A/N: Ok folks! I managed to get another chapter up in a fairly short amount of time, way to go me! I do not yet know how long I'll be able to keep this up though, as I officially have two part time jobs now, and will be working 30-40 hour weeks. SO please bare with me. Also! There will be a great deal of talking going on in this chapter, not as much action, BUT it is also a informative chapter! You find some things out about what's been happening and those behind it. Hopefully you'll enjoy and please remember to READ AND REVIEW! IT IS OUR BREAD AND BUTTER TO US WRITERS!

Chapter 13 Annabella

"You really should watch your language you know." Igneel sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Before anything else could be said, Levy said something that had everyone choking on surprised laughter.

"I don't give two shits about his fucking language right now. We have more important things to see to, like getting Lucy and your son back Metalicana. If you're not here with helpful information, or to help find it, then you can go right the fuck back upstairs and stay out of my way." Levy stated, her gaze hard and cold.

The shocked look on Metalicana's face quickly morphed into laughter, as he bent at the waist to grab his knees. "You're definitely my son's mate! Didn't think he'd ever manage that!"

Huffing out an annoyed breath, Levy glared at the dragon turned man who was still laughing loudly. "If you're going to just stand there and laugh, then you can do it upstairs!" She snapped, spinning around to plop down at table once more, already reaching for another book. She didn't have to pay close attention to know that the pile of books on the table and around it had already grown from the others bringing books over.

Not wanting to face her wrath, they had kept working without comment, even though their curiosity had them wanting to talk to the new dragon. It wasn't until they saw said dragon follow to sit down across from Levy in a slump like Gajeels that they paused.

"You're not going to find what you're looking for in any of those books little waif." Metalicana said gruffly, reaching forward to snag book from her hands and slap it closed. He could feel his lips twitch slightly at the glare he received over red rimmed glasses, feeling a twinge of envy and happiness flow through him. While he had never found his mate, he had always hoped Gajeel would, and seeing the blue haired waif glaring at him, gave him some hope that maybe he still would someday. From looks alone, Levy was breathtaking, but adding the attitude, and the brain power? He could see why his son had been so drawn to her. She may be small, but it was obvious that she could hold her own against others.

"And just how would you be so sure of that?" Levy quipped, folding her arms and leaning back, her eyes unwavering as she looked at him.

"Because Metalicana, the others and I already know who's behind this. We thought we had managed to get rid of her a long time ago, but apparently that wasn't the case. We were the ones to lock her away, as she was too powerful at the time for us to outright beat her, and we had honeslty hoped that would the last of her that we saw." Igneel answered, settling down beside the older iron dragon. It didn't take long for the others to join them, gathering around the table to watch them closely. Natsu had settled next to Levy, wrapping his arm around her, knowing that at that moment they would need to draw strength from each other after everything that had happened.

"You know who is behind this? Why the hell are you only NOW mentioning it?" Natsu seethed, his eyes flashing to red with slitted pupils before edging back into his human eyes.

"Because before we only had suspicions, not hard facts. But when we went to try and catch Gajeels trail, we found another smell, one that only we would know. Once we caught that scent though…." Igneel trailed off, his head falling into his hands.

"Once we caught that scent, we realized that there may be more to this than we thought." Metalicana continued gruffly.

"That's enough from the two of you. I trusted and respected your decisions a number of years ago, going on very little information, and faith in your capabilities. But you have left us in the dark for too long. Our nakama have been taken from us, two of them strong mages in their own rights, and mates to other strong wizards. We need answers if we're going to get them back. So stop dancing around the answers, and tell us what we need to know." The masters voice was firm and clear, drawing the attention of everyone as they turned to find him on the stairs leading to the main hall. Surrounded by exceeds with Romeo standing just behind him, some would say he looked a touch odd, but those who knew him, knew that this was a part of his strength.

Romeo was quick to join Wendy, slipping his arms around her from behind as the exceeds managed to climb into laps and onto the table. The tension grew as the silence stretched on, Markarovs gaze never once leaving that of Igneels. The indecision, worry, and plain stubbornness could be seen clearly, and it was unclear as to who would bend first.

The sharp jab to his ribs had Igneel breaking the staring contest first as he glanced over to Metalican who met his gaze, his mouth set in a firm line, before nodding once. Groaning, Igneel let his head fall to the table with a hollow thud, waving a hand at the other dragon. Lifting his gaze to those around him, Metalicana took a deep breath before beginning.

"Her name was Annabella. We didn't know her last name. We didn't know where she came from. When we met her, we were not as….cautious about things as we are now. She had stumbled upon our caves where we had made our nest, living together fairly peacefully. Well, about as peacefully as can be expected since it was the seven of us. When she came to our caves, she was dirty, clothes torn, stank of piss, shit, blood, and mud. Your typical lost creature. We took her in, blind to her actual intentions. This was before we took any of you in, raising you as our own. Each of you were children, still fairly innocent, if not wary of those around you. She on the other hand, was not a child. She was almost full grown, and had already been corrupted in a way that known of us had expected." Metalicana explained.

"Just as we had found and raised each of you, she had been found and raised as well. Only, she was found by someone who sought to use her magic to their advantage." Igneel cut in, his voice muffled by the table. "In doing this, they led her to their way of thinking, which is the complete opposite of ours. Promises were made to her that she would get once she completed her tasks….however, that hasn't happened as of yet, and we had thought we'd managed to stop her, but she's back. We don't know how, but she is."

"What did she do that made you see her differently?" Wendy asked quietly, taking comfort in the warmth of Romeo wrapped around her, fighting off the chill that was threatening to creep along her skin.

"As you are all aware, all magic has the potential of being seen as good, bad, or in between. Fire, for example, can be seen as bad as it can be highly destructive. It can also be seen as good as it can provide warmth, and save lives by fighting off the cold, or cauterizing a possibly fatal wound. Air or wind, while healing, and providing us with the oxygen we need to survive, can also be lethal when used with ill intent. All magic has a middle ground between good and bad, however, the intent of the mage determines how far on either side the magic falls. Annabella is a blood and soul mage. She could do a lot of good with her blood magic by healing illnesses, or being able to manipulate blood to replenish faster when needed." Igneel explained, lifting his head and shifting to sit more upright.

"Also as a soul mage, she can help ease sorrow, boost happiness, or in the event of danger, take control of souls and the bodies that house them and move them to a safe location." Metalicana added.

"So almost like seith magic?" Bickslow asked quietly from his place beside Freed. For once he was keeping quiet, and his tongue was no where to be seen. "Wait, does this mean she's a dragon slayer if she was with you guys for a time?"

"Very similar actually." Metalicana agreed. "And no, technically she is not a dragon slayer. She wants to be one though. Her goals will actually push her past that point if she succeeds. Her magic was corrupted, and she was taught only the darkest of ways of using her magic. From controlling a persons soul, making them walk straight into their deaths, or even swallowing their souls, and using a persons blood as a way to control, and absorb some of their power, she was able to fool us because she could see what to do to win us over by looking at the kind of souls we have."

"What did she do?" Natsu asked, fighting the sense of dread that was making his stomach churn.

"After a while she managed to get into our good graces, and we let our guard down around her. She used this to her own advantage and began urging us to teach her the way of dragons, even convincing us to let her ingest a single drop of blood from each of us. Thankfully this is not enough to turn her into a full dragon or slayer. It did however, boost her powers exponentially, and she started trying to control us by the blood bond we now had, and by trying to manipulate our souls to do her bidding. As she did this, we felt…detached in a way. We could see everything she was doing, causing us to attack eachother with the intent to hurt or kill one another. But we could not fight her. This went on for a while, and we're still not entirely sure how, but we managed to break free of her control and restrain her, locking her deep in the mountain that we once called home." Anger seethed from Metalicana in a thick wave, and had many leaning back from him, hoping that he would manage to not lose control.

"We left immediately after to get as far from her as possible, and even decided on splitting up for however long it took. Then we found you runts, and seeing that while you were wary, and cautious of the world around you, each of you had great potential. And there was a chance that you could defeat Annabella should she ever manage to get free. We had honestly hoped that none of you would have to face this. But because she does not have your blood, or your souls, you have a better chance of beating her for good." Igneel explained, placing a firm hand on Metalicana's shoulder in hopes to calm him.

"But they have Lucy and Gajeel now…. And she's likely to have already taken his blood, and control his soul." Levy whispered, gulping back the hard lump that clogged her throat as tears once more burned at her eyes.

"I know Levy, and for that I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for this happening, but I'm sure we will get them back." Igneel soothed, reaching out to clasp her hand firmly.

"And you won't be alone to get him back Levy." Pantherlily spoke up from the short stack of books he had perched on. The exceeds had been silent this entire time, taking in the information, starting to understand why they had been brought to their partners before it was time. "You know I would do anything to help him, and you. And the exceeds will help in any way possible."

Smiling weakly, Levy reached up to scratch Lily between his ears, her smile growing at the slight blush that darkened his cheeks. Feeling a slight weight settle onto her lap, she looked down to find the grey and black exceed, Lynn, sitting in her lap and looking up at her. "Don't worry Levy, everything will turn out for the better someway. We just have to work together." Lynn said with a smile, nuzzling deeper into the warmth of Levy's stomach.

"That is something that still puzzles me greatly." Markarov finally spoke up, looking at the exceeds sprawled out over the table and some laps. He noticed that at some point Happy had once more climbed on Natsus' head and the mocha striped exceed, Clarity if he remembered correctly, had once more draped herself over Natsus' right arm.

"What's that Gramps?" Jolting a bit in surprise, Markarov turned, remembering that Laxus had been down here before him, having gotten back with the other slayers. He eyed his grandson with the tan exceed perched on his shoulder and knew that that was a sight he wasn't likely to forget any time soon. He could also see that while Laxus may have been scowling, there was definitely a hint of…pleasure?...as he looked at the exceed from the corner of his eye. Deciding to leave that alone for the time being, Markarov turned back to the group at large.

"What are all of these exceeds doing here? As far as I understood, only slayers seemed to be paired with them, and yet, we have an over abundance of them, and all at once!" He claimed, his hand sweeping out to encase the jumble of bodies and colored fur spread over the table. Seeing movement from the side, he shifted his gaze to find Metalicana smirking, and Igneel rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"Uh…yea…that would partially be my fault." He said with a shrug. "A number of years ago, in my travels, I came across the exceeds. It was during that especially bad winter, and I found that they were nearly freezing to death. Between the winter storms, the winds, and everything else, their village had been all but destroyed. I could tell that they were a kind simple creature, and so I found a large system of caves near their village, and after making sure there was nothing that could hurt them in there, I went back and collected them, taking them to the caves, and with my body heat I was able to warm the place up quickly.

"After that, I encouraged them to set up the caves to be their new home, placed a protective spell on it, and continued on my way. Since that time though, we've kept in touch, with me visiting on occasion. The queen and I became close friends, and I found out after a time that she had the gift of vision. So she kept me updated on the going-ons of my son, and possible futures. All of the slayers are meant to have an exceed partner to help them with flying and other things. The mates of the slayers are as well, as an extra line of defense against possible danger or harm.

"Not that long ago, the queen came to me, scared, with a vision of a future that had felt so real that she knew if steps weren't taken, it would certainly happen. With that knowledge, I knew it was time to come back, and that the others would be soon to follow. I instructed her to gather the needed exceeds, the ones she saw helping in her vision, and to send them here. Which she did. So they're now here and waiting for their partners to arrive." Igneel finished with a huff, licking his slightly dry lips. It had been a VERY long time since he had spoken that much, but he knew that it had needed to be done so that the majority of those involved understood what was happening.

Silence fell over the library as everyone took a few moments to process what had been revealed, and it wasn't until Freed spoke up with a question that made everyone aware of one of the few things they had missed.

"Igneel….Metalicana…you mentioned that this…Annabella?...You mentioned that like your own children she had been found and raised, but only to be used for her magic. Were you ever able to find out who it was? If we know who it was, then it may give us the edge we need to beat her and the threat she imposes on all of us. After all, if you weren't able to defeat her completely, she must be very powerful." Freed asked, his gaze locked on the two dragons, noticing with some surprise how both of then flinched rather violently before paling drastically.

Gulping, and sneering like a rather bad smell had just decided to plant itself into their nostrils, they nodded. "Yea, we know who it was. After the bitch had managed to gain control of us, she loved to brag about how strong she would be thanks to him. I wonder if she thinks he'll still uphold his end of the deal if she manages to complete the tasks he gave her even after all of this time." Metalicana said. It was obvious from the tone of his voice that just the thought of this mag had him fighting the urge to throw up.

"I actually wouldn't put it past her to believe that, or for him to let her continue to think that. If there is one thing that he has down to an art, it's his patience. And I wouldn't be surprised if she does still think he will, seeing as she's just as crazy as he is, if not more so. And I didn't even think that it was possible to be that crazy." Igneel muttered, biting his lip as a sign of the nerves he was trying to hide.

The feeling of a small hand covering the one still holding hers had Igneel coming back to the present enough to see the sadness in the chocolate colored eyes peering into his. Seeing that alone had his heart clutching and all he could do was hope that everything could be fixed.

"Please Igneel….if knowing this means that we could get Lucy, her spirits, and Gajeel back…please….who was it that corrupted that little girl so much." Her voice was quiet, and surprisingly steady, despite the tears that had started escaping her eyes once more. This time though, with how intent she was on him, he was certain she didn't even realize she was crying again.

Gritting his teeth, hating knowing that what he was about to say was sure to shake the groups already crumbling world, he let the name go with a growl, feeling like he wanted to scrape the top of his tongue off repeatedly for even saying it.

"Acnologia."