:What is the matter?: The snake asked, still curled around me. I fell silent, frustration and anger trying to choke my throat. Or maybe that was just tears. Cubellios had been waiting for years and years to speak to her friend and now that something it was possible, he wasn't listening!

I had been arguing with Cobra for at least 20 minutes about whether or not I could actually talk to Cubellios. He had gotten fed up and just stalked off, close enough to still keep an eye on me, but clearly showing he was done talking.

She had told me all kinds of information to pass on as proof that I was communicating with her. But he simply thought I was reading his past. Which I was as well, but my magic was simply verifying each fact as true instead of digging for more.

I replied with a sigh.

:He doesn't believe I actually understand you. He thinks I am reading his life's story with my magic:

Cubellios let out an annoyed hiss, her head rising threateningly into a striking position.

:I have waited and wished to speak to him since I first met him. And now when my words finally can reach him, he ignores them?: She quickly slithered after him. :Come, little one. We will find some way for your words to reach him. I have waited too long for this day for his stubbornness to ruin it:

Cubellios was remarkably fast on land for a snake of her size. Moving like a python, she slid into a tree over Cobra's head and dropped onto him from above, easily tangling him in her powerful coils. Dragon Slayer strength or not, he wasn't getting out of her hold.

"Cubellios, what are you doing!?"

"Trying to make you listen." I replied, coming up beside them.

He looked at me with murder in his eyes.

"Kid...I don't know what kind of spell you're using and I don't care how much you're worth to Brain. If you don't take off whatever spell you snuck onto Cubellios, I will rip you apart."

I was starting to get annoyed now. And yes, I will admit it, I stomped my foot. I didn't want to get in his face, since breathing out poison was probably something he was quite comfortable with and becoming more and more inclined to do the more I annoyed him.

He was right to be hesitant to trust me.

He had wanted for years to do nothing more than to hear his friend's voice. It had shaped how his natural magic had expressed itself, so it had to have been a pretty strong desire. Now he had been set to babysit a prisoner. And this prisoner had casually revealed that not only did she have the ability that he wanted so badly, but she wasn't going to share it with him.

All in all, it looked like a ploy for me to feed him false information. That, and his automatic reflex of that's not fair kept him from believing me. Plus, I was apparently stealing his best and only friend from him given the way she was acting.

But I kinda lost it on him all the same.

And yeah, this included slapping him, the manacles on my wrist clicking. They were sized for a child, but were still extremely heavy and I was strong for a kid my size.

There was a split second of silence as his eyes widened in bewilderment. His partner hissed in alarm, but didn't react aggressively.

I stared at the fully grown wizard I had just struck, and it was like a dam burst.

"Look at me, idiot! I'm a nine year old girl, not even a full wizard. I'm just someone your guild decided to kidnap and sprint across most of the country and I don't even know why! I just know all of you could kill me without any effort. I have barely any access to the only thing that could save my life and that's pretty terrifying!" The tears were starting to fall from my eyes as the days events started to catch up.

When I got up this morning, I had felt on edge, but I had expected it to be some bogus cursed job or maybe an obsessive fan trying to stalk Mira. Not being kidnapped and run across the country and then put in the power of some of the most dangerous dark wizards in the country.

The floodgates were open, and my words kept pouring out, hot, angry and tearful.

"There are two reasons I'm still able to talk without breaking down, crying. First, the same mental exercise I'm using to keep you from reading my mind is forcing my thoughts and emotions to stay structured and under control. And second: Because I know my friends will come and rescue me." This was fact and I knew that Fairy Tail would come. They were my family and they always had come through when I was in trouble before. This time was no different. Just saying that helped me ground myself. Cobra was looking at me with an oddly stricken look on his face.

Crying children remind him of his own upbringing. And that apparently was a bad thing since it was compounding with him just getting angrier.

"The kind of faith I have in my guild is the same bond Cubellios has with you. She's not doing this because I asked her to and there's no way I could have made her. There's not a compulsion spell on this planet strong enough to override the friendship you share!"

My chest was heaving as I glared down at the still livid wizard, he was inhaling, ready to breathe some kind of highly toxic compound at me.

"I'm telling you all this because she asked me to translate for her. She's been forced to be silent for years, waiting for some chance to come up to finally tell you how she felt and what she was thinking. She wants to talk to you as badly as you want to hear her." I don't know what it was that caught Cobra's attention, but he stalled, only a faint wisp of poison escaping into the air. Cubellios hissed scoldingly, striking her head forward as though to bite, but only butting him sharply with her head.

:Do not harm the hatchling! She is a captive and is not obligated to speak for me. Do her no harm for doing me a kindness!:

The sharp featured wizard looked from his pet to me and then back.

"Is she telling the truth...?" He asked her finally. Cubellios rolled her eyes in a startlingly human gesture and nodded, loosening her coils to let him go.

Cobra then sat there, chin in his hand. Then he finally looked at me.

"You are a pain in the ass, you know that? You coulda just let your shield drop and I could hear what she's saying directly." His impulsive anger appeared to have abated.

Finally!

I sat down, cross legged and gave him a flat look.

"I feel about my friends the same way you feel about her." I gestured at the snake between us. "No way am I letting you dig through my thoughts about them." Cobra shrugged, settling back and looking at me with new eyes.

"Fair enough, I guess. So, Celeste, wasn't it? And you somehow speak snake. What other languages do you know?"

"Considering that about an hour ago I couldn't even do that much, I honestly don't know."

What is my life when I'm having a civil conversation with my warden?

-vVv-

Only a short time later, I needed to revise the thought.

My life is utter madness: Why? I'm playing Scrabble with my captor in the dirt. As far as babysitters went, Cobra wasn't half bad. Just a little...awkward with kids. He kept on trying to cheat with alternate spellings.

And now he's teaching me cuss words in other languages because my magic can translate them. I completely revise my thinking that he's a good babysitter.

"You aren't actually supposed to be awake yet." Cobra told me after a few hours of conversation. Some of it our own, some of it relayed between him and Cubellios.

I had explained that she was a girl, after which he apologized always referring to her as a boy. And I had told a little bit about the snake language. Since it was a product of my Story Magic, I wasn't sure if there was some kind of equivalent in Earthland specifically for snakes. Lisanna had been able to understand animals in general, even if she hadn't been able to directly speak their language. But that probably came with her magic.

And that brought us to the topic of personal magic, and Cobra's surprise at my having shaken off the sleep spell so quickly.

"So why am I here anyway?" I asked as frankly as I could. Cobra grinned, flashing his unusually sharp teeth. He clearly recognized that I'd changed the subject on purpose. Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I'll let you sneak information out of me that easily.

"How long have you been waiting to ask that?"

"Pretty much from the moment someone grabbed me out of my home, shoved me in a sack and teleported me away." This earned a laugh from the other wizard.

"Well, hate to disappoint kid. All I know is Brain's got something in mind for you, he's been keeping an eye on you for years. After the Tower of Heaven fell, he stepped up the plans to get you out."

He said pretty explicitly that Brain had been aware of me for years. Aware of what I could do.

If he only decided to pull me out after the Tower of Heaven, which is my first semi public showing, then he must have wanted to grab me before I got much stronger.

Was it possible that he had been aware of me even before I could remember?

There came a pause in my train of thought, as I waited for my magic to fill in the gaps in the story like it normally did.

But there was only a blank space of nothing. Like there always was whenever I tried to remember past waking up in Porlyusica's hut.

I'll take that as a yes, then.

Cubellios nudged me gently.

:You are thinking very hard about something:

I scratched her head gently like she'd told me she liked as I tried to think in snake terms to explain what I was thinking about..

:I...hatched twice in a way. Once like everyone else, and then again when I forgot who I was. I chose my own name because I could not recall what my sires named me:

Cobra watched the interaction with interest as I relayed what I had said.

"You act differently when you're speaking Parseltongue. Like some kinda stuffy old scholar." I shrugged.

"Animals have slang and casual terms like people do, but it's harder to translate because it's mostly body language."

Brain is coming.

My shoulders went stiff and my back automatically straightened and the whisper that clanged like a dissonant grave bell.

This wasn't a fight that was coming on. That would imply I had a chance of doing something against it.

"Something crawl up your back?"

"No." I turned towards the enemy guild master who wasn't even in sight yet. Cobra gave a faint sigh.

"Shame. It's been nice talking to you, kid." You make it sound like he's going to kill me or something. Cubellios went very still where she was loosely coiled around Cobra when Brain appeared.

The first thing that registered for me was that his staff was alive. It wasn't moving or talking independently, yes, but it was very much alive.

The second was that he seemed to be waiting for something from me.

"You recognize me." It wasn't a question. I just nodded once. "You will speak when spoken to."

To this, I just glared at him.

I wouldn't be Fairy Tail if I didn't thumb my nose at my captors in some ways. I'd just been lucky that Cobra was laid back enough to roll with the punches instead of getting irreparably angry.

Brain seemed displayed, a frown crossing his features.

"You've gotten defiant. A regrettable side effect of your association with that guild. No matter. Cobra, bring her."

-vVv-

Eric was not a bad person, in his own opinion. He was a survivor.

He didn't enjoy killing people, but as a child it was that or get thrown back into the Tower of Heaven. He and the others had already been long gone from the Tower when young Erza Scarlet almost single handedly led the slaves in a revolution against their masters. The five orphans had commiserated silently that they hadn't had the chance to be part of that rebellion. To even have a wisp of hope for escape...

But now, he had grown up in this life. There was no way out of it. No way to escape Brain. Their 'father'.

Cubellios was definitely subdued and unhappy as Eric picked up the girl, Faerun, and started walking after Brain. She didn't struggle, but she was as taut as a harp string, trembling slightly with nerves and fear. But her eyes were still clear, and the buzz of white noise still masked her thoughts. He wondered if her mental voice sounded any different from her real one. She was good company for a kid. He regretted that she had gotten pulled into this, even though there had been no chance of it being avoided.

His partner nosed the girl gently, a natural, instinctive attempt at offering comfort. The show of affection made him feel odd. Cubellios had never allowed anyone close to her except for him. But this kid she was all over. The things that communication could do...

Brain had been making this plan for several months. Ever since the Tower of Heaven fell, or was torn down rather.

Project Garden, was what he had called it. Something he had set up as a long term investment.

Eric thought of it as the Cuckoo.

Cubellios shifted her head suddenly, tongue flickering out curiously. Eric felt something leave Fae's body. Magic? Was she using magic even with the suppressor on? It was barely anything, it shouldn't have done anything.

Brain started to talk.

"Your host guild is among the most dangerous in Fiore. Your placement among them was unplanned, but most fortuitous."

Cobra looked between Fae and then at his guild master. Brain didn't just give out information unless it was necessary. Everything about their guild, goals, funds, he controlled it all. And now he was just...talking to hear himself?

What the hell did you do, kid?

-vVv-

And now he's monologuing. Good to know that works.

I needed more information. And Cobra, while I had gotten some, didn't know what I wanted to have. By virtue of paranoia, Brain would be the only one to have that kind of knowledge. Specifically about why he wanted me here.

I had decided to try and get some information out of him. So I had pictured Brain as the villain of this 'story' and something almost every villain did without fail was monologue about their scheme. Even if Brain didn't let much slip, it could still be in for my magic to read the rest of it. Since so much of my magic was relative based on how I viewed things, a little magical encouragement and Brain was fitting into his role as the Big Bad Evil Guy, helpfully giving plot exposition about his evil scheme.

"About ten years ago, my compatriots and I created a plan. Project Garden. A long term plan to assist us in the ultimate crippling and destruction of the light guilds. Children would be carefully selected, then implanted with recording lacrima. These would be connected to the senses of each child in order to maximize full comprehension. The children themselves would not be aware of this. As far as they knew, they would fall asleep, then wake up a short time later with a headache. The differences in their quality of thinking would be distinct to anyone else, but in children, who would notice that?" I would.

I had a very bad feeling as to why he was telling me this. And I was fighting my instincts to huddle into Cobra. He may not have been one of my friends, but he certainly was the closest thing to an ally that I had in this situation.

"Thus prepared, the children's magic would be stimulated into awakening, then they would be left in place for wizarding guilds to find them and take them in for training. Even the tiniest seed of magic in a person takes a long time to fully control. They would spend a minimum of two years in the very heart of these guilds and interacting with the key members that formed their spine. All the while, the lacrima would be recording, seeing far more than the child could comprehend." Brain looked back at me with a horrifyingly genuine smile. "I take it you've already realized why I'm telling you this."

"Trying very hard not to." Denial was a state, and one I was currently in. He chuckled, sounding way too much like a man amused by the antics of a young pet.

Cobra's arms were a bit tighter than they had been when we first started walking. His face was unreadable, but Cubellios was hissing softly, tongue flickering in the air. She could probably smell that both of us were getting edgy with whatever Brain was saying.

"Project Garden was meant to take young, impressionable minds and place them in our enemy guilds. There, they would be nurtured and tended by other wizards. The lacrima ensured the implants would be able to make the most of the first class education they would be receiving, and also record key information about the wizards teaching them."

A hole the size of an ocean opened in my stomach.

A scar on the back of my ear, several years old. Porlyusica hadn't been able to figure out why it was there, and I couldn't remember.

Natsu finding me and managing to escape scot free without any pursuit. There was an entire dark guild, and Natsu wasn't nearly as strong as he is now.

My magic having been activated a few months before Natsu found me, but then having difficulty accessing it again. If an outside force is involved with accessing magic, especially from a negative source, then subconscious trauma can keep it from being accessed again.

It was painting a picture I didn't like.

The ideal place for a lacrima, somewhere no one would be able to look in even a full range physical, was inside the skull. And it would have been the most ideal place for a lacrima that recorded information. The control center of the human body. Laxus's Dragon Slayer lacrima was in his head too, the center of electricity in the human body. But putting it there had left him with a hefty scar. Comparatively, mine was a much neater job. Or at least, much less obvious.

And if that lacrima had been gathering information the whole time I was in Fairy Tail, coupled with my actively seeking some knowledge out...!

He's going to use me to hurt them and I don't know if I can do anything about it.

My panic smashed against my shield keeping Cobra from picking through my thoughts. It made a gap. For a second, I was exposed.

All my love for my family, my loyalty to the guild and what it stood for, and hanging over it all the gut wrenching, soul stabbing agony that my feelings for them would be what hurt them. My desire to know my family had led me to learn about them in every way I reasonably could.

...No...please, no...

Unbidden, tears started to form in my eyes. I had no idea words, just plain words could hurt so much...

Cobra reacted.

Only slightly, but he did. He inhaled sharply, eyes widening for an instant before he controlled himself again. I did the same, patching the breach in my defenses as best I could.

Intimidation and breaking tactic.

The calm voice of my magic grounded me and I grabbed ahold of the new information. I sensed a faint smirk on Brain's face as he kept his back towards me.

He had told me this smattering of information. But instead of confirming or explaining anything, he had let my imagination run wild. He was letting my mind break itself down without saying another word about why I was actually here.

My spell worked almost too well.

I had pictured Brain as the villain in a story. In most of the tales I had read, there were few villains who didn't like to hear themselves talk about how brilliant their plan was. I had been trying to get information; that was all. And I had gotten information and seen on blatant display the other characteristic of a villain: Unmitigated and implacable cruelty. It had taken so little to nudge him into a villainous monologue because he was the real thing. This man was evil in ways that I had never encountered before.

Jellal had been controlled. Simon and Erza's other friends were tricked. Laxus had been horribly misguided but was still my friend. Judging by my conversation with Cobra, he was more resigned to being a pawn.

But Brain...

Taking a step back...

I'm a child. Not even ten. And he has not only attacked my perception of myself as a human by reducing me to an object, a conveniently placed camera. He has attacked my relationship with my guild, implying that he had complete control over where I ended up. He has also attacked my emotions, by leading me to believe, or conclude, that my relationship with Fairy Tail will ultimately hurt them.

To reiterate: He has done all this...to a child.

This was a new low in humanity for me.

My sympathy for Cobra for growing up with this man as a role model and surrogate parent multiplied by ten.

My anger at Brain for kidnapping me multiplied by about a hundred.

I exhaled, finding my calm center again. I was holding it together still, but this had let me know something very important: I needed to put everything I valued in my mind behind better walls, or Brain would find a way to tear them to pieces.

"But all of that can wait. We, at the moment, have a patient that is in need of some…aid in his recovery." Brain said, leading Cobra into a cave with a coffin standing at the back. "I believe you specialize in writing stories. Surely this would be something easily in line with your talents."

The coffin's lid slid back to reveal-

What?

Jellal lying inside the coffin.

-vVv-

The day had started out fairly ok. Being chosen to represent Fairy Tail for anything still gave Lucy a thrill of pride. But this mission was high end and very important. There was no room for games here. She was torn between being grateful that her friends were still relaxed enough to put her at ease, and wanting to slap them. Specifically Gray and Natsu.

Except when they stood between her and Ichiya. Then she was just straight up grateful. She remembered Fae and Erza mentioning the guy and that she would be lucky if she never met him. Now she knew why. He wasn't...bad, per say, just uncomfortable. And the other Blue Pegasus mages followed his lead. Lucy was happy to keep anyone between her and them.

They had talked for a brief while about how to proceed with this assignment of locating and eliminating the Oracion Seis. Fairy Tail was so well represented because they were powerful, main line fighters, Erza and Natsu especially. Gray and Lucy were more versatile in their abilities. Lamia Scale was along for a similar reason. Blue Pegasus was present because they were information specialists and had ways of tracking their enemy.

Cait Shelter had sent a wizard to join their cause because it was their territory that the Oracion Seis was fighting in, and they had provided information on what they suspected the Dark Guild's objective was. The ancient magi-tech city known as Nirvana.

Lucy had been somewhat taken aback at seeing Wendy. She couldn't be more than ten years old, but she was already a full wizard. She knew she had felt an instant rush of protectiveness towards her. And seeing that she also had a talking feline companion made Lucy...very nervous at first, considering how Happy usually behaved. But Charla thankfully didn't behave anything like the little blue pest...

It had been a rough plan at best, with some friction between both the different wizards. After all, Team Erza had once been enemies of the Lamia Scale wizards, and of course Ichiya was a walking source of unwanted attention.

But that was just how the day had started.

Now it had all gone so very wrong.

They had fanned out to try and track down the Oracion Seis's base. Lucy and Erza had been together when she received a call from their guild lacrima. The Requip mage's face went blank as she listened before she turned to Lucy and channeled some more magic into it to allow Makarov's voice to reach them both.

"Fae has been kidnapped by Grey Chimera, a known associate of the Oracion Seis. Given the timing of this endeavour, you may very well come across her as a hostage." Makarov's eyes hardened as he looked at one of his best soldiers and gave an order.

"Bring your team home safe, Erza. And bring our girl back." Erza nodded tightly, her hair stirring slightly as rage fueled magic affected the ethernano in the air around her. Lucy forced her grip on the lacrima key to Hibiki's Archive network to relax.

"Do we tell the others?" Lucy asked, calling on years of etiquette training to keep her voice steady. Her first instinct was to find their young guildmate, make sure she was safe and hang the consequences. But this mission was important as well and if Fae really had been taken hostage, then pounding the tar out of the enemy guild as quickly as possible would be the most efficient way of protecting her. Not to mention satisfying and the deserved punishment of the ones who had provoked the attack.

I think I've officially been taken over by the Fairy Tail mindset that violence can solve anything so long as you hit hard enough.

She consciously decided to worry if that was a good thing later. Such as after they rescued Fae.

Erza was thinking, head bowed and shoulders tight with worry.

"Telling Gray and Natsu that Fae has been kidnapped could make them unfocused from our mission."

"Not if they know that it was the Oracion Seis who took her. They'll just be even more motivated to kick their tails." A faint smile touched Erza's lips.

"True. Inform our allies that we may be facing a hostage situation." Lucy lifted the communication lacrima to convey the information, recalling the insistence of code names.

"Goldilocks and Rose Red with new information: Oracion Seis may have a hostage."

"We hear you, Goldilocks, identify the hostage." Hibiki's voice sounded calm, and that grated on Lucy's nerves the tiniest bit until she rationalized that he didn't know who was being held.

"Child, green hair, blue eyes. Possesses magic. Fairy Tail guild ward-" The connection shorted out with a roar as Natsu's rage made itself known in a nonverbal burst of emotion that Hibiki couldn't quite translate. Under it, Lucy swore she heard some words from Gray that she suspected the Archive Wizard let drop deliberately for Wendy's sake. Lucy clutched her head as the painful outburst ended. Then Gray's voice sounded over the line; cold and crystal hard.

"Scent trail identified: Hostage confirmed."

The flare of anger that Lucy felt was counterbalanced by a gentle glow from the keys at her side.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, brushing her fingers over them gently in gratitude.

She couldn't use her magic well if she was irrationally angry. Celestial Spirit magic required too much control for that to work. Her fingers gripped one key in particular that she had a close bond with and who she knew cared deeply for their hostage as well.

Loke, the bad guys caught Fae and they have her close by.

His answer wasn't as loud as Natsu's roar of rage, but she would swear she heard a large cat growling in the back of her mind.

I have an idea. I'm coming through. He told her in a low, hard voice.

"We need to keep moving." Erza spoke, though Lucy didn't really hear her clearly until she cleared her thoughts again.

"Yes, but Erza, we need to find Fae as soon as possible. We won't be able to do anything if they hold Fae's life on the line."

"Agreed." She said, striding forward. "You have a plan?" Lucy nodded, swallowing.

"Loke. Even if they have her behind wards somewhere, he could get through them because he's a Celestial Spirit. And if he's there protecting her from whoever is guarding her, she could dismantle any trap she was in. All he'd have to do is find her."

Erza nodded, eyes forward.

"Good plan." Lucy touched Loke's key again, intending on summoning him with her own power.

Instead, a magic circle marked with his constellation appeared and Loke materialized on it, looking about as he had before, save his hair was a little longer and he was wearing a 3 piece suit.

And he didn't come alone.

"Loke?" He nodded his head to her politely.

"Excuse me, Lucy. But under the circumstances, I'd rather you weren't tied up keeping my gate open and risk you being vulnerable while I'm searching for Fae."

"Yeah, no problem. But who's that with you?" Standing behind Loke was a large dog, with a sharp muzzle, ragged ears, keen eyes and a long rangy body covered in battle scars.

"This is a friend of mine from the constellation Canes Venatici. Lucy, meet Orion. Orion, this is Lucy, my wizard." The silver colored hound dipped his head to her politely with a soft growl. Some Celestial Spirits couldn't speak, and others preferred not to. She couldn't be sure which was the case here...

"Canes Venatici...The Hunting Dogs!" Lucy's eyes widened. "You can track Fae with his help?" Loke snorted.

"Orion has literally tracked a star's fall to earth. Just give us a place to start and we'll find her wherever they took her." Erza spoke then.

"Natsu came across Fae's trail though he didn't say how old it was." She paused and listened over the comms lacrima. "Hibiki will send you their coordinates. You can start there." She then handed over the crystal to the Lion Zodiac. "Good hunting."

Lucy looked down at the dog, her heart beating very fast with nerves from meeting a new spirit.

"Orion? We're in your debt. I know it's not part of a contract, but..." She held out a hand and let some of her magic pool in her hand to transfer to the spirit. "-thank you for being willing to help us find her." The dog stepped forward, letting his head rest against her palm as he accepted the energy from her. He was a modestly powerful Silver Spirit, but Lucy felt no major drain from loaning him some extra energy to stay on the mortal plane without a contract.

"If you need me, Lucy, just summon me." Loke told her before running off into the trees, Orion loping at his side.

"Be careful, you two..." Lucy whispered.

She was worried about Fae, wherever she was being held. And about her friends. And her allies. And now about two spirits who had come at personal risk to help.

Erza's hand resting on her shoulder made her spine stiffen.

She turned without another word and followed Titania further into the forest.

-vVv-

The hunt had changed.

Eric could hear that in the faint thoughts he managed to pick up from the light guild wizards who were spread throughout the forest. They were all moving far more carefully now, alert and ready for trouble.

Blue Pegasus's satillite lacrima were annoying to hide from. It meant he couldn't fly with Cubellios until they blew their cover and could fight openly. He and Midnight had been able to map out where all of the enemy surveillance was. But for now, they were still stuck in a waiting game. They still needed more time.

Eric had buried his feelings long ago. He didn't feel guilt, he didn't feel shame.

The young fairy knelt by Jellal's coffin, hands on either side of his face as she worked, eyes staring blankly into the distance.

Cubellious on the other hand, didn't have nearly as many compunctions or issues with showing how he, no, she felt. He could tell by the tiny shivers that ran through her body that she was extremely unhappy. And her gaze always turned back toward the silent child, indicating what she was upset about.

Nothing we can do for her. Cobra thought grimly, stroking his friend and partner's neck. This is what she was made to do. She had a little more freedom than the rest of us, but no one escapes from Brain.