A/N: Okay, I'll be honest, I did not anticipate this idea developing as it has, but I'm not mad about it! It has certainly kept me entertained in between chapters of Eden Zero & 100 year quest. No spoilers here! Just obsession & inner-monologue-ing.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9: The King & His Son

King Baselius knew what was happening, but he was powerless to stop it. He knew that beyond this memory was his cabin in the woods and the young mage, Lucy, who was in increasing danger. But, memories are imprinted in the heart as well as the mind and no matter how much he KNEW what was happening, without control of his heart he couldn't break the spell. He could feel every emotion as fresh as if it were yesterday, rather than five years ago. Maybe it had been ten?

Instead of his cabin, he was in his main throne room, it's only light shining through the thin windows to the side. All five of his children were bowing before him. Pride at his children and their strength, joy at their growth and success, and guilt at his decision, which was final.

"Father," Compassio said, looking up to meet the King Baselius' eyes. King Baselius felt the stab of betrayal from Compassio as if were in his own heart, a stab as painful as a steel dagger. "You wish to leave us for the forest?"

"But why," Abaddon asked. He too ventured a glance at the King and King Baselius felt a sadness like ice cold water touch him down to his bone. The agony was enough to destroy a father's heart, but he was still firm.

"This is what I desire," King Baselius said. "Ventri shall take the throne."

"Ventri," shouted Compassio leaping up in anger as Ventri let out a gasp of surprise. "You'e not in your right mind," Compassio continued. "That creature has corrupted you and wishes to lure you in the finish you off."

"Father," Ventri said softly, not looking up from his focus on the ground. "Is this what you desire- to live with the forest? To give all of this- us - up?"

"Leave me," King Baselius said with a sigh. At the time, he had felt the weight of the decision tiring him, but now this exhaustion was multiplied by a hundred.

Compassio's gift for emotions and manipulation was stronger than it had been before. Somewhere by the cabin he must be watching, but King Baselius could not move to warn Lucy or to defend himself. Instead, his feeling of guilt seemed to envelope him entirely.

He sat back on his throne and the sun outside the window seemed to dim. King Baselius felt the familiar bubbling in his heart. In the forest, he had felt the touch of the unicorn and clarity had filled his heart will purpose and vision. Now, an anger and sadness spun about in his heart like a whirlpool, mixing into a void that risked swallowing him whole. Ventri entered, falling to one knee in salute. Despite his large size, he seemed shy and small. King Baselius had always felt it showed the gentlest of his son, but today his heart had no warmth. When had it felt warmth? It seemed so long ago.

"Father," Ventri said timidly. "May I approach?"

Compassio stood at his shoulder and leaned towards his ear.

"He wishes to undermine you by pretending to care," he whispered.

King Baselius felt an anger grow in his heart, as strong now in his cabin as it had been back then.

This boy wished to undermine his authority? As king?

"What do you want," snapped King Baselius.

"You've changed," Ventri said. "Last week you were sure you wanted to give up these duties and live in the forest. Now you produce five proclamations a day, some of them almost cruel to our poorest people. I'm concerned."

"He's not concerned," hissed Compassio in King Baselius' ear. "He's disappointed he isn't on the throne. He wanted your position. He wanted you to leave, even if it was not what you wished."

King Baselius felt the anger and bitterness swell in his heart.

"Abaddon & Arawn," Ventri said timidly, "They say the power of the unicorn was too much and that it has corrupted your heart."

King Baselius turned to Compassio quickly. Compassio met his gaze. "They think your weak," Compassio muttered, though he appeared to nod sympathetically. "They think a mere animal has defeated you."

King Baselius felt the anger turn to hatred.

"No creature can over take me and live," snarled King Baselius. He would destroy any doubt! Let his children tremble in fear at his power!

Ventri looked visibly concerned at this response, but Compassio only smiled.

"Brother," he said to Ventri. "Let's make the arrangements."

"In the name of the Five Sons of Imperium," Ventri said with a bow, "I will do as you please."

Lucy rushed towards him with no way of knowing any of the troubles swirling about in Baselius' mind. The hatred was growing in Baselius' heart, he could feel it enveloping him with every passing second. The longer he was under Compassio's power, the harder it was to break. Lucy pulled him against her as she looked about the cabin. Something was wrong. She heard a sob from the old man and looked down at him again to find tears streaming down his face, which was contorted into a pained expression, then an angry, and finally a face of sadness again.

Who has found him? She wondered, What do they want? Her eyes widened in fear. Is it the same people who orchestrated the kidnapping and killed one of the kidnappers? She felt the cabin grow chilly, though no breeze blew through the window. "Wait here," she told Baselius. "I'll fix this!"

Taking Loke's key from her chain, she called to the sky, "Open gate of the Lion, Loke!"

Loke appeared next to her, glancing around the cabin, then to the old man, then to Lucy.

"What's happening," he asked.

"That's what we need to figure out," Lucy explained. She touched the key to her chest and in another flash of light she was in her Leo star dress- an elegant, frilled, black ball gown with a slit up her left leg and a gold sash around her hips. The accompanying sleeves of the dress were detached, sitting on Lucy's upper arm and falling to her forearm, where they flared outward. The Leo zodiac sign appeared upon her right breast.

"I never get tired of seeing you with my sign," Loke admitted, flashing Lucy with a wink.

"Focus," Lucy demanded, though a slight blush touched her cheeks despite herself.

"A pretty dress won't help you."

They turned to see a well built man standing in the door way, wearing a (more wrinkled than usual) dark blue military uniform. On his face was a massive mustache to match. He smirked at Lucy's surprised expression and added,"besides, the King can't hear you right now. He's lost in his own heart."

Lucy shot a look at Baselius again. His brows were furrowed, a look of disgusted pulled across his face. The kind old man seemed lost.

"What are you-" Lucy began, but she stopped as Loke charged the man, attempting Regulus Impact. Light gathered on his right fist and he began to move it towards the man's face, but Compassio turned his eyes to Loke. The lion head shaped light disappeared into nothingness.

"Loke," Lucy asked. He didn't respond. She tried again. "Loke?"

He pulled in a ragged breath.

"No," Loke commanded as Lucy moved to approach him. "No, stay back!"

She froze in her place, eyes moving from the mustached man, to Loke, to Baselius, and back again.

"What are you doing to my friend," Lucy demanded. "Stop it or I'll make you stop!"

"My father didn't tell you about us," the man observed. "Foolish man- foolish king. He's left you defenseless to my powers."

Loke was trembling in a way Lucy had not seen since she had asked the Celestial King to let Loke back into the Celestial World.

"Karen," Loke said in a tone of pain. "I killed you! I'm sorry!"

"Karen? Loke, snap out of it!" Lucy took a step to approach him, but before she could he disappeared from the scene, his gate closed.

"The heart is a funny thing," the man observed. "It scars like any muscle or tissue and those scars remember every wound- every betrayal, every moment of guilt. But the scars always seem so fresh and easy to reopen for me. Maybe that's why they named me Compassio- for feelings."

Lucy moved back to Baselius, watching as his face continued to darken.

"Baselius," Lucy called. "Baselius don't fall into whatever he's doing to you!"

For a moment, Baselius' face returned to its original kind expression, but it passed and he moved his hand, bringing it across Lucy's face with such force that she stumbled back.

"Don't touch a king," hissed Baselius, standing and glowering over Lucy.

Lucy looked back at Compassio. He was manipulating Baselius just as he'd manipulated Loke. He'd made Loke remember the heartbreak of his guilt over Karen's death. Well, Loke might be gone, but she still had some of his powers.

"I won't let you play with their hearts," Lucy said. She rushed towards him with her enhanced speed, catching Compassio off guard when her kick met his temple. He staggered out of the doorway into the light outside. She followed after, hitting him again, in time int he shoulder, with her regulus kick.

"Bitch," Compassio snarled, wiping a bit of blood. He glanced at King Baselius still within the cabin. Though his expression was not as angry and hateful anymore, his eyes were still blank, caught in his own emotions and memories. His view was blocked when Lucy appeared in the door way, fists up as if ready to fight hand to hand.

"Why not be a good girl and let us deal with court business," Compassio said. "If you'll attract the unicorn, there won't be any reason for you to be hurt."

"You hurt my friends," Lucy told him. "I won't let you hurt anything else!"

"Fine," he said, standing and cracking his neck. "It'll be a pleasure to destroy you before I get rid of that blasted creature. It might even attract it faster."

"I'm tougher than that," Lucy assured him, rushing forward. Now that they were outside she could summon Scorpio or Sagittarius without fear of destroying the mans cabin. She pulled out Scorpios key and began the motion to open the gate, but her voice caught in her throat. Something is wrong, she thought. A cold shiver ran through her, starting from her heart and moving across her spins until it felt as if every nerve had been touched. What is this?

"I sense so much tragedy in your heart," Compassio smiled. "It's not good to keep that bottled up, let's take a closer look, shall we?"

...

"Natsu," Wendy said timidly. "I'm sure Lucy will be okay."

Natsu glanced at his friend, noticing her concern. He must have been quiet for too long. He glanced at Happy to confirm. The exceed also looked more worried than usual.

"I know, Wendy," he said, breaking into a toothy grin. "I just want to get there as soon as possible to make sure. What's this Compassio guy like anyway?"

"Horrible," Carla replied before Wendy could. Wendy looked quickly from Carla to Natsu, who's face grew serious again.

"He uses powers to control emotions," Wendy explained.

"How's that work," Natsu asked, scanning the forest below them closely.

"Well, he finds bad memories and emotions," Wendy said carefully. "He brought up Carla's feeling of guilt when she thought she betrayed us and my feelings of loss when my guild disappeared."

"Oh," Natsu said. Up ahead he saw the trees in the forest thin suddenly, as if some had been chopped down. A bit farther he could see the roof of a cabin with smoke coming from its chimney. "There," Natsu called. "Happy, pick up the pace!"

"Aye sir!"

...

Lucy had dropped to her knees but she couldn't explain how she'd got here, tears were running down her face as they never had before. No, that's not right, she thought. I've cried like this before. And as if to prove it, the memories swept over her like waves, hitting her with increasing force. She could see each moment as if it were right before her, but the sadness felt like more than she'd ever been able to bear.

The first wave was her mother dying. She brought her father a treat for her birthday and he sent her away to the cold loneliness of her room, without friends.

The second wave was her father's death & her feeling of missing out on the time they could have spent. She was standing in front of her parents grave, silently staring and wondering why she couldn't cry. Was she a hateful person? Would Natsu & Happy still be her friend if it turned out she never loved her father? Would anyone bear to know such a monster?

The waves pulled back and like a riptide they seemed to drag her into a darkness so deep she wasn't sure she'd surface again.

Aquarius was standing in front of her, water spirals the only thing to separate Lucy from Zeref's creations. "Destroy the key," commanded Aquarius. "Save your friends!" Lucy held up the key, calling the Celestial King. The key shattered as Aquarius light flared before disappearing, though Lucy could barely hear over the sound of her own call to her departing friend- her oldest friend gone. Her mother's friend- gone.

After the battle with Tartaros, Master Macarov decided to disassemble the guild. Natsu hadn't been at the meeting, but he had just lost Igneel, so Lucy figured it made sense. The loss of Aquarius was fresh in her heart, but she was sure the wizards of Fairy Tail wouldn't leave so easily. Would they? A fear tugged at her mind. She needed to see Natsu and make sure she wasn't crazy. He'd never leave, right? Her apartment was suspicious- she knew he was there waiting somewhere. But he wasn't- it was a note instead. She'd run and run, but he was gone. He left her all alone and then they all did the same.

Now in her memory her loneliness and loss felt more potent. She felt short of breath from the physical pain the memories caused, as if they were tearing her chest cavity open. She inhaled air, noticing it was ragged. All of those times she'd cried and more, but now it felt as if the loneliness and pain would make her heart explode.

I know I've been happy, she thought, holding her hand against her chest, key still grasped in her hand. But when? Where is that happiness now?

"It won't be much longer," Compassio said, eyes scanning the forest line. "The creature will come. It always comes when it feels the pain of others, especially those who have bonded with it. For your sanity's sake, pray its sooner than later."

"No," Lucy put both hands on the ground. She had reverted to her original outfit, magical energy too unfocused to keep her Leo dress. Compassio looked back at her quickly before scoffing.

"No?"

"NO!" Lucy yelled. She wouldn't be beaten by this sadness. She had beaten it before and she would do it now. She would find the light when she had time, but now she needed to stop Compassio. "Open the Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

Nothing happened. If anything, the well of sadness deepened. I'm alone, Lucy thought. No, no I'm not! I'm just out of magical energy right now.

But it felt like the loneliness of an empty Heartfilia manor- of a key ring without Aquarius-of an empty Magnolia.

"It's too late any way," Compassio growled and he moved forward. Lucy turned her head to see a creature in the woods- the unicorn. It was standing at the edge of the forest, one leg stepping out of the shadow as if to approach Lucy. It was watching Lucy so intently, it didn't seem to notice Compassio reaching for his dagger.

No, Lucy thought. She pushed herself up shakily. No! She pushed herself into motion, leaning forward. She wouldn't let him win. Even without her magic, she'd stop him. Baselius appeared in the cabin door. His eyes widened seeing Compassio poised for a throw. Above them, Natsu had spotted the cabin and figures.

"Drop me Happy," Natsu commanded. Happy complied, circling back to make sure Erza, Gray, Carla,. and Wendy knew where the battle was.

Lucy and Baselius lunged forward. Three figures moving towards the frozen creature whose eyes moved from Lucy to Compassio.

The dagger met flesh with a sickening sound which was partnered with a cry of pain.

The unicorn stood unharmed.

Thanks so much for reading & don't forget to review! Thanks so much to Ushindeshi, Ammany, & Fireshifter!