over-Drive loved it.

The already uncomfortably hot air got to the point of stinging on Hora's lungs right away, and everyone else's too. The water that splashed with her frantic movements hissed off her skin, steaming more fervently- and as the heat increased, as did the pain, and so did the unhinged, unawares, and entirely delirious movements on the Saber woman's part.

Gray and Lyon were snapped from their own silence and lack of movement the instant she yelped, hearts racing and adrenaline paired with panic shattering the hundred pound blanket of exhaustion and strain hanging over them both. They scrambled, for the first few seconds a little ruffled and not sure what was going on- before they felt the harsh clash of their Magic against the heat suddenly intensify, and they grimaced, quick to push themselves up and try anything they could.

Hora's hands grasped the tub edge desperately, heaving and gasping as she fought to pull herself up, trying to escape the chilly grip of the water against her body. She couldn't get herself up all the way, the little she managed had crimson stains seeping through the bandages on her body- and though she dug her fingers in fiercely, and tried so hard to keep trying to escape the water- she couldn't get there, and nearly as soon as she'd pulled herself halfway up her grip slipped.

"S-shit..!" Gray hissed, shuffling up onto his knees and his hands shooting forward as quickly as he could manage to grab onto her shoulders, and save her slamming back down into the bottom of the tub. He halted her enough she didn't fall back, but even doing that just made her panic a little worse, and immediately she was trying to pull away from him, and he grit his teeth. He adjusted quickly, hooking his arms around hers tightly, and more or less pinning them to the top of the tub edge, stalling her swiping out at him in reaction- while Lyon scrambled into getting up and stepping into the tub to take a knee behind her. The Lamia Wizard's hands found her back and under her shoulder, resisting her attempts at pulling back from Gray's hold, or pulling back any other way either. He kept her as steady as could be managed while she squirmed still, even regardless of how fruitless it was... But she fought, and she was gonna hurt herself- and already her skin under their hands had ramped up way too many degrees, and they had their Magic following suit just to keep up.

"H-Hora calm down..!" Lyon murmured breathlessly,

"... Tch... You gotta quit...!" Gray hissed, grumbling as she jerked a bit more roughly in his hold and his grip slipped just a little.

She couldn't hear either of them, not around the harshness of her own breathing and certainly not around the low rumble of the Magic in her core surging. And even around that, she wasn't in any state of mind to register their voices anyway, and they knew it.

She pulled roughly again, and this time she managed herself out of Gray's hands enough her elbow jerked backwards into Lyon, ramming into the gash on his shoulder from fighting Callan that had yet to be healed, and he hunched a little despite himself. Gray grimaced, quick to catch her hand back and huffing as he (rather more roughly than he intended) pinned one of her arms under his, and caught her other one in the hand of that same arm- while his free hand grabbed to the back of her neck and held there tightly, stalling her movements a bit more. Gray's Magic flared under his hand and against the back of her neck, icy cold dancing on air and the chill that came with it quickly eliciting a shiver that ran down Hora's spine. The cold followed behind it, spreading outward across her shoulders and back too- and so abruptly she gasped for it. She tried to pull back from this like she had to everything else, and the heat racing under her skin immediately heightened to resist the frost- but Gray didn't let his hold, nor his Magic, waver- and the reaction he was hoping for followed a few moments after.

The stiffness in her body unwound slightly in Gray and Lyon's hold, the persistent pulling and fighting against their hands weakening quickly with the rapid intensity of the cold enveloping her- and with the relief it brought with it, and the stall in Over-Drive surging again- what little bit of delirious, fever-driven struggling she'd fallen into, faded. She slumped a bit, falling more heavily against the edge of the tub, and for a few seconds still resistant to the sudden heaviness pulling her down- before a shaky sigh escaped her, and her posture wilted even more. Her head bobbed, her body trembling and shuddering under the harshness of her breathing, and she leaned against the edge of the tub all the way, cheek falling wearily against the top of Gray's hand holding still tightly on top of hers. The last of the resistance of her trying to pull away from either of them melted away, Lyon shifting to let his hands find the center of her back, biting the inside of his cheek for how rapidly it moved up and down against his palms with her breathing- and like Gray, Lyon's Magic flared a bit more too, just trying to take the edge off and settle her as much as he could.

Gray's hand on the back of Hora's neck moved slowly and instead settled on her shoulder, trying to steady her (and the rather awkward position) a bit more too- and both Ice Mages let out shaky sighs of relief with the sudden rush and panic going away.

"... Geez..." Gray grumbled breathlessly, his eyes dropping closed. Lyon's shoulders fell rather heavily, and his head bowed, a low sigh escaping him.

And those who were standing in the doorway into the room- Sting, Rogue, Lector, Frosch- and who had rushed toward it upon hearing the sudden shout Hora let loose, they all shuddered, their bodies shaking and barely keeping their feet as the scrambling came to a close... And honestly, most of them felt like throwing up for how heavy the worry and fear was in their cores.

They couldn't go in, they'd been ordered to stay out so their body-heat wasn't something Gray and Lyon had to deal with- but not being able to go in and rush up was one of the worst things they'd ever had to do, and they swallowed hard, eyes shining.

H-Hora...

For a few minutes, neither Lyon nor Gray made a move, or any attempt to lay Hora back down into the water. They just stayed still, trying to settle again and unwind, and wait for the heat to drop down to what level they'd mostly been able to keep it... And after a few minutes Gray cracked an eye open, faltering a bit in question and surprise when... He felt Hora's hand underneath his shift...?

He blinked, his attention finding said hand, and the same hand her cheek was leaning into, as he just watched quietly. Her expression pulled faintly, and her fingers twitched as they curled around his weakly, holding on to him almost- and then she pressed her cheek a bit more against his hand, even when the cold of it against her skin made her shiver... And then Gray went rigid, eyes widening and his heart skipping a beat when her face pulled a little more, a little more pained- a little more aching... And then suddenly there trailed a few, quiet, glittering drops of moisture from her under her eyelids, mixing with the sweat and the water dripping from her hair- but without a doubt they were tears.

She's... Crying...?

And sure enough the awful and labored sounds of her breathing hitched ever so faintly in a sob that never reached full fruition, and Gray stalled, staring, confused, reeling- because why...?

Was it the nightmare that had jostled her out of unconsciousness? Or was it just tears of exhaustion, strain, or something along those lines...?

She couldn't have been aware of those tears surely, not with how out if it she'd been just moments before. He doubted she had any clue what was going on, or who was around her, or even whose hand she'd just grabbed on to... So was there even a reason for them, then? Maybe it was just strain and fever...?

He didn't know, and whatever reason, or non-reason there was for those little tears so suddenly, he didn't know... But even still he faltered again, and just like he did with wondering why she'd seemed so upset about him earlier, after him 'dying'. And this time he faltered not out of confusion, or question- but because for some reason, somewhere deep in his very core- something about her hand in his, the way she was shaking, the heat of her skin against his and the feverish gasps of air she was taking in- all of it felt, somehow... Familiar

It was the same sort of familiar that had hit him when he'd saw her do that weird hand pose/gesture when she'd started thinking, that night he'd first met her. And just like then, he couldn't place why.

Gray's eyes flashed, his face pulling ever so faintly in question and uncertainty with the sudden, and unexpected sensation he couldn't wrap his head around. He faltered in his confusion and question for a few seconds, quiet and pensive, and almost stiff too- and Lyon blinked, his own expression softening, and twisting all at once for the look on his childhood friend's face just when he looked at Hora.

Lyon could practically see the gears grinding in Gray's head, the confusion and uncertainty so clear on his face and swimming in his eyes too- and paired with the smallest hints of discomfort. And even more hints of things that were dancing just otr of reach too, things that were so close to realization, familiarity, and wisps of feelings and memories that he'd probably long since buried... Were they stirring now, even unconsciously? Thoughts of his old life, his village and his family before Deliora...? Was he remembering her, even if only faintly, in some far corner of his mind- and because right then, some part of Gray just... Knew...?

If he did, or even got sort of close to beginning to pull those pieces together, or to unraveling the strange sensation of familiarity- Lyon didn't know... He didn't think so, anyway. Lyon figured if he'd come to even the faintest inkling of who she was, he would have said or asked about it outright- and Gray never said a thing. He remained quiet, brooding about it still perhaps, but only that. Gray simply shook his head a bit to himself and stayed silent... But he did give Hora's hand a tiny, almost imperceptible squeeze- and Lyon swallowed hard.

Lyon wanted to say it, and he wanted it so badly after seeing the pause, the brooding, the bits of ache in Gray swirling beneath the surface, though the raven-haired Ice Mage didn't know why. It was agonizing, watching Gray teeter barely at the fringes of the truth and still be so painfully clueless- but again, Lyon hesitated, and a bit more firmly than the first time.

He couldn't tell Gray, not with Hora still in such awful condition- not without real certainty she would fine, and wouldn't slip away regardless of anyone's efforts. There was no use in telling Gray the truth if she was just going to get ripped away- Lyon couldn't do that to him, not after a lifetime of hurt, and the haunting of Deliora's destruction trailing after them both... It felt so much like a betrayal to stay quiet though, and watching it made the sensation worse- but Lyon kept his mouth shut still.

... Forgive me Gray, but I can't.... I'm sorry...

.:+:.

She felt cold and hot all at once, her body shaking without her consent. Her head was in a haze and her eyelids felt heavier than she could ever remember them being. She shuddered involuntarily, her breath catching in her throat as she coughed faintly.

The room was dim around her, and stagnant. She could scarcely see the ceiling above her, if not for the small, faint sliver of light that managed to make it past the edge of the curtains. She didn't remember falling asleep, but she knew she had. She'd been moving in and out of wakefulness for hours, flitting between feverish reality and swirling, nonsensical dreams.

She felt something squeeze around her fingers gently, her eyes trailing sideways from the roof toward that young little boy at the bedside.

G... Gray...

He was fast asleep, his head resting in his crossed arms on the bedtop- one hand extended just slightly so he could keep holding her hand in his. His fingers twined between hers and limp in his sleeping, yet they still kept locked together.

She blinked, her eyes falling halfway as the haze lifted just enough- she remembered waking up earlier too, and remembered hearing his voice mixed with that of their parents.

"..b-but... I wanna help..."

"... Love, the only thing we can do is let her sleep."

"... Once she rests, the fever will pass and she will be alright.."

"... I..."

"..hmm, I know you want to help her feel better, love..." That was her mother's voice, she sounded sympathetic, and warm.

"... You know what? Sit with her, keep her company. I'm sure that will help her feel better." And that was her Father, a bit louder, but no less warm.

"..y-yeah!" Her brother sounded a little happier with that, he liked that idea- mostly because then, he would be doing something. "... I-i can tell her a story, if she wants...! Or just stick around, so she's not all alone when she's sleeping..!"

"Great idea." Mother and Father said all in unison.

Her mind was slipping back into the deep, dark depths again as she heard feet move down the hallway outside the door.

She must have fallen asleep before he made it inside, but he'd stayed anyway.

She squeezed his hand back faintly, sighing as her eyes fell closed again.

It felt nice, his hand in hers, after so, so long... The fire raging in her bones even... Something cold came in, and it felt so nice.

For what seemed like a million years it was just, icy cold relief... A million years of time to settle- and then a million years later it ended, abruptly.

She coughed again, her eyes snapping shut when a sudden wash of pain ignited in her core where it hadn't been before.

Her hand held tight to his hand- only to find it wasn't there anymore. He wasn't, none of it was- not the bed, not the room, not the warmth, nor the familiarity.

She was floating in a chilly sea, the water gripping and cold as she saw her blood stain the water darker around her- her body littered in too many wounds and gashes to count, and agony racing though every inch of her being. The silence was crushing, even her own voice as she yelled at the pain was muffled and muted on her own ears. She couldn't make a sound, she couldn't move, or breathe.

For what felt a million years she was suffocating, burning and freezing all at once, and suspended in that vast ocean... And then she wasn't.

.:+:.

Hora slammed into something solid, the ocean disappearing around her without warning and sending her into rapid free-fall in some place new. Somewhere dim, and bobbing sickeningly, while still being firm enough she yelped when she smacked against the stone... No, not stone- ice

She cringed, curling in on herself and ears ringing at the heavy silence, and her head smacking painfully against the ice with the fall. Her body was on fire, pain running through every vein, bone, nerve- hot and boiling, and her lungs felt scorched from the inside out. It made it extremely hard to breathe, and then impossible when the fiery sensation intensified, and her body convulsed, foul-tasting metallic blood rising up her throat and spattering across the dim, glittering surface underneath her. Her blood was dark, thick- filled with ash and smoke that had turned it an awfully icky black brown, and one that clashed harshly with the... W... Wait...

Her eyes widened, vision blurry and struggling to focus on the sheer cold underneath her, and the fact that the ice was red

Her eyes trailed up slowly, passed the the inky black of her own blood mixing with the bright red crimson pooled over the ice, thick and reaching all the way out toward where she was, inching closer still and from it's center- where there lay the crumbled, bloodied, and burned body of some huge, barely breathing... D-Dragon...?

Hora froze, eyes wide and glittering as her gaze got locked on to it- the pearly white scales cracked and chipped away, whole sections of hide and flesh gouged out from it's body and spilling scarlet across it's form, and adding to the pool of blood it lay in. It's wings were littered in holes and blackened, jagged, scorched flesh climbing up along it's back and all down it's body, leaving dark marks and shattered scales all about it's figure. The Dragon lay on it's side, it's body rising and falling in slow labored breaths that had the blood rippling only faintly- it's head laying in the puddle of blood, crimson smeared across it's nose, and blood dripping slowly passed it's teeth to join the larger whole underneath. It was so still, so limp, barely breathing and nearly lifeless- there was near nowhere she could see the shimmering white it's body should have been under all the red, and the ash. Her eyes darted quickly among the downed and horribly wounded creature, locking to that dribble of blood out of it's mouth and then searching desperately for those icy blue eyes of his... But they were closed, and he hadn't even stirred the slightest bit when she'd gotten dropped into this cold, quiet, and dark place beside him.

Hora stiffened, panic and terror ramming straight through her core and cutting her struggling breaths off in a strangled gasp of fright, her eyes wide and instantly filling in tears. She recognized the barely breathing beast, and her heart felt like it shattered.

"... L-Lixue...?" She croaked, her voice rough and barely above a whisper, and even the simple action of saying his name had her coughing up more burned, rancid blood. But still there was no reaction from the Dragon, not even with the sound of his name, or the retching that followed.

Hora sputtered, holding what little breath she managed to take in and swallowing hard against the sour metallic taste in her throat. Her vision dotted black at the edges and steadily got all the darker, the pain running rampant through her body intensifying to the point it was blinding- but all that ran through her mind in that instant was terror, and guilt.

N...no... Lixue... he...

She hissed, her teeth gritting hard enough to crack, struggling and shaking terribly as she forced herself up just a little- only to have her hands slide out from under her in the slick of the blood she'd retched up, and Lixue's own. She yelped as the hit the ice again, the impact rattling her bones like an earthquake, but she pushed herself up again, fighting, and still struggling to pull herself forward- or more ended up dragging herself through the blood, than ever actually managing her feet. She coughed, sputtering for air the whole way through it, her body getting drenched in the sticky red and making movement forward all the harder, and near impossible- but still she tried. She tried and kept pulling herself forward, even when she kept slipping, each fall back against the ice making the pain more than blinding- and she tried still, even when her last few attempts hadn't managed to get her any closer.

She shuddered, the tears spilling from her eyes like a storm, and her throat and chest closing for the sobs that never managed to come up and hit the air. She coughed, choking on the tears and the blood alike as her crawl through the pool of crimson faded to none along with her quickly waning strength. Her limbs felt so heavy, every movement was torture, every breath agony, and her eyes stung with a fire worse than the one raging in her bones- the tears swirling in the blood and a wispy, shuddering sob escaping her between gasps.

... L..Lixue... no...no...

The tears grew heavier and more burning as she locked her attention straight ahead, Lixue's nose not more than a few inches away from her hand- but too far still, and his breath washed up over her face, wispy, faint. She felt her heart shatter again, and then a hundred times more for the realization that... this?

All this damage, all the wounds, gashes, burns, rendering him so still and lifeless, and barely holding on...?

I... I did this...

... I... I pushed it... t...too far, f-fighting... using Magic, a-and now...

Hora groaned, her eyes narrowing to slits and her view of Lixue getting all the more blurred, and darkened... shit, she could barely see him, or anything at all anymore. She couldn't keep her eyes open, it took everything she had to just try and stretch her hand forward, straining weakly for those last few inches, trying to reach out, touch him... anything.

...s..shit... Lixue... I... I didn't mean to... h...hurt you... I...

She stretched her hand forward so far it hurt, her fingers trembling and the blood soaking her skin dripping sluggishly back down into the pool they were both laying in. Her hand bobbed, almost thudding back down, but she stopped it, barely, and only just for a few moments. And then her hand faltered again, one last time- one last attempt at clearing the sparse few inches there was between her fingertips and his nose... And this time she felt the scales brush against her skin, for hardly half a second, before the last of her energy to fight and try failed her. Her hand splashed down into the thick, slimy pool of blood, and stayed there.

Hora's eyes fluttered, battling with them to stay open even when her world had blurred too much to make anything out. All she could see of Lixue in front of her was a big blob of red and white surrounded in a darkness that seemed to be closing in fast.

She could feel the ice under the blood, it's chill rising up and cooling the sticky liquid, and crawling further upward into her own body... And it was getting more intense, so much so it ached heavily, and just kept getting worse. Like the shadows, the cold was closing in on them both, swallowing them up, and she had no strength nor will left to resist it. Her body hitched one last time, the tears slowing up through sheer exhaustion, and the last of them dribbling down her cheeks just as her eyes closed all the way, and she couldn't get them open again. The breath she let out next was as painful as all those before it, but this time it felt biting, and agonizingly cold in her chest- just as cold as the chill from the ice seeping into her very bones, and holding tighter and tighter.

"... I'm... I'm sorry... Lixue... P...please... D...don't...d..ie..."

The cold kept sinking in, quicker and quicker, squashing the burning sensation under her skin and replacing it with a heavy, searing sensation like a million blades getting plunged through every inch of her. It was agonizing, like her body getting stabbed a million times over and shredding her to pieces from the inside out- she wanted to scream, or cry, or even just wince... But she couldn't even move anymore. It took everything she had to get her eyes to crack open again even just for a second, her mind fuzzy, derailing, and quickly spiraling away toward somewhere deep, and quiet, and empty- but she managed one eye open, for just a second, and Lixue wasn't there anymore.

In front of her, engulfing her on all sides, nearly burying her where she lay in it, and falling gently from a pitch black sky filled with smoke... Was snow.

Gentle, quiet, cold snow- glittering ghostly white with splashes of red still, her body limp, and quickly losing heat and feeling entirely.

I'm...?

She saw her arm mangled and ripped open by those deadly claws of the Demon of Zeref, her blood thick and oozing slowly to stain the pearly white powder. She saw the smoldering buildings too, the destruction, the mounds of fresh snow covering the bodies littered about- but there were no fires anymore, nor even embers. Everything was silent, and cold, and quickly getting buried and covered by a new blanket of snow falling endlessly from the sky, sinking into every stone, broken beam, and long since lifeless form. A whole world, massacre, and place once full of life- lost now to time, and cold, and ice, and... Snow...

... It's... So... Quiet...

... Am I... Back here again...?

... H...home...?

... Lying in... The snow... Getting numb... Where I was...

Her eye fell closed, the cold losing it's sharp sensation and ushering in numbness that had her feeling nothing at all, not even the chill. She was just... Falling.

Falling down, down, far below- and all alone, and quiet, with the sound of her own heart getting quickly more faraway. She was plummeting down into some empty oblivion, with no strength left to resist it- and no Arden now, to grab on and keep her from the shadowy depths.

No, this time... I'm... Back where... I was...

... Back where... I was... Supposed to... Die... I'm... Falling again...a...and...

... There's... Nobody... T...o...

... S...st...op... M...e...

.:+:.

The heat and fire boiling under Hora's skin had let up after way, way too long- and not a second too soon before Gray and Lyon had gone a dozen hours too many, and despite attempts not to, had worked themselves into the ground... But even when the fire burning through her body lessened enough not to be life-threatening, it had still remained blistering enough to keep her trapped in fever-driven delirium, and a fever much to high to put anybody at ease.

She was still gasping for air, her body racked by raggedy coughs and shaking without end as she lay in there in the bed, a damp cloth on her forehead. They'd moved her out of the bath once her fever had gone down enough (though it had taken awhile still for it to be safe enough to do so), and instead settled her down on the mattress, Porlyusica, Wendy, and Sherria starting once more in an attempt to heal some more of her injuries- but they could do little. Over-Drive resisted them managing anything that did much to help at all, the heat and movement of it battling against their Healing Magic at every turn, and keeping her wounds from closing, and her immune system still in such flux no matter how hard the Sky Wizards tried to Heal her. So they had to relent, and hold off on trying anymore for awhile, and hopefully long enough Over-Drive subsided some more and they could manage something better.

And that was what it turned into- and what it had been since the start, waiting... And hoping, desperately.

Rogue did not leave the room once the whole time, and Sting, Lector, and Frosch were much the same, scattering themselves in chairs and places around the (rather large) room, with many others in the Guild filtering in and out constantly- like Yukino, Rufus, Orga... And they were joined frequently by Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and a few other Fairy Tailers too- they'd even taken up residence in the other sections of the SaberTooth Inn, afraid to leave, and just as worried as the Sabers all were. Nobody dared go anywhere, and they certainly didn't dare falling asleep, though in some cases they had little choice and dozed off anyway- but they jerked back to wakefulness soon after and hated themselves for falling asleep at all. Because every time it happened, there was the instant fear and unease that something had gone wrong while their minds drifted, and that maybe it wasn't just 'gone wrong', but had become the thing they were most afraid of.

But the hours stretched on, and on, and eventually the unintentional dozing became less worrisome... Because eventually the fever burning through Hora's body and keeping her coughing up blood here and there did level out, and even seemed to be starting to reach near breaking. Eventually it got to the point where her breathing mellowed out, she stopped shaking so much, the fever and delirium hounding her unconscious mind seemed to fade too- and the feeling of her skin against Rogue's hand where he'd placed, and kept it on top of hers, wasn't as awful either.

It was slow going, the waiting for it mind-numbing... But it did bring with it some small, minuscule sense of relief and even hope that it would be fine. That she would be fine.

Nowhere in any of their minds did it occur to them that the fever dissipating would actually be leading to something much, much worse.

Rogue's head bobbed slightly, the Shadow Dragon Slayer jerked from the fringes of exhaustion-driven, uneasy sleep when he started to tilt without being aware of it. He caught himself, his mind lagging and doing his best to shake off the haze it had over his head- and for a few seconds, he didn't even register that it had gotten cold.

No, neither Rogue, nor anybody else in the room, had any attention on the sudden chill in the air until it sharpened to a fine point out of nowhere- the temperature plummeting at a breakneck speed, and those still dazed or dozing were snapped back into panicked wakefulness as chills shot up their spines.

Not once until that very instant had it occurred to anyone, not even Rogue- who had been there the first time, and felt the way her temperature had fluxed from hot to cold without end. Nobody gave it a thought, or a wonder, not once- and instantly they regretted such a terrible, terrible oversight at that fact they should never have overlooked at all;

Over-Drive goes both ways

Rogue's blood ran just as cold as the air suddenly turned, and near as cold as Hora's hand suddenly was in his- icy, limp, pale, and nearly so frozen her fingertips had started to turn blue. His red eyes snapped from her hand and toward her face, the Shadow Dragon Slayer on his feet in an instant and terror striking him straight to the core, along with panic, and all of which that had his mind whirling- just like everybody's else's was, all of them quickly moving on to their feet and at full attention.

The temperature dropped further, biting on their lungs, instantly having all of them shivering, and their breaths billowing out in hazes in front of them. The walls, desks, chairs, windows, and just about everything else in between- all of it was quickly getting engulfed in a layer of frost and ice crawling over every surface, and sending the temperature in the room nosediving dozens of degrees more, and in seconds.

One of Rogue's hands found Hora's shoulder, the simple contact making him shudder violently and his teeth chattering when the deadly cold her body had suddenly adopted sank into his own body, and stripped his hands, and then his arms soon after of nearly all body-heat. He sucked in a sharp breath of air, eyes growing wide and freezing as he saw one, tiny cloud of air made up of Hora's breath dance on the air- and then nothing.

Her chest stilled, her harsh gasping and shallow breaths that had gradually been getting fainter and fainter with no one the wiser- they stopped. There was no air swirling into her lungs any longer, no sign of life, and no movement whatsoever. She was still, deathly still- and Rogue's heart stopped in that same instant, time slowing down yet swirling past at unbelievable speed- seeing and hearing her breathing fade to utter silence, hearing his own heart thumping in his ears in a wave of sheer and utter terror.

She's... She's not b-breathing...

It was happening all over again, but this time it wasn't stillness brought on by stifling heat that had her body giving out on her. This time it was deathly cold that had it shutting down.

She wasn't breathing like last time, but this was worse. Because time caught up with him as his body began to move, terror running rampant through every inch of him, and he reached out for her, both of his trembling hands finding her shoulders and his stomach flipping when he realized in a few short moments that he couldn't hear her breathing- and he couldn't hear her heartbeat either.

N-no, no...!

"S..shit..." Sting stammered in the other side of the bed, his face paling and looking ready to throw up when he realized it too- and their worlds felt like they were tipping on their heads.

Her heart stopped

"H-Hora...!" Rogue hissed, tears welling in his eyes and shaking violently as his mind stalled and raced in unison- and Sting's did the same. There was a single second of both of them freezing, both of them paralyzed and hardly able to breathe under the crushing fear and horror of the situation ramming into them- and then not a single second later, they were rushing.

"Get Natsu!" Sting barked, his head snapping toward the door and Rufus and Orga standing there, the two having rushed in once the cold began to creep into the rest of the building- but it was Lector and Frosch who darted off and out of the room long before either of the men had started to turn.

The dim of the room, and the ice and frost creeping over everything in it glittered- bright white flaring off of Sting as he forced his Magic into fruition in a heartbeat- pulsing and heavy, and white-hot. It wasn't the same sort of heat born from the sun, or fire, it was less reaching, lighter even- but it was something.

Anything to try and fight the deadly cold consuming everything, and dragging Hora down into the pits of death with it- and Rogue had the same thought too.

Rogue paid Sting's order and his White Magic no mind, the Shadow Dragon Slayer pushed himself up on the bed and settled on his knees right beside Hora's still and unmoving figure, his hands leaving her shoulders (now freezing and already numb from the cold) and crossing over one another to press against her chest. He bit down hard on the inside of both his cheeks, stilling his shaking as much as he could and starting in with steady, deliberate rhythm- and blanching slightly for the thought that came as he started with the up and down pressure; that each force downward was probably jolting the many cracked and broken ribs in her chest in an excruciating way... But of course there was no show of pain from Hora, and that was worse.

Rogue started with the up and down rhythm against her chest for a few moments, his blood roaring in his ears the whole way through, and then he moved- Sting quick to take his place and put his hands where Rogue's had been, but stalling for a second while Rogue moved up to Hora's face. His shaking hands found her cheeks, tilting her head back before he leaned in, his lips meeting hers and forcing a few quick, shaky breaths into her lungs. Her chest rose faintly with each one under Sting's hovering hands, but as soon as Rogue paused to take a breath for himself, it stilled again.

Both Dragon Slayers swallowed hard, trembling violently, and it took everything they had not to crumble right then and there, and keep up. Sting started again, resuming the quick up and down compressions against Hora's chest for a few seconds- and then pausing again as Rogue's head bent once more, and he forced another few breaths into her lungs, desperately hoping that one of them would be the last he needed to do, and that dead-weight and limpness of her body under their hands would let up. They were both crying, the tears spilling from their eyes in silence, and biting back at the sobs and the way their bodies wanted to quit cooperating and give into the shakiness that would render them useless. They couldn't give into the fear, or the nauseous terror- they couldn't falter, they had to focus, they had to keep trying, and they had to work fast, or... O-or...

It must have been no more than a minute, but it felt like a lifetime for them, centuries even. And those minute-made centuries fell like tons of weights on their shoulders every millisecond their efforts earned no response, and the silence and sheer stillness of Hora's body shattered their hearts and souls over and over.

"... P...please Hora... C.. Come on..." Sting stammered breathlessly, his eyes shutting tight as he tried another few presses, his tears dropping onto his hands, and then turning to frost when his hands stilled again, and the moisture rolled off his skin and splashed against hers.

Rogue swallowed hard, sucking in a shuddering breath of air and leaning in again, his hands on her face trembling violently from fear and cold alike- he blew another few breaths out, her chest rising with each one, and for just as long as he puffed the air out- but still, nothing. Rogue didn't pull back this time, his lips didn't part with hers and he sucked in another breath of air through his nose- his tears dropping down and splashing against her cheeks as he blew out again, then twice, and three times more- and each one added another crack to his already breaking heart. The last of the air in his lungs left him and he pulled back, Sting sniffing as he started again, each press down shaking the bed, putting pressure on her already beaten and bruised form, and still there was nothing.

The room had gotten to a point where they were freezing, their movements getting harder to do as the cold gripped them tightly- but not near as tightly as the anguish in their souls did.

"... D... Damn it... Hora... You... You can't d... Die... P... Please... Just...j..just..." Rogue stammered breathlessly, his tears still splattering against her cold, pale face. The shaking on the bed ceased as Sting paused again, the White Dragon Slayer hunching in on himself slightly, while Rogue did the same- and it was the hardest thing for him to straighten up enough and steady himself to keep going, e-even when...

Rogue gulped, forcing himself another breath and trying again- even when none of the previous attempts had managed a single thing. He would keep going, keep trying, Sting too- all the way until there was without a doubt... T-Tch...

Rogue's lips met hers again, his eyes scrunching closed and heart pounding painfully in his chest as he forced another few breaths out, quick and as level as he could possibly manage in that instant, and still-

His eyes snapped open, a small, weak jerk of Hora's body underneath him stalling that last breath halfway through, and he pulled back just as her body lurched with a low, raspy cough. And one followed by ever lower, raspier, shallow breaths of air- but breaths nonetheless.

And quietly, faint, and weaker still- there was the slow, sluggish thumping of her heart after what felt like a millennia of sheer silence, and both Sting and Rogue nearly stopped breathing themselves for it.

But any amount of faltering, or relief that hit them in the next instant immediately got shattered. Because the first cough was followed by another, and then several more after Hora sucked in a sharp intake of air that was almost instantly cut off in the ragged, biting coughing fit that sent violent spasms running rampant through her broken body. Sticky crimson liquid rose up her throat and spattered against the sheets, Rogue and Sting quickly steadying her and tilting her head enough to keep her from choking on it anymore than she already was. When the coughing drew to a halt, it came with each successive one getting shallower, and weaker than the one before it- before settling back to that low, dreadfully slow pace that had them terrified it would lead back to her lungs and heart stalling again. And this time there was even slimmer chance of bringing her back.

The door slammed open into the room, the sound of it only faintly registering on their ears- and they didn't look up to see who had come in until they felt the air shift. The icy cold suddenly got swept up in a wash of wind made of nothing but warmth and unending heat- which was both welcoming against the way they were shivering, and jarring too. The Twin Dragon's heads snapped up, tear-filled eyes locking onto Natsu as the pinkette barged in without hesitation, Lector, Frosch, Rufus, and Orga on his tail- but only just reaching the door as Natsu swept up to the bedside.

Natsu's face fell the instant he got there, the panic in his expression instantly replaced with utter fear for the blood dripping passed her lips, the barely audible sound of her breaths and heart combined- and how clear it was in an instant what Rogue and Sting had been doing, and how close she was to slipping away again.

S-shit...

There was no time for questions, pausing, or whatever else- and Natsu didn't. He grit his teeth and moved up onto the bed, Rogue shuffling quickly to get out of his way, and the Fire Dragon Slayer's hands hooking underneath Hora's body. Natsu hissed lowly under his breath for how much deadweight she was as he pulled her up and into him, the pinkette taking a heavy, rather haphazard seat on the bed, his back slamming a bit painfully against the headboard in doing so, but ignoring it. He pulled Hora into his lap with little a word or pause, his arms wrapping around her figure tightly and pressing her close into him, and grimacing for the chill of her skin against his. She was ice cold, and so much so even Natsu shivered slightly against it.

Natsu frowned, hugging Hora a little more tightly into him, her head falling limply against his chest, and his hands on her skin and everywhere else he made contact with her steaming almost instantly- fighting back the harsh grip of the cold that was dragging her down to some place no one wanted her to go, and hopefully staving off what stillness came with the deadly chill. Tiny bits of flame sparked off Natsu's shoulders as he pushed his Magic forward enough to bring the heat of it up another dozen degrees, but he kept it from turning into full fire and flame as much as he could manage, lest he end up burning the bed, room, or worse, her.

Hora didn't move even as Natsu pulled her into him, she was limp and heavy in his hold, her breaths coming still shallow, and so low they were barely there- and it stayed that way for what seemed like forever. Rogue and Sting didn't move from where they were on the end of the bed, both Dragon Slayers shaking still from cold, and terror, and just about everything in between as they watched the two tensely, tears still in their eyes and fixed. Their gazes didn't move, not even while Lector and Frosch lighted down shakily beside the two, sniffing and crying quietly themselves... Nobody moved, not for half an hour, then a full, and coming on near two hours- and each second of it was absolute torture. And it was made all the more torturous as Sting, Rogue, and Natsu all strained to focus on the could of her quiet, so shallow breaths- followed with the even more soft and sluggish sound of her heart.

It took so long for either to pick up even the slightest bit, and at first they couldn't tell the pace and tenor had changed at all. The first thing any of them noticed, and Natsu especially, was the way she started to shiver after awhile. It was only a little, a small tremor in her shoulders here and there, a tiny, indistinguishable hitch in those shallow breaths for just half a second. They were so small, and so few and far between it was impossible to really tell- until the third hour crawled in. The cold in the room had never ceased even with Natsu there, nor for that amount of time, or how many wafts of heat kept radiating off of him. It was still chilly and biting on their shoulders regardless, broken by bursts of heat that were almost like breaths of relief, but always snatched back away in an icy grip soon after. And they'd almost given up thinking it was going to make any sort of difference... until the tiny, little imperceptible trembles in Hora's figure became more violent shivers rather quickly, and ones that gripped her battered body tight and had her face pulling in discomfort.

Natsu jumped slightly when she started to shiver harder, his eyes opening and pulling his chin off the top of her head briefly, biting the inside of cheek when her more elevated and shuddering breaths hitched a little in a quiet wince. She shivered again, her hands curling weakly into fists and almost recoiling from where his hands were- but he hugged her the tiniest bit more into him. He forced himself a small breath as he did so, his stomach churning for the entirely fruitless resistance she gave in refusal to the motion, though she hadn't the strength nor mind enough to really pull away, or cease the contact. Natsu grimaced to himself as Hora shuddered again, and this time there came small hiss from her- her shoulders hunching and her form tensing against him and the heat he gave off, and the cold running rampant in her own body that fought back at it even while it started to lose leverage.

"... I know this doesn't feel good, Hora, I'm sorry... but I have to..." Natsu mumbled quietly, his voice so low Rogue and Sting barely even heard him- and surely Hora didn't either, but it didn't stop Natsu from mumbling the apology regardless. She squirmed a little more, little, fleeting hints of resistance against his hold that never lasted more than half a second- and ones that grew weaker and weaker with the shivering intensifying, and what little strength she had to move at all got swallowed up by the tremors running through her. They were clearly painful, her breath hitched awfully at every one and the tautness of her body in Natsu's hands was painful in itself. He swallowed hard at it, his eyes falling closed and chin falling on the top of her head again, his lips pulling down at the edges in a faintly pained grimace.

Natsu mumbled something again, quietly- and this time so low nobody else heard him say it;

"Tch... I'm sorry... But... Stay alive okay...? I told him you could make it through this... I know you can... so just keep trying... Okay...?"

.:+:.

It... There's... N..no...

... It... It's hot... P... Please...

... No... Arden... D...don't...! Don't do it... Let... L-Let me go...!

I don't wanna burn again, n-no...!

I can't... B... Burn from the inside out again... I... I can't...!

I... It...

... Its... Hot... B...but...?

... It... It doesn't... Hurt... L-like when... Arden...?

W...what the...?

It's... It's...

... It's not... Burning me alive... But... What...?

... This fire its... Not Arden...? N..no... It's...

... It's warm...

... It's... Nice... It...... It hurts... Less...

... W... Wait...

... N...now... S...something else hurts...... E..everything is... Throbbing... I...

... My stomach... Hurts... M...my chest hurts... I...

... I don't... Feel... Go...goo..d...

.:+:.

"... I've been giving her medicine since the start to try and keep this from happening, but... Over-Drive, the amount of blood she's lost, as well as the Poison we used to keep her Magic in check- they have both weakened her body and her immune system so drastically, it didn't matter. And none of Wendy nor Sherria's efforts made a difference, nor will they at this point- they've exhausted themselves, they have nearly no Magic Energy left, and what little they do will not help. The infection has gotten too severe."

"... D-Don't you have anything to get rid of the infection now...? Something stronger...?"

"... I can make something stronger, and it might help... But she's extremely weak after everything, she might not have strength enough left to fight off the infection on her own now, even with more antibiotics... All I can do is try, and we will have to wait and see... She's lasted this long, much longer than she should have... But she's near spent..."

Rogue grit his teeth hard, his head bowing between his hunched shoulders and fingers digging tightly into the bedsheets, his knuckles white under the pressure and hands shaking terribly... Just as terribly as the bed was, and Hora's body lying atop it, littered with bandages, damage, or otherwise covered now with warm, damp cloths meant to ease the white-hot and throbbing intensity of wounds that were swollen, tender, and very, very infected. Those wounds that hadn't managed to get healed despite all efforts too- the tears in her sides, arms, ribs- all of them, they'd resisted healing the whole time. And now after all of it, and all that time waiting, and just trying to keep Over-Drive from killing her- the wounds had taken up a painful, burning with infection taking firm hold of the injuries, and then spread outward through every inch of her, raging through Hora's battered body, igniting fire in every cell and bringing her temperature to a boil again. The fever wasn't near as hot as when Over-Drive had been at its height, but it was high enough, and paired with feverish chills racking her body nonstop, and it was awful to simply see, let alone how it must have felt for her.

It was so bad, he knew it- Porlyusica had been clear about it, and almost brutally honest. She didn't give them any amount of false hope that wasn't justified but... but still...

Rogue grit his teeth harder, his whole body rigid and holding a shuddering breath of air mixed with a sob that wanted nothing more than to come up his throat, and quickly get followed by more. He didn't want to crumble, not more than he had over and over through all the constant waiting, rushing, worry, scares- all of it.

He didn't want to break down again now, he took everything he had not to... but hell... How could he not? After what momentary, fleeting sense of relief when Over-Drive settled to something less serious came- only for that little bit of hope it brought to get snatched away by this...? The reality of the fact that, after all of it- a constant back and forth just to keep Hora barely alive, and her slipping to and from oblivion- it had whittled down to this?

Her body being now gripped tightly by the cruel fingers of fever and sickness alike, white-hot and crawling through every tendon, muscle, nerve and bone. Burning through her and sapping away what little strength and energy she had left after all the hurt, until eventually she... She... s-shit...

Rogue swallowed hard, his breath hitching and sharp in the almost deadly quiet of the room. The sound of his breath melded with the trembling, uneven ones escaping Hora still... but getting slowly weaker over the hours, along with the rest of her. Her body starting to give in to sickness, the strain, and everything else- and there was nothing he nor anyone could do.

Sting and Lector were asleep on the other side of the bed from Rogue, the blonde slumped in a chair and his Exceed Partner curled up in his lap- while Yukino had pulled up her own chair not far from the two, her knees pulled into her chest and forehead resting against them, quiet, and Frosch had found a space curled up at the end of the bed. Rufus and Orga were on the far end at a table with benches surrounding, Orga sound asleep with Rufus seemingly the same- his hands clasped together on the table top and eyes closed. The rest of the Guild was outside, scattered in halls, the main foyer, or tucked in their rooms, tense and grim... the whole building was grim, a heavy black cloud of fear and sorrow weighing over everyone, and all for that Fire Devil Slayer the whole of the SaberTooth Guild loved so very much, and had known for so long.

And it wasn't just the Sabers feeling it, there were those in Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale that were just as wound up, nauseous, and afraid- those that had cycled in and out, without end. But now they had slowed in their back and forth, because there was nothing left to do but wait, and see what may come.

Even if what may come might be... The worst thing

Rogue flinched as the thought ran through his mind, as it had done over and over again, no matter how hard he tried to keep it from his head. Keeping it away was just about as fruitless an endeavor as stifling the sobs still rising, and ever persistent in the back of his throat, and trying hurt terribly. It felt like a stone in his airway suffocating him, paired with a fire burning in his lungs for every breath, and his stomach had been (and still was) churning, curling, and twisting itself so tightly he wanted to retch, though he had nothing in his stomach to expel. He'd been being crushed so heavily by an overwhelming, and debilitating fear and dread the whole time that he didn't even feel any soreness, or hurt in his own body from the fighting in the GMG and the Dragons combined. He was exhausted, his mind a haze of terrible thoughts, fears, and suffocating sleeplessness- but he could not feel the exhaustion around everything else, it just hung over his head, adding to the weight of the fear, and the deep, cutting sorrow.

He could not imagine a world where she wasn't there, but still that reality kept running through his head, chilling, agonizing- and backed with a sense of sheer emptiness and loss that came in the form of a sea of shadows, and one that was waiting to swallow him whole. And this time around there would be no coming back from it, and he wasn't sure he'd have the will or the want to resist that call into the Abyss either.

Not without her

Rogue's breathing hitched again, his shoulders hunching further and doubling over until his forehead pressed against the top of his shaking hands still clenched around the sheets.

D... Damn it...

He tilted his head up slowly, half of his face buried in his knuckles and red eyes gleaming in the dim as they found her again. And his red eyes glittered, nothing but pained and absolutely aching as he watched the rapid, trembling up and down of her chest paired with shivers rattling her battered body so, so harshly. He heard whimpers and hisses of pain escape her here and there, agony in wounds and injuries heightened to heavy throb with the infection setting on, and then heightened more with each shake, each breath, and each lingering bit of nightmare and delirium that remained, even as her mind slipped further and further away... She was slipping further and further away, and he could do nothing but watch it happen.

Rogue grimaced, the pricks of newfound tears emerging at the corners of his eyes again- and especially so for what sharp pang of guilt hit him when his gaze found the lines dug across her flesh. Five continuous ones, jagged, and still raw, and would have been so deep at the time she earned them... Wounds put there by him, or some version of him- and he wanted to retch all over again. He swallowed hard, holding his breath against the sensation and the sobs still fighting to come to fruition- and a sob that nearly managed to escape as he shifted, uncurling his hands from the sheets and reaching forward slowly, shakily. His hands curled around her bandaged one gently, cupping it between his own and swallowing back at how heavy, frail, and uncomfortably warm her hand was in his grasp. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, pulling her hand only an inch or two closer to himself and holding on steadily. He wasn't likely to let go again, now that there was nothing to do but wait, and he would hold on for however long it took, and wherever it lead. But he did hope maybe... Maybe it might help, somehow, someway.

Maybe even with her mind so far from the waking world, and even having been leagues from it for so long- maybe she could feel it, and know there was someone there still, holding on. A small, faint little bit of contact that might help her stay tethered to the waking world, and help nudge her away from inescapable oblivion with a promise that he was still holding on to the hope that... That...

His hold on her tightened a bit despite himself, swallowing hard and his eyes locking to their hands, his lips a thin, tense line and the pricks of tears at the corners of his eyes got a little bigger, threatening to spill over for perhaps the millionth time now.

"... Hora... Please... you need to get better, okay...?" Rogue whispered, his voice rough and hoarse, and barely loud enough to be considered a whisper- but with the lump in his throat and the ache in his lungs, it was all he could manage. "I know... I know you're exhausted... I know everything... hurts... but... please... you have to keep fighting it... you have to come back, Hora... you promised... I... I know you meant it, a-and that you would be careful, and not do anything too dangerous... i... if you could help it... I understand why you...y...you pushed yourself so far... I... I get it... I'm not mad, Hora... I know why you kept trying, and pushing it... I understand, just please... keep fighting now too, okay...?" Rogue whispered, his voice quickly adopting the shakiness in his hands, and his body followed suit. "... I know it's... R... Really hard now, t-to keep... Fighting it, after everything... But... Please..." He hissed, breaking off as his voice cracked and he shut his eyes tight, the tears spilling over after his fight to keep them back failed at last.

"... I need you to come back, Hora... I... I can't handle losing you... I can't..." Rogue whispered breathlessly, the tears splashing against his hand atop hers, dribbling between his fingers and over her own, steadily soaking the bandages holding together the split flesh. "... P-please Hora... I can't take it i-if you... You d-die... P... Please... C-come back... W...wake up... Please... Y... You have to be okay... I c-can't lose you, Hora... I... I'm s-so sorry... I... I just can't... N-not if you're gone... Please... I... I can't do it if you... I..."

He bent over a bit more, his teeth gritting so hard they threatened to crack and his heart felt it was doing the same. His head lowered, his forehead brushing against their entwined hands. Murky moonlight filtering in passed the curtains glittered off the tears still falling from his eyes without end- quiet though, just like his voice was, and absolutely agonized too... His voice low and trembling, full of anguish- and with no one awake or conscious to hear it.

"... I love you, Hora... Please... P...please come back..."

---

Hello lovelies!

This chapter was a heck of a whirlwind, so much hurt, so much sorrow ;w;
I apologize for any tears or the like, but I do hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, and are looking forward to the next chapter... I can't promise it's gonna be any less heartwrenching XD

Anyway, thank you all for your continued support! I appreciate you all so very much!

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