A/N thank you all for all the continued support, all the PMs, to those who take the time to leave a review, you're the best.

Huge thanks to Nightmare Senshi, Darlingnikki, MrsPuppetx for their help with all the exhausting editing and reworking this story is taking. Hearing from all of the readers everyday though, how much you're enjoying this and getting the feedback I get every day makes it all worth it!

DESNA

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Sydelle was only half happy, the Seers having not given her an answer that she liked, but other factors made it a bit easier for her to deal with. The Evening star was Mated, now she had to come up with a plan to get a Stellan on her side...she had to make an appealing deal for the small priestess that had taken the Evening star...or Kill her. The problem was, she didn't know if the woman had any combat training or not.

It would be simple, she would begin forcing the mating on Zen, more than a dozen tests now and each time, she could touch him, handle him, kiss him, touch him anywhere and while he snarled at her, twisted trying to deny her, he couldn't hurt her and, once she got her lips on his, he lost enough of his will to fight her she felt she could handle him, his magic overwhelming him and forcing him to be compliant. It was one of the most exhilarating things she'd ever experienced.

Oh and when he did, when she pushed enough of her magic into him and his overwhelmed him with that delicious compliance...he kissed back, and he was strong, Lusty, thrilling, last time Sydelle had nearly abandoned all reason and taken him he'd felt so good. The idea of him excited her now. He would make her ageless, as long as he lived, so would she, from the moment they mated she would not age anymore, his magic would adapt around hers, she would convert him to a Dark Archangel, something he leaned toward anyway with his past.

Her magic would expand, become stronger,he would fuse himself into her and she could tap his power like he was a living battery and he had immense amounts of magic, his refill rate was unheard of too, recovery times so fast her scientists were amazed by him, they were better than Kaleb's and Kaleb was a Wizard Saint.

Kaleb...she was unsure about him, he seemed...detached, which wasn't unheard of, slaves mentally shut down during training often, but him? She just didn't see how it could be so easy to bring the man down, yet he didn't seem...present.

She wasn't really a sadist, she didn't always enjoy witnessing pain unless it was an enemy, but she did enjoy watching a strong will fight to hold on. Something she was witnessing with all of the new males...except Kaleb. He was so calm, so….not there. Espera had been out twice, she was still a week away from her fertility cycle but the Warqueen was...enamored with Kaleb, there was no other word for it. He was beautiful and his beauty had captivated the woman. Sydelle had no issues with it, Espera had laid her whole faction at Sydelle's feet now, hoping to get unrestricted access to the big blonde.

So far Sydelle had allowed her the visits because Espera was willing to let the trainers use her to test Kaleb, his wings were still responsive, even heavily drugged he could call them and somehow, the hallucinogens, while working, didn't seem to shut his mind down completely like they had at first, it made Sydelle wary of the tall mage.

None of the others were quiet, Vander had fought bitterly through Fulos using him, they had drugged him almost to death to get all they needed from his body, and even then, drugged to the point he'd gone blind and deaf and his heart was having problems, his breathing had to be artificially stimulated, he'd still slurred out curses as Fulos had taken him, still begged for his mate, whispering "Erik…" over and over.

The Raven haired slayer was easier, and Sydelle had taken Fulos to her on her last day of fertility when Vander had red lined, heart and breathing stopping and he'd needed medical attention to bring him back, they'd been forced to reverse the drugs so he could recover.

Taking the Lunar Dragon had been... fun. His to be mate had to be forced to interact with him, he was heavily drugged, his senses cut off, but his inner dragon knew when his to be mate was near and his body, no matter how heavily drugged, simply would not respond, so, they bound the mate, who was a very loud, foul mouthed woman who seemed nearly unbreakable, and Sydelle and the trainers did beat her, tortured her really, broke both her wrists, all of her fingers, all trying to force compliance and finally they had to simply bind her, slap control devices on her, heavy ones used for shifters from Seven, magically cut off her voice and then shove her against her mates body, once there, Fulos had been able to get a very nice session with him while his mate had sneered and been forced to lay there and watch, anger rolling in the peridot eyes, a predatory look that promised death not even slightly hidden.

Sydelle admired her, when they had thrown her back in her little cell on the side of the Dragon Slayers holding bay where he was being kept chained to a table she'd managed to get the gag out of her mouth as Sydelle had been leaving and hissed in a low, deadly voice, "by th' Loa, i'll see ya dead, thrown in th' swamp for th' gators."

Sydelle could only smile at her spirit and pity her that she was so weakened by the big raven haired male she couldn't see the value of what was being done and couldn't be swayed to help them, become part of Joya herself, Sydelle had offered.

"I would allow you to keep your mate, you would only have to share him occasionally. You would be trained, wealthy, the income from just one breeding with your mate would see you very comfortable, he's large and strong with powerful rare magic, Warqueens would pay you well." She had pointed out and the woman had snorted.

"Why would I hand a sweet man ov'r ta someone jest as bad as th' black queen? Nev'r." She'd responded, and then Sydelle had started torturing her, admiring the fact that the woman never broke, never begged for her to stop, kept calling her names and swearing she would protect the Lunar slayer no matter what Sydelle did. Admirable loyalty and will, a waste...but still something Sydelle could appreciate. However...she'd had a trainer come to her...say that Sevenese shifters could be conditioned and reprogrammed and that was something she had said to start soon, with the woman conditioned to think she was a WarQueen...things would fall into place.

Open to suggestion….how interesting Kressa had built that into her creations. And Here Sydelle had gone years believing Kressa nothing but a panting dog for Karadin, a worthless bitch too tainted by her twisted desires. She'd wasted things, that woman had. Killed a perfectly good man who had born her a magically rare and talented child, granted a male but with further breedings she would be blessed with a daughter, simply controlling the King's mind would have made Kressa great...keeping the man chained in the bedroom while she took over the country. Put that brilliant son to work...but no, she'd...chosen to kill a viable male of strength and power, and had...used her own son in the bedroom.

Sydelle valued that son, Nuryev was handsome, and that magic….Gods she would love to add that to her own lines in Joya...but seriously, coupling with your own offspring? Disgusting. So she'd dismissed Kressa as useless and insane but really...the design, the work in the Sevenese supersoldiers, the shifters...the direction Kressa had gone there was brilliant.

While Karadin wasted time on berserkers that were near mindless, Kressa had captured Dire beasts, immortal beasts of immense magical power and talent and used their DNA to fuse into talented human mages and had created the Sevenese shifters...exceptional, powerful, vicious fighters with long lifespans, that could breed often, produce multiple children at a time and they bred TRUE, produced shifters, born shifters, that manifested excellent magic types with strong ability. Looking over what her own scientists brought her she had a deepening respect for the Lunar Slayers unclaimed mate and a greater desire to sway her.

The little Stellan chef who was the mate of the Dark Eagle...she smiled as she walked, another woman she felt she might try to sway instead of kill...that would depend on what her alchemists could work out, what her priestesses could do. She was hunting the Celestial Mage that held the 7 Keys of Enoch. If she could get her hands on him, perhaps she could find a way to override matings or even double them? She and the Stellan woman BOTH enjoying the power of the Dark Eagle. It was something she'd grab onto hard if it were possible. She abhorred waste, and killing strong women was a waste.

The big blonde Lightning slayer, he'd been an ongoing problem as well, so had his unclaimed mate. However, like the Lunar Dragon, once that mate of his was in the room, he calmed considerably, and unlike the Lunar slayer, he had more trouble differentiating his actual potential mate from someone else once drugged, the Beastmaster only needed to be close by, his scent present, and the slayer no longer electrocuted anyone who tried to touch him. He'd pulled his magic in in spite of the cancelling cuffs a couple of times, had even killed his first trainer, but Sydelle had brought his unclaimed mate in and had him whipped unconscious and told the slayer...

"Next time I cut off one of his hands if you kill someone, he is NOT your claimed mate, I CAN kill him and you would live on, remember that next time you try to harm one of my people." She had hissed at him.

All in all, it had been a very good couple of weeks. Espera was due in two days to finally begin breeding with Kaleb and by all appearances that would not go too badly, though Sydelle remained very wary of the calm detached man whose Lavender eyes seemed just...devoid of awareness…

The following day, with the dawn when Zen's power was not as strong, she was going to perform the ceremony to bond with him and bind him to her. Then he would compliantly, obediently, become her new full time bodyguard and, would be able to help her assure Kaleb was good while Espera bred with him.

She would also, hopefully, be having a Stellan brought to her side. The people were cunning and surly the woman would see her vision. That's what she needed to do: Convince the Priestess that her plan was the right thing...that bringing Pergrand to heel was the right thing.

That part of her plans was all uncertain, but she wasn't worried, as long as she could bring the Stellan to her side? She would be content. Zen's mate would assure his obedience to her will and if not, well...she'd duel the woman for him and be forced to kill her...a waste yes..but what had to be done would have to be done.

Her target after all of this, once Kaleb was bound to her, was the Celestial Realm, where she would take down the Spirit King himself and claim the spirits belonging to Yukino and Sorano whose keys she now held though the spirits still refused to answer her call.

She would teach them. They would become as obedient as her other spirits were. She controlled Cassiopeia, she would bring other spirits to heel.

For now though, she smiled as she walked into the chamber where Zen was chained, saw his beautiful amethyst eyes snap to her face and narrow defiantly.

He fought his chains, trying to twist away from her, he was good at it, a lifetime in the things had taught him how to maneuver while chained up like he was but Sydelle just smiled.

"There's nowhere you can go...no way to evade me forever, you waste energy and effort my Evening Star. Once I touch you...you won't even remember why you wanted to avoid me in the first place." She chuckled.

She was going to miss this, his defiance, how he fought her, fought himself and his own magic every time she came for him, but then, eventually, once she could get her arms around him, get her lips on his...he lost his will to fight, his eyes would haze over and he would become compliant, start kissing her back, responding with passion she found she enjoyed because her own magic powerfully drew her to him, made everything about him just...irresistible.

"I'll remember, I never forget, pieces of filth like you have had me in chains most of my life...but I never forget...I know what you're planning...and I may not be able to resist it but one day...I will kill you with my bare hands...I swear to the Gods…" He hissed.

Sydelle laughed. "To Hell with the Gods! I will kill them all, tear them down from the heavens and destroy them one by one and YOU and your brother will help me do it! So swear to whatever Gods you will, My Evening Star, you are mine, my property, you will serve at my feet, father strong daughters for me and give me immortality as well as your magic and strength!" She sneered, rushing him and her hands gripped his shoulders then his face, and she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his torso and kissing him as he thrashed and ripped at his bonds wildly trying to avoid her. To throw her off.

She won, she always did, her lips touched his and his strength just left him, his fury bled right out of him and his magic surged up and nearly blinded him with need, he felt his body heat, the red silk wrap he wore suddenly grow tight as his body hungered for her, for the magic inside her, to be one with her, to unite their bodies and give himself over to her.

His magic resonating with hers, with the damned pendant around her neck he knew held souls of two Celestial mages, both of whom he had held in his arms at different points.

Once he sagged, and his mouth opened, letting her tongue dive past his lips and invade his mouth, when he was kissing her back eagerly she waved a hand, then buried it back in his silky mahogany hair, the feel of this, of her magic resonating with his, the thrum of the power within, the pure magic driven lust….she loved this, hoped having him would always be this way because she was already addicted.

If she was Lucky Kaleb would be much the same, giving her magical power rushes as she took him, made him submit and give himself to her every whim. The trainers released him and his arms were immediately around her, hands seeking to please her and she moaned at the feeling.

She'd never lusted after men, never really felt she needed one, but Zen...he felt so good,made her magic sing in her veins...made her body yearn for his. Never had a man made her feel delicate, or any certain way but this one did,he was so tall, broad shouldered, his hard bulging muscle felt just...delicious and she suddenly appreciated why Espera was so taken by Kaleb and his body, why Fulos had spent most of her time with the Lunar slayer running her hands over his powerfully built chest and arms.

Men like these made her appreciate her own womanhood. She could fight beside these men, she could destroy the Heavens with them...but right then, all she wanted was to utterly and completely own the man in her arms.

"My Queen...please...forgive me...you told me to remind you…" Zen's trainer called to her as she was wantonly grinding herself over his groin, leaning into the hand that had slid up to tease one of her breasts.

She inwardly had to fight herself, her own magic, remind herself of her plans, the importance of waiting just until dawn...at dawn she would strip this man down and ride him right into her own glorious conquests.

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Kaleb was biding his time. Intermittently, he was able to touch the minds of his family and friends that were here with him. Laxus, Beck, Cristoff, Cida and Vander, that they had taken so many of them successfully stirred a frustration and anger he had needed to kick aside. All of his concentration had to be meticulously guarded.

He'd learned this years ago, how to separate himself, to detach from his physical self and retreat either into his intellect and magic, or into his physical body depending on the situation. In times of stress he leaned more into his magic and mind, when he was happy, like when he was in Lucy's arms, he would devote himself purely to the physical and enjoy every touch, every sensation his beautiful wife stirred.

Thinking of her, holding her as his goal, kept him in control because his magic, his everything, wanted to rupture this place, destroy the bands around his arms wrists and ankles, shatter the minds of every living thing within miles...he was capable of it...he had done it before.

But he couldn't risk it, he could easily hurt his loved ones, and there were innocents in Joya who did not deserve the sort of death he would dole out.

So, he waited, he reached, frustrated endlessly as drugs and the intrusive touches of the damn Joyan woman he had heard Sydelle sell his body to. She came out and touched him, ran her hands all over him, paid the trainers to take "breaks" so she could take more liberties, try to ignite him, get him hard for her without the direct drugs it had taken so far to get his body to respond.

She loved kissing him, running her hands through his hair, sucking on the cross over his heart. Careful not to leave marks but she whispered to him when her time with him came, when she was free to have all of him she wanted so badly, she was going to leave marks all over his skin.

He played the addled fool, whimpered Lucy's name and pretended to mistake the woman for his gorgeous mate, having to bite back bile and keep himself expressionless, keep his eyes vacant as she would kiss him, suck on his lower lip, climb on top of him and play with herself while she touched him.

A few times he was so focused on his wife he moaned her name and the woman and trainers would smile. He was counting the seconds until he could make those smiles turn into agonized screams.

When he finally reached Loke, got to hear the Lion spirits faint responses to him he damn near lost his carefully built facade in his excitement.

"They're looking for you, we're all looking, where are you?! Lucy is just sick with worry, Gods above Kaleb, she's in so much pain...it's worse than when the guild disbanded…and the boys..." Loke told him.

"You'll have to look, find me Loke, I'm not sure where we are but Me, Zen, Cris, Van, Laxus, Cida and Beck are all here, you have to hurry, she's planning something...something terrible with Zen, she means to bond with him, and she plans to kill Lucy so she can bind me to her...Loke...You protect her...no matter what it takes you fucking keep her safe...she's my whole world…without her and the boys..." Kaleb had said struggling to keep control of himself.

He had a family now, what he had always wanted, dreamed of finding, he had it, and Lucy was all of him, everything, his Sunrise, his love, his dreams, everything good in his life centered around her. Sydelle wasn't wrong, if she killed Lucy, she would break him...he would want nothing, no life without Lucy...Gods help him, he knew the boys would endure, his father would keep them and love them and raise them well, but he couldn't live without Lucy...not even for his sweet little boys.

It was days before he managed a connection again, this time with Draco.

"We have your location Kaleb, Lucy has teams and the King authorized a full wing of the Air Fleet to aid in recovering you and the others and bringing down Sydelle...you're right...she means to force your brother to bond with her...Lucy is holding strong, you would be proud of her, she loves you more than life young man and she's coming to bring you back home, all of you...how are the others...please tell me Cobras mate is ok, He's...not doing well, his dragon is suffering and he feels...terrible things through the bond…" Draco said.

"Van...isn't doing well...you have to hurry, please Draco...they...Vanders heart stopped today...they have it going again but he was on an artificial breathing device for hours and is still non-responsive...they over drugged him, they see him as...expendable..nothing but a test subject...and they've been torturing Cida...but they stopped, they switched to something else and her mind has started to become warped," He said and Dracos soothing growl came to him.

"We are close...very close, the pieces are almost completely in place to retrieve you, though what is going on in Stella isn't something we're privy to, even Farron only knows the very basic details," Draco observed.

He lost contact then when the Trainers came in to bathe him, Espera was two days from having him, the idea repulsed him, but no more than all he had been hearing of what was happening to his loved ones.

Beck...poor Beck...Laxus hadn't claimed him, was still struggling with denial over having a male mate and how he was going to handle telling his grandfather, but they had done enough, been together enough, and he'd bitten Beck, started the process of claiming him, just...hadn't fully consummated the mating, so Beck was a partially claimed mate which made him...easy to use. Of everyone, even including Vander, Beck had so far been the most abused and it was wrecking Laxus.

The lightning slayer had lost his temper, sensing Sydelle had sent some Battlemaids to Beck as a reward for service, Esther was in there with him, and they were using his mate, and Beck had no resistance, he was a partially claimed Dragon Slayer mate, the dragon magic was making it easy. Then Laxus killed one of the trainers assigned to him and Sydelle drug Beck into the slayer's chambers and whipped the Beast Master until he passed out.

Beck liked rough sex, he was 6'3" 260lbs of muscle bound battle hardened Beast Master mage, he could take a ton of damage and keep fighting...it had taken six women three hours to whip that man until he passed out, Laxus had started begging them to stop within minutes but Sydelle had been angry he'd killed one of her people, she was making a point that had cut Laxus to the bone and left Beck a bloody torn up mess.

Not acting, not helping...biding his time so he could help their people, help Lucy when they all came and not shedding a tear or letting his facade falter, had been one of the hardest things Kaleb had ever done.

But he waited, held on, when he could he eased the minds of his loved ones, dulled the pain for them even though it drained him and left him struggling to stay out of his physical side.

It was late in the night when his steady reaching, hungry need to feel his mate finally was rewarded. When he pushed he finally felt her, she was close enough and the moment his mind touched hers he pressed his lips together so he didn't smile at the desperate way she immediately grabbed hold, she was almost asleep but instantly awake.

KALEB! Kaleb...oh Gods Kaleb...I feel you… she mentally and probably physically wept as he was finally able to speak.

I'm ok...she hasn't done much with me, she is waiting until she's bonded with Zen then plans to use him to help her control me...I miss you Sunrise, I love you, but please...Vander isn't doing well at all, Laxus and Cida and Beck are all in bad shape too, Cristoff I don't know too much about, they've kept him unconscious or so drugged he can't think….

Soon...oh Kaleb...Gods i love you...hold on a little longer, we're coming...we're close to starting...The Stellans are going in first then us...Gods...it's so good to feel you… she responded and he let himself delve into her, he wanted to touch her, to feel her in his arms, to smell her hair, to taste her kisses, he wanted to hold his sons, he wanted his family not to be in pain anymore…

She started to share her plans but he stopped her.

Sunrise, if she attacks me, uses Zen against me, uses the full force of her magic and tries to bind me...I shouldn't know any of your plans… He said sadly and felt her fury rise.

She won't live long enough...Kaleb, I have permission...encouragement from the Celestial King himself to end her...and I plan to….She responded and his heart tightened in his chest, just when he thought he couldn't love the woman more…

Dawn suddenly felt very far away.

Presca pressed himself against the hard wall that was Gajeels chest, the dragonslayer lifting a lip, his fang glinting in the light seeping into the shadow they were hidden in.

With Vander captured, Gajeel was their only stealth, well, him and two of White Seas shadow mages, but Presca trusted Gajeel and wasn't too sure about either of the shadow mages holding him like Gajeel had to, one had been flirting with him for months, the other had openly asked him to share pleasure before he'd left on his last mission.

So...Gajeel, mated to Emzadi, he could handle. They skimmed through the Warqueens palace, mapping the place carefully and finally, found where their people were.

Gajeel recoiled seeing Beck and Vander, who were both in bad shape, Beck was laying unconscious in a pool of his own blood, with more seeping sluggishly from...dozens upon dozens upon dozens of lash marks all over the mans back, shoulders, arms, ass, legs...everywhere. Vander was on medical monitoring devices barely breathing with a weak pulse and two anxious doctors hovering around him.

Vanders condition lanced right through Presca. That was his best friend...and he looked pale, had bite marks on his chest neck and hips, his hair tangled and covering his eyes.

"The fuck...shit...good we didn't bring Cobra...he's gonna lose his shit…" Gajeel breathed. Presca glared, it took all his self control not to suck the life out of both of the doctors...but he knew...there were others...someone had done this to Vander...he narrowed his eyes and let his magic flow.

Slowly, a smile spread, a dark one…

"Gajeel, go that way...quick side job…" He urged and Gajeel narrowed his eyes but carried the energy mage where directed, slipping swiftly from shadow to shadow until they were in another wing of the palace.

He frowned as they came into a bedchamber where a slender woman was sleeping. Presca tore himself free from Gajeels shadows, lunging to the bed and clamping his hand over the womans forehead. She jerked, eyes flying wide but she couldn't move, looking up at the glowing steel colored eyes of the energy mage.

"You...you're the bitch that hurt my best friend...you used him...your fucking stink is still on him, your disgusting essence...it made you easy to find...whatever you took from him? You're about to lose…" He whispered and his magic flared and the woman convulsed silently, agony filling her eyes as Presca, in a way he normally reserved for extracting information from prisoners, drained her life force out of her letting it bleed into the floor, sheets, bed, everywhere it would quickly dissipate and when the last tiny spark of life was hanging by a thread he leaned close to her

"Everything you took...I have taken back, and now...you'll pay with your miserable life for what you did to my friend." He whispered and ripped the last shred of life from the woman, channeling it out the window to dissipate in the wind. He turned on his heel from the lifeless husk on the bed and returned to Gajeel, the Iron Slayer silently pulling him back into the shadows with him.

"Glad you're on our side Presca…" He said quietly as they returned to continue their task.

Presca growled "I'm not done...plenty more nasty pieces of filth to track down...Gajeel...I'm not leaving here until they're dead...every person who inflicted harm on our people...if they aren't killed during the rescue...I'm staying behind...to finish the job." He said darkly.

Gajeel smirked "I'll be right there with ya man…" He responded, smiling internally. He and Emzadi had already discussed this. She already had a hell of a reputation for destruction, Emzadi, like him, believed nothing should be left of this Warqueens existence and his beautiful mate had the firepower to make sure that happened.

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Hestor stood watching the Stellans with hard cool eyes, his attire was the black and golds of the temple of Anubis, he stood before a large group of similarly clad smiths and celestial element mages of Stella ironically on the large deck of the Saberfox, a Boscan ship of peace that belonged to his mate and had long carried Farron on missions to prevent war and combat.

A ship of peace it was, but the Saberfox still had a host of strike ships 4 small deck cannons and a mid sized jupiter canon on her front bow. He looked up and his eyes softened seeing Farron there in the command deck, smiling at him. They were cloaked in the sky above the capital of Stella and Farron, who had suffered so much here...hadn't even blinked at coming back to rescue his family, to fight alongside Hestor when he had convinced Stella to send forces.

Flanking the Saberfox were 6 Stellan warships...and there was a wing of 25 Boscan Warships not far behind them, the Aisipal herself, flagship of the Boscan fleets, lead the Boscan wing. The soldiers? Mages of White Sea...thousands of them.

Below it had already begun and now Kittar stood by Hestor, the big Encan looking down at the tiny spot below that was the capital of Joya and a lip lifted baring long fangs. Hestor smiled, Kit was one of Sevens creations...a true Dire Panther stolen right from the edge of the Encan swamplands. Kept, tortured, altered, trained to be a supersoldier for Seven, Cida...the woman Cristoff had been dating, spending so much time with, had all but raised the big man and he meant to get his "sister" back.

His magic...displacer...Hestor meant to put to use...Kit could move the entire host of Stellan soldiers on the deck of the Saberfox at once and Hestor meant to use that, as soon as their spies below gave them the "where"...he would go down there, bring Farron with him, and they would end this, rescue their family and make Sydelle sorry she had ever touched any of them.

Lucy was nearby, looking over the soldiers, but mostly...looking down at Joya and Hestor walked to her, she had been...different, since her trial to hold Draco, and Hestor didn't bother speculating on that, Key Trials were unique tests for every mage that faced them, common themes, but always tailored to the mage. He'd read about Draco's past trials...knew the Father of Dragons had laid out terrible tests of personal strength of character before, and didn't doubt he had run Lucy through hell but he had no pity for her, every key on his own ring had been a trial, he had fought, suffered, nearly died in some cases, for each key he held and Lucy had now gone through only one trial and held a key ring that many Celestial Summoners could only dream about.

They had talked some, sparred, he had forced her to fight hard every time too, no mercy in him no matter how she had stood up for him or that she had been among those who wanted him saved. In part yes, because he really just wasn't an overly nice man, he'd never in his life denied that nor did he plan to, but mostly because catering to her, coddling her, did her no favors. She stood by his best friend, she was co-master of his guild, she damn well needed to be strong to be where she was. So with him...she would get no ass kissing, not ever.

The blonde looked up when he approached and frowned "You felt this when I took him from you...didn't you?" She asked quietly. The ripping away of Kaleb, the void on the other side of their bond...it was better, Kaleb could barely reach her now...but still, the pain through her whole being while they were planning and gathering their forces had been...horrible. Draco had told her...it was because Kaleb was her "One" and they were so close...and having that pulled away placed a terrible strain on her heart and soul...he'd also told her..

"Remember how Hestor fell? How he just spiralled out of control? Was near mad and had darkness chewing at him?" The dragon had prompted and Lucy had looked up through tear swollen eyes at him because….that was exactly how she had felt the first few days...until Kaleb had fought and gotten back just enough to reach for her...she had known that dark terrible pain. The difference was, in her case, she knew when she reached Kaleb...got him back, he would be hers and she his and they would be alright...Hestor hadn't had that, no...he'd had the absolute certainty he had lost Kaleb forever and...he'd had to be nice about it...because it wasn't some Joyan warqueen he was justified in fighting that had taken his "One" from him, it had been Lucy.

It had worked out, Farron had been there, and Hestor had loved Farron too...and the fates had blessed Hestor with that ability to choose and to turn to Farron who had loved him so much already...but first Hestor had endured this, with an incomplete set of Dark keys.

"I know I said it...but...I'm sorry I hurt you. I'll never apologize for loving Kaleb, but I am sorry that me loving him hurt you." She said and Hestor hummed, putting a hand on the rail of the ship.

"There was a time I would have thrown you over this rail and sang over your screams to your death...but," he looked over as Farron emerged from the command deck of the ship in his armor, honey colored hair shining in the sun, nodding to various mages he knew until those baby blue eyes met his and Hestor smiled, warmth filling his gaze. "But I know the love and devotion you enjoy myself now...I appreciate it...cherish it...and will work my whole life to prove to the man I love just how much I do love him and appreciate all he sacrificed for me." Hestor said quietly, smiling when Farron reached him and bent to kiss his temple.

Farron hummed by Hestors ear "I would do it all again...anything...for you." He said quietly and Hestor smiled and shook his head.

"You will never know pain or suffering for my benefit ever again...not if there is any way I can prevent it." Hestor said firmly and Lucy smiled at the couple before looking down at Joya again internally making her own promises of pain...feeling Kaleb so weakened and exhausted through the link...she would rain Hell down on Joya...no...she smiled...she was going to bring the Heavens down on them…