Levy was in and out most of Sunday morning, but fully woke up around noon. The bruises had gotten a bit darker, so they kept applying ice throughout the night and into the morning. It even hurt to talk, so they had her write down everything she wanted or needed. At some point before she woke, Laxus had left, going back into his own room to get away from everything, staring at a picture of his first team. Makarov came to check on him, noticing the picture.

"Is everything alright son?" He asked, sitting right next to his grandchild.

"Everything's fine," Laxus said with a heavy sigh, setting down the photo.

"I don't have to be a mind reader to know that's not true, and you know how much I wish I had been."

"It's just…none of this would've happened if- "

"If the Thunder Legion were still around. I know, and you're right. But that's because they have no connection to Juvia and Gajeel. You would've beaten them with little to no casualties."

"But they were experienced too. Piper, Gorgon, Mime, they wouldn't have been so focused on who they were fighting, just trying to end it." Laxus felt tears leave his eyes while thinking of his old friends who had left the mansion.

"I know. Bixlow, Evergreen, and Freed were very skilled and focused, but relationships can muddy the waters. You remember the Strauss kids, right?"

Laxus nodded, remembering Mira, Lisanna, and their brother Elfman. Remembering the night of terror, they faced two years prior. Elfman struggled to gain control over his powers, being able to turn into a beast that was an amalgamation of animals. His two sisters could shapeshift too; the oldest, Mira, being able to turn into other people along with a form that looked like a hot monster girl; but the youngest, Lisanna could only turn into animals.

That was a night he was never going to forget. Elfman lost control of his powers and started attacking everyone in his beast form. Laxus and the older people in the house tried to stop him, but it was no use. Even Evergreen with her stone-cold glare couldn't stop him, he was in such a blind rage that only the whites of his eyes could be seen. The only person who refused to fight him was Lisanna, and she almost paid with her life. She was a pummeled mess by the time they knocked him out. And when he woke up, he vowed to never use his powers again. Subsequently, the Strauss siblings all left when Lisanna woke up, she had no recollection of what had transpired, which was a blessing. Laxus told himself from that day forward, he wouldn't let relations and feelings cloud his judgment in a fight.

"Gramps, you weren't there. Gray wasn't even landing a hit on that water girl. And Levy was no match for that idiot with a crush on her." He yelled, tears streaming down his face.

"I know, and I know that it wouldn't have happened if their opponents knew it was them." Makarov retorted.

"He was going to kill her, the same way Elfman could've killed Lisanna. From the bruises Levy sustained, he wasn't holding back either." He stood up, leaving the room.

With Makarov alone in the empty room, he too gazed at the image of Laxus' old team. All of them smiling in the moment, unaware of the realities the world held for them.

At the home of Jose Porla, things weren't going so peachy keen either. He had the three teens standing in front of him, reprimanding them about the previous night. Totomaru felt he didn't need to be there, but was made to stay, despite not being on the mission. Gajeel wasn't one for excuses, but their loss wasn't his fault.

"What do you mean another group of mutants?" Jose raised his brow.

"Never seen 'em before, three of them. Two guys and a girl. Ice, lightning, and I guess the kid can make stuff."

"So, you mean to tell me that they stopped the two of you? Interesting. I guess heists in Oaktown are better since no one stood in our way. But this won't do if I want to keep business close to home." Jose stood and walked around the three.

"Totomaru, you weren't there, but do you have an idea of how we might want to weed out that other team?" Jose came close to the boy.

"Well, I mean, I guess a trap might be good, just to see if they're local and everything."

"And you Juvia?"

"Juvia thinks that will work too, but what if we lose again?"

"It might be better to think of it as a test run, see if they actually live here and go from there." Gajeel blurted out.

"Sounds good, I'll keep you updated on more jobs outside of Magnolia." Jose said as he sat back down, dismissing them.

They each walked out, unsure of what exactly they were gonna do if the other group interrupted them again if they had a job in Magnolia. Gajeel was pretty angry, he hadn't failed a job since they were younger. He couldn't believe there were mutants out there actually willing to fight them. Juvia meant what she had said to that ice boy the previous night, chivalry wasn't dead. For a guy to not hit her in a fight, that meant he must have been highly moral. She couldn't say she had a crush though, she barely knew him and was already dating her sweet Gray. With Totomaru not having been there, he had no idea what had truly transpired the night before, meaning he was now gonna be forced to do jobs now. All he wanted was to leave and have a normal life.

The rest of their Sunday was quiet, nothing to do, nowhere to go, just thinking about what they'll do if they encounter those mutants again.

—

Monday morning, the students at Makarov's home were getting ready for school. Kids were running all over the place, getting ready to leave like every Monday. Some kids were making breakfast, others making sure they had all their things, and some still sleeping. Natsu was using his flames to make some food portably, he hated using the kitchen in the morning, way too crowded. Gray still had a black eye from the weekend, but thankfully it didn't look too bad. Levy on the other hand still had a raspy voice and hid her bruises under a scarf, trying to sneak out to school.

"And where do you think you're going?" Laxus asked rhetorically.

Levy's voice was hoarse as she spoke, "To school."

"Not like that you're not. What if your scarf falls off, huh? You know people would start asking how this happened." Laxus said this and at once, everyone in the vicinity left, they did not want to watch this.

"Gray is going to school with a black eye though…" She pointed at Gray, who quickly walked out the door, he too not wanting to be part of their little squabble.

"He can explain it away. He and Natsu fight all the time. But you, it'll raise suspicions if the sweet bookworm comes in with bruises." Laxus explained this, trying to sound a bit nicer.

"He's right Levy, you should stay home today." Makarov came downstairs.

"Ugh, fine, but only because you said so, professor." Levy went back to her room, stomping the whole way there.

When she got back to her room, she changed out of her school clothes into some loungewear. She also took off her scarf, revealing the black bruises around her neck. Even sparring with the rest of her housemates didn't leave her with bruises this bad, but then again, they weren't actually trying to hurt her. She sent a quick text to Droy, asking if he and Jet could take notes and get the homework for her. He replied with only a smiley face emoji and thumbs up, letting her know it was a yes.

Everyone else went to school, trying to deal with the usual case of the Mondays. The moment Gray walked through the doors, Juvia was on him, concerned about his black eye and questioning him on how he got it and if it hurt. Like Laxus had said, he used the excuse of him and Natsu fighting a bit too rough. From that explanation alone, whenever Juvia saw Natsu, she would give him a stare that sent chills down his spine, a silent threat. Aside from that, the day went on as usual, but Gajeel was a bit confused as to why Levy wasn't there, she wasn't one to miss school. He wasn't sure if he should text her considering the fact that she wasn't the most thrilled she'd ever been at the end of their Saturday together. Instead he'd ask Jet, since he was like, one of her two best friends.

"Sarusuke, I noticed the Shrimp isn't here today. What's up with that?" He asked as Jet closed his locker, making him roll his eyes at the usage of his real name.

"She's alright, she's a bit under the weather. Might just be a head cold." Jet knew it wasn't a cold, but he had to stay calm. He heard what had happened and understood completely that if they hadn't been concealing their identities, none of that would have happened. He knew Gajeel had a major crush on Levy, the last thing he'd do is knowingly hurt her.

Gajeel nodded in response. "I hope she didn't get sick from the sports complex."

"I don't know, seems pretty germy to me. Was that like a date or something?"

"I don't know, feel like it wasn't, since I didn't technically say it was one" The taller man shrugged and looked off to the side.

Jet sighed and crossed his arms. "Just stop beating around the bush man." He walked off, he didn't know how Levy would respond if Gajeel actually confessed.

While everyone was at school, learning the day away, Levy was stuck at home with Laxus and some other adults. It was lunch time and Gildarts had made her some chicken soup. He had his orange hair slicked back while wearing a gray shirt. He was one for the oldest members of the house, having been there for years, even before Laxus was born. He truly treated everyone like his own kids, a trait he picked up from Makarov, but he was much less responsible.

The soup mostly consisted of shredded chicken, chicken broth, and some dumplings. She wasn't the biggest fan of chicken soup, but she could appreciate how much he and everyone else was taking care of her. She was happily eating the soup when Laxus walked in, getting some ice cream from the freezer and sitting right in front of her. Not saying a word.

"Is something the matter, Laxus?" She asked, voice still hoarse.

"Not really, just wanted to see how you are feeling and apologize that I wasn't there to protect you." He never truly apologized for things, being a bit spoiled and having things go his way most of his life.

"I'm okay, my voice is abnormal and my neck is still sore. But you don't need to apologize for it, getting hurt comes with the territory." She shrugged.

"Nah, there's no excuse, I should've gotten there faster." He ate his ice cream slowly, letting some of it melt.

"I appreciate it Laxus, I'm glad you're here, but I'm not that little girl you promised to protect when we were kids." She gave him a soft smile as she finished the soup.

"I know, I know. By the way, you won't like this, but I think you should distance yourself from Gajeel."

Levy scoffed, letting her smile fade. "You're asking me to stop associating with my friend Laxus. I bet you didn't say this to Gray about Juvia."

"I did actually, on Sunday while you were in and out. He wasn't too happy about it either. But you know why I'm saying this. It could jeopardize another mission and more people could get hurt."

"I understand, but they didn't know it was us. And it wasn't like I was refusing to fight him. I was weak from using my powers and he's just that strong." She got up, putting her bowl in the sink, making an angry face as she did so.

"I get that he's strong, but that means you need to be better than you are now. Once that neck of yours gets better, I want us to start training a bit differently. Obviously, hand to hand combat won't always work, so how about you try making weapons?" He turned in his chair to look at her as he posed the suggestion.

She was taken aback at the idea. Levy never made weapons, she preferred to keep it to regular objects. She knew it made sense in her case, but she didn't want to hurt people. She gave a halfhearted nod, thinking it might be decent to try making and learning how to use them. Laxus gave her an assuring smile and patted her head before leaving the room with his now ice cream soup.

Laxus was right, it was dangerous to associate with Gajeel if they were to have any other run-ins, and she needed more ways to defend herself. Unconsciously touching her bruised neck, she was thankful that she hadn't died that night, she didn't even want to think about if she had. Gajeel wouldn't have known that he'd been the one who'd killed her, and then he wouldn't know why everyone would hold a grudge. And yet, she wasn't going to tell him, she was gonna take the secret as long as she could.

—

By the end of the day, everyone was ready to leave school. Jet and Droy were walking back to the mansion when Gajeel jogged beside them. He said he wanted to see Levy, just to check on her. Droy thought it was a strange excuse considering he could just call, but he knew Gajeel was a hard guy to say no to. So, they said he could come, but he had to wait outside for Levy to see him. When they got there, Gajeel sat on the porch waiting while they went to grab Levy. She came out in her loungewear and scarf from that morning.

She waved at him and cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry I wasn't at school."

"It's fine, I just wanted to check on ya. Not like you to be sick. Hope it wasn't from the sports complex." He leaned in his seat.

"It's just a little sore throat, I should be fine in a few days, just don't wanna get anyone sick." She smiled softly with her eyes closed.

"Glad that's all it is."

Levy noticed Gajeel's own bruised hand, knowing it was from over the weekend. "What happened to your hand? It looks pretty bad."

"Oh, it's fine, just got into a fight with a bunch of losers, I won of course." He said while hiding his hand and boosting his ego with the lie.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay Gajeel", Levy knew it was a lie, but held his hand in support anyway.

He didn't expect that she'd show this level of affection to him. They'd flirt, but there wasn't anything serious, and of course he wanted to tell her how he felt, but he feared rejection, especially from her. Levy's hand was smaller than his own, but he already knew that since she was small in general. He liked to say that he was never nervous, but this unexpected hand holding made him blush slightly, not knowing what he should do next. Making a spur of the moment decision, he leaned in close to Levy, giving her a soft kiss on the lips then slowly leaning away. It was short and sweet, just like how he saw Levy.

"Sorry, um, I should go." He got up quickly, embarrassed by the kiss and waved bye.

"Uh, okay, bye." She touched her lips, still warm from his before getting up and walking inside.

Laxus had been looking out the window, arms crossed as she walked back inside.

"That's not keeping your distance." Laxus gave her a cold stare, not surprised that she hadn't listened to him earlier.

"What was I supposed to do, tell him to leave? That would seem suspicious coming from me." She walked past him, never even looking at the blond.

Laxus grabbed the blunette's arm, making her face him before shouting, "Well you definitely weren't supposed to kiss him!"

"He kissed me, don't get it confused! You're not the boss of me, Laxus, and you're definitely not my father." She tried wriggling her hand from his grip but it was no use.

"I may not be your dad, but we both know he'd agree with me if he was here." Laxus shouted this without thinking, making Levy slap him hard, causing him to let her go.

With tears in her eyes and with a raw voice, she shouted at him, "Don't you dare say that to me! My father is dead, so don't you dare speak to me as if you know what he'd say."

She ran off to her room without another word. That was the worst possible outcome of their conversation, making Laxus give her some space the next few days as she tried to fully recover. He didn't mean to upset her, he just wished that she'd listen to him sometimes, like when they were kids. She used to go along with anything he suggested, but now it was different. It didn't help that he had moved away from her as he grew up, or the fact that he had kissed her months prior. It wasn't malicious or a way to string her along, he just had a bit too many drinks and kissed her. He knew she used to have a crush on him, but at the time, he liked the oldest Strauss sister, too bad she didn't like him back. It had all been an accident, but not a mistake; he cared about Levy way too much for it to have been a mistake.

Elsewhere at the mansion, Zeref had been showing good progress with Makarov. He had been working on his breathing and having calmer thoughts. He was still afraid to touch a person, but plants had been living a little longer after he was touching them. He never thought any of this would work, but he was happily surprised. At this point, they were taking a short break, having a snack and some water while Makarov brought in more plants.

"Zeref, you said you had a brother, right?" Mavis asked, making Zeref nod in response.

"Do you know if his last name is still Dragneel?" She asked again.

"Not quite sure, I remember I had a brother, but I don't remember his face or even his name." He sighed harshly.

"Well, there's this kid, Natsu Dragneel, he lives here and I realized you two have the same name. He's about the same age as your brother, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to assume…"

"If you're asking about Natsu, he came here from a man named Igneel when he was a kid. His powers were just starting to grow at the time." Makarov came back into the room.

"Igneel? He was a family friend, my brother has been here the whole time, and he's a mutant?" Zeref was puzzled that he and his little brother had been at the same school and never thought to put two and two together. But it made sense, he didn't remember anything about his brother, and if Natsu hadn't reached out to him, he might not remember he exists either.

"I can always ask Natsu if he remembers anything."

"Mavis, I know this is exciting, but don't jump the gun. If Natsu does not remember, he may not want to." Makarov interjected, knowing it could spell trouble.

"That makes sense, I don't know what kind of trauma might be associated with him remembering me."

"Now, let's get back to your lesson, don't need to bring up bad memories to ruin the progress." Makarov set three succulents on the table, instructing Zeref to touch each one while using his breathing technique. The progress he was making was a lot faster than some of his long-term students that had been there for years. Makarov thought that perhaps with what Zeref lived through, he had a real goal to strive for compared to his other children. Zeref couldn't touch others in fear of killing them, leading to a life of partial solitude. Others who he'd been teaching for years just wanted to control their powers in an effort to fit in or become more than human. But he had to commend Zeref for having a real goal, to finally touch another again.

They went at it for several more hours, all the plants still ended up dead, but everyone was happy to have seen progress. Mavis escorted him to the front door, blowing a kiss to him as he waved goodbye. Zeref thought of Igneel, he remembered that they turned his brother over to him, but never saw him after that, it seemed weird that he would turn his brother over to a complete stranger and not tell them. Too bad they couldn't contact Igneel, he had disappeared.

Mavis wanted to know how she could help the situation with Zeref and Natsu, acquiring the help of Mest. She had trouble finding him, she knew he had been at the house earlier, his habit of coming and going drove her crazy. She finally found him with Wendy, watching a movie about a dog trying to find his old owner. Wendy was already crying while Mest had his arm around her, reassuring her that the dog is gonna make it back okay. Mavis thought it was extremely cute that Mest had taken her under his wing and spent all this time with the young blunette. She decided to sit with them until the movie ended and Mest told Wendy that they'd hang out again later. When she left the room, Mest looked over the small blonde girl.

"Alright Vermillion, what do you need?" The older man sighed, a bit disappointed that his time with Wendy was cut short.

"Who said I needed anything?" Mavis scratched her neck and gave a nervous laugh, feigning ignorance.

"We both know that you only ever seek me out if you need something." He pinched his eyebrows in anticipation of what she would ask him to do this time.

"Well, I wanted to know if you could help Natsu remember that he has a brother? Zeref, my boyfriend, is actually the brother in question."

"No can do."

"What, you aren't even gonna think about it?"

"Listen Mavis, my powers don't work like that. I can only change and erase existing memories, add false memories too if I feel like it; but bringing up those that have been repressed is out of my hands. Besides, even if I could, I'd need Natsu's consent. Stuff like that is repressed for a reason Mavis, and I don't want to be the cause of someone's pain." He said bleakly.

"Alright, I'm sorry for asking, just thought it'd be good to help you know." Mavis sighed, shrugging her shoulders as she left.

"I know, I thought like that too when I was your age." Mest called out to her.

He was then left to his own thoughts, thinking about his past and how he got to where he was today. Back then, he used his powers for his own gain, manipulating the memories of others to get his way. He was a horrible person with little sense of morality, but it all changed after he stole the memories of a middle-aged man who had insulted him for just being a child. At the time, he thought the old guy deserved it, but now, he realized how horrible he was for it. Mest had erased the man's memories, leaving him with only the memories he had when was a baby, severely crippling him and ruining his life. It wasn't until his late teens that he felt any remorse for his actions. Later, he'd taken money from a woman who wanted to forget all about her ex-boyfriend; from what she said, he was a piece of work. He happily erased all memory of her ex, but she wasn't happy for long. Weeks later, he saw on the news that she had run into the old boyfriend, he thought she was playing dumb and beat her within an inch of her life for it. From that point on, he always got the consent of every party involved, he never wanted to feel that guilt again. Around the time he was twenty, he had met Makarov, coming to live in the mansion. He just wanted free room and board, he didn't care about using his powers or getting a grasp on them; Mest had no plans of using his powers for a while, and generally didn't need to. He'd lived there for three years now, taking part in certain activities like training in order to fit in, but generally keeping to himself. Wendy had been the first person to truly take interest in him, trying to make him feel at home. He appreciated it, and soon became friends with the teenager. And if there was anything she was involved in, he was right behind her, having her back.

"Thinking about the past always bums me out." Mest said, finally getting up and leaving the room himself. It was only Monday night and the house already seemed quiet, people doing their homework or sleeping in their own rooms. He had passed by Laxus in one of the sitting rooms, scribbling on some paper. Mest never bothered with Laxus, they couldn't relate to one another, so he never bothered. That was until just now, and Laxus called out to him. He stopped and walked in the room, looking over what Laxus had written. It looked like a game plan of some sort, but it was very bare bones; two opposing sides going at it. Laxus explained that it was just a test for everyone, duke it out as if they were real enemies. Mest thought it wasn't a bad idea, but wondered if everyone actually agreed or if it was just a training exercise. Laxus said it was more of a war game, nothing should get too serious, but expected everyone to be fighting seriously.

Mest thought nothing of it and just said it was a good idea, but maybe one on one battles might be better. He patted him on the back and went off to bed. If Laxus was serious, he probably wouldn't join in, not unless Wendy was part of it. But considering the fact that Laxus said he wanted people to be serious, he hoped she'd be excluded, she was still a kid of course.