Dear Readers,

I am so happy to be posting some conclusion chapters, because that means I'm finally coming to the end of this massively long, crazy ass story. And I gotta say, I love you all for sticking around.

This won't be the final chapter, we have maybe one or two left, but we are close. If there are still things you're confused about, or things you want to see resolved, drop a review and I'll make sure they get answered. Before you drop a review about the payback for Vander - YES, I'm gonna resolve that. I've got big plans... :D

Another thing, if you haven't noticed, I changed the image for the fic. I had a piece commissioned by Amber Jin (find her on Etsy, she's the best) that displays Lucy's Spirit King Stardress, her new key tattoos, as well as both the Mark of Aquarius and the King's Bond Seal on her chest. I'm so unbelievably happy with that art, so check it out!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail (Mashima) or the Pradesh Family (Desna). My work is beta-ed by GoddessxNyte2 who is the literal coolest person ever!

Enjoy!

"I'm taking her back to Bosco," Zen informed everyone, lifting Lucy in his arms and readjusting so her head would easily rest on his massive chest.

"Hate to say this, bro, but," Vander said cautiously, "Lucy was only hiding out in Bosco until these mages were dealt with. Dad's gonna have an easier time dealing with the fallout of Peregrande and Stella if she's not staying under his roof. You know he's been struggling to stop the King from marching into the house and locking her up for killing a foreign ruler."

Zen looked rather upset, and was going to argue, but Laxus spoke up, "I'm sorry, Zen. We've not really met and I don't know you, and I can tell you've got some kind of thing going on with Blondie, but her family needs her back home. Fairy Tail's closer anyway."

The Archangel mage scowled at him, but in all fairness, he had no claim to Lucy. Not really. And that irked the hell out of him, but he conceded with a short nod.

All her Fairy Tail kin visibly relaxed, and Rogue walked up to them, "Laxus, if you don't mind, I believe Sting and I will stay while she recovers…"

"Cris and I are sticking around, too. I don't actually care if you mind," Emzadi piped in, eyes never leaving Lucy's limp form.

Laxus rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever, but you'll have to figure out your own sleeping arrangements."

-:-:-:-:-

Turns out, Laxus really needed to learn to be more specific. He'd assumed they would all find a hotel to stay in.

Nope.

They all camped out in his house. And he did mean all of them. All nine fucking dragon slayers, even ones who had their own fucking homes in Magnolia. If Laxus wasn't fairly certain Lucy would wake up and punt him into an early grave, he'd murder them in their sleep.

Sting had claimed Laxus' favorite couch. Not only that, he'd made a blanket fort with some of his spare sheets and the stools from the kitchen.

For his part, at least, Rogue had looked on disapprovingly. Apparently not enough, though, because he didn't actually say anything or make an attempt to correct his guildmaster's behavior. At Laxus' raised eyebrow, he'd simply shrugged, "...it's really not worth the headache. For what it's worth… I'm sorry."

Laxus had grunted and moved toward the kitchen, only to find Natsu raiding his fridge. The fire slayer had been fried immediately after that, but ever since he'd absorbed Laxus' lightning on Tenrou the little shit had been more resilient to that kind of thing. Laxus had been forced to resort to physically tossing him out of the house.

Two hours later he saw him camped out in a rival blanket fort just opposite Sting. On his second favorite couch. It was then he promptly gave up, after observing several tiny guild flags (Sabretooth on Sting's side, Fairy Tail on Natsu's) that had been propped up on each fort.

He'd mumbled something about "fucking man-children" but had left it alone, deciding to take solace in his room.

Only to be blocked by Emzadi, a woman he didn't know well, "Hey, Sparky, I'm taking the guest room with the big bathroom… Hope you don't mind."

He sighed dismissively and shooed her away, "Go for it, Dragon-Blondie, not like I've got the energy to stop you anyway."

Emzadi's brows furrowed, "Dragon-Blondie?"

"I'd call you Blondie, but that's what I call my sister, and that would be weird."

The solar dragon slayer smirked, "Weird how?"

Laxus rolled his eyes, "Look. I'm too old to play this flirty fucking game with you. You're hot, I'm interested, and calling you Blondie would feel like I'm talking to Lucy, and I'd rather keep my comparison's between the both of you to a minimum."

Emzadi nearly purred, "Oh, I do like that direct attitude…. Maybe I should stay in your room tonight, instead? And… you can just call me Emi."

Laxus smirked back at her, taking a step closer and speaking directly in her ear, "Not so sure if that's a good idea with seven other dragons in the house, Emi. But I'll take it under consideration."

She slapped his ass as he walked past and he only growled at her under his breath before moving on, running straight into Kaleb.

'Careful with that, Laxus. Not sure Emi's even listening to the fact that her dragon wants to claim you… she's had some bad experiences in the past.'

'I know that,' Laxus responded mentally, 'Bix has told me a lot, that's why I'm fighting the urge to tackle her where she stands. I'll be fine until she's ready to deal with it.'

Kaleb considered this a moment, 'Alright. If that's settled, I'll be taking my leave from the dragon house. I need to inspect the minds of your mages before I go back to White Sea.'

Speaking aloud, Laxus grunted, "Gramps is gonna be there with you?"

Kaleb gave a nod.

"You let me know what you find, yeah?"

"Of course, I will inform you as soon as we find whoever it was betrayed your guild, and the circumstances surrounding it. You'll inform me of Lucy's condition? We've all grown rather… fond of her. Even if she is rather frustrating."

Laxus laughed despite the serious tone of their conversation, "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one."

Kaleb grinned, "I suppose. Well, I'll be on my way," he said, walking past him down the stairs.

When he was gone, he decided retreating to his room wouldn't actually solve anything, so with an annoyed sigh, he marched back down the stairs.

Everyone had camped around (some of them inside) the opposing guild pillow and blanket forts, talking quietly amongst themselves. Cris's magic must have been working overtime, because all the anxious dragons and Pradesh family members were rather calm while they discussed random topics. Even when the conversation shifted to the details of Lucy's rather busy day, they didn't fall into feral dragon mode.

"You," He said, pointing to Emzadi, "get the room with the bathtub, top of the stairs to the right."

Emi nodded, grinning broadly.

"You and You," He said, pointing to Natsu and Sting, who had poked their heads out when he started talking, "Since you're so fucking juvenile that you made blanket forts," he said it was so much disdain it was nearly palpable, "You get to sleep in them. Congrats."

Much to Laxus's dismay, both of them got excited, chanting "Fuck yes!" and "Sweet! Oh yeah, this is gonna be so much fun!"

Laxus's brow twitched, "That doesn't mean you get to start some kind of fucking fort war, my house is nice, it's doing to stay that way. You hear me?"

They both nodded, but Laxus rubbed his temples anyway. It'd be a goddamn miracle if his house survived.

He pointed to Rogue, "You get that room, right there, and I expect you to fucking pay attention and if shit gets destroyed, kill them or something. Just keep them in line."

Rogue looked to the room the lightning slayer gestured to, just off the main room, "...you know, that's not actually possible. But… I'll do what I can."

Laxus rolled his eyes. What Rogue 'could' do wasn't much, if his attempts at reigning in Sting when he was chasing after Lucy was anything to go by. Still, though, if he assigned Rogue to keep watch he'd have someone to blame besides himself when things went to shit.

"You-"

"I fucking got it, Sparkle Dick. And I appreciate you putting me as far away from the lunatics as possible," Erik responded to the thoughts echoing in Laxus's soul before the lightning slayer was actually able to speak the words.

"Cris, you can stay in the room next to the one Emi is staying in."

The man simply nodded, arms crossed over his chest.

"Gajeel, Wendy, you guys staying too?"

Wendy nodded, only a little shyly, "Your house is closer than Fairy Hill and I want to be on standby in case…"

Everyone tensed, but Cris spoke, "She's going to be fine, you all need to relax. Though, Wendy, I don't think it's a bad idea sticking close by," he conceded. He'd been thinking along the same lines.

Gajeel grunted an affirmative as well.

"Wendy, take the room next to Cobra's. Poison fucker can show you since he's listening in on me. Gajeel, you take the room across from them."

Sighing, he rubbed at his temples again, trying to ease his growing headache, "Anybody else? I'm running out of rooms."

Emzadi spoke up, "Dad and Farron are back in Bosco already, they are dealing with the political and legal issues that have come up… Dad was only able to push back the King on getting answers and taking action until the immediate threat of Fallen Star was dealt with. Now that they are gone... "

Cobra finished her thought, "Now that the problem is fixed, some asshole politicians and fucking nobles are gonna sweep in and either pretend they were the ones who fucking saved the day, or pin all the bad shit on Tink. Arman is trying to convince them not to be dicks."

"...is that… really going to be a problem?"

Cris glared at Sting, "Probably more of one, since all your overkill painted Lucy as an international criminal mastermind."

Sting shrank back a little, "Oh."

Emzadi clapped the light slayer on the back, "Dad's gonna fix it, don't worry. Cris is just being overprotective."

The lunar slayer shrugged.

Vander popped out from the voids, chuckling, "Doesn't mean Starlight won't find her revenge though. You think she hates glitter? She mumbled in her sleep about revenge on your overzealous night-light ass."

Sting paled. Rogue grinned. Everyone else just chuckled, enjoying the chance to break some of the tension.

"Anyway, Laxus," Vander began, "I shouldn't think I'll need a place to stay, even while in town. I get all kinds of invitations," he grinned, but then turned serious, "but unfortunately, for now, I have to go. Presca's out on mission alone and if they find out I bailed shit's gonna get unpleasant. Real fucking quick. You'll tell me when Stell-Starlight wakes up?" he cut himself off from using her usual nickname. After what happened in the country of the same name, he didn't imagine she'd appreciate it.

Laxus nodded, "Sure, Van. We'll keep you updated."

With that, Van disappeared into the voids. Bickslow, who'd been mostly silent, sitting in the corner, looked on with a worried green gaze.

"I'm sticking with my normal room here, Laxus," Bix informed the lightning slayer, "Think Ever and Freed are probably coming by later with that same thought, too. Xally had to go back to school, though we had to practically drag her there, and I think Zen is unlikely to leave the infirmary."

"So we're good?"

"Yep, everyone is accounted for," Bickslow confirmed.

"Great. Now. House Rules…"

-:-:-:-:-

Bickslow turned out to be right on two fronts.

One, Zen didn't leave Lucy's side. Two, Bickslow had called it when he told Laxus his house rules were pointless. Because no one listened to them.

Zen, he slept in the bed next to Fairy Tail's celestial mage, talking to her spirits as they jumped in and out of Earthland telling him information, or checking up on Lucy, or just being generally seen. They seemed to know that seeing them - as they were kind of like an extension of Lucy - seemed to put everyone a little more at ease while Lucy was out cold. Well, not cold, really, Zen wouldn't have that. He hovered, constantly checking on her, making sure she had enough blankets, making sure to coat her lips with lip balm so they didn't dry out and crack painfully. Especially the area where her scar split her lip, she'd always told him how sensitive it was.

The first few days, all the dragons had been in and out of her room, trying to pry for information, until Loke had shown up at Laxus's house and angrily asked them to desist. Zen, he was a part of the celestial world, those secrets that he was being told, most of them he couldn't even tell them.

But he knew.

The first time Loke had come out to speak with him had been two days into Lucy's magical coma, and he'd learned almost everything about what had happened that day.

He'd first been told the story of Orion's Stars, and the relationship between a constellation and the entities that represent each star. How they were all practically like family, how the constellations saw their stars much as Lucy saw them. How some stars were granted keys themselves, if they so desired, while others remained keyless, content to live out their days in the celestial realm.

Zen had then been told that Orion's Fallen became Alec, Bruno, and Terra after the fall over their dear friend and comrade Saiph. It was here, that Zen learned of the lopsided laws of celestial magic. He'd vowed to help Lucy change them, no matter what it took, because he would not allow anything like this to happen again.

He'd also thoroughly questioned the lion spirit, made sure there were no other fallen spirits running around that had yet to present themselves. He'd been assured that there were not, to which Zen sighed in relief. He couldn't deal with Lucy doing something stupid again, like opening a powerful gate to the Celestial Realm's Benevolent Gate to save spirits, people whatever, that had been witness and willing participants in her own torture. He knew she was forgiving, but he wasn't sure he could watch her do something like that again.

And he was still pissed off about Betelguese and Tabit getting off so easily. He'd recognized them when he saw them, something that had confused him, but he now had the answer for that, too.

Apparently Archangels could identify unknown spirits on sight. Kind of handy, because Loke had refused to give their names or the locations of their keys in fear that Zen would seek some kind of retribution. At least he knew who to look for if he wanted to pay them back for what they'd forced Lucy to do.

A desire that grew each day that passed without Lucy so much as stirring in her sleep.

Zen, at the end of the day, had learned everything.

Lucy's mother had been tasked with guarding over exiled spirits. Said spirits turned on her, draining her life-force and her energy and taking it into themselves. Layla had then opened the eclipse gate, for… some reason. The spirits were still being vague about that… and the power it took to do so drained the last of her life and she died. Leaving Lucy alone with an emotionally abusive (at the very least… he still wasn't quite positive on whether or not Lucy was abused physically as a child, she did have more than a few questionable scars) father to grow up in a household by herself, and leaving Orion's Fallen trapped in their keys and changed by the human energy they'd taken in. Their loose ties to Lucy had them growing in strength as she did, and eventually they were able to expel themselves from their gates (finding themselves in the abandoned Heartfilia Estate), willing to wait out their sentence of treason until Lucy died. Then, the oh-so-high-and-mighty Spirit King adopted Lucy, without her permission, and made her… effectively… immortal (something Zen was still trying to wrap his mind around) and the spirits felt they were forced to make a move to remove themselves from her bloodline fealty and cleanse them of their sins. So they tortured Lucy to get what they wanted, and when she was too stubborn to give in, they decided her death would be acceptable, they'd find her key when it was formed and force her to perform the task they wanted using the very laws they'd originally rebelled against to their advantage.

Then, of course, that had failed when Makarov sent them running from Fairy Law, and Lucy went into hiding. They'd chased her spirits around, doing much the same as Kaleb had, for that entire year, until Alec - Alnilam - had gotten an idea. He couldn't open a gate to the celestial world, but he could do so on Earthland, from one place to another. He'd spent six months working that out, until finally, he learned he could actually do so if he had a solid lock on her magic. Hers, not her spirits, and he also discovered it was extremely taxing on his body - and used Layla's energy - to do so. He put himself at risk trying to hop from gate to gate, but he'd been… mad. Crazy. Beyond saving already, so he walked his way to Stella, murdered a village to get her attention, and locked onto her magic as it spiked through the roof in response to the carnage she witnessed.

He must have realized he didn't have more than one chance at opening a celestial gate to get her - Layla's energy within him was dangerously low - and so he walked back to the Konzern before enacting his plan.

Alni hadn't expected Lucy's magic to be strong enough to break through the celestial runes, nor had he really anticipated how much she'd improved overall, because she made quick work of him.

She'd have been happy, safe, and awake if it weren't for the fact that she desired to save Betel and Tabit. She'd supplied entirely too much energy into opening that cleansing, Benevolent Gate, and now, she was in a magical coma until she recovered. Magically and Physically, her body was exhausted.

Zen had found that he was… beyond frustrated with how little he could tell his anxious family and hers. They learned the general information the following day, nothing specific. He was glad, though, that he'd been able to speak with Freed about it, and that the King and Loke had agreed that Kaleb and Erik couldn't actually be stopped from knowing, so he could speak with them as well.

The other dragons had been… livid… but accepted it. This wasn't the first time celestial law kept them in the dark, and if Lucy stayed in their lives (she was kin, so that wasn't likely to change) they'd probably face that fact again. With Lucy's penchant for getting into trouble? It would be sooner than later.

On that third day, Kaleb had actually had information for him in return, along with the rest of them.

He'd found the 'traitor', and it had taken him all three days to do so. And what he found both unsettled them, as well as put them at ease.

Lisanna had been devastated to know she'd been the leak. And she hadn't even been aware, hadn't had a clue.

She sat down in front of him, all smiles, and started small talk. He'd smiled back, thinking for once he wasn't going to have to deal with a defensive, or drunk, or delirious Fairy Tail mage, and instead got to deal with someone pleasant.

Looking into her mind, though, his brow furrowed, "Where were you during the attack, Lisanna?"

He'd asked it hoping to pull the memory to the forefront of her mind, as he'd not been able to find it, only to realize she couldn't find it either, "I… I don't know…" it was a whisper.

Before the attack, she'd been tending bar with Mira. She remembered Lucy telling her to get to the infirmary and get it set up, and she remembered starting to take an inventory of all their supplies frantically before her mind just went… blank. She didn't remember anything else at all until she found herself walking into the courtyard and running toward her poisoned sister.

It had been so frantic that day she'd never given it more thought.

She clamped a hand over her mouth, "Does…. Does that mean… it was my fault?"

He shook his head, "I… I don't think you are to blame, Ms. Strauss. Please, close your eyes and trust me, I have to dig deeper."

As tears spilled down her cheeks, she nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

What Kaleb found had him fighting off his own rage. Because she'd been manipulated by a Fioran mindbender mage, someone who used his own magic. It was rare, and the man hadn't had nearly as much control or skill with his magic as Kaleb did, but he'd been able to pull the information from her mind, plant the idea of escaping the guild, and then pulled every memory she had of him before that moment from her mind and locked it away completely.

When Kaleb had unlocked it and she remembered, she'd screamed.

And not just because she had caused Lucy and her guildmates so much pain. That was part of it, but it was also because that mindbender mage had been her boyfriend of the last year. A brown-eyed, burly man that had joined Fairy Tail shortly after the attack.

Apparently, the only reason she'd escaped the attack herself was because he'd assumed she would die if she was inside with the others, and he had struck a deal with Fallen Star to get her out beforehand in exchange for his talents, because he'd taken some sick liking to her after he'd dove into her mind.

Kaleb had promptly stood, strode over to said mage - who'd been quietly drinking a beer - and pinned him to the bar as he dove ruthlessly into the man's mind. Justin, what he'd been going by in the guild, was a fake name, just as he'd been playing at being a requip mage (something he was not excessively good at, but he could do) to avoid detection. His real name was Collin, and his mind was… fucked up, to say the least. He'd been manipulating Lisanna for a year, forcing her mind to believe she cared for him when she really had no desire to be with him.

That man had met the Rune Knights an hour later, and was significantly less… able-minded than when he'd first met Kaleb.

Lisanna, even still, two months later, was broken up over it. Mira, Elfman, and Evergreen had been taking turns dragging her to therapy, and slowly, she was getting better. She felt violated, which she truly had been, and on top of that felt consuming grief and guilt over what Lucy had been through because she'd not been able to stop Collin from using her.

She spent nearly as much time at Lucy's bedside as Zen did. More even than her dragon kin.

-:-:-:-:-

Two months and three days after Lucy's 144th Kidnapping found Zen sitting alone at her bedside, asleep with his head resting against her mattress and his hand clutching her own.

"Psst…"

Zen could have swore he heard something as he woke from his slumber. Then again, he'd been waking up randomly for two months to study her face, certain she'd woken up, just to realize he was wrong. So he decided it was likely happening again, and just sighed as he readjusted, gripped her hand a little bit more tightly, and closed his eyes to sleep again. He couldn't bring himself to fall into the other bed at his side.

"Hey…. Hey you…"

Okay, now he was sure he was hearing things, but he lifted his head slowly to look around. The voice wasn't one he recognized, it was rough, husky, but feminine.

"Not sure who you are… Can you get me some water…?"

Zen stood up abruptly and studied her face, only to find that… Lucy's eyes were open… She was giving him a small smile… she was… awake.

She was AWAKE!

But… she… didn't know him?

"Oh… oh no…" his soft voice mumbled, mostly to himself, "she… doesn't know me…?"

"Wait, Zen?" she asked, still talking out of that raspy voice he didn't really recognize. She coughed, "...water…"

He rushed to get her what she'd asked for just as his whole being flooded with relief, and helped her sit up as she drank it. He… wasn't sure what to do, how to greet her, so he just stood there awkwardly as she finished the drink. He took the cup from her once she was done, and she cleared her throat.

"Zen," she said, a bright smile lifting her face. She lifted her arms to him, an invitation.

One he readily accepted, practically jumping into her arms and burying his face in her neck as he squeezed her tightly, "Lucy…"

"Zen, I'm...I'm sorry," she choked out, biting back joyous laughter at having the man she was now sure she loved securely in her arms.

He pulled back just enough to glare at her, but pulled her into his lap all the same, "Yeah, that wasn't funny," he said disapprovingly, as he ran his fingers through her hair tenderly even as his glare intensified.

The contrasting actions had her unable to contain her laughter, "What do you mean, it wasn't funny? What wasn't funny?" she asked in between loud guffaws.

His glare intensified as he pulled her closer, his hold almost painfully tight, "Pretending you didn't know me… I almost had a heart attack."

She laughed harder, and lifted her head to kiss his jaw, "You're so dumb. Jumping to conclusions. It's dark, genius, and your head was buried in my mattress. Of course I didn't recognize you!"

He huffed, but… had to admit she did have a point. He pulled her close, a hand cupping her cheek as he directed her lips to his own. The kiss was desperate, wanting, and overwhelmingly relieved. She had to admit, though she thought their first kiss was perfect, this was so much better. She kissed him back enthusiastically, grabbing at the nape of his neck to keep him exactly where he was.

"Oi, this is great and all, but maybe tell us our sleepy fucking kin is awake from her two-month coma before you jump her, will ya?"

Erik's voice broke their trance, and as he flicked the infirmary lights on to reveal all her sleepy dragon kin excitedly bounding into the room along with Gray and Erza, she squealed, holding out her hands while still on Zen's lap.

Zen found that he very much did not like being on the bottom of the dog pile. But at the same time, found that as long as his arms were around Lucy, he could bear it.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, before Lucy seemed to catch on to something Erik had said…

"Wait…" she said, her voice muffled in Laxus's broad chest, "Did you say two fucking months?!"