Fairy Tail S

by ZenkaiPower

For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ

9. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII: Retribution

Inside the main hall of Akane Resort…

"I really am sorry about this, Sting," Wendy said tensely as she readied herself to fight as well, and she surprised a few of her spectators by grinning with some excitement before admitting something to him, "But if I'm being completely honest, I've been waiting to test myself against another dragon slayer for a while now."

"Well, now you've got your chance." Sting remarked before adding, "But you better remember that I warned you about how bad you might get hurt, you got it?"

"Oh, please." Wendy surprisingly teased him, "The only thing I'm worried about is showing off too many of my new moves while I get you out my way. The master of the second-best guild in the kingdom should make for a decent warm-up match for someone like me."

"Take that back, you ass!" Sting growled angrily, and white light shined from the palms of his hands for an instant before he continued to speak, "Sabertooth is the best damn guild in all of Earthland!"

"Guys, please!" Romeo made one final attempt to end the apparent nonsense, "We can't be fighting each other right now! You guys should both fight him!"

"No can do, runt!" Zancrow informed him aggressively, "My deal is with Wendy, and no one else. If anyone else tries to resist me; I'll let them watch as I kill everyone else. Except for Sting, of course. If he's crazy enough to beat her down just to get to me, I think I can at least entertain him."

"Bastard…" The group heard Jellal swear before Romeo could; but Zancrow only continued to smirk at their insults as he continued to watch Sting and Wendy's escalating argument.

"You heard him, Wendy! It's either you or me; so let's get this over with! White Drive!"

The White Dragon Slayer's body began to glow brilliantly white once more; and his shiny skin soon turned to scale as he simultaneously activated his Dragon Force, which created an even more blinding light that their spectators' eyes struggled to adjust to. But Wendy only grinned eagerly before beginning to power up herself; and the people watching her quickly widened their eyes in amazement after feeling the air fill with intense magic energy, although the real shock was the sight of an unfamiliar pale-blue aura she was sudden surrounded by as well.

Sting gave her a confused look upon trying to sense her all her powers; but Erza quickly figured it out aloud.

"That power…" The Knight began to observe; but Jellal finished her sentence, "It's ki."

Even Sting briefly glanced towards the pair curiously before looking back to his opponent cautiously as he listened.

"She must have learned how to use it from Goten," The former Saint remarked ponderously; and Romeo nodded before confirming his educated guesses aloud.

"That's right; Wendy mostly trained and developed techniques by herself; though," The young man explained with some pride in partner before his tone shifted into slight curiosity, "But now that I think about it; besides the basics, I don't think I've seen anything Goten might have taught her…"

"And probably for good reason." Erza added pointedly, which Romeo shrugged in agreement with before Sting spoke up.

"So what if she's got a neat trick or two up her sleeve?!" He interrupted them while slamming a foot down in impatience, "It's not gonna be enough to beat me!"

Waiting no longer for their opponent to back down, Wendy and Sting both cocked their heads back while inhaling; and the spectators, while also near blind from Sting's shining aura, briefly had no way to breath as Wendy took all the air from the room.

"White Dragon's… Holy Breath!"

"Sky Dragon's… Roar!"

The air came rushing back to the audience in an instant, though their ability to see only got worse; as both combatants' spells quickly collided and exploded. Romeo was shoved a few feet backwards while even Zancrow was forced to put a slight effort in standing straight against the shockwave. But while the bystanders were busy holding their ground, the two slayers were already calling out their next attacks.

"Sky Dragon's…

"White Dragon's…

Before the smoke could clear, Wendy leapt forward with the start of a counter-clockwise twirl just as Sting charged directly at her.

"Claw!"

"Holy Fist!"

Wendy directed all her momentum into her right leg to finish the spin just as Sting tried to hit her with a right hook, which quickly became an uppercut out of necessity; and both attacks collided to result in another large explosion.

This time, Romeo was shoved backwards until he slipped and fell over; and he mumbled to himself bitterly as he slowly got back up.

"Ah… what am I doing worrying about them? This fight's gonna get me killed…"

By the time he was seated upright, he was able to see the two fighters had apparently begun trying to punch and kick each other a few times; but since they both were failing to land a blow, the two leapt away from each other before cocking their right hands back. A modest-sized orb of white light appeared in Sting's hand just as Wendy, while guessing what her opponent's next move was, created a similarly-sized pale blue sphere of air and energy in her hand as well; and they both fired their attacks at each other in the blink of an eye with a yell.

"White Dragon's Claw!"

"Sky Dragon's Air Wave!"

The blue ball that once hovered over Wendy's palm quickly became a short beam that collided with the quick blast of light Sting had shoved at her; and Romeo weakly sighed in relief that the shockwave from this third exchange had less force, although there was an odd heat coming from the blast that he did not expect.

"Incredible…" Jellal remarked to no one in particular, "She incinerated Sting's stigma with her ki…"

"In an instant…" Romeo added with even more shock in his tone than Jellal's.

"Rrrr…" Sting growled vehemently at their compliments of his current enemy, "You're really starting to piss me off, Wendy!"

"Good, because I'm trying to!" The Sky Maiden told him aggressively before taunting him again, "Maybe then you'll actually use enough strength to hurt me!"

"Are you accusing me of holding back?!" He demanded from her, but he did not wait for her answer as he charged at her with another yell, "You're one to talk, you brat! Now, take this: White Dragon's Holy RAY!"

Wendy saw Sting begin to put his hands together as he spoke, and she quickly thought up a decent counter to his attack as she once again recognized the stance he was taking. Just as the many brilliant rays of light began to rush towards her, she waved both of her arms before herself with a shout of her own.

"Sky Dragon's Wave Wind!"

Sting's projectiles were quickly mixed into the swirling tornado; and the audience could not help but appreciate the spectacular sight the mixture resulted in, even though most of them were struggling to breath or stay standing in the intense air current.

Unable to accept his attack being cancelled out, Sting took no time to admire the aesthetics of his battle, instead deciding to charge head long into twister; and he angrily punched through the base of it with his right fist, making it dissipate in a second as he broke through and leapt toward Wendy.

This time, however, the Sky Maiden did not allow him to approach her; and as soon as she could see him leaping towards her, she cleverly created an invisible ki barrier in the air before him. Sting recoiled as soon as his face impacted the ki wall; and Wendy promptly dispelled it before leaping through and finishing her counterattack.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

Slashing at Sting's torso with the back of her left hand, Wendy quickly twisted her body left to follow him as he jerked his body backwards and leapt to his right; and she instantly used her right hand to fire a blue energy blast, which grew into the size of Sting's head before it collided into his chest and exploded. Sting was instantly sent flying backwards toward Zancrow, who lazily sidestepped him; and the White Dragon Slayer only halted his flight when he collided into the pile of rubble that was once behind the dark mage, creating a cloud of dust and debris in the process.

"Sky Dragon Slayer's Secret Art…" The Sky Maiden brutally began to finish her assault with one overpowered spell; and a new whirling vortex began to spin around her as she raised her hands while extending her arms fully to both sides.

"Shattering Light..." She said as she quickly brought her left hand before herself white rotating her arms until both palms were facing her target; and Sting had only just managed to leap back onto his feet when Wendy began to spin and twist her body with the air's current while her open hands began to steer it where she desired.

"SKY DRILL!"

As soon as she was nearly finished a full spin around, Wendy used her right hand to throw the entire vortex at Sting, causing it to take on a more focused, beam-like shape that was more than large enough to engulf its target; and Sting could only yell in pain as he and the broken ground he was standing on were blasted further away from everyone.

Romeo was gawking in shock at the intensity, and near brutality, of Wendy's attacks. He knew she was always a different person when she was fighting, but he had never seen this side of her before. And as he watched the dust settle to reveal Wendy had already retaken a casual stance, he finally got his chance to see the face of this 'other her'. As she confidently turned to face Zancrow, Romeo saw a bizarre mix of pride, amusement, and anger on her face; but it was the wildness in her eyes that had truly grabbed his attention. Even when the triumphant and amused smirk quickly left her face as she faced the dark mage, the wildness remained in her eyes; and Romeo could not decide whether he found the look to be totally attractive or absolutely terrifying.

"Well damn," Zancrow chuckled as he admired the perfectly smooth, five-foot-deep trench Wendy was walking away from, "Excuse the pun, but that… that was magical…"

"Shut up and get ready." Wendy replied straightforwardly, causing Zancrow to merely widen his grin again before happily complying; and they both made readying stances as Wendy began to power up once again.

"Arms, Ile Arms! Armor, Ile Armor! Vernier, Ile Vernier! Elemental resistance, rise! Physical ability, rise!"

The spectators stared in awe at the multi-colored display of lights radiating from Wendy as she casted enchantment after enchantment on herself, with Romeo's jaw dropping from the sight and sense her magic gave off; but she was not finished preparing yet.

"I promise you, Zancrow," She shouted confidently, "This fight is not going to be as easy as you think!"

Wendy began to yell in intense effort as she powered up; and the ground cracked beneath her before pieces of the battle-worn ceiling way above them began crumble and fall around her, though every bit was incinerated by her ki's aura well before it could land on her or the ground. But the real spectacle for their audience was the sight of her hair flashing from blue to pink as it also grew rapidly in length while somehow slightly pointing upward; and her eyes simultaneously changed to the same color as her hair just as shiny white crystalline scales grew from her wrists, ankles, and over the back of her shoulders.

"She's using Dragon Force, too?!" Rogue observed with some shock, "But that's supposed to be impossible; I thought she needed ethernano to do that!"

"Yes, YES!" Zancrow cheered her on excitedly as he held his stance, "Keep going, get as strong as you can; and then go further!

"I'll accept nothing less, you hear me?! When I kill you, I want you to have no excuses for your failure!"

Back on Earth…

Iga had been watching the projected image before him intently as he listened to every possible thing he could hear coming through the rift, but he was momentarily struggling to form a solution to his current predicament, however; and he soon found himself scratching his head until a bolt of inspiration struck him.

"Wait a minute…" He began to whisper before looking back to his wife, "Hey, Ves? You can see anywhere you want, right? Anywhere?"

Vesta gave him a slightly puzzled look until she realized what he was getting at.

"You don't mean there there, do you?" She wondered aloud just as quietly, and she grimaced when he nodded quickly, "Dunno, never wanted to try."

"Do you want to now?" Iga asked suggestively.

"Not really." She said flatly.

"Vesta!" Her husband began to scold her before she quickly gave in.

"Alright, fine, I'll try!" She whined next, "Jeez…"

Closing her eyes, Vesta focused her powers as hard as she could; but she was surprised to find herself unsuccessful.

"Huh." She remarked with a mix of relief and disappointment, "I guess I can't see everything."

"You had no problem looking into my personal dimension, couldn't you?" Iga questioned her curiously, "How come you can't see into his?"

"I can see into the Sanctuary because it's entirely made of light," She reminded him before concluding with some surprise, "But Edo must live in a place that's completely devoid of light… it's a wonder he hasn't gone blind."

"Not with his magic, it isn't." Iga took his turn to remind her of something, "To him, the darkest shade of dark is still bright to him, just like how the brightest light imaginable could still look dim to us."

"Brightest light imaginable?" Vesta repeated empty-mindedly, and Iga could see her beginning to salivate like a dog at whatever mental image she was conjuring, "I could go for something like that right now."

"Go for…" Iga began to repeat until he remembered one of the newer abilities his wife had from being a Keeper, "Hey, now's not the time for snacking; or for stealing my schtick! Come on, Ves, there's gotta be some way to see into that Shadow."

"I wouldn't be so sure, but…" She said thoughtfully as she genuinely attempted to find a workaround, "I can keep trying, at least…"

"There has to be a way, there just has to!" Iga continued to insist, "I mean, he's gotta be exposed to light at some point when he's… wait!

"Ves, we don't have to look directly for the Shadow!" He suddenly realized the solution aloud, "We've got to look where he's looking!"

"That might work, actually…" She agreed contemplatively before using her power to examine the same area her husband was watching, "Let's see…"

"Try and find us that way first, if you need to get a better idea of what we're looking for." Iga suggested helpfully, "My portal on the other side is about the size of a key hole, just to left of the people. I have no clue where Edo's could be, but I'd check the shady spots around the battlefield."

After a second of silence, Vesta slowly spoke again as she commentated on what she saw.

"Okay, I can see your magic… now, let's see if I can track the light that actually comes through it…

"Yes!" She declared excitedly while almost forgetting to keep quiet, "This is actually gonna work!"

"Okay, great," Iga replied quickly before lifting his wife's legs off him and standing up as he quickly changed his magic's destination, "Now, you keep looking for Edo's magic while I get some help; I've got a plan, but I need someone specific to make it work -she's got something I need, too."

"Yeah, sure." Vesta remarked as she was already focused on her end of the plan, "You better get to it."

Without another word, Iga widened the portal before him until it was near the size of a door; and he began to walk through it until stopping halfway, quickly turning around to face Eighter as he did.

"Hey, robo-man?" He asked the very confused android, "Wanna come along?"

In West City…

Lisanna Strauss had been struggling to get sleep for a while now, as she often did when sleeping in Trunks' bed alone; but her fit of restlessness tonight was something different. For one, she was still slightly angry with her boyfriend for running off and disappearing with Goten and Natsu without saying a word to her; but that, and a few other reasons, were to trivial to her. The real feeling that was bothering her was something intuitive, like she had missed or forgotten something important; but she could not figure out what that something exactly was, no matter how hard she tried.

Over the span of at least an hour and a half, she was constantly changing positions trying to get comfortable, though she never did; and she had finally begun to get frustrated with herself when she suddenly heard a small commotion come from the bathroom, jolting instantly upright as soon as she heard what sounded like someone falling over and hitting the ground roughly.

"Hey, take it easy, man!" She heard a very recognizable voice whine in a hushed tone, "You didn't have to run through it, you know…"

Lisanna sighed with annoyed relief at realizing who her uninvited guest was, but then she was confused when she heard a voice she did not recognize.

"Sorry…" A man with a very deep voice quietly apologized, to which the other man replied quickly.

"It's okay, I forgive you. Now, I think you might wanna wait here until I've talked to her first… Hopefully, we didn't wake her up with all that racket."

"You didn't." Lisanna informed the two with her voice slightly raised; and the following awkward silence caused her to smirk before she told them what to do, "Now, both of you wait there while I get decent."

"Okay," Her friend said through the bathroom door, "But we don't have time for all the works, Lisanna; just throw something on and let me in."

"Yes, Master Iga." She used his title teasingly as she hopped out of bed. She had to admit, though, there was a hint of urgency in his voice; so she quickly decided to grab the nearest clothes she could fit into.

She grabbed a black pair of short-shorts and pulled them over her pink and white striped panties before taking off Trunks' white t-shirt to change into the black tube top that was near the shorts, thinking a matching outfit might make her look halfway nice enough to make a good impression on whoever Iga brought with him; and she told Iga he could come in just as she finished donning her new shirt.

"Thank you, Lisanna." Iga tried to open the conversation with some humor, "I gotta admit: it was getting a little awkward in there."

The takeover mage smirked faintly at him before cutting to the chase.

"What do you want, Iga? Do you know how late it is?"

"I do, and I'm sorry about that." Iga quickly apologized, "But you know I wouldn't drop in like this unless it's an emergency."

"Okay, so what is it?" She questioned him, though she did not expect to hear the answer she soon did.

"I need you to go to Earthland with a new friend of mine, his name's Eighter…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" She interrupted him in confusion, "You want me to go back? But I thought you didn't want me to do that until the Keepers were gone…."

"That was the plan," Iga conceded, "But that was because we would all be here on Earth to protect you. If me and Vesta are watching you, I'm sure you'll be okay."

"Alright, well…" Lisanna agreed as she slowly wondered, "Who is this other guy you want me to go with? Eighter?"

"That's right, he's Android No. 8 actually; but let's not get hung up on that right now." Iga answered much faster than she asked, "What we need to be worried about is saving your friends in Fairy Tail from imminent doom."

Iga had spoken so casually that Lisanna almost missed the severity of the warning he was giving.

"Fairy Tail needs my help? Well, why did you say it had something to do with them from th- wait…" She remarked with a mind to scold Iga until she completely realized everything he said, "What do you mean 'imminent doom'?!"

Back on Earthland…

Zancrow effortlessly dodged most of Wendy's attacks, although she was quick and clever enough to force him to block a few strikes; and he continued to dance around her swipes, kicks, and punches for a couple of minutes before getting just as bored as his opponent seemed frustrated.

Both wizards leapt away from each other at the same time; but while Zancrow was planning to stop and taunt her as soon as he landed, Wendy only used her time in the air to attack once again.

"Sky Dragon's Roar!"

Zancrow landed before grinning pridefully and holding his right hand out while taunting her.

"Don't you remember, moron? My flames will consume any air you send my way!"

Meeting Wendy's attack with his open hand, Zancrow quickly conjured flames around his entire limb before he was briefly surprised to find out that he was wrong; and instead, he found himself having to physically hold back the blast while using ki to shield himself.

Zancrow was waiting for the spell to explode against his shield; but that moment never came, as Wendy abruptly ended her roar before leaping towards her target with another yell.

"Sky Dragon's Jet Stream!"

The people watching her saw Wendy dart past Zancrow in the blink of an eye; and though she never tried to strike him, the wake she created in the magically enhanced air violently trailed behind her while widening to smash and knock over any obstacle in its path.

"Rrgh, dammit!" Zancrow growled angrily as he felt his ki barrier get smashed open by the sheer force of her attack, "How?!"

Suddenly realizing he would need to take this battle seriously, the dark wizard finally began to power up.

"Oh no, you don't!" Wendy remarked irritably before pegging him in the head with a quick ki blast to annoy him while drawing his focus, "You should have done that earlier! Sky Dragon's Air Cannon!"

Quickly throwing her hand together at the wrist before herself, with her hands open and all her fingers closed save for her thumbs, Wendy fired a massive, light blue beam of ki and air directly at Zancrow; and he only had time enough to shield himself once again, though the mere fact he was doing so angered him further.

Meanwhile, standing a few yards behind the other spectators, Lisanna could not believe what she was seeing. In fact, the only thing she was not surprised by was the fact that no one had noticed her appearing behind them, as the fight before her was such an astonishing spectacle that even she was struggling with the urge to watch. Shaking her head at herself before regaining her focus, the takeover mage briefly brushed some dust and debris off the front of the light-blue Capsule Corp jacket she 'borrowed' on her way out before glancing towards where her travel companion should be.

She saw Eighter standing near a five-foot trench behind the two battling mages; and she grinned satisfactorily, knowing that she could see someone no one else could thanks to Vesta's magic. The android saw her grinning, so he waved to her and gave her a thumbs-up; but she quickly gestured for him to stay focused before finally jogging up to her friends.

"Erza, Jellal!" She called to them over the loud boom of another explosion; and three of the four people standing before her leapt in surprise at her voice.

"Lisanna?" Erza instantly questioned her eyes while Jellal also gave the takeover mage a puzzled expression.

"In the flesh." She confirmed with a weak attempt at a humorous smirk before quickly getting serious, "But I'll explain how I'm here later. Right now, we have to worry about stopping this!"

"There's nothing we can do, Lisanna!" Romeo tried to inform her, "Zancrow's got a bunch of hostages, and Wendy told all of us not to interfere anyway!"

"Not all of us." Lisanna pointed out before making the most casual pose she could think of and adding, "Don't worry, guys, I've got a plan."

Looking to Rogue next, Lisanna instantly had a quizzical look that Erza noticed easily.

"Zancrow's controlling him," The Knight explained grudgingly, "He hasn't been allowed to move or speak for a few minutes now."

"I see." Lisanna observed thoughtfully as she stepped past Erza and Romeo to stand before the Shadow Dragon Slayer and attempted to console him.

"Don't worry, Rogue," She said while gently touching one of his forearms, "We're gonna get you free, along with everyone else."

"Thank you." Rogue sighed with grateful relief.

Doing exactly as she recalled Iga's directions, Lisanna removed her hand from Rogue and reached into her jacket to pull out Iga's magic remote, which was Vesta's magic was also making invisible to everyone else but her and Eighter; and she gently pressed the small orb against his sternum before it began to do its work.

The three beside her watched Lisanna place her hand on the shadow wizard's chest at a bizarre angle before a white aura began to envelope Rogue; and they all heard Zancrow suddenly gasp in surprise at something before another explosion rang out.

"You better not look away! If you do, I'll kill you!" They quickly turned to see Wendy was taunting Zancrow once again.

"Tch! Shut it, you overconfident fool!" He shouted before lifting both hands skyward to create a massive black sphere of fire and ki above himself, "You're nothing to me; and you're about to learn that the hard way!"

Throwing the attack directly at Wendy without pause, Zancrow quickly turned to face his audience while angrily yelling at them as a massive explosion went off behind him.

"Oh, what have you idiots done no-

"What?!" He immediately interrupted himself as he saw Rogue was no longer standing where he put him, and Lisanna Strauss was standing directly in the spot where he once was, "How did you get there; and what did you do with my damn puppet?!"

"His name is Rogue," Lisanna reminded the dark wizard impatiently, "And I just sent him somewhere that's way out of your reach!"

Zancrow simmered with anger before the flames around his body began to grow rapidly to mirror his ire; and he took a step forward before planting his feet and aiming a palm at the whole group.

"I'm gonna kill you for that!" He swore as a fiery sphere as big as himself appeared before his hand; but he was interrupted before he could fire off the blast.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" They all heard Wendy shout, from seemingly out of nowhere, just before seeing her slash the right side of Zancrow's face with her left hand; and the dark wizard gasped in pain as the air that formed the claws on her fingertips dug four half-inch cuts along his face before he could retreat.

The black ball of flame and ki instantly vanished as Wendy twirled through where it once was before landing smoothly to face Zancrow once again while he landed at a safer distance from her; and he quickly touched his stinging new injury with his left hand before looking at the blood on it in intense frustration, refusing to believe he had just been humiliated so terribly.

"Thanks for the opening, Lisanna." Wendy thanked her friend to greet her, though she stayed focused on Zancrow as she spoke.

"Don't mention it." The takeover mage responded politely, "Thanks for not letting him kill me just now."

"No problem," Wendy said with a grim smirk before Zancrow finally began to speak once again as he finished wincing from the pain.

"Ngh… I guess I deserved that one…" He remarked with an honest grin that vaguely concealed his anger before he looked between the two young women an added, "Letting myself get distracted like that, it's shameful…"

"It happens to the best of us." Lisanna taunted him by consoling him.

"Yeah, well, not many people travel across a universe or two just to interrupt your fight!" He retorted angrily before demanding information from her, "And how the hell did you even get here? My Master told me you were on Earth!"

Even Wendy momentarily forgot about the battle at hand after hearing that small piece of information, as all the guild wizards instantly turned to Lisanna while looking for confirmation of what they heard; and Lisanna immediately felt awkward.

"You were on Earth, Lisanna?" Wendy asked her, and the disbelieving-yet-hopeful tone Wendy asked with only made Lisanna feel worse.

"Uh…" She began reluctantly as she failed to think of any good way to start this conversation, "Yeah?"

And once more, the surprised look on Wendy's face made the conversation even more difficult for Lisanna; but Zancrow only saw an opportunity to get in his enemies' heads.

"Hah! She's been living there for months!" He informed the group before him bluntly, "In fact, I'd say she's more of an Earthling now than anything!"

"You shut up, right now!" Lisanna argued immediately, "I know where my home is!"

"You do, huh?" Zancrow ignored her command to be silent, "So then, you didn't move all your stuff out of your sister's house like we saw? 'Cause I could have sworn the Capsule Corporation was your new home now!"

Lisanna glared at the dark wizard, knowing that he was right. Between living at both Iga's Sanctuary and on Earth, the only thing Lisanna ever kept at her brother and sister's home now was a few sets of clothes.

"How did you get to Earth, Lisanna?" Erza wondered aloud before anyone else could.

"I have a friend," She cryptically answered before quickly trying to change the subject, "But come on, guys; now's not the time for this!"

"As curious as I am, she's right." Jellal chimed in before looking back to Zancrow and adding, "Right now, we've got a much bigger fish to fry."

Wendy was not satisfied with ending the conversation, but she could not disagree with Jellal either; and her whole group turned back to facing Zancrow with her as she prepared to resume her fight against him, although Lisanna briefly drew her attention to say something to her.

"Wendy, wait. You're still serious about fighting him alone, aren't you?"

The Sky Maiden nodded before the takeover mage continued; and she was a little surprised when Lisanna stepped closer and hugged her.

"Don't get killed just yet, okay?" She requested caringly; but then she halfway ended their embrace before sneakily handing Wendy Iga's invisible remote with a sly wink as she added, "When the time is right, I promise I'll tell you everything."

"Don't worry, Lisanna, a man like him will never be able to kill me." Wendy grinned with her back to Zancrow as she replied; and she nimbly slipped the small orb into a pocket before finishing her sentence, "I promise."

Turning back to Zancrow with her fists clenched, Wendy did not allow him the chance to tease them over the emotions.

"Shut up." She told him preemptively, which made him smirk knowingly before she added, "I'm not here to listen to your jokes, Zancrow; I'm here to kill you."

"Heh," Zancrow replied as they both returned to fighting stances, "You know what? I think I actually will miss you when you're gone."

In the Shadow of the World…

Edo and Cel Rhea had watched Lisanna's interruption of their ally's battle with immense interest, having both been surprised to see her on Earthland; and Cel had quickly questioned what she was seeing while Edo only began to wonder where Igneel was. And after seeing Wendy turn to face Lisanna, Edo finally found his answer in a way that caught him totally by surprise as a bright beam of light suddenly began to shine directly in his and Cel's faces.

"Gah!" He gasped as he and his girlfriend shielded their eyes, "What is-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard an annoying familiar voice calling out to him.

"Coming through!" Iga declared with a grin as he burst forth from the blinding light; and he managed to plant a foot on Cel's forehead before slamming her head against the wall to halt his flight, rendering her unconscious in less than a fraction of a second.

"IGNEEL!" Edo instantly roared in anger; but Iga only quickly apologized to them before firing a large red and white blast at the man, who quickly melted into the floor to avoid being blasted.

"You've made a grave error coming here, Igneel!" Edo's voice boomed from all directions, "Don't you remember?! You can't touch me in here!"

"Wanna bet?" Iga challenged his rival eagerly; and before Edo could actually accept or refuse the challenge, Iga began to yell intensely as he wildly flared all of his magic energy in all directions with one goal in mind.

"Wait…" Edo suddenly began to realize the purpose of Iga's visit was not to fight him, "What are you doing?!"

"What's it look like, Acnologia?!" He paused his yelling only to taunt the dark wizard, "I'm evicting you!"

"You can't!" Edo began to explain, "If you do what I think you're going to, you could tear the fabric of reality apart and kill us all!"

"Well, we won't find out until we try, will we?" Iga remarked dismissively before firing off one of the most powerful spells he had ever casted,

"LIGHT DRAGON GOD's SUPERNOVA!"

Inside Akane Resort…

Wendy was finally beginning to show signs of exhaustion as she finished leaping back from Zancrow once again; but this time, she was not as frustrated with her inability to harm him as she was from her last few attempts, despite her foe's best attempts to get under her skin.

"Hey, you're looking a little bit winded there, Sky Maiden." He said teasingly as he noticed Wendy was starting to take heavier breathes, "Don't tell me that you're getting tired on me now."

"I'm not." Wendy lied as she wiped some sweat off her forehead.

"Good," Zancrow remarked menacingly, "Because I haven't even tried to kill you yet; and it'd be no fun if you were too worn out to defend yourself."

Wendy was about to come up with a rebuttal when the entire building began to quake violently, with even Zancrow wondering who or what was causing the powerful tremors until a small bright white light seemed to appear in the rear center of the room; and everyone present stopped to see what seemed to be something like a gash in the air, which was bleeding white light as it slowly began to open.

"What the?" Zancrow began until the light suddenly burst open, at which moment Lisanna shouted over the commotion.

"Wendy, now!"

Instantly glancing back to Lisanna and Wendy, Zancrow did not expect to be tackled from above by Sting Eucliffe, although no one else was expecting that outcome either.

"Gotcha!" The White Dragon Slayer declared gleefully before slapping a stigma right onto the top of Zancrow's head; and despite her initial confusion, Wendy was able to quickly take advantage of the moment.

"Come on, let's do this!" Sting told her quickly as she darted over to him and Zancrow; and the dark wizard began to aggressively protest his current predicament.

"No, damnit! Let! ME! GO!" He demanded angrily, trying to quickly burn the stigma off his head until Wendy laid her hands on one of his arms while Sting kept him pinned to the ground; and with a nod to each other, both began using their magic the same way they used it on Orga.

"NOO!" Zancrow howled miserably while Erza, Jellal, and Romeo were torn between watching him and what was happening yards beyond him: as a mysterious man with wild red hair appeared with all the hostages Zancrow had taken, standing over them with weak grin while they slept peacefully.

"Good job, Eighter; now go home and relax, you've earned it!" They heard the man giving some mysterious and unseen person instructions.

"No way!" Romeo cheered at the near-miraculous sight before the Enenrae, Macbeth, and Sawyer finally received orders from a suddenly-desperate Zancrow.

Trying to get past everyone else and free the dark mage quickly, Sawyer and Gajeel were cut off in a flash by the scarred and shirtless stranger.

"Sorry about this, guys!" The man told them before knocking them both out with one spinning kick.

Jellal saw Macbeth also beginning to attack the two on top of Zancrow, and he did not hesitate to punch his guildmate unconscious as soon as he realized the hostages were safe.

"Erza, Wendy needs help!" The Knight suddenly heard Happy's voice ring out from above, "Those monsters got her surrounded!"

Needing no more directions than that, Erza leapt over the three wizards in the room's center.

"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!" She chanted as her silver armor materialized around her body, "Dance, my swords!"

The next instant, Erza's armor became plainly visible, along with dozens of levitating blades that revolved around her in multiple directions.

"Circle Sword!"

The swords around Erza quickly shot downward before slashing and spinning out in all directions.

"Nice!" Happy cheered to confirm her attack had forced the Enenrae back.

Seeing that he was running out of options, and also feeling that his connection to his master's powers was waning, Zancrow began shouting in desperate denial before finally doing something completely reckless.

"No, stop! You can't do this! NO! PLEASE, DON'T! ARRRR!"

Sting and Wendy both felt the sudden intense heat that began to come from Zancrow's body; and black flames forced both of them to leap away from him before the heroic stranger quickly noticed what was happening.

"Okay, everyone, it's time to go!" He announced quickly before opening a massive portal before himself, "Here, this will take you right back to Fairy Tail!"

Without needing another prompt from the stranger, Romeo quickly beckoned Wendy to him as he grabbed Carla and Pantherlily before leading the way out. Erza moved the second fastest, quickly grabbing Levy and Gajeel before leaping just behind Romeo; and Sting was next, who nimbly lifted Yukino into both his arms before hurtling through. Wendy moved next, grabbing Sawyer and Macbeth before tossing them through; and she made sure Happy flew after them before glancing back to the stranger and tossing him the invisible orb she never got to use.

"I'm guessing this is yours," She remarked before thanking him and jumping through; but the red-haired man's attention was more focused on Jellal than Wendy when he waved her by.

"Hey, Jellal," He called to the man, "It's time to go, now!"

"I can't!" Jellal explained quickly, "My guildmate Erik is still here somewhere!"

"Is he alive?" Iga questioned.

"That doesn't matter!" Jellal answered impatiently, "I'm not leaving him behind either way!"

"You're not leaving him behind, you're leaving him to me!" Iga quickly pointed out before turning to Lisanna.

"Get him outta here!" He ordered her before adding, "I'll catch up once I've got your friend back!"

Jellal was hesitant at first, but Lisanna hurried over to him and quickly changed his mind.

"Trust me, Jellal, Master Iga can find anything." She quietly told him while gently pulling on one of his arms; and she gestured to the center of the room where the wild flames of Zancrow's power was to show him how quickly the flames were growing.

Seeing no smarter option, Jellal gave in with a nod before leaping through the portal with Lisanna; and it closed behind them as Iga began to use his magic and ki senses as quickly as he could.

"Come on, come on, come on…" He chanted desperately just before the flames around a madly-screaming Zancrow suddenly withdrew, signaling only one of two things; and just as he sensed a very weak lifeform nearby, Iga also concluded neither causes for the flame's receding were good.

"Oh, crap!"

Anyone within miles of Akane Resort would have seen the explosion if it were not made of black fire and energy; as the entire complex was completely leveled by the blast, leaving nothing but a massive mile-wide crater behind as evidence of the resort's former existence.

Back at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…

The only two people in the guild that was awake were Mirajane and Kinana, having just sent off the kitchen staff as they closed for the night; and they had stopped to chat with each other before leaving until they suddenly heard a commotion breaking out in the main hall. They both hurried back to the bar with Mira in the lead; and they bumped into each other in surprise as they opened the kitchen door to see all the members of Erza's team, along with a few members of Crime Sorciere and Sabertooth, emerging from a massive white portal in the center of the dining area.

Immediately noticing that every person that appeared was carrying at least one unconscious person, Mira quickly ordered Kinana to prepare the recovery room for whoever would need it before hurrying over to Erza, who was carrying a passed-out Levy and Gajeel; but the takeover mage, as she was beginning to address Erza, instantly stopped in her tracks when Jellal and Lisanna suddenly appeared behind the Knight.

"Erza? What ha- Lisanna?"

Ignoring most of the hectic scene around them, Lisanna quickly heard her big sister's voice; and she turned to see her before rushing to her.

"Mira!" She slightly cheered before nearly tackling her sister with a hug, "It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!"

"I did too," the elder takeover mage agreed as she returned the hug before slightly releasing her sister and adding, "But… what are you doing here? I thought you were on Earth."

"I was," Lisanna briefly explained, "But Master Iga told me everyone was in trouble, so I came back to help."

"She saved all of us." Erza added honestly before leading the conscious members of her team to the Recovery Room with the rest of their allies.

For the most part, the general mood was an atmosphere of nervous relief; but Lisanna watched all her injured and exhausted friends walk away from her with a plaintive expression, which was one her sister easily noticed even though she was stood behind her.

"You know, when I was out there earlier," The younger takeover mage informed her sister while staring at the now-closing door of the Recovery Room, "Wendy started asking me questions about Earth, and I just couldn't handle it… She doesn't deserve the way we've been treating her…

Before her sister could say any more, Mira gently placed a reassuring hand on Lisanna's shoulder to interrupt her.

"None of this is your fault, Lisanna; and you know that." She reminded her, "All this is because of Edo."

"And Iga's, too." Lisanna revealed to Mirajane's slight surprise, "I don't know the full story; but I think Iga blames mostly himself for everything that's happened, said something about how they 'created each other'."

"Huh." Mirajane remarked as she pondered what Iga would have meant by that, until Lisanna spoke again.

"But, forget that!" She surprised her sister with a sudden burst of happiness as she spun around and grabbed Mirajane's hands, "There's some really big news I gotta tell you! Although, you might wanna sit down first…"

Inside the Recovery Room, Wendy had waited until all the injured and unconscious were healed and resting on a bed of their own before she finally gave in to exhaustion herself, finally switching of her Dragon Force and collapsing by the side of Carla's bed; but Romeo, who had been standing next to her after leading her to Carla's bed, managed to catch the Sky Maiden before slipping one of her arms over his shoulders and lifting her up.

"Don't worry, I've got you." He reassured her as he stood back up with her; and he quickly glanced around to see all the beds in the room were occupied, "Come on, I'm sure we can find you a bed somewhere."

Wendy shook her head quickly even though she walked with him.

"I don't need to sleep yet," She explained as he opened the room's door for them, "I just need something to eat."

Though he was smirking slightly at her stubborn strength, Romeo could not help but question her judgement.

"Are you sure? I mean, you just went up against Zancrow; and I could feel how much magic you used up…"

"I'm fine, Romeo, I promise." She reassured him before smirking slightly when she noticed that he understood what she meant by getting 'something to eat', as Romeo turned to lead her outside instead of to the bar. The pair could hear Mirajane and Lisanna talking excitedly about something, but they were too busy talking with each other on their way out to hear the takeover mages' conversation.

"Well, to be fair, me carrying you out the guild kinda tells me otherwise." Romeo pointed out, and he could feel Wendy shrug in agreement before she responded to him.

"I know," She said as Romeo shoved one of the guild hall's doors open, "But I can't relax yet, not until I've talked with Lisanna; or Erik."

"Erik?" Romeo repeated curiously, "Didn't Zancrow say he killed him?"

"He didn't." Wendy revealed as they stopped a few feet away from the guild's entrance, "He might be near death right now, but I could faintly sense his ki back there."

"Really?" Romeo said in surprise, and Wendy nodded.

"I hoped Sting would have found him when we put on that little show for Zancrow; but I guess he ran into Happy instead."

Before Romeo could comment, Wendy began to inhale a large amount of air, taking the air away from Romeo for an instant before swallowing all of it.

"Sorry," She apologized for forgetting to warn him; and she quickly began to stand on her own after a second, "But thanks for carrying me out here. I feel much better now."

"No problem," Romeo replied naturally before grinning and adding, "But you know, you don't have to go wearing yourself out if you want me to hold you in my arms. You really could just ask."

Wendy giggled and blushed faintly at his joke; but she said nothing as they both looked at the night sky together, enjoying the quiet, peaceful sight before and above them until Wendy felt Romeo sidestep closer and grab her right hand with his left.

Glancing at Romeo's face, Wendy slyly smirked to see him faintly blushing, looking like he had something to say; but he never said anything as she looked at him. Instead, Wendy looked back to the horizon with him before gently squeezing his hand and apologizing to him.

"I'm sorry for scaring you earlier… I know how crazy I must have sounded, trying to fight Zancrow like that…"

"'Crazy' does sum up that whole scene pretty well," Romeo agreed humorously before glancing to her and adding, "But let's be honest, no one joins a guild like Fairy Tail without being a little crazy…"

"I guess that is true…" Wendy giggled; and Romeo grinned for a moment before slowly working up the courage to say what he really wanted to.

"Hey, um, Wendy?" He said tentatively, causing Wendy to turn and see him looking away bashfully again.

"What is it, Romeo?" She asked curiously, having quickly recognized his tone to be one he often used to start awkward or intimate conversations.

"I… uh… oh, never mind." He gave up on himself; but Wendy was already curious.

"What's up?" She questioned him, "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all." He assured her before trying to explain his internal struggle, "It's just that I don't..."

"Don't what?" Wendy said when his words began to trail off, and Romeo took another short moment to consider answering her before finally doing so.

"Well, I don't want you think less of me." He revealed, "That, and I know you haven't wanted to talk much about 'us', so…"

"Romeo," She looked at him seriously, "We're partners, silly. You can tell me anything, you know that."

Despite her attempt to convince him to speak, Romeo still hesitated; so Wendy gently pulled him against her side before trying again.

"Come on, Romeo; you know I'm not gonna let you walk away unless you tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me," He tried to explain, "I'm just… I'm afraid; that's all…"

"Afraid?" She repeated, "Of what?"

Romeo was nervously quiet at first, but after another second of squirming under Wendy's gaze; he finally gave in.

"I'm…" He stuttered once more before answering a little quicker and louder than he meant to, "I'm afraid to lose you!"

Wendy, who already had a good idea of how he felt about her, stayed silent in response as she waited for him to get to the actual point of what he was saying.

"And yeah, I was terrified when you went up against that lunatic; but that wasn't totally the problem. I mean, we make risky decisions almost every day that we're in this guild; but… when I thought about you dying back there at Akane… I was more afraid that you'd die before I got to tell you how I really felt…"

"Romeo…" Wendy said his name gently, and she wrapped her arm around his as she let him continue.

"And look, I know I'll never be as strong and brave as he was but… I love you just like he did, Wendy; and I can't imagine spending a day on this planet without you around…"

Wendy was not sure how to respond to everything he was saying; and Romeo could tell instantly that he possibly dumped too much information on her at once, which prompted him to add one more statement to make responding a bit easier for her.

"I don't have to hear you say it back, okay? So please don't feel any kinda pressure to say it; I just… I want you to promise me something: the next time you come up with some kinda crazy plan or suicidal stunt like tonight's, just make sure I'm included, alright? Because, to me, the only thing worse than watching you die would be watching you die while doing absolutely nothing about it!"

Wendy was slightly surprised to see her partner's eyes were tearing up as he finished speaking; and she waited for him to dry his eyes with his free hand before she finally decided on how to respond.

"You big idiot…" She slightly teased him before unwrapping her arm from his to make him turn and face her, "Why would I ever come up with a plan that could get you killed?"

"Heh… living here, you never know…" Romeo chuckled weakly.

"No, I do." Wendy insisted with a hint of force in her tone, "When I saw that Zancrow had taken Carla, I kinda lost it; but I was also scared that he was going to take you, too. After I thought about that, I totally lost it.

"And if I'm being honest," She added a confession of her own, "I really didn't have a plan until Sting got involved; I just couldn't watch anymore of the people I love get hurt…"

Romeo was a bit too dense to understand the full meaning of her admission; but he slowly began to catch on as Wendy now took both of his hands into hers, looking into his eyes as she did.

"Wait…" He said while blinking a few times in disbelief as he slowly realized what she meant, "Did you just say-"

"That I love you?" She finished his question for him before gently squeezing his hands and adding with a smile, "I sure did."

"You…" Romeo sputtered in nervous excitement, "You… do?"

"Of course, I do." She confirmed again with a nod before adding with a smirk, "I mean, how could I not fall for a pretty face like this one?"

As she flirted with him, Wendy let go of his left hand to raise her right hand to the left side of his face; and she gently pinched it as she complimented it.

Romeo smiled bashfully as he tried to think of what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do, but he was also worried that being too forward would ruin the moment; and Wendy quickly noticed his hesitation.

"You know, if you're planning to ask permission; don't." She kept her hold on his face as she whispered her next words into his right ear, "You should just do it…"

Blinking a few times again at her words, Romeo stared with his mouth slightly agape as Wendy slowly pulled back, though only to keep her face barely inches from his as she spoke; and in the next second, she brought her lips to his.

Inside Iga's Sanctuary…

Rogue Cheney had been wandering the overly-bright halls of his mysterious location aimlessly, squinting quite often as he did; and it had taken quite some time before his eyes properly adjusted. As soon as he could see where he was walking, Rogue continued his unguided tour through the place for a few more minutes until he entered a room, much larger than the others he had seen, that seemed to be three parts kitchen, living, and dining room.

Slightly disappointed that he could not smell any food, the shadow wizard sighed sadly as he realized how hungry and tired he was; and he slowly strode into the room before plopping onto the nearest couch, deciding that waiting here for his rescuers would be better than waiting in any other spot he saw.

Politely taking off his boots, Rogue then turned and laid back on the couch's arm before resting his feet and legs on the couch as well; and he briefly sighed comfortably before turning his head to the kitchen section curiously, as he realized some of the cooking appliances were things he had never seen before.

"Hm," He said to himself as he decided between staying comfy or sating his curiosity, the latter won out as he found himself getting back up to investigate. Striding around the couch and past the dining area, Rogue walked up to the main device that had gained his attention: a white, two-door, rectangular box that was slightly taller than himself. Guessing it was some sort of storage unit, he slowly opened the top and slightly smaller door to be surprised to feel a cold rush of air against his face; and he widened his eyes at the sight of all the frozen food inside it.

"What is this thing?" He wondered aloud; and he slowly closed the top door before opening the one below it, revealing even more food that appeared to be actually edible. The various scents of produce, deli meats, and leftovers barraged his senses instantly; and his stomach growled in anticipation as he began to debate taking something to eat, caught between wanting to be polite enough to ask for permission and while also wanting to give in to his slow-growing hunger.

Fortunately for him, however, his internal debate was interrupted as he heard a young woman's voice coming from the same doorway he had walked through.

"You know, whether you decide to take something or not…" He heard her say before turning his head to see a smirking redhaired woman leaning on the left side of the doorway as she spoke, "You shouldn't leave that door wide open; it wastes power and could spoil the food."

"Oh, sorry." He quickly apologized before closing the door and facing her, "I was just curious."

Quickly scanning her over, Rogue got the sense that the woman speaking to him was more powerful than her friendly demeanor suggested; and perhaps something sinister, but he wondered if that was only his cynical side giving him a bias.

Guessing the redhead was somewhere just above six feet, he noticed she was wearing a white martial artist's keikogi that was woven surprisingly thin for a gi, although her similarly-colored pants seemed to be made of a thicker material, along with black kung-fu shoes and a black tube top that was barely visible underneath her gi vest.

He could not help but find the look of her bright green eyes to be fascinating, as there was something about their warm shine that drew him in; and her bubbly charm was instantly infectious, so much so that Rogue was having difficulty with idle chatter as he tried to assess her. He could not sense any sort of magic power from her; but judging by the swagger she moved with, and by the strong confidence rooted deep in her voice, Rogue could not help but feel slightly concerned at the mystery before him.

"I've no doubt you were." The woman forgave him easily, "I mean, you don't see alien technology very often, do you?"

"Alien?" Rogue repeated the word curiously; and his mind suddenly pictured a stereotypical image of green-skinned UFO pilots before the woman chuckled at him.

"I meant that in a broad sense," She clarified with a smirk before standing upright, "The people that made it are humans too, just like us. The whole machine is called a refrigerator, but that top section is also a freezer, too. All the ones on Earth run on electricity; but this one is special. It's one of the first ever hybrids between Earth and Earthland's technologies."

Now Rogue was starting to feel guilty for thoughtlessly fiddling with it; but the woman only chuckled at his obvious regret.

"Oh, don't beat yourself, kid; it's just a fridge after all…" She reassured him coolly as she began to walk into the living area; and she stopped when she was near his boots.

"I guess you were getting comfy before I walked in," She remarked as she briefly examined them before continuing her walk towards the kitchen, "Would you like me to make you something?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no…" Rogue accepted her offer, and she waved him aside before moving to take his place by the fridge.

"It won't be anything fancy -probably leftovers, actually." She admitted with a smirk as she opened the lower door before her, "Igneel would probably notice if I took any of the fresh supplies… and to be honest, I'm kinda supposed to be somewhere else right now; but my husband doesn't know how good I actually am at multi-tasking. Think you could keep this whole little run-in between us?"

Although he nodded in agreement, Rogue was not completely sure he understood what all she was talking about; but he did recognize the name she dropped in the middle of her statement.

"'Igneel'…?" He wondered aloud, more to himself than to her, "Where have I heard that name before…?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot." She realized aloud as she pulled some food out and closed the fridge, "I'm supposed to call him 'Iga' around Earthlanders to avoid confusing people… sorry about that."

"Igneel…" Rogue said the name slowly again before widening his eyes as he remembered the name, "Wait, that can't be right… how are you married to a dead dragon?"

"Wow," the woman remarked teasingly as she placed a sandwich in another, much smaller, device that stood on the counter near the stove, "You Dragon Slayers really are a dense bunch of individuals."

"How do you know that I'm a dragon slayer?" Rogue questioned as he shrugged off her joke.

"The real question is, how could I not?" She remarked humorously over a faint humming noise the machine behind her created, "I'm pretty sure everyone in Fiore knows who the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth are; but there are a few other dead giveaways. Like that ridiculously loud growling coming from your stomach -I heard that from halfway down the hall."

Rogue could not help but smile bashfully at her joke; and the woman's grin widened at the sight as the machine behind her ceased its humming and beeped twice.

"Alright," she said with vague enthusiasm as she spun around to retrieve the food, "This one's yours, since no one's bitten into yet."

"Thanks…" He replied with hint of uncertainty as she set the large deli sandwich on a plate and handed it to him.

"I know it's not much to eat for a dragon slayer," she added apologetically as she turned around to retrieve her own food, "But it should hold you over 'till we get Iga's permission to actually dig into the fridge."

"It's more than enough," He told her gratefully as he moved to take a seat by the dining table, and he slowly looked to her after picking a seat, "I just realized, miss, I never got your name."

"Oh, duh!" the woman scolded herself before apologizing, "I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot my manners like that! The name's Vesta; or Ves, if two syllables is too much for you.

"And you're Rogue Cheney." She pointed out the obvious before he could; but the Sabertooth wizard was too distracted by what Vesta was doing to be put-off by her lack of formality, seeing her simply holding some of her food in her hand for a few seconds before chowing down.

"Aren't you going to heat that up?" He asked her curiously while guessing that was the function of the strange appliance she had used for his meal.

"Huh?" With her mouthful of food, she replied with some confusion until she recalled the fact that he knew practically nothing about her, "Oh, yeah; I just did."

"With your magic?" He concluded; and she nodded briefly before he had another question, "Then, why didn't you do that for me, too?"

"Because I wanted to show off Iga's tech." She explained easily, "We don't get many visitors here, you know."

"I guess." Rogue agreed uncertainly after swallowing a bite of food, though he was satisfied with her answer, "But by the way, where is 'here'?"

"Well, we call this place The Sanctuary; but 'where' is kind of a vague concept in this place…" She tried her best to explain, "You see, this place exists separately from our world; but it's still sorta connected to it as well. It's kinda like an alternate dimension where almost everything that's solid is made out of light. The walls, the furniture… heck, even some parts of these kitchen appliances are made out of solid light."

"That would explain the brightness." Rogue commented on the obvious, about to ask her another question about the place when they both heard someone else announcing their arrival.

"I knew it!" Rogue heard a man's voice coming from behind him, and he turned in his seat to see a shirtless man with extremely long and unkempt red hair walking through one of the walls as he pointed accusingly at Vesta, "I knew I'd catch you raiding the fridge!"

"Busted…" Vesta remarked amusingly.

"I mean, Suno and Eighter are so politely waiting for us, with a whole lot of food…" The man reminded her; but Vesta only shrugged off his remark.

"Eh, I couldn't wait." She replied honestly before gesturing to the fridge, "You want something, too?"

Shaking his head in amusement, the man ignored her question before turning to their guest.

"Well, at least Ves was polite enough to feed you too." He remarked optimistically before walking closer to the Sabertooth wizard and extending him a hand, which Rogue politely shook before the man introduced himself as he sat across from the dragon slayer.

"If Ves hasn't told you yet, my name's Iga; and this is my Sanctuary, the one place in existence that Edo's powers can't reach."

"And that's why you had Lisanna Strauss send me here?" Rogue concluded.

"Well, yes and no." Iga began to explain, "Your safety came first of course, but I was also hoping you'd be able to help me with a little project of mine."

"Oh?" Rogue said curiously, "And what project would that be?"

"It's nothing too crazy, I assure you," Iga replied cryptically, "But I'm afraid we'll have to shelve this topic for a later conversation. Right now, I'm more worried about the status of our other guest at the moment."

"Other guest?" Rogue repeated the words, "Who else did you bring here?"

"Take a look for yourself." Iga said while gesturing to the closest wall; and Rogue looked at it to see the center of the wall opening into a small round window, which revealed an unconscious and bloody-bandaged Poison Dragon Slayer.

"I used my energy to keep him alive," Iga explained as Rogue stared at the sight with a mix of relief and concern, "He's not on borrowed time anymore, but he is going to need actual medical treatment before he can recover from that wound."

"And everyone else? Sting? Yukino?" Rogue asked as the image of Erik faded from view, "Where are they now?"

"At Fairy Tail, safe and sound." Vesta chimed in from her spot by the fridge, which she was still not-so-stealthily raiding as she listened to the two.

"Ves," Iga whined slightly as he noticed she was still snacking, "You know I can see you, right?"

The next instant, Vesta quickly became invisible to both men before she chuckled with a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, that wasn't the point…" Iga sighed as he gave up on trying to protect his food reserves from her.

"Oh, whatever." He added dismissively as Rogue finished eating, "We've got bigger things to worry about right now, anyway."

Standing up and gesturing for Rogue to follow him, Iga began to create another rift where the image of Erik used to be; and he asked the dragon slayer a question before setting the rift's destination.

"So, Rogue, the choice is yours: would you first like to know more about this place, and my little project? Or, would you rather head straight back to your friends at Fairy Tail?"

On Earthland…

Gajeel Redfox woke with a pained groan as he rubbed his head.

"Ergh, that damn Cobra…" He whined to himself as he sat up, "Bastard didn't need to hit me that hard…"

Finally taking in his surroundings, the dragon slayer soon realized he had been sleeping in Fairy Tail's Recovery Room, which he could see was currently full-up on patients; and he sighed with some relief at the sight of everyone resting safely.

"Wendy, look." He heard Romeo's voice from the other side of the room, "Gajeel's getting up!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm down." The Iron Dragon Slayer commented irritably before questioning the young couple that was now slowly walking towards him.

"How long have I been out?"

"About half an hour," Wendy answered first before asking, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit in the head." He said flatly, which made the pair smirk before he asked them his next question, "Tell me, how the hell did you all manage to beat Zancrow? 'Cause I see Jellal's chumps here, too; but I know that Zancrow was hell-bent on keeping us, I could feel it…"

"Well, it was more of a tie." Romeo began to answer as he and Wendy finally reached the foot of Gajeel's bed, "To be honest, I'm still not sure that I totally understand everything that happened…"

"Okay, then, tell me what you do know."

"We will in a minute." Wendy slightly surprised Gajeel as she temporarily denied his request to discuss her more pressing concerns; and she strode to the right side of his bed as she continued to speak, "Right now, I need to make sure your head's healed up; and I should probably check for any traces of Edo's magic while I'm at it. I had to undo some sort of sleep enchantment Zancrow put on his hostages, but whatever he was trying to do to you and Jellal's friends was something completely different; and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Do you mind?"

Gajeel shook his head even though he seemed slightly annoyed; and she gently placed her right hand on his right forearm before slowly placing her other hand on the side of his head.

"There, that should take care of your headache," She said amiably, "Feel better?"

"Yeah…" Gajeel confirmed with excellently-hidden bashfulness, though Wendy noticed it after he slightly shifted his gaze from her and finished answering, "Thanks."

"No; thank you," She replied politely, though her smile was more of an amused smirk than anything; she always did admire his tough-guy attitude, since it was always a rather difficult façade for her to maintain, "Not many people are able to swallow their pride and take one for the team like you did."

"Seriously; it was kinda bad-ass, in weird way." Romeo chipped in before awkwardly asking, "Unless Erik was lying about why he hit you… He wasn't, was he?"

Gajeel grinned faintly at the fire mage's awkward compliment before shaking his head and answering.

"Nah. For once, I'm glad that annoying ass was able to hear my thoughts."

"Well, it does seem like he kept Zancrow out." Wendy concluded reassuringly before releasing him, and she slightly backed away as she added, "I can't find any signs of corruption, either, though. If Zancrow wasn't lying about anything like that, it's not something I can detect."

"Hmph." Gajeel grunted in acknowledgment before deciding to actually speculate on the subject.

"Yeah, I wouldn't imagine you could." He said with a hint of resentment that was clearly directed at himself, "I don't want to admit it; but I think Zancrow might've been right about us."

Before Wendy or Romeo could make an attempt at making Gajeel feel better, the three heard a small commotion coming through the door before Erza suddenly swung it open and hurried through, with Jellal just behind her; but it was who Jellal was carrying into the room that made Wendy and Romeo both gasp in surprised relief.

"It's Erik!" Romeo observed aloud, but Erza ignored him as she instantly made a beeline for Gajeel.

"Ah, good, you're awake." She said as she moved quickly; and Gajeel was about to question her apparent concern for him when she suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

"Heh, I didn't think you were the worrying ki- What are you-?!"

Before he could finish speaking, Erza gracelessly lifted him and tossed him behind her, forcing Wendy to duck and Romeo to quickly sidestep him as he landed face-first on the floor near the corner of his bed.

"Put him here." Erza quickly instructed Jellal, who just as quickly complied after giving Gajeel an apologetic glance.

"How is he?" Wendy immediately questioned as she stood back up to examine the new patient on the bed before her.

"Not good." A third voice said from the door, and Romeo looked to see the same red-haired stranger from earlier was now leaning on the open door's frame as he spoke.

"Whatever Zancrow stabbed him with, he stabbed him deep. And there's also all the busted bones and bruises…"

"No kidding," Wendy agreed without bothering to look up as she kept her hands over Erik, until she noticed something bizarre thanks to her magic, "Wait… how is this possible? He's got tons of open wounds; but he isn't bleeding!"

"That's because my ki is keeping the leaks patched at the moment," the man explained casually; and now Wendy was intrigued enough to look away from the poison mage.

"You can use ki?" She asked curiously before beginning to question him, "Really? Because I can't sense it..."

Wendy suddenly went quiet as she remembered a small detail about the sorts of ki users that existed, one that instantly revealed to her the true nature of the strange, shirtless man standing in the doorway.

"Well, that explains a few things." She remarked in realization before returning most of her attention to Erik, "Now, can you get your ki out the way, please?"

"Whatever you say, boss." The man obeyed in amusement; but Romeo was only confused by the two's conversation.

"Wait, what explains a few things?" Romeo asked Wendy, "Do you know who this guy is or something?"

"I don't know who he is." She explained as she began to heal Erik, "But I know what he is, at least. He's a god."

"A god?!" The fire mage exclaimed; and even Jellal and Erza were silently admitting to themselves they were surprised as Romeo turned to the stranger and questioned him next, "How is that possible? I thought gods died out before the dragons did!"

"Heh…" The stranger chuckled, "It's funny, you mention dragons too…"

Wendy glanced back at the stranger again; and she soon noticed another detail about him when she looked into his eyes: not only were they a bizarre shade of yellow, they were just as reptilian as her late adoptive mother's.

"A dragon… god…?" She deduced in surprise; and Erik unconsciously winced once in pain as she briefly lost focus.

"That's right," The man at the door informed the room, "But the real surprise is that I'm a combination of all three eras. Long story short: many years ago, Edo and I were originally nothing but a couple of semi-pro fire wizards looking for fame and fortune."

"A dragon god, huh?" Gajeel remarked with a hint of skepticism, "If you've been around just as long as Edo has, why are we only just seeing your ugly mug?"

"That's an awful kind way to talk to your savior," the ever-grinning man quipped dismissively before looking to the Sky Maiden, who was still healing Erik as she listened, "Anyway… Wendy, when you're done here, there's a few things we should probably discuss in private."

"Okay…" She replied slowly as she tried to think of what business he could have with her; but she then put her curiosity aside once again to remained focused on the task at hand, "I'll be done with this in a couple of minutes."

The stranger nodded before addressing the rest of the room while beginning to walk back towards the bar.

"If anyone else has questions, and I'm sure you do… My name's Iga; and I'll be by the bar if you need me."

Letting the door close behind him, Iga had only managed to walk down the small set of stairs leading into the main dining floor when Sting got his attention by calling his name and hurrying to stand before him with Rogue in tow.

"What's up?" Iga casually asked the Twin Dragon Slayers as they stopped before him; but Sting had no intention of being as informal, causing Iga and Rogue to be slightly surprised when he bowed in extreme humility to the redhead immortal before saying anything.

"You probably know this, but… the most important part of being a guild master is being able to protect the people that follow you. And tonight, I failed at doing more than just that… Honestly, I don't want to even begin to imagine what would have happened without the help that you and Lisanna gave us."

"Sting…" Rogue said his best friend's name with a bizarre and confused medley of emotions in his voice; but the White Dragon Slayer was not finished speaking yet.

"Just saying that we're grateful would come nowhere close to repaying the debt that my guild owes you, what I owe you. Master Iga, the doors of the Sabertooth guild hall will forever be open to you; and if you ever need something from me or my guild, you need only ask for it."

Iga scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as he graciously listened to what Sting had to say; and he responded the only way he knew how.

"Well jeez, Master Sting" He jokingly remarked with a flattered tone, "Not even my wife talks that sweetly to me…"

Rogue smirked at the redhead's remark before watching Iga step close to Sting as the white mage finally stood tall once again; and Iga patted Sting on both of his shoulders as soon as they were standing eye-to-eye.

"And don't be so quick to beat yourself up, kid." He told the young master honestly, "The only people that can properly fend off people like Edo are gods, and gods alone. Just buy me some food some time, and I'll call us even."

Stepping past the Twin Dragons, Iga continued his walk towards the bar, where Lisanna was sitting by herself with a mug in her hands.

"Hey," Iga asked as he approached her, "Where'd Mira go? I was looking forward to seeing her."

"She's still here," she answered before glancing towards the kitchen's door and adding, "She's back there, trying to reopen the kitchen with Kinana."

"Really?" Iga replied with poorly masked excitement before adding, "I guess that's not a bad idea… who knows when all the folks in that room are gonna be up."

"Speaking of," He added as he took the seat to Lisanna's right, "Gajeel just came to."

"That's good." She said with some relief before adding hopefully, "Maybe that means more of them will be up before I have to go."

"Back to Earth?" He guessed easily, and he saw her nod before he added, "Well, you don't have to because of me. I've got a new plan for Fairy Tail and the rest of the 'light' guilds, and it's gonna need some good leaders…"

"Sounds tempting…" Lisanna almost seemed to consider his implied offer for a few seconds before finally adding, "But I can't. I need to be back on Earth; and I really need to talk to Trunks, about a lot of things…"

"Uh oh…" Iga remarked with a mix of amused intrigue and concern, "Trouble in paradise?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Lisanna assured him, and she then stared at the drink in her hands before adding, "There's just some stuff we've got to figure out."

"I get it," Iga empathized with her, although he was secretly fixated on the contents of her mug for some reason as her spoke, "Being from separate universes kinda complicates things, doesn't it?"

"It does," She agreed before quickly attempting to be positive, "But at least we've got a god or two on our side -that kinda helps."

"Only 'kinda'?" Iga met her gaze and grinned goofily as he replied; and Lisanna gave him an amused smile before he gestured to her drink, "So uh, why's that just water? After saving all my friends and nearly getting blasted by Zancrow, I'd be hitting the sake right about now."

As soon as Lisanna twitched nervously upon hearing his question, Iga was suspicious; and when he used his ki sense, his eyes widened in surprise. Nearly sliding out of his seat, Iga quickly recovered as he saw Lisanna desperately signaling him to stay quiet; but this revelation was something he simply could not ignore.

"Lisanna, you really should have told me… I would never have put you in Zancrow's line of fire like that if I had known about this!"

"That's one of the reasons why I didn't tell you!" She whispered back pointedly, "You needed me to distract Zancrow, 'cause it was either me or your trump card; and I'm pretty sure you still don't want Edo to know about her!"

Iga went quiet for once, knowing that she was right. Eighter, as kind and polite as he was, was not clever enough to con someone like Zancrow or Edo; and Vesta was indeed a secret weapon, which was a rare advantage to have against Edo.

"For the record, that was her plan; and not mine." Iga matched her volume as he tried to calm her, "But okay, I promise I won't tell a soul."

"Good." Lisanna replied with some satisfaction.

"But uh," Iga suddenly added as his curiosity overcame him, "Can we talk about it?"

"I guess." She conceded, and Iga sighed in relief before speaking.

"So, I'm guessing Trunks doesn't know?"

"Of course not." She told him flatly, "He wouldn't have left me alone at home if he knew.

"And speaking of 'home'…" She added ponderously, "That's another issue…"

"Yeah," Iga agreed in realization, "I guess you guys are gonna have to pick one place to live at, eventually; and if you aren't staying with me, there's a chance you won't hear about something happening until it's too late."

"Buuut… it's not so bad," He added reassuringly upon seeing that the conversation was starting to bother her, "You've got me on your side, after all; a trip across universes is nothing but a walk through a door for me."

"I know that," She informed him with a grateful smile before clarifying, "But that isn't the whole problem. Calling some place 'home' has meaning to it, doesn't it?"

"Hm… I guess." The immortal said slowly in his own thoughtful tone, "But 'home' has a lot of meanings, don't it? One of my homes is Edolas, and another on is the Sanctuary. I could also think a lot bigger and call all the universes my home, since I can go anywhere I want.

"But don't get too hung up on all the minutiae of life just yet, okay?" He concluded with a bit of advice, "You'll live where you live; and no one's gonna judge you for it. Except maybe Vegeta…"

Lisanna was going to humorously thank him for his half-way comforting advice when they both heard the kitchen door opening.

"And then there's the sister," Iga announced eagerly as Mirajane emerged, "The Demon herself…"

"And you must be the Igneel from Edolas," the elder takeover mage observed as she stood across the bar from them; and Iga quickly realized by her matter-of-factly tone that he was in trouble, "It's good to officially meet you, too; but, um… I have a lot of questions for you,"

Lisanna gasped in slight surprise as her sister grabbed Iga by an ear and pulled his face within inches of hers before doing her best to not shout at -or attack- him.

"Like what the hell do you think you were doing, sending Lisanna after Zancrow like that!"

Iga had seen some terrifying glares in his life; but the menacing expression on her face was one for the record book, as far as he was concerned.

"Mira!" Lisanna finally attempted to intervene, "He didn't know!"

"That doesn't matter to me," Her sister said with a calmer tone that still had force behind it, "I'm supposed to trust him with your life; but he's a god that doesn't even know what's going on with his followers, let alone his enemies."

"Yeah, you're right…" Iga winced in pain before he tentatively replied, "But I'm not a 'capital g' god, I'm a 'little g' god…"

"I don't care what kind of god you are," Mira told him pointedly, "All I care about is my little sister, and my little brother; and if you get either of them hurt, I also don't care that you're immortal. I'll find a way to kill you."

"You know…" Iga remarked with nervous humor, "You really do live up to your reputation…"

"Give her what she wants, Iga." Lisanna advised him nervously, "She seems more serious than usual…"

"Okay…" Iga soon gave in, raising his right hand solemnly as he spoke, "Fine… I promise: I'll keep a better eye on her; and from now on, any crazy plans that I make… I'll be sure to give Lisanna the safer parts."

Mirajane said nothing while she held him in place for a few more seconds, debating whether or not his oath was satisfying enough; but Iga was also having an internal debate of own, wondering if he should be speaking realistically rather than hopefully -and there was the issue of his pride, which was slightly hurt from this whole interaction already. Thinking he could possibly save face by acting brave under her threats, the immortal finally decided to add a more honest remark.

"Come on, Mirajane, you know that I can never totally guarantee her safety; especially when she wants to fight dark wizards like I do. All I can do is keep my promise, and that's it."

"Alright," The elder Strauss finally spoke, and her tone quickly returned to her signature friendliness as she released him and backed away slightly, "That's a bit better."

Lisanna sighed in relief as Iga flopped back onto his seat; and the two exchanged nervous smirks before Mirajane spoke again.

"I guess I should thank you for saving my friends…"

"You really don't have to." Iga told her honestly, but Mirajane was unconvinced.

"Please, I insist." The bartender replied with stubborn kindness, "There must be something I could do to repay you."

"Mira, just give him something to eat," Lisanna chimed in humorously, "That's the only thing this guy ever wants."

Iga nodded eagerly a few times before Mirajane could respond to them. He had already been thinking about the dinner on Earth that Vesta was more than likely eating without him.

"If that's the case," She said after she giggled at the goofy expression on the immortal's face, "I have few good ideas I'm sure you'll love. The Fairy Tail Guild Hall has a very diverse menu, with a few exotic dishes and plenty of magically enhanced foods and beverages. I even have a liquor that Gohan drunk."

"Well, with a sales pitch like that…" Iga was impressed with her boasting, "I really can't refuse now, can I?"

Mirajane smiled proudly before Iga asked her curiously.

"But seriously, you have a drink that could get a Saiyan drunk? Sounds like it must be something strong…"

"It sure is," Lisanna confirmed, "Apparently, it's so strong that only guild wizards, the kingdom's soldiers, and council officials are allowed to drink it; and there's a huge fine for whoever serves some to a normal human."

"There's a magical enhancement in it, you see." Mirajane continued the explanation for her sister, "It's effect lets the drinker stay however inebriated as they want to be until they fall asleep; it's something that's meant to be taken slowly and enjoyed."

"And Gohan downed an entire mug of it," Lisanna recalled with a nostalgic smile.

"Here… this is our menu," Mirajane offered as she reached under the bar to brandish a laminated sheet, "You can look it over while I go check on the others."

Iga thanked her before she walked away; and he began to browse the menu with Lisanna advising him until they briefly looked towards Mirajane, who had spoken to someone that was exiting the resting room.

"The kitchen's started up, Jellal," She said as she slowed her pace walking past him, "If you want anything, I'll be back in a second to ask about it."

"Thank you, Mirajane." The bluenette replied gratefully before resuming his walk towards the bar; and he soon began to address Iga as he approached.

"So, Iga…" He said with forceful curiosity, "You said you'd answer my questions, correct?"

"I sure did." Iga affirmed casually as he continued to look at the menu, "What do you wanna know?"

"I want to know how Gohan is, or his brother, wife and daughter. Last we met, you and Trunks said they were alive and well; but you were rather sparing on details. And I want to know how a 'god' like you could allow his friends to be attacked like we were tonight!"

"Little 'g'…" Iga interjected with an impatient sigh, but Jellal ignored him and continued.

"The only tactics you seem capable of acting on are deceptions and ambushes; if you were a god, wouldn't you have done something much sooner to stop Edo? Because while you've waited for us to do your dirty work for you, you've only allowed Edo to get stronger by using us as lab rats and punching bags!"

"Jellal! That's not-" Lisanna began to instantly defend Iga until the redhead held a hand up to signal her to stay quiet.

"He's not entirely wrong, Lisanna." He said honestly before finally putting the menu down and looking to Jellal, "As much as I don't want to admit it, he's got a point."

"Then why have you done nothing about Edo after all this time spent watching us?" Jellal demanded with a hint of anger.

"I understand you're upset right now, Jellal," Iga tried to calm the man down, "But I haven't been doing 'nothing' this whole time. Edo isn't someone you beat with one simple move, understand? This struggle between myself and Edo is more like an overly-complicated chess match, with a lot of moving parts and variables. The last time I made a direct move against Edo, I lost the person that mattered the most to me; so, we are lucky that tonight has turned out as well as it did."

"You know what?" Iga remarked with sad humor as he turned back to Lisanna, "I think I'm gonna have to take a whole bottle of that stuff your sister was talking about, if this is how all of these conversations are gonna go…"

"I'd be more afraid of Wendy, if I were you." Jellal warned the man with a menacing glare, "I'm satisfied with your reasons for making us lie to our friends the way we have, but her…

"Well, I actually don't know what will happen, considering everything I saw her do tonight." He added before turning back around to return to the resting room and concluding, "And no offense, but… I'm kind of hoping she makes you hurt for it."

At the ruins of Akane Resort…

Zancrow was still fumingly enraged as he paced back and forth in the very center of the massive crater that once used to be the hotel and amusement park, with only his angry thoughts and six shadowy yes-men to keep him company; and he eventually sent the Enenrae away before he started killing them to blow off steam.

"Dammit, why…" He swore miserably as he once again tried, and failed, to use his master's powers to reach the Shadow, "Why is this not working?!"

Wondering exactly how long he had been standing out in the open like an idiot, and wondering why he had heard nothing from either of his current allies, the Fire God Slayer continued to pace as he began to converse with himself on what could have happened to everyone.

"That damn Igneel, he's the one that did this… the rat bastard! Why couldn't he have done all that rescuing crap on one of Cel's jobs?!

"At least he made all of us look foolish," He added to console himself before guessing how Iga did so, "He had to have done something to Master Edo, otherwise he wouldn't have got out with his little puppets…

"Damn, damn, damn!" He said next before stomping his right foot a few times as he swore, "That still doesn't explain how some of my powers are gone… what the hell did Igneel do?!"

The dark mage was so preoccupied with his anger that he never once bothered to actively mind his surroundings; and it was only when he saw people surrounding the entire rim of the crater did Zancrow realize he had spent too much time doing nothing, which was a fact that soon angered him further.

"Oh, good, the neighbors are here…" He joked sourly before scanning the circle of faces; and though he easily recognized the men and women as Magic Council soldiers, the only person he actually recognized among them was Mest Gryder.

"And here I thought the council was all about rules and etiquette; but there you are, rudely staring at me like a bunch of asses!" He called out to the teleport mage with clear annoyance before giving him a suggestion, "Why don't you come down here and have a chat? I have been getting rather lonely."

Zancrow grinned knowingly when he saw a few of the soldiers near Mest nervously conversing with their leader, and the dark mage decided to call out to them again as he grew more impatient

"Ignoring someone isn't good manners, either, you know?!"

Finally listening to the dark mage, Mest hesitated another second before warping to join Zancrow in the bottom of the crater.

"Like what I've done with the place?" Zancrow asked sarcastically, and he grinned amusingly just as Mest grimaced in annoyance.

"Not particularly." The council agent answered flatly before cutting to the chase, "You did this? Why? All our information suggested that you wanted the place for yourself."

"Why don't you ask your guild buddies about it?" Zancrow wondered dismissively, "I'm sure they'd love to brag about their great escape…"

Looking quickly at the surprised look on Mest's face, Zancrow quickly realized he had given the man too much information.

"Not that it really matters," He added to save face and to change the subject, "When my Master finally makes his move, none of them will survive it."

"Empty threats again, Zancrow?" The Fairy Tail spy remarked dismissively, "Do you honestly think I'm going to believe them? I mean, you did just tell me about how you failed to get my friends…"

"Don't get cocky, errand boy," Zancrow warned him, "The only reason you're still standing is because you could be of use to me."

"I really doubt that." Mest chuckled skeptically, but Zancrow insisted.

"Oh, you 'good guys' and your modesty… I don't think you realize just how useful someone in your position could be. After all, not many people have the ear of both the Magic Council and the kingdom's number one guild; but its really rare to find someone that can make them listen."

"I'm not joining you." Mest made his stance clear, "Not for anything."

"Anything?" the dark mage repeated curiously, and he chuckled when Mest nodded in response, "Heh… Now it's my turn to doubt you.

"I wonder," He added as he attempted to get in the council agent's head, "Would you be interested in knowing that the iron will of the Fairy Tail guild can be bent? Or about how I even began to convince Jellal Fernandes to surrender to me?"

"Began to…" Mest interjected dismissively, "But didn't."

"Because a god interrupted me!" Zancrow explained angrily, but Mest only scoffed at him.

"A god? Please…" the teleport mage said with a roll of his eyes before questioning Zancrow again.

"Even if that were true, aren't you a god slayer? I thought killing gods was supposed to be your specialty."

"And your dragon slayers?" Zancrow quipped, "Care to tell me how many dragons they've killed? Oh, wait…

"There's a reason the gods and dragons of this world went extinct, you know." He added to drive his point home, "Each race's predecessor was too powerful to be ignored. Don't get me wrong, power can get you respect; but the mistake they both made is that they constantly reminded the lesser races about how powerful they were. Great and successful leaders are respected, but never feared; because fear… no matter how you try to use it, it will always create resentment; and once that seed is sown…"

"Funny," Mest interjected amusedly, "I almost forgot I was speaking with a dark wizard…"

"We're not all brutes and savages, mister clean-conscience," Zancrow informed him with a hint of annoyance, "Sometimes, people like me have no choice but to be brutal."

"Like what you did here?" Mest questioned him, "Aside from whatever happened with my friends, I heard about what you did to the civilians here. There is no justifying that!"

"Yeah, like you've never been ordered to kill someone that hasn't earned it!" the fire wizard said sarcastically,

"The only difference between you and me is that the person giving me orders is literally connected to my soul. And if the man that saved my life and gave me purpose tells me to kill some people, who am I to say no?"

"That's easy. You're Zancrow, the coward." Mest answered the rhetorical question, which made the yellow-haired mage clench his fists in anger as he listened, "Even if it costed hundreds of other lives, you would gladly do anything to stay alive."

"And once again, you've proven your ignorance…" the dark mage remarked with a sad sigh as he finally unclenched his fists, "You might be surprised by this, but I didn't find death to be as terrible as you think it would be. The good people actually do get rewarded when they die, and the bad do get punished; but the consequences didn't matter to me. Once I knew death wasn't the end, I couldn't care less about what happened to anyone, myself included."

"What are you rambling on about?" Mest asked in confused curiosity, "Even if there's an afterlife, it doesn't mean it's okay to send people there early! Or to cause pain, fear, and suffering!"

"Again, you council chumps have no room to talk! You might not use fear as directly as I do; but the Magic Council has certainly caused their own amounts of 'pain and suffering'. My first master taught me everything on that subject…"

"And your second master has taught you so much more." A third voice suddenly chimed in, and the two heard nervous chatter coming from the ring of soldiers in the distance as Edo himself appeared from a jet-black portal beside Zancrow's feet.

"Master!" Zancrow said in surprise, immediately humbly bowing on one knee to the man before saying anything else, "It is good to see you, master. When I could not reach your Shadow, I-"

"There is no need to be concerned, my friend, I assure you." Edo assured his pupil, "Igneel might have surprised me with some half-baked stunt, but his mistake was that he did not try to kill me while my guard was down. He could have saved his whole world by doing so; but instead, he chose to save his puppets over saving his planet…"

"Igneel?" Mest interrupted them curiously, "Wasn't that Natsu's dragon friend?"

"Of course not, you moron," Zancrow said harshly as he finally stood tall again, "You think one dragon would give us trouble? Hah! No dragon would stand a chance against us!"

"And no army will either," Edo added pointedly before gesturing to some of the soldiers, "These people out here, they're cannon fodder. At least, normally, they would be…"

Zancrow smirked devilishly as he suddenly realized his master's current strategy; and Mest began to feel increasingly nervous as he watched the two exchange evil grins.

"What…" He said slowly as he tried to figure out their endgame, "What are you two scheming? And why aren't you trying to kill us?"

"Because that would be a waste of resources, and a waste of my power." Edo explained with a total lack of emotion, "Unless you think I should step on every insect I come across?"

"I didn't think so." Edo added pointedly after Mest only stayed silent in response, and he smirked faintly before turning to his student and speaking again.

"Now Zancrow, you may go home and rest. You've earned it."

"But Master-"

"I'm sure you have plenty questions of your own," Edo interrupted his underling, "And I will return home to answer them as soon as I've finished cleaning up this mess."

Finally giving up, Zancrow went quiet as he slowly refocused his powers; and he soon realized a few of his questions could now be answered, simply by using his senses.

"Oh, yes… Now, I se-" He began to think aloud before quickly catching himself, and he quickly bowed to Edo as he did so, "I apologize for questioning your judgement."

Without another word, Zancrow created a rift on the ground ahead of his feet before slowly stepping down into it; and he soon vanished from view entirely before Edo returned to his conversation with Mest.

"Now, where were we?" He wondered aloud as he turned to face the council agent, "Oh yes, we were just about to discuss the terms of your surrender."

"Were we?" Mest asked with clear doubt, but Edo only grinned at the man's resistance.

"Play tough all you want, Mr. Gryder, but I know the score. No one here is equipped to do battle with a god, much less with one as powerful as I am.

"No," He concluded while grinning widely and taking a casual stance, "Right now, I imagine the only thing you've been wondering is how you'll worm you way out of this; but you won't."

"Then either get to your point, or just kill us and be done with it." Mest replied impatiently.

"Hmph," Edo chuckled before deciding he had bought enough time, "Well, if you insist…"

The dark god next raised his right hand lazily before snapping his fingers once, which was soon followed by a panicked commotion coming from the soldiers on the crater's edge. Looking immediately over to his company, Mest saw that every single on of them were sinking into the ground as if they were trapped in quicksand; and he immediately turned back to Edo with a shout.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded immediately, though he did not wait for an answer. Warping closer to Edo while throwing a punch, but the dark mage easily blocked his fist with one finger.

"Now, now," Edo tutted in sad amusement, "Let's not do anything you'd regret…"

Slowly prodding Mest's fist away from himself, Edo let his would-be attacker take in the horrifying sight around them before taunting him.

"I'd hurry up and say goodbye if I were you," He suggested grimly, "Odds are, you'll never see any of them again."

Not listening to the dark wizard, Mest quickly warped to where some of his fellow officers were located; but try as he might, he was unable to halt -or even slow- any of their descents into the earth. And as he tried, a young woman's voice began to laugh at him, with the sound of it rumbling from the very ground beneath him.

"Sorry, mister council crony! These guys belong to us now; but you're welcome to join them, if you'd like…"

He quickly recognized the voice and magic as Cel Rhea's while he began to look around for her.

"Come out here and face me, coward!" Mest tried to order her, but she only laughed at him again in response.

"I am out here, fool." She pointed out honestly, "Or have you forgotten about my power already?"

Mest quickly jumped as high as possible when a hand suddenly morphed out of the ground and attempted to grab his ankle, but Edo had predicted his movement; and the dark mage leapt up as well, appearing just above his target before he slapped the council wizard back into the crater's center with the back of his right hand.

"Now look at what you made me do," Edo complained to his girlfriend humorously as he slowly descended towards the dazed and slow-recovering teleport mage, "I wasn't planning on getting rough with him yet, you know."

"Meh." Cel said dismissively, making Edo shake his head dejectedly before he addressed their captive once more.

"I'm sorry about my partner's lack of professionalism… I did ask her not to mock you over this defeat; but you know how people like us are. If we see an open wound, we can't help but pour salt in it."

The only response Mest gave him was a grunt of pained effort as he slowly stood back up.

"So you're giving me the silent treatment, are you?" Edo remarked in amusement as Mest stared angrily at him, "That's fair, considering everything… But, I'd like you to try considering my side of this as well. You see, your friends just destroyed almost all of my wonderful little science experiments; I've gotta do something to replenish their ranks, now, don't I?"

"No…" Mest broke his silence as he understood Edo's statement, "You can't…"

"I do what I desire, and nothing else." The dark mage replied curtly, "Your people got in the way of what I wanted, and now they're going to make it up to me. If you truly cared for the safety of these people, then you would never have brought them here."

"Stop this!" Mest tried again, "These people are…"

"If you say the word 'innocent', I'll kill you." Edo interrupted him irritably.

Thinking of no better solution, Mest desperately tried once more to attack the man before him; but he was instantly halted by the feeling of two stone hands wrapping tightly around his ankles, making him wince in pain as all his momentum suddenly vanished.

"Thank you, my dear." Edo chuckled to his partner gratefully before stepping within Mest's striking range and adding, "As needless as it was, I appreciate your desire to protect me."

"Now, come on and behave, Mest." He said with faux friendliness,

"After all, I'd hate to have to kill my newest messenger…

Back at Fairy Tail…

Inside the Recovery Room, Wendy had stood up and just finished speaking with Romeo, Erza, Mirajane, Gajeel, and the Twin Dragons when Jellal walked in; and judging by the sour look on his face, a few of the more perceptive folks in the room easily guessed who he was speaking with.

"It went that bad?" Erza greeted him with a weak attempt at humor; and Jellal nodded as he approached the group, which had made a ring of chairs in the space between all the beds.

"I'm beginning to understand why the dragons killed off the gods." He joked grimly as he moved to take an empty seat beside Erza and Romeo, in the seat Wendy had vacated as she walked past him to check on her patients on more time before leaving to speak with Iga.

"That guy can't be that bad, can he?" Romeo asked Jellal while occasionally glancing to Wendy as she worked, "I mean, he did save us from Zancrow."

"He saved us because he needs us." Jellal replied pointedly, but Mirajane quickly disagreed.

"Hm… I wouldn't be too sure about that," She said in her usual cheery tone, "I haven't known him for long, but Lisanna trusts him; and she's usually a great judge of character."

"It doesn't matter if he's good or not," Jellal told her honestly, "Gods and dragons only create chaos when they get involved with humans."

"Easy there, pal," Gajeel warned Jellal with vague annoyance, "I'm with you on the whole god thing, but you better not start to insult Metalicana, or we're gonna have a problem."

"Yeah!" Sting added, starting to get out of his seat until Rogue put an arm before him and held him back, "If you trash-talk Weisslogia or Skiadrum, I'll kick your ass!"

Finally finishing her last examination of the patients, Wendy, though she felt slightly insulted as well, decided to simply ignore the conversation on her way out; and she quietly slipped out the door while everyone else was busy arguing.

"Darn it," She soon heard Iga complaining as soon as she was out the room, "I really thought that'd be Mirajane…"

"She'll be out here soon," Wendy assured him as she began to walk towards him and Lisanna, "If she doesn't get caught up in all the arguing going on in there, anyway."

"Arguing, huh?" Iga remarked before sighing sadly, "I had hoped there wouldn't be any of that happening over me, but I can tell now that that was wishful thinking…"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Wendy consoled him, "We always find something to argue about around here.

"You said that you wanted to talk?" She added as she finally reached the bar, and Lisanna soon made a nervous glace between the two before slowly getting up.

"You know what?" She said to Iga awkwardly while slowly moving past Wendy, "I'm gonna go and tell the kitchen your order, you know… since Mira's so busy…"

"I did," Iga finally answered Wendy as he watched Lisanna disappear behind the kitchen door, "Although, I also suggested we should have this talk in private."

"We're alone right now," She pointed out the obvious, but Iga was unconvinced.

"For now," He added pointedly, "But our talk really should take place somewhere else."

"Then take me where we need to go," the Sky Maiden insisted, "Because I've got a lot of questions, and you promised to give the answers."

"I told everyone else that I'd answer their questions, sure." Iga corrected her, "But I'm pretty sure I only said that I needed to talk with you, though."

Now Wendy understood why Jellal had walked into the Recovery Room in such a foul mood.

"So, you're not going to answer my questions?" She questioned him with a warning glare.

"I didn't say that, either; I'm just pointing out what I said…" Iga clarified calmingly; but Wendy was still clearly irritated, judging by the way she crossed her arms and stared at him impatiently.

"Oh, fine." Iga sighed in defeat, "I was hoping I'd get to eat something before this little chat, but sure. Let's head out front, I guess."

Wendy quietly followed the redhead after he made his suggestion and stood up, walking just behind his left side as they moved for the front doors of the guild; but just as Iga went to push the doors open for them, a battered and bruised Mest Gryder burst through them from the other side. Wendy was just far enough to avoid being hit by the doors slamming open, unlike Iga, who found himself suddenly being squished between a door and the wall that he had just been facing.

Not even noticing the two people he blitzed past, Mest started calling out for anyone nearby as he ran for the bar.

"Erza! Jellal! Mirajane?! Dammit, where is everyone?!"

"Mest!" Wendy quickly said to him as soon as she recovered from the shock of his sudden entrance, "We're right here!"

"Yeah, here…" Iga groaned in pained agreement as he watched the door that hit him slowly swing back into place.

"Wendy? Thank god…" Mest said with some relief before suddenly running back to her, "Wendy where's everyone else? There's something they need to know, and it can't wait!"

"Everyone's in there," the Sky Maiden answered while pointing to Recovery Room door, "Why, Mest? What's happened?"

"What do you think, Edo happened!" He replied gruffly before beginning to hurry towards the resting room, "Sorry, but I really got to talk to Jellal!"

Iga had instantly recovered his bearings upon mention of his rival's name; and he quickly created two portals, one on the door just inches ahead of Mest, and the other on one of the guild's entrance doors.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second!" He called out to a now frozen and confused Mest, who was suddenly staring at Wendy again for some bizarre reason, "Sorry, but did you just say 'Edo'?"

"I did, but who the hell cares?!" Mest impatiently replied, "And who are you, anyway? And what are you doing in my guild?"

"Me?" Iga answered calmly, "Oh, no one in particular… I'm just the god that saved half your friends, but it's no big deal…"

"God?" Mest blinked as he repeated the word slowly, "You're a… god?"

Before Iga or Wendy could answer him, he suddenly made a realization aloud.

"Then… Zancrow, he wasn't lying… Dammit, none one of them were!

"Wait, you!" Mest added as he suddenly approached Iga, "I hate to be rude and start asking for favors, since I don't even know who you are; but… you really need to kill Edo, and you gotta do it quick!"

Slightly taken aback by the man's animated forwardness, Iga took a moment to choose his words before responding.

"Mest, believe me, I really wish I could. Why? What's he done now?"

"Edo and his psycho-bitch girlfriend just kidnapped all the soldiers I brought to fight Zancrow, and then they let me go so I could tell everyone his next move! Now, can you please get your magic out my way; so I can warn my friends?!"

About two hours later…

"Well, folks, here we are," Iga declared formally as he walked into the massive living room of his home with his four new guests, "Welcome to the Sanctuary!"

"Whoa…" Lector pointed out the obvious, shielding his eyes and following Sting and Rogue into the room as he did, "It's really bright in here!"

"I agree…" Frosch added as he walked beside his Exceed friend.

"Is it?" Sting remarked honestly, "Everything looks fine to me, even if everything's painted white."

"Sting, that's not paint," Rogue said sadly as he fought off the urge to comment on his friend's poor perceptive skills, "Everything in this place is made out of light."

"Really?" Sting questioned no one specific, though he looked to Iga as he spoke; and the redhead nodded in response before explaining.

"That's right, my friend. This little pocket dimension of mine is made entirely from my light magic; and since we're in a place made entirely out of my light, I can control almost every aspect of the Sanctuary.

"As a matter of fact," He added as he decided to give a demonstration of his power, "I'm starting to think that this room should be a bit bigger, now that we'll have more people living here…"

With a dramatic wave of Iga's hand, the living room around them began to expand for yards in all directions, but the impressed group became truly amazed when the furniture itself began to change shape. A few chairs multiplied themselves while tables and couches stretched, until the room finished reorienting itself to look like a near perfect copy of its smaller version.

"Cool…" Lector said slowly while Sting curiously walked up to a chair near one of the two coffee tables in the living room, which he began to expect; but the group watched in surprise when the dragon slayer suddenly bit off a top portion of the chair.

"Sting!" Rogue instantly began to scold his friend for his rudeness, "Do not eat the man's furniture!"

"Sorry…" He replied before he could start chewing, "I had to, I was curious…"

"I don't care! We're standing in front of a god here, so be polite!" Rogue quipped impatiently, "And don't talk with your mouth full, either!"

"Jeez, Sting," Lector chimed in with a sad sigh, "You really could learn to mind your manners…"

"I agree…" Frosch added; but Iga surprised them by soon revealing that he did not share their opinion.

"Guys, I might be a god; but that doesn't mean I'm some dignified person or anything like that. In fact, I don't really care about formalities and etiquette in the slightest. Sting can eat the furniture all he wants, as long as he doesn't start eating through the walls or anything important; like the fridge. Never. Hurt. The food."

"I don't totally understand what you're saying, but that last part's a rule I could get behind." Sting remarked pleasantly, dropping the bag he carried in before he began to walk around the room; and Rogue quickly noticed his friend was walking straight towards the kitchen.

"Is this where you keep the food? Mind if I have some?" they heard Sting say as he stared at the large refrigerator before him.

"I can't believe you're still hungry after eating all that food at Fairy Tail…" Rogue commented before Iga could answer.

"Why?" Sting wondered honestly, "Aren't you hungry too? 'Cause I know you can eat way more than what you did back there."

"I am, and I could, but I have something called manners; and I'm not gonna rudely stuff my face in front of people everywhere we go!"

Iga chuckled loud enough to draw the pair's attention before speaking to the four of them.

"You guys can have as much food as you like, and whenever you want; but this isn't a restaurant, alright? Everyone that lives here is expected to help with chores and errands; and everyone takes turns cooking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Simple enough." Rogue replied agreeably.

"I think so, too." Frosch added.

"Ya know…" Lector thought aloud, "For a guy that doesn't care about rules, it sounds like he's got a lot of them about his food…"

"Well yeah," Iga said matter-of-factly, "Food is a very serious matter."

"I think so, too!" Frosch agreed happily, which made Rogue shake his head in amusement.

"Anyway," Iga returned to giving his guests the tour of their new home, "If you'd take your things and follow me…"

Rogue and the two Exceeds were already carrying their belongings, so they were first to follow Iga towards one of the two doors in the large room as Sting picked up his gear; and he was right behind them as they entered an equally large hallway.

"The layout of the Sanctuary is pretty simple: this is the only hallway in the place, so it's not too easy to get lost around here… To the right you'll find Trunks and Lisanna's room, the combat room, the library, and the lounge; and right in front of us is the door to me and Ves' room."

"Huh?" Lector said with some confusion, "Really? 'Cause I don't see a door here…"

"Well, as you'll soon see…" Iga explained, "I've never bothered to put a lock on any of the doors around here, but I do have a few items of both personal and scientific importance; and I keep them safe by only allowing folks with my magic to have access to them."

"Makes sense." Rogue commented thoughtfully before Iga continued, turning to his left and walking ahead as he spoke.

"Now to the left, where we're going, is the lab and workshop, the storage room, your two rooms; and at the end of the hall is the door to the pool, hot tub, and gym. You guys will have all the creature comforts that you would back home."

"Minus all the noise," Rogue remarked optimistically, "I will enjoy that."

"Not me," Sting disagreed with a hint of melancholy, "I kinda miss it already…"

"Oh don't worry, Sting; as soon as we get to work, I'm sure you guys will be back home in no time." Iga replied reassuringly as he walked past a door on his left and right before stopping between two more and speaking again, "And right here, we have your rooms. They're completely identical at the moment, so there's no need to argue over who gets which. Both are completely furnished and have adjoining bathrooms with a bath and shower included; and in one of the corners by the beds, I even added a comfy setup for my Exceed guests as well."

"Sounds like you thought of everything." Rogue observed, which made Iga nod in agreement.

"Yeah, well," the god said amusedly, "When you're immortal, you get plenty of time to think about a lot of things.

"Anyway," He added as he decided to finish his brief tour, "Since I imagine you guys would like to take your time getting settled in, I'll leave you to it; but first, you'll need these."

Creating a small portal on the wall to his left, Iga slowly reached into it with his left hand before withdrawing two small orbs that his four guests initially mistook for cue balls; and he quickly explained their purpose as he handed one to each of the Twin Dragons.

"These two lacrima are remotes that let you have some of the perks of my magic. With these, you can see anything you want, you can talk to anyone that you want -wherever they are; and you can rearrange your rooms however you see fit, along with changing the lighting. However, since you two are training under me now, I've limited these remotes' transportation abilities so that you can't go back to Earthland; until your training is over, the only two safe places for you would be here and Earth, where I'll be."

"And if there's an emergency back home?" Rogue asked curiously, voicing one of a few similar concerns he and his friends had, "Say we see Edo or Zancrow attacking people on Earthland again, would we be allowed to go back then?"

"In an emergency, sure; and as I said, if someone like Yukino or Minerva wanted to ask you something about your guild business, you'll be perfectly able to advise them as you see fit." Iga explained, "In fact, because my focus will mainly be on Earth, I'm counting on you guys to be my eyes and ears when it comes to Earthland. If you see or hear about anything bad happening there, you just let me or Ves know about it; and we'll all take care of it. Just remember that unless we're here or in Fairy Tail, we can't talk about my wife just yet; since she's our secret weapon and all that. I'd include Earth on that list, but after that stunt I just pulled off at Akane, there's a strong chance that Edo will be watching both Earth and Earthland much closer from now on.

"Anyway, we can talk about him tomorrow after you've finished settling in and I'm finished helping Gohan and company with their battle on Earth. Do you guys have any questions about anything, before I go?"

"Not me," Lector said honestly.

"I think so too." Frosch agreed.

"I think I'm with them," Rogue added as he began to examine the remote closely, "But I must admit, it is going to be interesting, being a shadow wizard that's using light magic…"

"It won't be as difficult as you think," Iga reassured him before leaning his shoulder casually against the wall to his left and elaborating, "You've already controlled light a few times with Sting's help, haven't you? Just think of this like you're simply kicking off the training wheels. You get that analogy, right?"

"We do." Sting and Rogue answered simultaneously before Sting asked on his own,

"One last thing: how exactly does your magic do all that stuff you said it could? I get that you can fight and travel with it, but talking to people? How does that work?"

"It's not like telepathy, if that's what you're wondering," Iga informed the pair, "All I do is create smaller portals near whoever I wanna talk to, and that's it. Remember: with even the simplest forms of magic, someone can do amazing things if they're clever and creative enough.

"Actually, since we're on the subject…" The immortal added as he realized something, "I think I can give you guys your first training exercise; and I think it's pretty simple, so it shouldn't take you guys long to figure it out."

"So what is it?" Lector wondered eagerly, to which Iga replied by creating a new portal on the wall to his left.

"This is it." He said proudly as his four guests turned to face the surprising image before them.

"No way…" Sting remarked with quiet surprise, "This is…"

"This is when we fought Natsu and Gajeel at the Grand Magic Games," Rogue finished his friend's sentence before wondering, "But how are we seeing this? That was years ago. Your magic lets you see into the past?"

Iga nodded proudly.

"How?" Lector chimed in with immense curiosity; but Iga only broadened his smirk before answering him cryptically.

"And that's the test. Sting, both you and Rogue can now also do this, thanks to those remotes I gave you; but I'm not going to explain how, that's for you to figure out on your own. And by 'your own', I mean literally. I'll hear what your guesses are tomorrow if you haven't figured it out by then; and if you have, the other part of your test will be to see how many other ways you can use my magic by the next time we meet.

"Now," Iga concluded as he widened the portal and changed its destination, "If there aren't any more questions, I'd like to head back to Earth now; so I can grab at least a little sleep before all hell breaks loose…"

Sting and Rogue felt sympathetic with him, so they kept their curiosity to themselves with their Exceed friends following their lead; and they all said farewell or wished Iga luck before he stepped through the rift in the wall and closed it behind himself.

Back on Earth…

Vesta Flaremane was reclining on a couch inside the living room of her on-loan capsule home, which Suno kindly allowed to be reconstructed just beside her own home, as she killed time while waiting for Igneel to return. Vesta had spent much of her time by reading every book she could find within the home while also raiding it of every last piece of junk food; and she was in the middle of finishing both tasks as she relaxed on the couch, holding a book in one hand while munching on an assortment of snacks with the other, when her partner finally arrived.

Walking through a portal he temporarily created on the door, Iga walked in with a relieved sigh.

"Finally… alone at last… We are alone right?"

"We are," Vesta answered thoughtlessly as she continued reading, about to say more until Iga noticed the small pile of candy and other snacks laying on her stomach.

"You are still eating?!"

"Yeah," She confirmed nonchalantly as she bit into another chocolate bar, "So what? It's called a midnight snack for a reason, you know."

"So what?" Iga remarked pointedly, "This all the snacks we have left, now!"

"That's too bad, I guess."

"You guess?!"

"Why? Want an apology?"

"An apology would be nice…"

"Fine, I'm sorry you got here after I started eating everything."

"That is not the apology I was looking for."

"True, but it's the one you got."

Iga, facepalming as he did, sighed in defeat before redirecting their conversation.

"I guess it's for the better, anyways," He admitted as he moved to stand before the center of the couch, and he slowly took some of the candy from her while he spoke, "We might be giving this place back to Bulma or Trunks tomorrow, and who knows when's the next time they'll be using it…"

"So eat everything perishable before it can go bad, right?" Vesta quickly caught on before playing coy, "That was my plan all along. Jeez, it took you long enough…"

Ignoring her teasing, Iga started to eat the food in his hands before waving Vesta aside. She smirked at his lack of reaction before sitting up and shifting forward, though only long enough for Iga to take his seat; and she soon kicked her feet up onto the far arm of the couch as she rested her head on her husband's lap, holding the snacks against her gut with one hand as she moved around.

"So," Iga started a new conversation as he tossed all the candy he had into his mouth at once, "Were you watching anything after we attacked Edo?"

"Oh, just here and there. I know the main plot points, at least." She answered honestly while smirking at his ever-terrible eating habits, "I was kinda flipping through the channels when I was watching, though; there was a lot of crazy things happening tonight."

"I guess that means something went down here, too?" Iga replied curiously, to which Vesta nodded.

"Yup," She confirmed while also eating the last of the junk food, "It took a bit of effort, but I was able to find Trunks fighting against Goten and Natsu, and then I watched the tail end of Gohan's fight with his dad…"

"Whoa, hang on," Iga interrupted her with immense curiosity, "Gohan and Goku fought? Who won?"

"Goku did, of course. Gohan came pretty close, though; that cat Korin would've had a mess on his hands if he didn't have any of those beans of his."

"Well that's a shame," Iga remarked with a vaguely depressed sigh, "I was sorta hoping that Gohan's Ultimate God form would be enough, but oh, well…"

"You know, if you're so worried about keeping up with them," Vesta interjected humorously, "You should probably be training, or something like that."

"Yeah? And why would I do that…" He replied with dismissive humor of his own, "When I'm so busy sitting around here, being your pillow?"

"Heheh… You're not busy, Igneel," She pointed out the truth with a giggle, "You're just easily distracted."

"That's not true," He began to argue, "You're just a distracting woman."

"Flattery isn't gonna change facts, Igneel." She reminded him while trying to hide her appreciation, "If we want to keep up with the Saiyans, we're gonna have to train just as hard as they do."

"We?" Iga repeated before wondering, "So you've finally decided to get serious, too, huh?"

The light Keeper nodded slowly before swallowing the last of the junk food and laying her head back again, which allowed her to make eye-contact with her husband before he grinned and spoke again.

"Well that's fine by me, partner. Just don't complain later when you're struggling to keep up."

"Yeah, yeah," She accepted his teasing amusedly, "Just remember that my magic's better than yours, and it always will be."

"Eh," Iga quipped dismissively, "'Better' is a subjective term…"

"It is not!"

"It can be."

"Really, Igneel, you're picking a fight now?"

"Maybe I am."

Getting annoyed with her husband, Vesta gave up while crossing her arms and looking away impatiently; but Iga only smirked, since he was also just about to give up on her.

"Hey," He changed the subject curiously, "What did you mean by 'now'? Is there some kind of occasion I've forgotten about?"

"No," She informed him while holding her annoyed stance, "I just meant that, if we're going to find the sixth Dragon Ball tomorrow morning, there's a chance that tonight could be our last. Even if you survive dealing with Cosmos and Casus, there's still Chaos and Chronas to worry about; and no one has ever survived a real fight against either of them."

"Well," Iga concluded casually, "That's probably just because they haven't fought anyone with real power yet."

"I wish that were true," She admitted honestly, "But it's not. The Keepers recruit the strongest of the dead from all the universes, remember? I don't know much about Chaos, but I do know that he and Cerberus have a long history of brutality. Cerberus would bring him the recruits, and Chaos would kill the weak ones. Luckily, I skipped that whole filtering process by getting found by the first Claris.

"Funny thing is," She added as she finally glanced back to her husband, "She wanted me to take out Cerberus, since she had some kinda grudge against him and Chaos; but she had no clue that Chronas was training me on the side.

"Heh," She chuckled while smiling nostalgically, "You should have seen Claris' face when I practically slapped Cerberus around… She didn't expect to me be that strong, but she really didn't expect me to challenge her right then and there as well."

"Was it a hard fight?" Her partner asked curiously.

"Eh," She recalled with an honest shrug, "It could have been the hardest fight of my life; but my training under Chronas made things a lot easier. Even if she doesn't use her magic, we're probably going to need all the Saiyans when it comes time to fight her."

"Chronas is that strong?" Iga said with some surprise; and Vesta nodded again, though she stayed silent after doing so.

"And Cosmos and Casus?" her husband wondered with a more careful tone, having finally realized her concerns could possibly be valid, "Do you have any idea how strong they might be?"

The Keeper remained quiet for another half-second while thinking over her answer before giving it.

"Well, I think Goten and Trunks together should be enough to take on Cosmos, but he's not going to fight them alone; and I'm not talking about Casus, he's another problem entirely. You see, Cosmos is the guy that trains all the people Chaos doesn't eliminate; so odds are that whoever fights him will end up fighting a few, or maybe all, of his goons. And believe me, they will not fight fairly. Cosmos might have a strong sense of honor, but he'll do anything to kill anyone that he considers 'criminal'."

"And Casus?" Iga asked next, "What's his deal?"

"What isn't?" Vesta remarked with a weak attempt at humor, "That sneaky little creep's magic lets him hear anything he wants, and he has a bad habit of over-using it. But that's just why he annoys me, what makes him dangerous is that his speed is second only to Chronas; and he's so cunningly devious that no one has ever seen him go all out in a fight before. Actually, every person that's worked up the courage to challenge him was killed in one hit; so there's no way to know how strong he is until we actually fight him."

"And now I get why you're worried." Iga concluded thoughtfully, "Well, if Cosmos really wants to wait, we could always put off finding the Dragon Ball and keep training until you think we'd be better off."

"And what do you think Cosmos is doing right now? I know he's arrogant, but he's also obsessed with strength; and he is always training." She replied pointedly, "Trunks and Goten might have needed the time to train; but we can't wait any longer, that would give Casus even more time to spy on us."

"Yeah… you're right." Iga agreed with a sigh before trying to lighten the mood, "Well, maybe we could still wait and train; but we'd just blare music really loudly wherever we go…"

Iga smirked successfully as his wife chuckled at his joke before finally moving to sit upright beside him, responding as she did.

"I'd go deaf within a week, and you and your dragon ears; you'd last three days, tops."

Iga chuckled at the honest joke before deciding to change the subject.

"Anyway, I'm sure Casus and Cosmos have a whole bag of magic tricks; but I'd rather talk about other things right now.

"You know, happier things," He added as he casually wrapped his left arm around his wife, "Like how we plan on spending tonight…"

"Oh yeah?" She replied with a grin, having instantly recognized her husband's suggestive tone, "You sure you won't just pass out on me instead? You look more tired than you're acting."

"Well, I am a little tired…" He confirmed amusedly as he pulled her snug against his side, "But that is not why I'll be going to bed tonight."

Vesta fought off the urge to giggle at Iga before replying, just as he began to place a slow and gentle trail of kisses up the side of her neck.

"Gods, you're so corny," She remarked teasingly before purring under his touch and adding, "Mm… Among other things…"

Finally giving into her own desires, Vesta turned her head and body to face Iga before placing her lips against his; and the two quickly deepened their kiss as she began to lay back with him atop her.

"Oh, wait…" Iga suddenly remembered after a few seconds, "I had something I wanted to show you."

Sitting up slightly while making Vesta moan as he incidentally ground his groin against hers, Iga rested his left hand on the top of her right knee while he quickly waved his right hand; and his wife watched as he reached into a small portal he created on the seat cushion just left of her hip before retrieving from it an over-sized wine bottle, though the only label on it was a square white sticker with a black skull and crossbones stamp.

"Before you ask, this isn't poison," He explained humorously as he noticed the mix of curiosity and amusement on her face, "This is a magic liquor that Lisanna's big sis gave me; and it's supposed to be one that can get anyone as drunk as they want until they go to sleep."

"And you do remember that we've got to hunt a Dragon Ball in the morning, right?" She questioned him with poorly concealed humor, "Are you sure you wanna do that hungover?"

"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," He answered honestly, "I mean, I dunno if you ever got drunk with any of your Keeper buddies; but for me, the last time I got drunk was way back when I was still mortal…"

"That is a long time…" Vesta remarked thoughtfully before Iga gave her a hopeful look while slowly shaking the bottle.

"So, what do you say?" He asked with poorly-disguised eagerness, "Mirajane also told me that it doesn't have a burn; and that it's supposed to taste really good…"

"Yeah?" She asked casually, pretending to appear dismissive while she was secretly using her ki to ferry two drinking glasses in from the kitchen, "What's it taste like?"

"That's the thing," He said as he recalled the details Mirajane gave him, making Vesta smirk from seeing that he was too busy trying to convince her to notice the floating glassware behind him, "This stuff has a fruit's flavor that can change with each sip, but it only changes to flavors that the drinker likes."

"And now I get why there's a poison label," She concluded with interest, having been slightly distracted from her ruse, "If it tastes good and has no burn, people would drink way too much."

"Or they'd drink it too quickly." Iga agreed with a nod, "Actually, I'm pretty sure Mira committed a small crime by just handing me this bottle. Only registered wizards are allowed to have this stuff back on Earthland."

"And you're sure you don't want to hold onto this stuff until we have something to celebrate?" She asked curiously, "This stuff sounds like something we should save for a party or two."

"Sweetheart," Iga replied flirtatiously, "I've always got something to celebrate when you're around."

He grinned triumphantly when he saw her smirk while biting her lower lip, thinking he was finally winning her over; but she was only thinking dirty thoughts, and fighting off the urge to skip drinking and get straight to business.

"Come on, Ves…" he practically begged her, "You really don't want some?"

Deciding to finally give Iga what he wanted, Vesta kept grinning in silence as she used her ki to clink the two drinking glasses above his head; and she smiled mischievously at the look of realization that slowly appeared on her husband's face.

"Wait… you were just toying with me, weren't you?" He immediately knew to ask her, seeing her nod before seeing the glasses lower until they hovered just before his face, "How long have those been there?"

"Almost as soon as you started the sales pitch," She informed him amusedly before teasing him, "Well, come on, Igneel. Are you gonna sit there and stare at the glasses, or are you actually gonna fill them?"

About a half-hour later, the couple found themselves sitting side by side on the black-rug covered floor with their backs against the couch. Iga, sat on the right, had his left arm draped around his wife's shoulders while his right hand held his near-empty drinking glass before him.

"You're actually gonna finish that?" Vesta wondered aloud with a goofy grin on her face.

"Probably," He answered pensively before glancing to her and asking, "Why? You think I shouldn't?"

The light Keeper shrugged before answering him.

"Eh, you can do what you want; I'm just hoping you'll be able to make it to the bedroom later."

"Heh," Iga chuckled, "Well, I'm not gonna make any promises."

As soon as he finished speaking, the light god finished his drink and set the glass aside on the floor to his right while Vesta shook her head at him dejectedly.

"You're hopeless." She sighed as she shook her head, but Iga only smirked at her comment.

"I sure am." He agreed humorously before shrugging with a mischievous smirk and adding, "But honestly, who needs a bed to have a little bit of fun?"

"You know, I was talking about actually going to bed, you pervert." She teased him, even though she partially agreed with him; and Iga certainly saw through her act as he dismissed her teasing.

"Whatever you say, dear." He said with flat humor as he glanced around the room, until he suddenly remembered something aloud.

"Oh, crap!" He swore at himself while slapping his free hand onto his face, "I didn't finish talking with Wendy!

"Dammit…" He sighed in defeat as he dropped his right hand to his side and leaned back until his head rested on the couch, "I knew I had forgot something important; ever since I left Fairy Tail, I had that feeling…"

"And unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about that now." Vesta chipped in honestly after having shaken her head at him in sad amusement, "Considering everything she was doing tonight, she's definitely passed out by now."

"Yeah…" Her husband agreed depressingly, "I just can't believe I forgot. Hell, Goten's probably gonna kill me when he finds out about this…"

"Eh… at this point, I'd be more worried about Wendy," She added ponderously, "Yeah, and even better, she's probably strong enough to hurt you now, too. I think between both of them getting angry with you, you might actually get hurt."

"You're not helping." Iga whined as he continued staring at the ceiling.

"Wasn't trying to." Vesta quipped cheekily before moving from under Iga's arm and turning around to sit cross-legged and face him so to show she was no longer being funny, "Clearing the air with her and Goten is a serious issue here, especially if we want them to fight with us."

"I know, I know." Iga assured her as finally stopped staring at the ceiling to look at her while scratching his head thoughtfully, "Considering how close her and Romeo are getting, she really does need to know the truth; and I can't even hope one of her friends would fill her in for us, now. Sure, that'd be good for her; but if she heard the truth from someone else now, it'd make me look worse than she already thinks I am."

"Well at least you know how badly you screwed up," The light Keeper remarked honestly before taking a more supportive stance, placing her left hand just above his left knee and massaging the spot soothingly, "Look, you might have messed up; but try not to worry about it too much, okay? Staying focused on our other problems aside, I'm sure Wendy and the rest of Fairy Tail will forgive you in the long run."

"Yeah?" Her partner replied skeptically; but instead of reassuring him, she only smirked once again before responding.

"You know what I'm talking about, Igneel; so don't fish for compliments," She called him out teasingly before pointing to herself with her right hand and saying, "That's my thing."

"It sure is." Iga agreed dismissively before finally acknowledging her point, "Hm… I guess the people at Fairy Tail are pretty forgiving… you're probably right."

"Probably? Please…" She said confidently as she shifted forward until her thigh was against his knee, "I'm right and we both know it. If you keep helping them out like you did tonight, you'll win all of them over eventually."

"Well," He agreed sheepishly with another awkward scratch of his head, "That is the plan…"

"Then quit beating yourself up already, ya big idiot." She told him with a hint of impatience, "I'd rather talk about happier things right now, anyway."

"Yeah? Like what?" Her husband wondered as he went along with her suggestion.

"Oh, I dunno…" She answered with a sly smirk, "I guess I could tell you tell you what I did to Edo after I helped you attack his Shadow…"

Iga quickly perked up after hearing her words, and the Keeper grinned proudly at the interested look on his face before commenting amusedly.

"Got your attention now, don't I?"

"You always have my attention, Ves." Iga confirmed with vague amusement before getting to the point, "So, what happened? Did you use your magic on him or something?"

"I sure did," She affirmed his first guess eagerly before chuckling and adding, "Heh. That poor sucker's gonna be confused for a while, since I secretly took away his ability to see us, and all our friends."

"Really?" the dragon god questioned with hopeful skepticism.

"Really really." Vesta replied with a triumphant smirk, "I couldn't reach him or Cel until you temporarily evicted them; but as soon as they were out in the open, I casted a spell on both them and Zancrow. Now, none of them will be able to see anyone they consider a threat until I want them to."

"So in other words," Iga summed up her revelation with an excited grin on his face, "We won't have to worry about Edo attacking any of our friends, right?"

"That's the idea," His wife answered with another nod before explaining, "I'll continue keeping any eye on everyone, since he'll still be able to hear or sense us if he pays enough attention to detail; but unless he's crazier than I remember, I doubt he'll make any moves against us with such a huge handicap."

Iga was quiet for a few seconds as he processed what he was hearing. For more than a millennium, Edo had always been a lingering threat -one that Iga even spent hundreds of years in isolation to avoid provoking; but now, for the first time in his life, the immortal was finally being told that the opposite was now the case.

"Hello? Earth to Igneel," Vesta asked as she rubbed his leg to get his attention again, "You still with me?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just…" He replied as he finally finished collecting his thoughts, "I can't really believe it, you know? Every day of my life, I've had to worry about the chance that he'd harm people I care about; or that he'd do something that could endanger an entire planet. He might still be a problem we'll have to deal with, but just realizing how big our advantage is over him makes me feel so damn happy; Honestly, I never thought I'd feel this confident again."

"Now, that's probably just the liquor talking." The Keeper remarked dismissively, but Iga quickly shook his head and reached for her left hand with his own before responding.

"No really, Ves, I'm serious." He admitted while lightly squeezing her hand, "I thought getting you back was a miracle; but it turns out that you're just a miracle worker…"

"Stop it, Igneel, you're making me blush."

As Vesta attempted to be dismissive once more, she scratched the back of her head awkwardly while glancing away sheepishly. Although she was usually happy to gloat and bask in people's adulation, she knew exactly how important this issue was to her partner; and the reminder that he, the man who was once her master, now believed more in her than in himself was somehow both humbling and ennobling.

"Am I?" Iga commented humorously, "I'm glad you told me, 'cause you've had pink cheeks since you started drinking."

"What? And you don't?" She quipped as she glance back to him, and she removed her left hand form his to pinch the right side of his face as she finished making her point, "'Cause this looks pretty red to me…"

"Nah," He lied amusedly as she released him, "That's just my natural hue."

"Of course it is." She agreed sarcastically, "And my skin is actually a weird shade of purple."

"It is?" He pretended to believe her, "I'm impressed; you managed to hide the truth from me after all this time…"

"Oh, whatever." She replied dismissively with another shake of her head before deciding she was tired of sitting on the floor, "Now come on and help me up; I've been in these rags too long."

"Rags?" Iga feigned being insulted as he tried to stand up, planting his right hand on the couch for support as he spoke, "That's half of a god's gi you're wearing…"

Before Vesta could reply, Iga slipped under his own weight; and she fought off the urge to giggle as he flopped back into a sitting position.

"Okay, that coulda gone better." He mumbled before trying once more to stand up; and this time, he turned and placed both hands on the couch before doing so.

"There we go." He remarked optimistically as he finally managed to stand on his own, but his wife only smirked again at the sight of him beginning to sway slightly.

"Whoa…" He added as he realized exactly how inebriated he was, "Now that's a headrush…"

Blinking and shaking his head quickly, Iga did his best to still himself before extending his right hand to his partner, who glanced at it tentatively before taking hold of it with her own right hand; and just as her husband pulled her up, which he did with more force than intended, the pair accidentally headbutted each other before toppling awkwardly onto the couch.

After she landed atop him and bumped heads with him once more, Vesta pushed up slightly with her left hand on the seat cushion while wincing and holding her right hand against her forehead, which was a motion her husband perfectly mirrored.

"Ngh… Okay… that, that was my bad." Iga groaned slowly as they recovered from the brief moment of pain, and his wife soon replied as they both lowered their hands from their faces.

"Nah, heheh… I shoulda seen it coming." She chuckled faintly as she planted her right hand on his chest, just above his heart; and she silently enjoyed the feel of his pulse while he gave her a goofy grin.

"You're not hurt, are you?" He assumed aloud with some concern, though his grin hardly faded.

"Do I look hurt?" She asked pointedly while mimicking the grin on his face and staring into his dark-yellow draconic eyes, which soon became another experience she was currently appreciating.

"Not one bit," He answered as he locked eyes with her, and he moved his left hand to cover the hand on his chest before adding, "But I had to ask anyway, you know? It's part of that whole 'love and care' thing, after all…"

"The keeper of a Keeper, huh?" Vesta joked with a softened tone, "Who'da thunk it?"

Her husband chuckled in amusement; but he stayed silent as he also savored the moment, which they both did for a few seconds before one of them finally said something; but only because the Keeper had suddenly laughed quietly to herself, which made Iga tilt his head slightly to his right and look at her with amused curiosity.

"Don't worry, I wasn't thinking 'bout you." She soon explained her outburst since his face was practically asking his questions for him, "Well… I kinda was, but I'm actually laughing at myself."

"You were, huh?" Iga questioned with feigned skepticism as he used his right hand to grab her by the waist and pull her firmly against him, "And do ya wanna let me in on the joke?"

"I might." She said cryptically before lowering her face closer to his and teasing him again, "But I dunno if I wanna risk sounding all corny and sappy like you…"

This time, Iga was smart enough not to take the bait; and instead of risking her teasing him, the redhaired god kept his mouth shut while looking at her with a mix of amusement and strained patience. Though playing word games with her was fine by him, his source of impatience was the primal urges he was beginning to feel. He was acutely aware of every part of her that was pressed against him, and her scent was possibly more intoxicating than any liquor ever could be; but he had slowly become distracted from even that after he began to feel the tightness in his pants, which by now was starting to mentally hurt him.

"Oh fine, you win…" She sighed in amused defeat, glancing upwards briefly before looking back to him and finally answering, "Well, it's just that, at some points… I wonder if any of this is actually real."

Knowing once again that she would elaborate, Iga only held his curious gaze as she awkwardly glanced back and forth between him and the rest of the room while speaking.

"I've only wondered about this three times before, and I somehow feel less sure of the answer the more I try to find it. I guess being brought back to life and retrained by Chronas changed me more than I realized; but how couldn't I? Everything about their life involved either fear, scheming and backstabbing, or pointless displays of power; plus, after I had lost to Edo, I kinda thought that everything he said about me was right…"

"Ves…" Iga tried to interrupt her for her sake, sensing she was starting to get worked up; but she ignored him and kept on talking, though it was more like she was simply thinking aloud by this point.

"The first time I've felt like this should be obvious to you; but the other times, they happened because of the Keepers. Like most of the people they recruit, it did take some time for me to understand everything that had brought me to them; but the third time… well, that was something special, and not just because I got my light magic that day. Until then, I was in a dark place; and, well… you've sorta seen it. Even now, there are times where I'm just scared about what I am, or what I could be…"

"Ves, you don't have to say all this," He tried one more time to change the subject, as seeing her eyes begin to water was bothering him to no end, "I know you've changed a bit, but dying does that to you. And besides, I understand what you're worried about."

"Do you?" She surprisingly questioned him pointedly, making Iga blink in surprise in the process, "I didn't just die, Igneel, I was crippled, tortured, humiliated, and executed!"

For a couple seconds, a tense silence filled the room as her husband failed to find something comforting to say; but after feeling a stray tear fall from her face onto his, the immortal man found the courage to try one last time at redirecting the conversation.

"Ves…" He pleaded while briefly squeezing her tighter, "Please…"

"I'm sorry, but no." She quickly replied with a shake of her head, "I know hearing all this will make you feel guilty, but I'm not trying to; all three of us had done something that led to what happened that day. And yeah, dying hurt and all; but that's not why it bothered me.

"What bothered me was knowing how much it hurt you." She admitted as she closed her eyes tightly to avoid looking at him, and she soon lowered her forehead onto his before she continued to speak.

"I was weak and ignorantly overconfident, and I should have done what you wanted me to do; but I didn't. And because I didn't, Edo finally had that perfect victory he'd been looking for.

"The sight of you, and that look in your eyes…" She added after biting her lower lip in a failed attempt to stop crying, "Your head was barely still attached to your neck, and you were bleeding everywhere; but you were somehow still trying to fight…"

Iga was slightly relieved her eyes were closed as she spoke, since she was unable to see that his eyes were now watery as well.

"When I woke up in Otherworld, I was so ashamed of myself; and no guy behind some big friggin desk was gonna make me feel any better about it, no matter how nice they were. Between the gods there and at Grand Kai's palace trying to give me advice, the only thing any of them were able to convince me of was the fact that I needed to get stronger. Eventually, I got tired of fighting for the gods' amusement; but I still wanted to train, so I snuck onto our Supreme Kai's world and trained there until Chronas showed up.

"Instead of punishing me for ignoring the gods and trespassing on sacred land, she offered me a new life and a reason to live it; so I eagerly took her offer. I trained under her for almost two hundred years; and getting insanely stronger was the only 'good' thing to come from it. She brainwashed me, manipulated me, and used me; all just to get whatever she wanted, and I didn't catch onto any of it until I got my powers.

"Heh," She chuckled grimly to herself before continuing, "I wasn't even thinking about bringing all this up, but I guess that if we still plan on fighting her, it'll come up eventually… So, yeah…

"I, um…" She suddenly found herself hesitating to speak, "Wow, this is actually harder to admit than I thought it'd be…"

Iga kept quiet after her voice trailed off, knowing that she would muster the courage eventually; and though his focus was entirely on her words, his instincts moved his left hand off hers to wipe the tears off her face for her. And after feeling the comforting touch of her partner, she finally recovered a semblance of her usual bearing.

"Right now, I'm sorry for a lot of things that I've done; but I'm more worried about what you'd think than anything. I know you can forgive me for some of the bad things I've done pretty quickly, you've always been that optimistic; but I don't know if you'll be so quick to get over what I'm about to tell you."

Iga wanted to calm her and tell her she had no need to tell him, but he could tell she needed to say whatever it was aloud; and his curiosity was getting the better of him as well. So instead of saying something comforting, he only hugged her a bit tighter before gently pushing her head back, hoping that a better view of his calm expression would help her in some way as she spoke.

"Look, Igneel, I… um…" She said as she blinked a few times to clear her eyes before finally meeting his gaze as he lowered his left hand from her face, "I don't know if you noticed this, but even when you started talking like how I am now; I acted so casually. I wanted to be happy about being back with you; so I've been ignoring all the guilt I've been carrying around since I figured out how my screwed up my mind had been, but you need to know this stuff...

"The main reason I fell for any of Chronas' mind games was because of her magic, which has a nifty little trick that lets her exist in any timeline that she can think of; and she can multi-locate much easier than I can, but that's not the point here… the trick she used most on me was her physical inability to lie. It's a perk from living in multiple times at once."

"Well, I can see how tricky that could get." Iga agreed helpfully, "She might have been training you; but she wasn't your master, even if you called her that. A master learns from their student just as much as the student learns from them; and it sounds like Chronas wasn't learning anything from you."

"True," Vesta conceded before adding honestly, "But she did learn a lot about me. And when I say that, I mean that she learned some very personal things about me; and about us…"

Her husband stared at her curiously as he tried to deduce what she was alluding to; but the answer evaded him as he considered all of the possibilities.

"You gotta understand Igneel," She said with a halfway decent attempt at masking the desperation in her voice, "When she trained me in secret to be her assassin, she always called me by the name I would have -the name of my victim; and in some sick and blind sense of humor, I would even smirk at the name she gave me. I was under her thumb for so long that I'm not kidding when I say that I was a different person. I wasn't Vesta anymore, I was Claris -a person that Chronas created with false-truths and misdirection."

She shut her eyes tightly to keep from crying again, and the pause gave Iga a chance to speak again.

"Whatever you've done, Ves, I can at least tell you that you're not a bad person now. I mean, really, what kinda bad guy gets this worked up over stuff like guilt?"

"I know," She agreed with a weak chuckle before trying to stay serious, "But Igneel, I seriously crossed a few lines back then; and I even… I even hated you; at one point…"

"You did?" Iga asked with some surprise; and she nodded briefly before explaining.

"That's how seriously brainwashed I was. If Chronas wanted me to become the ruthless killer she wanted me to be, she needed to make me forget all the things you taught me about being a hero; but she went further than that. She acted like she was my friend, and I never sensed she was lying to me; so who was I to question the things she said or what she showed me?

"And boy, did she tell me a lot… First, she told me that my death drove you to insanity, which eventually led to you being full-blown evil as time passed; and then she showed me the so-called 'turning point' moments of your life after my death. Chronas' story went further: supposedly, you had actually killed Edo at some point; but instead of getting rid of that man's power once and for all, I watched you combine it with your own… And you became something much worse than him. I saw you murdering innocents with a smile on your face, I saw you sleeping with strange women like it was nothing, and I saw you destroying whole towns and cities just because they were in the way; but even worse, there was no one around to fight back in that timeline.

"I never wanted to believe any of this crap, but I did in the end; and suddenly, the only thing that mattered was if I was safe and happy, and that was it. Let's just say that we're lucky Chronas wanted me to kill Claris, and not someone like Cerberus or Chaos; because then she could have conned me as long as she wanted to."

"And I'm guessing that the first thing you did with your light magic was try to find me." Iga replied thoughtfully before his wife nodded and resumed her story.

"Well, it's not like I was gonna look up any of my sisters' descendants, was I?"

Iga chuckled and smirked for a moment at her humorous remark before straightening his face listening to her once again.

"But seriously… when I had finally seen you, I was so happy to discover how wrong we were about you; but then, on a hunch, I tried to re-watch some of your past that Chronas had shown me. Funny thing though, I couldn't find some of those moments; and others were totally different from what she showed me.

"Needless to say, I was very angry; but I also quickly realized that I had no good way to make Chronas pay for everything she did to me. You were still alive, and a bit stronger than before; but you and me alone would never be able to take on all the Keepers. Plus, I had felt so guilty about everything I told Chronas about you, and about the things I had done with her… I didn't think I deserved to be happy again.

"Stuck with my guilt, bitterness, and regrets, I waited seventy-eight years for something to happen -something that would let me turn the tables on that crazy bitch once and for all; and then you met a young man named Trunks Briefs, the son that we could never have…"

Iga squirmed awkwardly underneath her as he refused to admit her last remark was accurate.

"You are adorable when you're with him, you know that? He might not have noticed it, but I've seen how you look at him when his back's turned; and I have rarely seen you look at anything with that much pride and satisfaction. I mean, I can't blame you: He's a perfect student, he's honorable, fiercely loyal, smart as a whip, insanely strong; and he's not completely boring, even though his father is that stick-up-his-ass Saiyan."

Once again Iga found himself chuckling before Vesta spoke again.

"Things might finally be getting better, but there's still so many of our plans that could go wrong; and if don't tell you everything about my involvement with Chronas… Well, there's a few things I'm worried could happen, but I'm mainly worried about how you'd react to finding out I'd been keeping secrets. And there's a big one that I know Chronas is gonna bring up when I see her again."

The light Keeper had managed to seem cool and collected as she spoke thanks to her getting in a few jokes, but her calm demeanor soon shifted once more towards nervousness as she neared the topic she had ultimately been trying to set the context for; and her husband noticed it in her face as she slowly started her confession.

"Yes, I killed and tortured people; and yeah, I insulted you behind your back… but after I saw how faithful you were to me even though I had been dead for centuries, I realized exactly how unfaithful I'd been to you; and it's screwed up, but that one thing bothers me way more than all of the blood on my hands ever will…"

"Ves, it's alright; I understand." He interjected encouragingly when her voice started to fade once again, "You weren't you, and there was no helping it. So even if you tell me something I don't wanna hear, I'm not going to freak out about it, okay?"

"I know you won't," She agreed hesitantly, "But, I sorta think this fact might catch you by surprise. Because you see, Igneel, the thing is… back when I trained under Chronas, I… I uh…"

Deciding she had to look away before she could speak, Vesta turned her head all the way to the left and slowly began to mutter her confession.

"I kinda, well… you know, I… I kinda… slept, with her…"

Iga was completely silent in response to her words, and she was starting to worry what he was thinking; but the look on her face must have convinced him to finally respond, since he spoke up just before she could try defending herself.

"You… slept… wi- wait…" He sputtered as he forced words out his mouth before he could choose them, "Are… are you serious?"

"Umm… yes?" She awkwardly confirmed with a nervous squint, "You're not gonna… get… mad, are you?"

Iga was quiet for another moment as he still tried to process what he had heard; but he knew he had to say something, so he simply started asking questions.

"I… I don't know… I… I don't think so. I didn't even know you were into women; but yeah, um… how, uh… how did that happen? Was it like a one-time thing, or was it like a big deal?"

"Oh, well… it… it was a pretty serious thing. And it, um… happened… quite often, at one point. We were uh… very… active?"

"Okay, well… that might have been a bit more info than I expected," Her partner remarked in a vague attempt at humor before adding seriously, "Yeah… I guess specifics don't really matter here; but I do still wanna know something."

"You do? What is it?" She replied nervously, and he quickly asked his question in response.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that you regret it all now; but… it wasn't, like… some bad type of situation, was it? I mean… it might be a weird question, but… were you happy, when you were with her?"

"I… I don't know… maybe?" She said slowly since she was slightly confused by the question at first, "I mean, ultimately, my whole relationship with her was something she tricked me into; but that whole thing about her never lying kinda blurred the lines. She always was happy to be around me, so that did make me feel good for a while; and then she was very clingy when we were together. We never really talked about what we were, though, aside from some flirting; we just did it whenever we got bored or horny, and that was it. The only reason it happened so often was because…"

"Yeah, thanks, but… I don't think I really need to know all that..." Iga suddenly interrupted her after he noticed she was starting to get defensive, "I actually think I know enough know to understand."

"You do?" Vesta asked with the vaguest trace of timidity, "Really?"

"Of course." He affirmed with a warm smile and a reassuring nod, "She might have been conning you, but I don't think she would've gone that far unless she wanted to be with you; and since you hated me and loved her, I guess it only makes sense that you two hooked up."

"Love?" The Keeper said with some surprise, "I never said I-"

"Come on, Ves? You think I don't know who you are, or how you think? You and I have always thought and acted alike, haven't we? So I'm pretty sure lust wouldn't have fit into the equation… actually, I think the only thing that really surprised me is the fact that you're also into women…"

"I, well; not really…" She replied in confused honesty before adding, "Chronas was definitely attracted to me from the start, but it was more of an emotional thing for me; and it took a lot of time before I started thinking about her like that."

"Yeah, but that's how you felt before you did the deed." Iga pointed out in the most nonchalant manner he could manage, "I was wondering if your fling with her kinda opened the door for you, if you know what I mean?"

"I do; but, Igneel," She half-answered before asking him skeptically, "Why do you care if I'm also into women or not?"

"I'm just curious, I promise!" He reassured her with a bit more of a nervous tone than he meant before starting to explain himself, "I mean, if you are, that means I gotta step up my game; 'cause my competition just doubled…"

Vesta failed to stop herself from smirking at his amusing logic before wondering something.

"That's cute and all, buuut… you know you don't have to worry about me leaving you for someone else; so you've gotta be thinking about something else… maybe something perverted."

"Seriously? I can't believe you would think so little of me." Her husband acted insulted by her accusation, "Clearly, it sounds like you were into Chronas because you loved her; but I was just try to figure that out, alright? Jeez…"

His wife seemed less flustered by what he was saying, since she was partially amused; but her skeptical look only softened a bit before he decided to add more in his defense, having found one decent way to redirect the conversation in his favor.

"Come on, Ves, I couldn't even think like that because there aren't any other women that I find attractive; I was wondering because I was interested: usually we act and think alike, like I said; but I've never even considered being with a guy…"

"Are you wondering if you might end up being bi at some point?" She questioned him with a sly smirk.

"No, but I am wondering if you were accusing me of being perverted because it's actually you that was thinking dirty thoughts."

"What? No," She replied with poorly hidden surprise, "That wasn't why I asked that!"

"You were, weren't you?" He concluded teasingly before wrapping his arms fully around her and adding suggestively, "I mean, it's okay if you were; like… I'm not totally opposed to any ideas you might wanna run by me, if you want…"

"Oh come on," She interrupted him accusingly, "You're being a pervert right now!"

"Yeah, but only 'cause you want me to act like one."

"I do not!"

"Of course you do; because that would mean that I'm wrong, and you're right. Pretty simple math, if you ask me."

"And I think you're over-simplifying things."

"Yeah, whatever you say, dear… I just don't wanna be surprised later when I find how you've got some kinda weird list of candidates for a three-way, because I'm not very good with sharing…"

"Gods, you're terrible…" She sighed in dejected humor, so Iga quickly replied to explain himself again.

"Please… I was just saying that whatever you do, I do, remember? I mean, now that I think about it… seeing you and another girl go at it might actually do something for me…"

"Uh huh," She said nonchalantly even though his words confirmed her suspicion before she asked him one question as casually as she could, "So if that's the case, then, what would happen if I wanted to see you with another guy?"

Iga was slightly surprised by the question, and his immediate silence made it obvious to Vesta as she grinned knowingly; but Iga did his best to recover his casual bearing before finally answering her.

"Well… I mean… I guess, but… the situation's kinda different, isn't it? I haven't been broadening my horizons like you were."

"So that's a 'no' then?" She concluded curiously.

"I didn't say that either." He clarified his answer honestly, "I mean… I am a man of my word; it's just… well… let's just say that it'd take a lot of convincing, and a lot more of the stuff we're on now… But, uh… you're not really planning on-"

"Don't worry, Igneel, I'm not actually asking you to do anything like that; I just wanted to hear your opinion, that's all."

She smirked at the sight of her husband sighing in relief at her words before commenting on his reaction amusedly.

"Jeez, I really got you sweating with that one, didn't I?" She teased him lightly before shifting forward and slightly upward to sit on her shins and leaned into him, which forced him to sit properly on the couch as she rested her arms on his shoulders and pinned him into the seat with her legs; and Iga did his best not to get too excited from the fact that she was putting most of her weight into his lap, although that wasn't the sole cause for this effort. Since she was now sitting atop him, her current height advantage had her sat half-a-head above him; and he had to avoid staring down at her intimately-close, c-cup chest, which was only covered by a thin black tube top that did nothing to conceal her elegant figure.

"That's alright, though." She assured him honestly before admitting, "To be honest, I also got pretty uncomfortable when Chronas would flirt with me, at first. But I guess after being in isolation for so long with, I just kinda got used to it. I mean, even if it got annoying sometimes; it was never boring, at least."

"I don't doubt it; and I bet it probably stoked your ego, too." He agreed after nodding his head slowly; but she noticed the vaguely nervous tension in his voice, which caused her to maintain her grin. She had been secretly hoping to get him worked up, since then he might not notice exactly how relieved she was; because this conversation had apparently worked out much better than she hoped it would.

Where she had been concerned that Iga would be upset or disgusted, or that he might overreact and do something drastic, her husband had only been surprised for a few minutes before he was acting as casual as usual; and his lack of hesitation to forgive her only confirmed her deepest desire, which was her want to be genuinely loved by him again -with no secrets between them. All her fears about him disliking the new her were so greatly unfounded that she was downright ecstatic, but her pride could not allow her to reveal all of her joy at once; and since she had to do something to distract herself, she decided she could begin to thank him while trying to get past all of her tense nervousness.

"It did," She confirmed after managing not to chuckle at his remark; and Iga tried not to shiver from feeling her breath on his forehead before she lowered herself slightly to be eye-to-eye with him, speaking as she moved, "But how she was then could never hold a candle to how you are now."

Gods, help me… Iga said to himself as he slowly began to sweat from the effort of holding himself back. Her lips were merely inches from his, and her eyes gleamed with an intense eagerness that betrayed her best attempt at a neutral expression; but he also noticed another emotion in her eyes, though it was something to vague for him to figure it out just yet -and the sudden return of the intense strain in his pants was not helping his deductive reasoning to be any more precise, either.

"Yeah, well, you know…" He almost stuttered as he tried to act cool, "I do have to stay in shape if I wanna keep up with people like Goku and Vegeta…"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure 'staying in shape' is an understatement," She remarked in honest amusement before leaning back slightly to get a better look at his scarred chest as she ran her right hand over it, "Because this isn't just 'in shape', this… is a damn sculpture…"

Iga found himself feeling oddly bashful about the sudden amount of flattery being heaped onto him; but feel of her touching his chest and abs was too distracting for him to even begin to question her. In fact, he was completely unable to speak when she soon trailed her hand upward until she used only her index finger to teasingly trace a line up the center of his neck; and she stopped only when she reached his jaw, where she gently hooked his chin before speaking to him again.

"What's wrong, Igneel? You seem kinda tense…" She asked teasingly as she enjoyed seeing the conflict between restraint and desire raging in his eyes, "Would you like it if I did something to fix that?"

Just before she had finished speaking, she intentionally ground into his groin as she brought her body against his again; and Iga grunted pleasurably before he could muster up a brief response.

"I'd love it."

"I bet you would." She remarked with faint amusement before whining about a thought that occurred to her only moments ago, "But as comfortable as we are, I am gonna have to get up to get these pants off…"

"Oh, I dunno about that…" Iga surprised himself with how quickly and casually he replied, moving his hands to grab the sides of her thighs as he did, "I mean, do you really need this pair of pants? We've got lots of them, after all…"

Vesta grinned as she knew could have practically predicted his last remark word for word, but she was still slightly surprised to see the white material of her gi pants suddenly catch fire from the knees and up; and she could only make a faint gasp and gawk at him while the very specific section of her pants were burned away almost instantly, leaving her with only the lower half of the pants' legs intact.

"Well, someone's real eager all of a sudden," She observed humorously before glancing down to see that the flames from her clothes had also incinerated the sections of his own gi pants that were in direct contact with hers.

"Oh… someone's actually really eager…" She added as she kept staring down the small space between them to briefly examine his red silk boxers, and what they were barely containing, "Like, that button down there looks like it could pop off at any second."

"Yeah?" Iga began to joke weakly after sneaking a peek as well, though he was slightly disappointed to see she was wearing one of those black, body-hugging, polyester-type sparring shorts Bulma made; and he quietly whined to himself about his wife's choice of super-durable (and heat resistant) underwear as he glanced back to her face and finished speaking, "I wonder why."

Continuing to smirk with proud amusement, the Keeper casually moved both her hands onto his waist before trying to crack another joke; but she quickly interrupted herself in order to stop Iga, who had started to lower his hand between her legs.

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast, cowboy." She said just as she gently swatted his hand away, and she failed to avoid grinning at the pouty and confused expression that flashed onto his face before beginning to explain her actions, "There's still a few things I wanna do before we get to that."

"Really? Okay, then…" He questioned her with a husky tone, "What are we gonna do?"

Grinning mischievously, Vesta moved her hands to his sides like she initially planned before pulling herself closer to him, leaning until her mouth was close to his right ear, and giving him his answer in the form of an intimate whisper.

"We aren't gonna do anything, Igneel. You're gonna keep your cute ass in this seat while I do whatever I want; and your gonna keep your hands to yourself while I'm at it. I've got a list of things I want to thank you for, and I'm gonna need to concentrate if I don't wanna leave anything out. You get me?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied promptly before thinking his one question aloud, "But uh, I'm still allowed to talk, right?"

"Yes, Igneel, you can talk all you want; but honestly…" She began to say before Iga was forced to gasp slightly when she somehow quickly, stealthily, and gently grabbed the pointy bulge in his underwear with her right hand; and her devilish smirk widened into a grin as she held him by the manhood and finished her sentence, "I'm gonna be surprised if you're still able to talk by the time I'm done with you."

On Earthland, In the Shadow of the World…

Edo found himself swearing under his breath once again as he stared into a large rift in the rear wall of his bedroom, which was rapidly changing images as his attention bounced between various locations on Earth and Earthland; but no matter where he looked, the dark wizard was unable to locate any signs of his targets.

"Dammit, what the hell is going on?" He wondered in frustration as his extensive search continued to prove itself a failure, "Can he be doing this?

"He must be…" Edo concluded vehemently as he began to give up his search, "There's no one else who could."

Closing the portal with a snap of his fingers, he turned around to face the foot of his bed as he continued conversing with himself.

"But how is he doing it? It's been fifty years since he last showed off any fancy new tricks… The Saiyans couldn't have taught him something, could they? No, I doubt it…"

Taking his cloak off and tossing it into a portal that closed almost as quickly as it had opened, the dark wizard continued conversing with himself as he moved.

"Maybe Mavis was in on this, but still… I doubt that they even trust each other, by this point. Igneel might be trying to get on her good side by now, but she should be smart enough to try and keep her distance."

Still speaking to himself, he turned to sit on the foot of his bed before removing his form-fitting black shirt and tossing it a random direction, watching his shirt disappear into another rift before it could hit the floor.

"Igneel's optimism might blind him to the truth, but Mavis knows that gods mingling with humans is a dangerous thing… Knowing her, she's probably figured out that the only reason her guild's been caught between two rivaling gods is because I got bored with my lack of competition; hell, the only thing she probably likes about this whole situation is that her guild is getting stronger. Actually, now that I think about it; they're getting exponentially stronger with each encounter we have with them.

"Heh… even that Sky Maiden surprised me tonight," He added with a chuckle before starting to reach for one of his boots, planning to take them both off as he kept thinking aloud, "And here I thought breaking her heart would make her weaker… Well, I guess that just means I'll have to-"

"Oh, Eddie-dearest, am I allowed to come in now? Because it's getting really late; and I'm starting to feel real lonely over here."

Just as he had finished pulling up his pants' right leg so he could see the entirety of his boot, he was interrupted as he sensed a small portal opening from the wall to his right; and he glanced sideways to see Cel Rhea had stuck her nervously-curious face into a portal, hoping that as she spoke her goofy appearance in the wall might defuse any tension that her pestering him might cause.

"And I could have sworn I said to deal with it," He predictably quipped while staring at the wall ahead of him; but his impatient tone was much lighter than she expected it would be.

"I know, I know," She quickly gave him an apologetic tone before recalling his exact words aloud for him, "If I've got enough free time to get bored, then I've got enough to time to train; but I did do that, and I'm tired now. You've been locked away in here for hours."

"Quit exaggerating, it's only been one and a half, at the most." He pointed out honestly before questioning her while going back to trying to take his boots off, "And anyways, where has Zancrow gone? I thought you and he were going to keep sparring until I was finished my work here."

"We were, but he got tired of waiting for you to figure out what's going on with us; and he took off to go visit his girlfriend, said he needed to talk to her before Jellal could -or something like that. I tried to remind him about our situation and how going out alone was a stupid risk; but that hotheaded idiot completely ignored me, like he always does."

Edo could not contain his chuckle upon hearing her complaints, but he only gave her a real response after dropping one of his boots to the floor and starting to work on freeing his other foot as well.

"I suppose I should've expected him to do something like that; he did just try to kill off a good number of that girl's friends, after all."

"Honestly, I just can't believe he's actually fallen for that pink bimbo, of all people."

"And on the contrary, I'm convinced that it makes more sense than anything else he's done so far." He admitted thoughtfully as he finished taking off his last boot and set it down beside the first, "There's not many people that are as forgiving as she is, and I'm pretty sure she had some sort of fondness for him back when they were guildmates. Plus by my count, that sensory mage is one of the only two women on Earthland that'll actually speak to him without defaulting to instant fear and hostility."

"Eh, I guess that's true," the earth mage conceded before quickly returning to her concerns, "But I couldn't really care about either of them, as long as they don't get in our way. What I'm more worried about now is how tonight's gonna screw with my sleep schedule."

Edo smirked vaguely at her comment before replying.

"You know, I still can't decide if I do or don't enjoy how stubbornly singled-minded you can be. But one thing I do know is that I'm still busy working here, and you are interrupting me."

"Oh, come on, you were just starting to get undressed! That doesn't look like 'working' to me."

"You're testing my patience, my dear."

"And in other news: water is wet."

Once again, Edo found himself uncontrollably smirking at her humor; but he stayed silent as he considered caving into her demands, which Cel must have sensed since she immediately spoke again before he could finish making his decision.

"Please let me in, Ed." She pleaded one more time, "Look, if you really don't want me to distract you, I'll just stay quiet and go to sleep; and if you want help, I'll do whatever you ask."

"You know, if getting sleep is this important to you," He began to give her a suggestion without bothering to look at her as he created a new portal on the wall ahead of him, "Then maybe you should try remaking your old room for the night."

"Believe me, I thought about doing that already." She replied honestly, "But that doesn't solve the whole 'lonely' part of my problem."

"And beggars don't usually get to be choosers, but somehow you're breaking the mold."

"Eddie…"

Finally looking back at her to see the expression on her face, which was apparently as desperate as her tone was; and he questioned her with a blend of seriousness and amusement upon seeing exactly how badly she wanted to use his bed.

"Tell me this: are you really so attached to me that you can't even sleep on your own now?"

"…Umm, maybe?" She answered with uncertainty after taking a second to consider the question.

In response, Edo simply widened his smirk and shook his head dejectedly before turning back to the new rift on the wall and changing its image again before speaking.

"You truly are a lost cause."

"Of course I am," She agreed amusedly before casually adding, "But that's why you're with me in the first place, isn't it? You always love a good challenge."

Edo could not argue with most of her logic initially; so he pretended to pay attention to the portal's image while actually continuing his internal debate on whether to give in or not, which took him a few seconds to finally settle before speaking again.

"Alright, fine. You can come in if you'd like," He sighed with vague impatience before looking to her and adding, "But I can't rest until I finish my search and figure out what Igneel's done to us; so if you're gonna sleep, sleep. If not, then you speak only when spoken to. Understand?"

"You got it, boss." She eagerly accepted his offer and its terms as the portal her face was in suddenly expanded; and she hopped into the room with a satisfied smirk before adding a promise as she bent down to remove the silver bangles around her ankles, "I swear, you'll barely even notice me."

Out the corner of his eye, Edo watched her enter and begin to get undressed for bed as she spoke, but then after she turned to place the metal rings on the nearest nightstand, she started to remove the skirt-less, billowy pants of her green and bejeweled bedlah; and the dark immortal could not keep himself from commenting at the sight of her now mostly exposed backside, which only was only covered by the strings of her green bikini top and thong.

"Somehow, I really doubt that." He remarked humorously as he looked back to the portal before Cel could turn and notice that he was watching her, which he did in the nick of time as she moved to face the bed just as he averted his gaze; and he heard her flop onto his bed before she oriented herself properly while replying to him.

"Yeah? Well… aren't you a god that's had hundreds of years to train your mind and body? If you can't handle my alluring and commanding presence, then that's not really my fault, is it?"

Edo initially remained quiet in response to her questions, hoping to avoid admitting she had a point while pretending to focus on the image before him; but the earth mage easily saw through his act.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, you know where I'll be if you need me." She confidently confirmed her own statement with a grin before rolling onto her left side and tucking a pillow between her head and hands in order to be comfortable while still keeping an eye on her lover, whom she was currently eyeing up since the outfit he wore displayed all of his torso's muscle structure.

Deciding to save face by simply ignoring her, Edo actually began to resume his work; and for several minutes, he managed to stay on task without distraction for a few minutes until he unconsciously spoke to himself aloud once again.

"Damn that Igneel! You spend a millennium or two fighting with the man, and you'd think he wouldn't be able surprise you; but somehow that red-hair bastard managed to pull something out his ass yet again! And even worse, he's actually managed to hinder me this time! Grrrh, dammit, what did he do?!"

The earth mage was almost half asleep when her master began cursing to himself, but his frustrated outburst was more than loud enough for her to hear it clearly.

"I can sense some of the weaklings; but I can't see any of them! Hell, I can't even look at memories of some people…" He whined to himself before bending down to grab one of his boots and toss it angrily in a random direction before looking back to the portal; and he changed its image once again before continuing his tirade, "I swear, once I figure out what's going on, I'm going to ruin everything that he holds dear! I'll kill Gohan and his family, and I'll kill Lisanna to break Trunks' spirit; but I don't think I'll kill that runt. No, I'm gonna keep him here; and I'll let him watch everything I do to all of those guilds that he's so fond of! And then for good measure, once I'm done conquering Earthland, I'm going to wipe Earth off the map!"

"Mhmm… well, at least you've got the frame of a game plan…" He heard Cel slowly yawn as he stopped shouting to catch his breath.

"I wasn't speaking to you, rock-for-brains."

"Maybe, but… aren't you talking to me now?"

"Now is not the time to try my patience, woman."

"You know, I'm pretty sure you got to have patience before you could test it…"

Edo glanced halfway back to her to let her see his best attempt at a serious face before he spoke again, "And you're one wisecrack away from getting tossed out, you know that?"

"I do now." She replied with a faint smirk while slightly adjusting her hold on her pillow to stay comfy; and Edo shook his head amusedly a few times as he returned to staring at his magic monitor, which changed images once again as he resumed his search. But his renewed focus only lasted about half a minute before he heard his girlfriend hesitantly speak up while rolling slightly onto her back and propping a hand between her head and the pillow to allow him a better view of her face, just in case he decided to try and reading her face along with hearing her out.

"Hey, uh, Eddie? I don't wanna ruin your concentration or anything, but… I do have an idea, if you wanna hear it…"

Judging by the tense state of his muscles and the vague feeling of tension in the air, her boyfriend was probably staring at the wall impatiently; but she did note that he was giving her a chance., which was one she quickly took before he could change his mind.

"Well, it might not be a genius bit of friendly advice; but I was thinking that maybe we're thinking about this too much. I mean if Igneel did do something to us, there's no way we could reverse it until we find him; and since we can't find him…"

"We'd either have to wait for him to make a move," Edo finished her statement as he suddenly realized how helpful her point actually was; and his impatience quickly faded as he followed her train of thought aloud, "Or we'd have to do something that would force him to face us head-on. Something drastic…"

As he continued to think aloud, a bolt of inspiration suddenly struck him, and Cel did not need to see his face to know that his mood had completely changed to excitement; although she did not expect him to sudden gasp in realization before instantly snapping into a kneeling position on the bed facing her, with the look of pure joy on his face throwing her off in surprise.

"My dear, Cel, you are wiser than I give you credit! Honestly, how could I have ever over thought something so simple? Once again, you've proven that there's more to you than good looks and strong magic!"

The Earth God Slayer was blushing intensely as soon as her surprise at his spontaneity wore off; and as she struggled to find a decent way to respond while sounding humble, the dark god gracefully leapt atop her before kissing her directly on the lips.

Her eyes widened in momentary shock at realizing exactly how happy he currently was, but her accidental hesitation caused her to miss her chance to return the kiss as Edo slightly retreated in order to speak again.

"You know, this is only time I'll ever admit that Igneel was right about something:" He admitted with a straight face, "But I have been for a fool for trying to play this game solo. Training Orga and Zancrow have yet to fully pay off, and it has been rather bothersome at times just having students altogether; but you my love, you just helped me to realize how wrong I was to feel that way.

"And better yet," He added as he leaned further back to be kneeling upright while resting some of his weight on the top of her thighs, "You've also just helped me decide on our next move; and it's a beautiful one at that! Hell, we'll have so much fun ruining Igneel's world that we'll probably die from laughter and ecstasy!"

Edo was rambling eagerly as he complimented her, but she noticed two very specific words amidst all of the flattery he was giving her; and ever since she had heard him say them, her mind had practically shut down in pure happiness. She might have heard everything he told her, but her mind actually processed none of it after hearing him say 'my love'.

Wait, did he say that he… He… loves… me…? She thought to herself as he spoke; and after that, her mind was blank until she felt him start to move off of her while trying to continue talking about his new plan.

"Now, the only thing I have to do tonigh-" He spoke with purpose as he moved to kneel on beside her instead of over her; but he was soon interrupted as Cel bolted upward and hugged him tightly before explaining the source of her joy, which had an intensity to it that genuinely surprised Edo as she pulled him back down slightly.

"Sorry I'm interrupting, but I really need to make sure I heard you right…" She began to speak while holding him firmly, but she soon loosened her grip in order to pull back and look into his dark blue draconic eyes; and the warm glare her hazel eyes gave him as they glistened with glee somehow managed to disarm him, the supposed seen-it-all, done-it-all god. For once, he didn't care if she had been listening to him or not; all he wanted to do was hear what she had to say, wondering exactly what question would be so exciting for someone to ask.

"Edo," She questioned him with quietly nervous excitement, "Did… did you really mean it, what you said? Do… do you… love… me?"

The room was totally silent as Edo considered his answer carefully, having only just realized what he said himself; and it took a few agonizing seconds before Cel finally got him to answer with her pleading gaze.

"Cel, listen to me and try to understand this, okay?" He replied with a gentle honesty she had never seen in him before, so she readily listened to what he had to say, "I'm cursed to never feel love, and that won't change…"

The Titan's joy instantly appeared to deflate upon his words, but Edo quickly continued explanation; and she soon found herself becoming much more hopeful once more as he spoke.

"But however… 'feeling' is not the same as 'thinking'; and while I may not be able to feel fondness, empathy, or pure satisfaction; I've lived long enough to knowhow I should feel about certain things -and being able to feel physical pleasure certainly helps… But Cel, my darling, I know that if my heart wasn't so corrupted, I genuinely would love you; and the best thing I can offer you is a romance of the mind – and a chance to rule at my side once you've become strong enough to wield my true power.

"Just think…" He added with a quiet and sinister tone as he brought his face closer to hers once more, "One day soon, you could be my beautiful, devious, and deadly dark goddess; one that'll be feared worlds over alongside me, as we spend eternity doing whatever we damn well please…"

Realizing the immense amount of information and flattery he just dumped on her, Edo decided not to force the conversation; and instead of waiting for or prompting her response, the dark god simply moved off her and the bed entirely before turning back around to face her and offer a hand as he spoke.

"Come on and put your pants back on; we've got somewhere to be now."

Cel was slow to respond as she had yet to get over everything he had told her already, but her curiosity managed to compel her to take his hand and climb off the bed while questioning him.

"Uh… yeah, okay… But um, where are we gonna go?"

"Somewhere outside, most likely." he purposely gave her a vague answer before adding a clear piece of information as she stood in front of him before bending down to pick up the green clothes she dropped onto the floor earlier, "We do have to stop by the lab first, though; there is something I need to double-check before we go."

As she was putting her pants back on, Edo quickly shoved his boots on and rolled his pants' legs back down before seeing they were both ready to go; and he quickly opened a portal to his Shadow's laboratory before letting her lead the way in.

"Oh, how I enjoy this feeling," He declared eagerly as he let the portal close behind him to look around the room, "Walking into a fully equipped lab with a new spark of inspiration, it's a scientist's drug; and it never gets old!"

"I guess I'd agree with you if I knew what we were doing." Cel chimed in as she looked at him patiently. Working in the lab was not something she did often, and she could barely name half of the devices Edo had constructed and stashed inside the room; but her current state of bliss and curiosity aided her in getting past those hesitant and confused thoughts as she focused on simply following her lover's lead.

"Fair enough," Edo agreed before explaining why they were in the lab, "Well, we are in here because I want to take another look at a couple of our survivors from tonight's experiment."

Before explaining what he was looking specifically for, the dark wizard created a rift in the nearest wall that was large enough to allow two Enenrae through it; and as it did, the two summoned creatures stepped through almost instantly upon receiving a telepathic command from their creator.

"Ah, good; you're here already." He observed aloud before ordering them verbally, "Now, come closer, you two; no need to be shy. Master needs to take a look at you."

The two shadow creatures shuffled forward until their master seemed satisfied; and Edo stepped closer to the one on the left as he looked it over while scanning it with all of his senses, which made him grin proudly as he made his observations to his partner.

"And indeed, it was just as I thought. Somehow this one seems to have gotten stronger from the whole experience at Akane; and now that I'm checking, this other one has also grown a bit in power as well. Seeing that, I'm willing to bet they've gotten a bit smarter as well."

"And that means we can actually train them, can't we?" Cel deduced quickly, and Edo nodded before continuing.

"Yes, but that's not all." He said before gesturing her to step closer to the Enenra he was stood before, "Take a closer look at this one, and you'll see that he's a bit stronger than his friend here."

Cel complied with his instructions as he gave them, and she soon sensed what he was saying before adding a question once he stopped.

"Okay, I sense the difference; and I guess that means this guy probably fought more than that one did tonight. But why does that matter?"

"That doesn't." Her master explained as she stepped back slightly from the two creatures, "What does matter here is the fact that these two were different from the start. You wouldn't have noticed it since you don't usually work in here, but I did. At first, I put their power difference off as varying degrees of success; I mean, they were also so similarly matched that the difference was negligible at best. But now, I'm thinking their strength upon creation is determined by the strength of the people they once were."

"Huh," Cel remarked thoughtfully as she kept up with Edo's logic, "So then, if we captured someone really powerful, the Enenra we'd turn them into would be similar in strength?"

"That's what I'm hoping for," Edo confirmed with a calm eagerness as he moved in front of the right creature to inspect it closely, as he had with the first one, "Imagine it: If we somehow managed to catch ourselves a Saiyan, even a fraction of their power would create a superbly monstrous minion."

"Eddie, if you turned Gohan and his family into one of those things," the earth mage concluded aloud with a similarly vague excitement, "We wouldn't even have to worry about taking over Earthland; the Enenrae would do it for us."

"Well, I'd never let them have all the fun," the shadow mage admitted honestly before agreeing with her, "But yes, you're probably right. All we'd have to be worried about is the possibility of Igneel's interfering.

"Now… you, strong one," He suddenly said to the creature on the left before glancing to the one begore him and finishing his command, "Go ahead and cannibalize this guy for me."

Cel was slightly taken aback by the bizarre order, and even more so by the sight of the first creature actually following through with brutal speed and apparent enthusiasm. But then she sensed what her master must have suspected, as the first Enenra's power level nearly doubled upon completely consuming the other.

"Oh, wow…" She remarked admiringly before adding humorously, "I can't believe that actually worked; but man am I glad it did, because that would've looked really weird if it didn't."

Edo smirked in agreement before his grin widened in grim excitement.

"Well, if you thought that looked bizarre," He gave her a cryptic warning, "Wait until you see this."

Before she could ask what he was planning, Edo suddenly inhaled very rapidly; and to her surprise, Cel watched as her master gulped down the entire Enenra before him with one giant, vacuum-like breath. But just before she could comment on the accuracy of his warning, she watched as dark energy began to seep out from under his clothes and every pore of his exposed skin; and just before she could make another attempt at wondering what he was up to, Edo quickly regained control and forced his wild aura to dissipate.

"Sorry if that startled you," He apologized amusedly while grinning devilishly, "I just had to make sure I could do that."

"Oh don't worry, I'm fine." She reassured him promptly before adding, "Honestly, I was just thinking about how I've never seen you do that before. I mean, all the magic gods, dragons, and slayers can do tricks like it; but I still can't think of a time that I've seen you do it."

"That's because I don't like to." Edo explained honestly as he turned to face her, "You see, everything a slayer or god would eat for power has a taste to it, remember?"

"Of course I do," The Titan agreed naturally, "To me, a heap of gravel is basically a pile of puke compared to something made out of quartz or marble; and don't get me started on precious gemstones, I'm already starting to feel the cravings coming on…"

"Heh…" Edo chuckled before adding a more serious comment, "Well then, let's try not to get distracted. Anyways, the simple answer is that I got bored of the taste; and that there are a few bad flavors that somewhat ruined my taste for shadows and darkness.

"For example," He admitted honestly, "The Enenra I just ate tasted horrible, since he was made of something so closely related to my powers; but fortunately, my gamble paid off -and I didn't poison myself. Instead…"

"You just increased your power by however much that poor sap could give you?" She finished his sentence questioningly.

"Exactly." He replied before smirking and creating a new portal on the wall the entered from, "Now, with all this in mind, go ahead and ponder all the possibilities as we step out for a stroll."

"Oh believe me, I already am." She informed him as he began to move toward the new opening in the wall, until he stopped as she added a question to her remarks, "There's a lot would could accomplish with the right strategy in mind; but right now, I'm just wondering about where you're taking me."

"Didn't I say that already?" Edo reminded her in another attempt to be cryptic, "We're going out."

Liking the sound of those words and what they potentially implied, Cel went right along with Edo's wish to keep their destination a surprise; and instead of asking any more questions, she matched his amused smirk with one of her own before following him through the rift; but as soon as Cel stepped through the dark portal, she was slightly confused by where they ended up.

"A jewelry store?" She said puzzlingly as she looked around, "But I've never seen one so big… where are we?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular, it's just the most successful jewelry business in all of Crocus." Edo informed her with a bold smirk, but she immediately questioned his reasoning for coming here.

"Ed, are we really sure we want to be here? I mean, there's a chance that we've already set off some kinda motion detector or something? We might not be able to see whoever shows up to fight us."

"Relax, sweetheart, everything's just fine." He assured her confidently as he led her to the back of the over-sized shop, "Since most good businesses tend to lock up the merchandise after they close, all the quality items will be in one place; and here, there'll probably have some grand, over-the-top storage area like the rest of the place. It's a safe strategy against your typical conman or robber; but since we're not petty thieves or common criminals, all this place has done is stashed everything we want right into one nice and sturdy collection bin."

"I guess that is convenient," She conceded before mentioning her one other concern, "But we should probably still try and do this quickly, because I don't really want to find out just how badly Igneel messed us up; and I'm too tired to fight…"

"And like I said: don't worry, everything's fine." He reminded her of his reassurances before adding, "I'm not just walking blindly here, you know; I used to do this kind of stuff frequently back when I was nothing but a young runaway punk with some fire magic.

Finding the door to what looked to be the back office, Edo lazily kicked it down before casually leading his girlfriend through the entrance; and upon entering the room, they saw a wide, square staircase in the far corner that led down to an underground level, which they promptly followed down until they found the place they were looking for.

"Okay, now, that is easily the biggest vault I've ever seen." Cel remarked as she took in the sight of the massive door before them, but Edo was not so impressed; and he made the fact evident as he spoke while quickly inspecting the door.

"Yeah well, you never saw the magic door inside the last temple Igneel and I raided."

"Oh?" His follower questioned him curiously, "You mean the place where you became a god, right?"

Edo nodded before putting his ear to the side of the massive gilded-steel entryway and tapping it a few times, merely wishing to hear the sound of the reverberation for nostalgia's sake.

"Ah, how I wish I would've been able to rob somewhere like this when I was young." He lamented casually as he momentarily kept his ear against the door before beginning to back away a few paces and continuing his reminiscing, "I never became professional or anything, but I had a knack for being a lock-breaker. Any lock that could be picked I'd melt; and if that wouldn't work, I'd get creative. Something like this vault here would have been one of my lifelong goals if I hadn't met Igneel."

Cel looked at he boyfriend curiously as she tried to decide how to respond to his words. On one hand, he oddly seemed to be fine with speaking about his past, which especially bothered him when Igneel was brought up; but on the other hand, a part of her was wondering if he needed to hear something comforting. Luckily for her, Edo made her internal debate much simpler as he glanced to her with an amused smirk and revealed another thing he had never told her.

"You know, that criminal life of mine is how I ran into that exhibitionist."

"Really?" She asked, feeling more curious than ever; and he nodded before answering properly.

"It's true. Ironically, we met because we were both trying to steal from this traveling bazaar; but it was for completely opposite reasons. You see, I had learned that a few of the merchants kept their really expensive and personal items locked away from the actual market they would set up; so all I had to do was trick one or two big and dumb guys with swords and pikes into leaving the right wagons and carriages unattended, and then everything would've been aces, but just as I finished doing that…"

"Igneel showed up." The Titan guessed with a hint of amusement.

"He did; and the only thing he was looking for was their personal food stores! The half-naked idiot actually believed the rumor that compared to what they sold, the traders kept even more exotic foods to themselves; but somehow, the idiot managed to pick the wrong carriage. Aside from being around my god-awful family, that moment was the first big scare of my life.

"When I heard that door creaking open behind me as I was in the middle of robbing my second-to-last mark of the day, there were only two things that ran through my head: First, I wondered if I had screwed up and someone had caught onto me, and then I wondered if the person that tipped me off had actually double crossed me. But then I heard that moron's voice…

'Hey kid, you wouldn't happen to know where the food is would you?' Edo said as he imitated a young Iga perfectly before chuckling and continuing his story, "Hehe… That idiot was only a few years older than me… Anyway, I was so relieved to hear such a stupid and inane question that I forgot to disguise the reason why I was even in the same place as him; and it turned out that he had some kind of hero complex.

"According to him, stealing fancy meals they didn't really need wasn't a bad thing to do, but my stealing the money and valuables they never used somehow was; so as soon as I realized he wanted to stop me, I set the vehicle we were in on fire and made a run for it."

"And I bet you were surprised when he got past your fire magic." Cel guessed.

"And you would be correct," He affirmed before briefly changing the subject back to their current task at hand, "But let's put this on hold for a moment and decide who's going to take this thing down; or should we just take the whole thing and open it somewhere else?"

Cel blinked in some surprise at his question.

"You want to take the whole vault?"

"Well I don't want to keep the room, if that's what you're asking." He explained honestly, "But it really is just one giant safe, so it should stay intact if we cut it away from the rest of the building; think about it: we'd be able to take our time stealing everything rather than snatching whatever we see first and running."

"I mean, that does sound nice," She agreed partially before wondering, "But how are you going to know where you need to slice it up? Did you somehow find the layout for this place or something?"

"Didn't need to." Edo answered casually before looking to her and explaining, "I've got an Earth God Slayer here, don't I?"

"Oh, yeah… why didn't I think of that?" She realized amusingly with vague embarrassment before stepping closer to the vault door and placing a hand on it, "Okay, just give me a second. I don't think I've ever used my magic this precise yet, so this might actually be some decent sorta training…"

Her voice trailed off as she focused on her current task; and since Edo wanted to avoid distracting her, he quickly used his powers to enter the vault and look around while leaving the two portals open in order to hear she was finished, which happened barely half-a-minute after he left her alone.

"Alright, I think I've got it," He soon heard her call out to him, and he was about to return to her when she also added, "But uh, you don't mind making a scene on the way out, though, do you?"

"Not really," The dark mage replied promptly as he halted in place, "Why? What are you planning?"

"Well," He heard her respond, "I'm thinking that I'd just move this whole thing to the surface. That way, it'd be much easier to carry it or teleport it."

Edo had a mental image of the process she described in his head, and it soon made him grin excitedly before he stopped using his magic and readily agreed with her plan.

"Oh, yes, please! Gods, why couldn't I have met someone like you first; and not someone like Igneel?"

His very flattering and excited answer told her everything she needed to hear about their current plans as well; so she simply smiled, feeling relieved that he could not see her blushing from his praise, and then she quickly went back to focusing on her magic.

"Okay, well, hang tight; 'cause I'm going to try to make it a smooth ride, but no promises…"

Before Edo could ask her where she would be during the whole process, he felt the floor beginning to vibrate at a gentle frequency; but then that subtle vibration soon became a strong tremor, though it only lasted a few seconds before there was a brief pause.

"Okay… that was the worst part," He heard her voice announce, seemingly coming from every direction inside the vault, "But uh, be ready to get us out of here in a hurry just in case, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am." Edo obeyed with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his tone; and the ground began to gently vibrate once more only slightly increasing in intensity this time.

Outside the front of the large jewelry store, only few stray cats and a drunk were around to be witnesses to the unbelievable event they never imagined they would see; as almost half of one of the main streets of the capital city slowly erupted, revealing what the drunk saw as a giant steel room with a golden door.

But where that one person saw a bizarre and amazing sight they barely believed, Edo had only felt like he was taking a rather short but amusing elevator ride; and he casually stepped out of the vault as soon as he felt the quaking end, which instantly scared of the drunk. They had lived in that city long enough to know what a dark wizard looked like; so the minute they saw him, they were gone with a yelp.

"Well, if this isn't an amazing sight or what?"

Edo heard Cel's voice come from his left; and he turned to see her finish emerging from a spot on ground that was now about five yards from him, watching her skin finish returning to its normal state before meeting her gaze as she spoke again.

"Enjoyed the ride?"

Edo smirked at her question before answering as he moved to stand beside her.

"I did, but you were right about hurrying out of here. Being out in the open is the riskiest part about all of this, but there are a few secluded places I've got in mind."

In the valley of a mountain range on the Fiore/Seven border…

A large region of the base of the valley turned jet-black as the ground seemingly opened into a deep, dark pit; and if anyone were around, they would have been astonished to see a massive vault rise from the darkness with a slow and steady pace, until the darkness receded from the ground to reveal the large rectangular structure and the person that was carrying it over his head with one hand.

"And good, we're all clear." Edo announced casually, "Now come on out so I can drop this thing."

Cel promptly obeyed by leaping down onto the ground ahead of him; and she quickly moved to his side before he lazily tossed the vault about ten yards from them, where it landed with a crash as they looked at each other and grinned with satisfaction. After pulling a stunt like that, they knew their enemies would figure out what they did eventually; and it gave them even more of a reason to be happy, knowing that they would once again be irritating either the guilds or Igneel even though they were both impaired by whatever the light god had done to them.

"Heh… I'll admit, that was kinda fun." Edo remarked with honest amusement before turning to her, wondering why she was still standing by him, "Well, why're you still over here? We didn't steal this stuff for me, after all."

"Good point." She agreed with a similar sense of amusement as she started walking towards the vault, and she turned back when she was nearly halfway to ask him a question, "You sure you don't want to look around in here, too? You never know, you just might find something you'd like. And maybe even something that'd help you update that outfit of yours…"

"I'm going to ignore that last part," Edo replied with dismissive humor before adding seriously, "But don't worry, I'll join you in a moment; I'm just going to check the area out first."

"Wait, you didn't check the area out before we came here?" Cel questioned him skeptically.

"Oh, relax, we're in the middle of nowhere." He answered calmly before creating a small portal on the ground near himself and adding, "Actually, the only person I've seen out here is my Earthland counterpart; but I think he's camped out somewhere far to our southwest."

"Really?" The earth mage replied matter-of-factly, "Well that's a shame; I was sorta hoping we'd run into him, since we're out in the middle of nowhere like you said."

"Trust me, you'd be disappointed." He promised her as he watched the portal's image changing at a slow rate, "He looks nothing like me, he's got no sense of humor, and he really hates humans; so he'd probably try to kill you on sight, actually."

"And you think that scares me?" She asked him pointedly.

"No," He answered honestly with a brief glance back to her before returning to his current task while explaining himself with some amusement, "But I'm not worried about you, I'm worried that you'd hurt my favorite pet before he has a chance to fight the dragon slayers."

Cel sighed in disappointment before quickly getting over it as she turned back towards the vault, speaking as she did.

"That's a shame, I guess. Well, whatever; I'll be in here if you need me."

Edo nodded quietly as he began to fully focus on securing the area, which only took him nearly half a minute before he was finished; and he soon moved to join Cel after finding no one in the surrounding area, which he announced as he reached the opened door of the vault.

"Well, we're alone; just like I thought we'd be." He said as he started looking inside for his companion, "Have you found something good already?"

"Boy, did I!" He heard her voice call back from the far-right corner of the massive room, and he smirked since it sounded like she was eating while she spoke, "There's so much stuff in here, I could eat like this for days…"

Following the sound of her voice, he walked forward and to the right from the entryway, past a couple racks and shelves of priceless jewelry, and through a barred doorway with its door ripped off the hinges beside it, where he looked left and right until seeing the Titan in the latter direction.

"You know, I was more wondering about something fashionable rather than edible; but an answer's an answer, I guess," He told her amusedly as he saw her opening one of four large, locked chests, "Ooh, what do we have here? A treasure trove of some kind?"

"Maybe," Cel answered as he heard the sound of metal crunching; and without turning away from the chest on the left, she briefly held out a large iron padlock that she squished into half its original width, "They do have this huge, anti-magic lock on all of them; so there's gotta be something."

Without waiting to hear Edo's response, she dropped the crushed padlock and opened the chest with one deft motion; and he listened to her initial reaction as he waited for her to reveal what was inside.

"Whoa…" She almost gasped in awe as she reached in and slowly put both hands around the sole item in the chest, "This is one of the biggest gems that I have ever seen…"

Carefully using both hands to lift it up, Cel slowly turned around to show Edo the watermelon-sized, seven ray, navy blue star sapphire in her hands.

"Just look at it!" She exclaimed excitedly as she held it up for her master, "I can't believe someone managed to dig up something this big and beautiful; and boy, do I wish I had seen it before they rounded it off…"

"I suppose there's a certain appeal to it," Edo agreed casually as he looked over the large gem, "The coloring is rather interesting."

"Well, it is in your color," She observed as he brought the gemstone closer to him, "Wanna keep it in the bedroom? Or better yet, we could put it on display in the living room and let Zancrow wonder how it got there."

The immortal chuckled at her response before moving to meet her halfway, "Funny, but I doubt he'd even notice it."

"I dunno… I might think the man's an idiot, but…" She disagreed tentatively as they reached each other, and she glanced to the gemstone in her hand before adding, "This thing seems pretty noticeable to me."

Edo glanced at the large gem as Cel did; and he listened to her response while finding that he could not disagree with her logic, at the least.

"Hm…" He hummed in thought before placing a hand underneath the gem to take it from her while adding, "Well, I suppose we wouldn't know for sure unless we tried to find out."

"So we're keeping it?" She replied with vague excitement as she let him hold the sapphire on his own; and he slowly held it up to eye level to inspect closely before lowering and answering her.

"Of course; but we're taking everything in here as well," He informed her, "Anything you don't want to eat or keep to yourself, I've got a use for."

"Yeah? And what would that be?" She asked curiously as Edo created a portal on the wall to his left; and he shoved the massive gem into the rift before withdrawing his hand and closing the portal, speaking to Cel as he did.

"Well, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, now would I?"

"Aw, come on," She pleaded halfheartedly, "You're really going to be like that? You could at least give me a hint…"

"Sorry, but I don't want to risk giving away the secret just yet." He informed her apologetically before giving her a consolation prize, "The only thing I can say for sure is that it's all part of my new plan to take over this planet, but I'll have to speak with our good pal Zeref before I make anything official."

"Zeref?" Cel repeated the name with a hint of disgust, "But I thought we were just gonna ignore him until he and Natsu killed each other… Why's he so important all of a sudden?"

"He isn't." The dark god pointed out honestly as he moved past Cel to inspect the other three chests, "His twelve Shields and his army are the important parts."

"Okay, but for what?" The earth mage questioned him again as he stood over the still-locked boxes, "We're going to have our own army soon, aren't we? Why would we need anything from Zeref's people?"

"And I said you'll find out once it's all settled, didn't I?" He told her while still looking over the chests, "Now come on, let's stop worrying about how we're gonna kill everyone off for now and tear this place apart. It might not seem important right now, but taking all this stuff is step one in laying the groundwork for my plan; and boy, is it a doozy. Once everything is in place, Earthland will be ours; and not even Igneel or the Saiyans will be able to stop us.

"And I'll promise you this: Igneel is going to regret screwing with me this time, and WE are going to make sure every light guild in Fiore will pay for his insolence; and we're gonna have a hell of a time doing it!"