Disclaimer: I do not own Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail, any work professionally associated with it, nor any references. All original plots and characters are mine.

In a land far, far away lies the kingdom of Fiore, a small, peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with Magic found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most, Magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, Magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born. A guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. Its name...is Fairy Tail.

LAST TIME, on Fairy Adventure, we got to meet the entire Strauss-Dreyar family and aren't they chaotic? For starters, we have twins Pearson and Pacer who seem to be the pranksters of the family. Then, we have Esme Strauss and with her, she always comes with good surprises, including her girlfriend Ye-Ji! Evie and Ezra seem to be the cooler members of the family, but I don't think anyone expected Veronika to come home after years away. And she brought a man with her! Peter and Spencer—I mean, Captain Lates got the full force of the Strauss Clan on them and get to meet the last, but certainly not least relatives, Nik Dreyar—Mary Jane, Lance, and Veronika's older brother. With the gang all here, it's time to kick back and have some fun! But maybe not too much fun…

'Thank you. Thank you for bringing them

home.'

What I would love to be in such a chaotic family like this! Um, Mary Jane, Peter—make sure you guys are being careful…

Chibi-Nashi appears. "Hi, everyone! This episode will speak about sensitive subjects some audience members may feel uncomfortable with such psychological disorders, rape, and sexual assault and will have strong language and implications! While this episode does affect episodes to come, we won't force you to read it! Please only read if you are comfortable!" She gives a thumbs-up. "That's all! Thanks!"

Dazzler might have only had one iced latte in her system and was nursing another, but even she felt more awake than how Nashi looked. The two were in the Lacrima Car together for travel. Taking the train would have been an option if it was not for the suitcases they had to bring along with them and other bags. Dazzler had taken the helm and put on a soft orchestra channel, but she kept glancing over at Nashi.

Nashi leaned her head against the window, tucked into herself, and had one of Gary's sweatshirts on. Býleistr was laying down in the backseat as a Mallow Coon as he feigned sleep, but his eyes would open to make sure Nashi was safe.

Nashi's Compact lit up and she looked to see an email had come in for a law firm. She expanded it to see the message.

⌜KYLER WILSON

To: Nashi Dragneel

WITNESS AND LODGING CONFIRMATION

Miss Dragneel:

We have officially filed the paperwork to count you as a character witness for Case 05 D ILJ 0586 Commonwealth of Bellum v Devil. Please note I have attached a copy of the paperwork to your email for your records.

The Magic Council has agreed to cover all fees in travel and lodging to the District of Ishgar (D.I.). You have been permitted one companion to accompany you to and from the trial. As we have already discussed this, your companion choice has been listed for the flight alongside a conjoined suite to yours and access to the courtroom. Your tickets and lodging information have been submitted via email.

Upon arrival in D.I., we will conduct standard procedure once you have settled. I will call on Sunday at 12PM FCT to ensure you have made it to D.I. and we will go from there.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.

Best regards,

Kyler Wilson

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"Is it about the trial?"

Nashi lifted her head to look at Dazzler. "Yeah." Her throat felt so sore. She reached for her water. "My lawyer was just confirming things for me." She took a few sips of water when nausea rolled when Dazzler hit a bump. She lurched and covered her mouth.

"Here." Býleistr had transformed back to his Hybrid Form to pass Nashi her medication bottle.

"Thanks," Nashi got out as she unscrewed the cap and shook out a pill. She swallowed it and chased it with water.

"We should've stayed home," Býleistr rumbled. "Or I could've jumped us there—"

"We have too much stuff," Nashi reminded as she closed her eyes. "We're jumping home, remember?"

Býleistr growled. "But I don't like you being around all those mortals. I can't protect you."

Dazzler looked at Býleistr through the rearview mirror. "I'll strengthen the wards Honey had put on the event," she soothed. "She'll be protected."

Býleistr snapped, "But I need her in my sights."

I'll be fine, Nashi assured with her mental link drenched in exhaustion. It's just for tonight. And you'll be doing a perimeter check the entire night. I'll be safe.

Býleistr grunted. Check in every fifteen minutes.

I will, Nashi promised. It'll be okay.

But Býleistr was not convinced. Let me know if you get sick or dizzy.

Nashi's lips twitched. My parents get to you already with you babysitting me? A dry sarcasm. A sad truth. First, Luna with Icarus, and now me. She looked down to see the Leo Minor had descended back to his Cat Form and crawled over to her lap, his tail tip flicking in agitation.

The Second Princess is vulnerable, Býleistr countered. She needs to be guarded. Her power is great. The more she grows, the more others will want her. Icarus lays down her life for her regardless of your parents' wishes. The same goes for me. Your parents have asked for me to keep you safe, but I want to protect you either way. He placed a paw on her chest. You are my mistress. And I already failed you. I won't fail again.

Nashi fluttered a hand down his spine and smiled when he arched, purring at her touch like a typical housecat. How many times do I have to tell you that you never failed and I'm lucky to have you?

Whether Býleistr knew he was kneading or not, he did not show it. But he slow blinked at her before launching to rub his cheek with hers. When you're locked in a tower where no one can hurt you? You can tell me then.

Dazzler eyes the Celestial Spirit and the Angel Princess of Fairy Tail. "Doing your telepathic thing, huh?"

"Sorry," Nashi apologized as Býleistr backed down to settle within her arms. "He's just being protective."

"As I should," Býleistr muttered.

Dazzler nodded. "He's right, Nashi. Especially with the trial, you're going to need the extra protection. His condo is a safe place, but I put some extra strengths into the enchantments. If you'd just let me do your hotel room—"

"I'll be fine." Nashi realized she had snapped and apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed, but I shouldn't have snapped—"

"No, I get it," Dazzler rushed to assure. "I understand. You've had it rough and that's an understatement. But whether you like it or not, you're going to need to be protected." She turned into another lane. "You may not consider me a friend, but I consider you mine. I protect my friends. On top of that, you're my best friend's…" She trailed off.

"I'm not anyone." A brittle smile marred Nashi's face. "We're just friends."

"You're my best friend's person," Dazzler emphasized. "And until he gets home and we put this behind us, I'm making sure you're protected."

Nashi sighed. "Yeah, I know." Her eyes drifted to the scenery passing by. "I just hate this. I should've been there instead of him."

"Don't say that." Býleistr's fur rose. "He knew what he was doing." He knew what was at risk if you were imprisoned. He knew you would've been exposed as a half-Demon—

And what about his risks? Nashi shot back. The ire was there, but it cracked with sadness. Now he's being exposed.

As long as he stays in his Devil Form, he's safe, Býleistr reminded.

Nashi wanted to argue, but everything was too much. Everything was so tiring. Whatever, she mumbled as she closed her eyes. Wake me up when we get there. And as she willed herself to a distracting sleep, she pictured those calm ceruleans.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

•

Ima nan janai?

Meramerato tagiru

Kon'na boku ni mo hisomu seigi ga

Dou shiyou mo nai shoudou ni kara rete

Hora kidzukeba te o nigitte iru

•

Ittaizentai

Son'nani nimotsu o

Shoikonde dokoheikuno

Nee nee matte boku ni chotto azukete mite wa?

•

Nana na nana na

Nananana nana na nana na

Nanana nana na nana na

Nananana nana na nana na

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luna fluffed out her hair in the bathroom with Icarus in his Dog Form sitting outside the door. Ena had picked out for her cute pink top to go with her black skirt. She kept it simple with her leggings and platform shoes and a simple beret. Her wooly trench coat was a moderate plaid and matched her beret.

You are getting awfully fancy for a trip to the guild, Icarus commented, suspicious.

Luna did not even flinch. Yeah, I guess so. She felt Icarus' increasing wariness and sighed. "Would you relax? If you weren't my babysitter, maybe I'd clue you in on what was going on."

I won't tell your parents as long as you are going to a safe place where I can protect you, Icarus reasoned.

Luna feigned a smile. Nice try. Happy with her look, she moved past her Celestial Spirit to go to the stairs.

Icarus followed her down the steps with a low tail and a whine. I just want you safe, pup. Why must you be so difficult?

Because I know Papa wants you to spy on me to make sure I'm not with Bleu. Luna turned down the hall to go to the garage. She opened it to go to the brooms that were hung up and picked out Nashi's. The broom accepted her and Luna smiled, pleased with herself. She went to mount it when Icarus took the broom handle into his mouth and growled, trying to wrestle it away.

"Icarus…" Luna warned. The Canis Minor Spirit dropped the broom, but he whined and nudged her. Luna sighed again. "I'll have your key on me at all times. I promise. Just trust me? Please?" She pouted when Icarus was still unconvinced.

Icarus huffed, but he licked her hand and disappeared back to the Celestial Spirit World.

Luna beamed and moved to mount—

"Going somewhere, Blondie?"

Luna tensed and wanted to grind her teeth. But she lifted her head with a fake smile when she saw Gale standing at the garage entrance. "Oh, just to the guild," she told dismissively.

Gale arched an eyebrow. "On Nashi's broom?"

"It's a far walk," Luna defended. "And she said I could use her broom."

Gale tipped his head to the side. "No need. I gotta head to the guild too. I'll walk you."

Crap! Now what am I going to do? I can't go to the guild! Luna offered an unsure smile. "That's okay. I'd just slow you down and all," she reasoned, albeit nervously. "You go on ahead."

"Nah." Gale crossed his arms as he approached her. More like sauntered over with a smirk on his face. "I could use the slow pace. Your dad kicked my ass this morning and I'm still sore." He gestured towards the open garage door. "After you."

Luna swallowed. "Did I say, 'guild'? I meant I'm going to E's house—"

"Really?" Gale pointed to the door. "But didn't she say this morning she and Silver were running errands and they took off an hour ago?"

"H-How did you—?"

Gale tapped his right ear.

Luna ground her teeth. "Well, she wants me to pick up something from her house for her, so there."

"And what would that be?" Gale questioned as he stepped closer.

Luna did not anticipate that question nor his proximity. "Um… H-Her, um…"

Gale's smirk broadened. "Blondie… Are you by any chance…lying?"

"N-N-No!" Luna took a step back and put the broom before her as though to protect herself from Gale's closeness. "I j-just need to check my Com—!"

"You know I can smell you lying, right?"

Luna blinked. "You…can?"

Gale nodded as he loomed over her. "You normally smell sweet, but your lies smell…"—he took a deep inhale of her scent and ruby burned—"sour."

Luna rapidly blinked until she regained her senses and a scowl was on her face. "Okay, fine. I'm going somewhere else. So what? It's none of your business."

"If you claim your old man is making me your babysitter, doesn't that make it my business?" Gale smartly quipped and enjoyed seeing how red Luma was getting. "Where ya off to, principessa?"

"I am not your princess," Luna sneered, "and babysitter or not, I don't have to tell you anything." She shouldered past him.

"You're right," Gale called. "Rebellious kids don't tell their babysitter where they're going. Which means, per my job, I should just follow you."

Luna whipped around. "Don't you—!" She ate her next words when Gale cupped her chin with just a few fingers.

"Don't I what?" Gale questioned, teasing.

Luna's eyebrows slammed together as she moved from his hold. "Go stalk someone else," she snapped. "Or eat a tree or something. Shouldn't you be kissing my papa's ass and training like the loyal lapdog you are?"

"Ooo, sick burn." Gale watched as Luna mounted the broom and he whipped out a hand for vines to extend from his palm and wrap around her broom and ground her. "But the language could use some work."

Luna clenched her jaw. "Let me go, Gale."

"Can't do that till I know where you're headed, Blondie."

Luna groaned. "Why are you doing this to me? Why do you even care? Don't you have the girl you love to annoy instead of me?" She jerked the broom, but the vine's grip was ironclad. "Let go! Ugh, this is so not fair!"

"Life ain't fair." Gale pulled back his hand and the broom came to him.

"Whatever." Luna held her head high as she marched away. "I'll just walk." She was forced to stop when a vine wrapped around her waist.

"And you'll tell me where you're going." Gale jerked his arm back for Luna to scream when she flew back and into his chest. "Sneaking out really isn't your forte, Blondie. Thank your ancestors it was me and not your old man."

Luna glared. "I'd prefer Papa over you."

"I'm sure." Gale let his vines disappear, but he kept a hold on her broom and wrapped a tight grip on her waist with his arm. "But I'm a lot nicer than him."

"I forgot how funny you are." Luna wriggled, but Gale refused to move, only raising an amused eyebrow. She gave up. "Okay, fine, I'm going out to see someone. There. Happy?"

"Not so fast." Gale chuckled when Luna's breathing hitched when he dipped his head to stare into her eyes. "Either you go and you owe me or you stay home. Take your pick."

Luna got over her daze quick with irritation. "It's none of your business—!"

Gale's ears twitched and he dropped his voice into a low purr, "Tick tock, principessa. Your mom's coming over and she'd be very interested to know where you're off to."

Luna was torn between snarling at him and worrying when Lucy's voice called out, "Luke? Is that you?"

Reluctantly, Luna whispered, "Fine. I owe you, okay?"

"Like you had a choice." Gale let her go just in time for Lucy to come around the corner in her snow gear. "Hi, Aunt Lu."

"Oh, Gale, I thought you went home," Lucy figured.

Gale shrugged. "I was when I bumped into Blondie here. She was just telling me how much she can't wait for me to spar with her." He nudged Luna. "Right, Blondie?"

Luna ground her teeth. "Yeah. Sounds like a blast. Can't wait."

Lucy, however, either did not hear the sarcasm or did not care as she perked. "Oh, that's perfect! I'll let your papa know then!"

Luna's eyes widened. "U-Um, Mama, I don't think—"

"He'll be so happy you're taking your training seriously!" Lucy enthused as she hurried to the door. "And Gale's an excellent sparring partner. Even I've fought him a few times."

"Still can't land a hit on you," Gale said in praise. "You're way too agile."

To Luna's disbelief, Lucy giggled like a common schoolgirl and waved an abashed hand. "Oh, stop, it's nothing really. Just flexibility exercises." Her eyes widened. "I just had an idea! Luna can help you with your flexibility!"

"What!" Luna coughed and played a tight smile on her lips to tell her mother, "Mama, I'm sure Gale wouldn't want me to teach him anything. He's so much more advanced than me—"

"That sounds like a great idea, Aunt Lu!"

Luna's eyebrow twitched when Gale wrapped an arm around her shoulder while he beamed at Lucy. "Natsu's great with strength training, but I could use some work in the gymnastics department."

Luna faked a laugh. "That's funny. For a try-hard, know-it-all like you, I'd think you wouldn't need any help from a lowly commoner like me."

"Aww, you're so cute. Thanks for the compliment," Gale cooed. "Even if I am pretty damn smart, couldn't help to pick up and a thing or two from someone else. You were the one who wanted to train seriously. Best way to make sure you know something is to teach it to someone else."

Lucy nodded all scholarly-like and did not seem to notice the way Luna's face had twisted up in ire. "That is true," Lucy agreed with Gale. "Your sister and brothers would do that a lot. Learn something and have to teach it. It helps impress it into your mind."

Luna quickly saw she was being outnumbered and tried to appeal to her mother again, "But Gale's still more advanced than me, right? Shouldn't I spar with someone my level? Or maybe with Aunt Virgo? Or anyone else?"

But Lucy waved that idea away. "That won't be necessary. Gale's already over here five days a week to train with your papa and my Spirits have their own work to do with the trial and everything." She placed a hand on Luna's cheek and brushed back her hair. "This'll be good for you, I promise. Gale's an excellent partner and very constructive and receptive to criticism from what I've seen. And your papa won't be lording over your shoulder the whole time, if you feel nervous."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Luna muttered. "Can't we talk about this—?"

But Lucy was already skipping towards the door as she called for her husband.

Luna gritted her teeth as Gale grinned and boasted, "See? Look at that, Blondie. You get to go out and I get what I want. Everyone wins."

Luna shoved him away and wrenched the broom from his hand. "You're so annoying," she growled. "Why can't you just leave me alone? You seemed perfectly happy walking away from me before."

Regret flashed across Gale's face, but his cocky grin was back. "That was a mistake on my part." He stepped closer and closer until Luna's back hit the garage wall and Gale trapped her between his hands. "Not one I plan on repeating. You're stuck with me, Blondie."

Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "And you're crazy if you think I'm letting you get away with this. Papa would never let me train with a boy alone, genius. I don't care if you're my babysitter. He would never agree to it."

"Oh, ye of little faith. So adorable." Gale booped her nose and snickered when Luna made a move to bite him. "Careful there, Blondie. Didn't you know biting is a Dragon's way of flirting?"

Disgust flattened across Luna's face and she made a move to retort when a ringtone caught her attention. She tried to take out her Compact, but Gale snatched it from her and ignored her outrage cries for him to release it. He saw a text message come in from BLEU CHARMING:

« I'm here. And I brought your favorite snacks for the ride »

"Awww…" Gale mocked-cooed. "Are you and your little prince charming—?"

"Shut up!" Luna jumped to get her Compact back and clutched it close to her chest. "Just leave me alone, okay? You said you'd let me go if I owed you. Keep up your end of the deal." She stomped a little bit away from him to mount the broom.

Gale crossed his arms. "I intend to as long as you keep up yours."

Luna snorted. "Fine. Just don't be mad at me when Papa says, 'no' to your little stunt," she retorted. She poured Magic onto the broom and it wobbled at first, unused to her power. But after a few moments, it stabilized and flew her out of the garage and into the open air.

Gale stepped out of the garage to follow her with his eyes. Sycaña flooded her own amusement through their link as she murmured, I'm surprised you didn't bite back.

I will in time, Gale assured. She's cute when she's angry.

Aye. That she is, Sycaña agreed. Are we following her?

Gale shook his head as he started down the driveway. Nah, not this time at least. I've got some business I need to take care. Besides—his grin broadened—what fun would it be to start the chase now? Let her sweat a little bit. Then—ruby glowed with the intent of Wild—I'll strike.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure 061

•

Pose

•

今シーズンのイベントの時間です！ パスは衝突し、運命は良い方向にも悪い方向にも変化します。

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The hotel was nothing beyond fun, fancy, and freaky. From the nude paintings on the wall to the staff unafraid to wear more sexy attire, the hotel was adult-themed and that was how the guests liked it. Some guests preferred to keep their identity a secret even from staff and stayed in rooms where eyes could not be seen through doors. Some floors were dedicated to the nudist community to have free range. Others were for the more…deviant of desires.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is the Pleasure Palace Hotel, famous for its adult-themed rooms and grandeur events. Performer and Drag Queen Ursula frequently uses the ballroom for their events. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Ellie and Justin had come together and had two concierges loaded up their bags onto the carts. Justin was checking into the hotel sweet when Ellie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Honey in his lashes, full-face, and natural hair beaming at her. "Honey!" She launched herself to hug him.

Honey laughed. "Hey, Elle," he greeted. "Miss Fortune told me you guys had arrived and I wanted to see you."

"It's good to see you too!" Ellie went over to Honey's assistant—a beautiful charcoal woman with curves for days and black lipstick—and gave her a huge. "And hi, Sugar!"

Sugar gave her a one-armed hug with a tablet tucked under her arm and a Blue Bull in the other hand. "Hi, Ellie. Great to see you."

⌜MARGARET TOWN

Name: Sugar

Age: 23

Occupation: Honey's assistant

Likes: pomegranate juice Dislikes: cleaning her cat's ears

Special Note: Sugar graduated two years ago with a degree in business – human resources and is one of Honey's assistants alongside Spice!⌟

Honey seamlessly traded his sequin coffee travel mug for Blue Bull with Sugar. "So, I am dying to meet your date," he decided to say. "Where are they? JJ told me they aren't a frat boy, so we're good on that part."

Ellie giggled. "You'll meet them at dinner," she promised. Her Compact buzzed and she looked at her screen. A smile took over her face. "And I'm meeting them now." She looked over at Justin. "JJ—"

"I'll have them take your bags to mine and Ace's room until you want to get them," Justin promised. "Just make sure you pick them up before Ace gets here because I can't guarantee we'll hear you knock over me moaning his name."

Ellie hit him as he laughed. "Whatever. See you guys later." Giddy, she went over to the elevator and could barely suppress her excitement as she got out the floor number to the person closest to the buttons. Once she got to the floor, she looked back at the text message for the floor number and skimmed the hallway until she found it.

Ellie knocked once, but the door opened before she could knock again. Ines was standing on the other side in a t-shirt and jeans and made Ellie feel severely underdressed in her workout pants and crop top sweatshirt.

"Hi," Ellie chirped.

Ines grinned. "Hi, gorgeous." She pulled Ellie inside the hotel room and shut the door.

Ellie took a moment to look around. Ines had gotten a deluxe sweet furnished with black and red all around and crystal whenever it was appropriate. The living room was a fair size with the flat-screen LV on the fire setting, showcasing a few logs roasting on an open fire and the crackling noise effects adding to the allure. The bedroom was plenty specious. It looked like flower petals had been littered and a bright box with pretty ribbon was on the center and caught Ellie's attention.

"What's this?" Ellie asked.

"One of your holiday gifts."

Ellie shivered when she felt Ines behind her. "One of? I thought you didn't celebrate Christmas?"

"I don't." Ines mouthed a kiss on Ellie's pulse. "But you do. And it's more a gift to me than you."

Ellie closed her eyes with a shaky smile. "Oh? How many gifts do I have?"

"Just three." Ines slid her hands around Ellie's middle and Ellie could feel a smile pressed into her shoulder. "I missed you."

"I've only been away for two days," Ellie playfully reminded.

"And that was two days I didn't get to see the flowers you'd make." Ines rested her chin on Ellie's shoulder and smirked. "Corianders and orange roses, huh? Naughty Daisy."

Ellie giggled and shook off the blossoms. Turning around, she could not help but widen her smile when Ines kissed her forehead. "Shut up. I can't help it."

"It's cute," Ines assured. "I love it. It lets me know what you're feeling." She pulled back with a teasing glint in her eye. "Are we going to have an actually bed of roses this time around?"

Ellie swatted at her when Ines snickered. "I told you I can't control it around you," she pouted.

"And I said it's cute." Ines tucked back Ellie's hair. "Are you ready for tonight?"

That brought Ellie's mood down a little. "I think so. I know my family and friends are supportive and I want them to meet you. I'm just…nervous. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be," Ines soothed. "It's okay to be nervous. I'll be right there with you, Daisy. I'll protect you."

"Protect me, huh? Says the Spiritless to the Mage," Ellie teased.

Ines chortled and lowered her hands to Ellie's rear. "You can protect me from anything magical," she conceded, "but I can protect you from everything else. Just trust me."

"I do trust you," Ellie whispered. "That's the part that scares me."

Ines softened and dipped her head down to sear a loving kiss onto Ellie's lips. "I know," she whispered. "Let me help you relax. I've got you." She pulled away to return Ellie around. "Unwrap your first gift."

Ellie swallowed and nodded. She went forward to grab the box and pull it towards her. Taking off the top, her eyes widened when she saw what was sitting on the holiday tissue.

"Is it too much?" Ines feared.

Ellie slowly shook her head. "No. In fact…"—she looked over her shoulder to grin—"I think I'll wear it now."

Ines grinned back. "Then let me help you with that." She surprised Ellie when she scooped her into her arms to place her on the center of the bed.

Ellie laughed. "I thought I was changing?"

"You are." Ines kissed her jaw. "I'm just helping you strip."

Ellie half-laughed half-moaned when Ines hit a sensitive spot on her neck. "I have to make sure I get my stuff from Justin's before his boyfriend comes."

"You will." Ines cocked her head so their lips brushed over one another. "And if not, I'm fine with you wearing your present." Before Ellie could offer a joke back, Ines pressed forward with a heated kiss and Ellie lost herself in it.

°•°•°•°

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK.

Nashi opened her hotel door in nothing but Gary's sweatshirt, but Justin strolled inside. She rolled her eyes and shut the door. "Hi, JJ."

Justin took a look around the room and approved of the decorum. It was a raunchier take on Snow White complete with complimentary apples. "Well, I came to see my sweet girl and see how much I need to do so you don't look sleep deprived." He took a look of Nashi's face and hissed. "Apparently, moisturizer and concealer are about to be your best friends."

Nashi sighed and went to lay back down on the bed and groaned. "Why am I here again?"

Justin sat beside her. "Because you need socialization and a reason to shower and shave." He slapped her butt. "And you are shaving everywhere, missy, and you are going to your sugaring appointment after Christmas."

"Yes, ma'am," Nashi mumbled. "But no one's touching down there anyways."

"But you'll feel much better," Justin promised. "When you look good, you feel good." When Nashi grunted again, Justin slyly added, "And when you do some self-loving, you feel a little better too."

"I am not having a cheap orgasm with my fingers to make myself feel better," Nashi grunted into the comforter.

Justin raised his hands in surrender before toying with her braid. "Just a suggestion," he soothed. "If you're not holding out for him to come back from his trip to whereversville, I'm sure there's plenty of other people—"

"JJ, I'm straight." Nashi lifted her head to make a face. "Sadly." And she plopped back down on the comforter.

Justin tittered. "Well, isn't there that saying everyone's bi?"

Nashi raised her hand. "Not bisexual."

"Not even a little? I mean you can like girls five-percent and guys ninety-five percent and still be bi—"

Nashi turned her head with a dry look at her best friend. "Did you come here to torment me and bully me into letting a woman eating my kitty?" A huff sounded and Nashi looked up to see Býleistr coming out of the bathroom in his Hybrid Form. "Um, no offense, kitty."

Býleistr flicked his tail. "No one is doing that to you," he grunted. "Wolverine would have a fit."

Justin looked Býleistr up and down, thoughtful. "I'm not a furry by any means," he had to straight out, "but if I had a pass for a night, you'd definitely make the cut."

The look on Býleistr's face brought out a genuine laugh from Nashi and she pulled herself up. "What time do I need to be in the lingerie you told me to bring again?"

"Three." Justin bounced off the bed. "Then, it's straight to hair and make-up. Don't worry about the dress. Ena is a goddess and already had your look complete and your clutch." He went to check his hair in the dresser mirror. "You'll be matching me since you don't have…him."

Nashi half-groaned half-chuckled. "Justin, just say his name," she insisted. "He's isn't the Dark Lord or anything like that."

"He better not be because we don't stan J.R. in any sense of the word." When Justin was satisfied with his hair, he whipped around to point a finger at Nashi. "I will not be saying that man's name any time soon." He prowled closer to her and grinned as he overtook Nashi on the bed, pinning her down. "Because I'm pissed at him and won't acknowledge him any further until he's made sure you leave his bed with your name an afterthought."

Nashi pouted, but Justin put a finger to her lips. "Uh-uh. No pouting. That doesn't work on me. I'm serious, Nashi. I can't forgive him right now. I'll refrain from speaking ill about him, but I'm watching you fall apart in front of me and it hurts because I know I can't do anything about it and he can." Anger pulsed in those cross-shaped pupils.

"JJ…" Nashi cradled his jaw. "Thank you for being this loyal, but I promise you Gary's not at fault for me being a complete mess. I don't need a man to make me feel better. I'm a big girl. I've got this."

Justin sighed and rested his forehead on her own. "I know you're strong," he murmured, "but I know how much he adds to your strength. You had such a glow with him, Nashi. It's incredible. I know you don't love him, but the way you look at him…"

"What?" Nashi needed to know this. "What does it look like?"

Justin pulled away to show his pained smile. "Like you care about him so much, you'd murder a bitch."

Nashi swallowed. "I…" She licked her lips, but she said nothing more.

Justin kissed Nashi's forehead before rocking back to his heels and getting off her. "Be in your lingerie by three, young lady, and not a minute later," he forewarned as he made his way to the door. "And Nashi…" He paused with his hand on the door handle. "My advice to you is when he comes home, whenever you feel ready, you should tell him. Maybe the holidays are making me more sentimental, but…"

Those cross-shaped eyes connected with sad hickory. "We're Mages, Nashi; we're not like everyone else. We risk our lives; in other countries, we're being hunted down and sold… You just don't know in our line of work. So tell him how you feel, whatever that may be. Even if it's just a simple 'I care about you', that would be enough." And he slipped away and clicked the door shut.

Nashi turned over onto her side to contemplate Justin's words. She felt a weight on the bed and asked in a near-whisper, "Anything to add?"

Býleistr sighed as he rubbed his neck. "Pretty boy—lady—whatever—he's got a point," he admitted. "I've seen a lot of shit, Princess. I've watched mortals die, planets die, races die… I've done things I can't forgive myself for. But if there's anything I remember from my last lifetime, you can't let all your insecurities hold you back." Something haunted invaded those wild oranges. A nightmare. A memory. "I've been on the war front and saw the ones I fought shoulder to shoulder with fight with me one second and gone the next. I couldn't risk all the luxuries your mortals have now." He looked down at his hands, beaten-down and battle-scarred. "In the chaos, your center point was who you were fighting for, who you were protecting."

Nashi turned to her Celestial Spirit. "Who did you fight for?"

Býleistr's eye shut when he saw those bloodshot eyes invade his mind. "Someone I could never have," he regarded, timbre soft and tainted in sadness.

Nashi did not press further. She sniffed and scooched closer to him and asked instead, "Could you tell me about you and Uncle Loke? What you two were like when you guys were kids? Or, well, protostars, I think?"

A rumble of laughter escaped Býleistr. "How about you get some sleep," he proffered, "and I'll make sure the staff orders you food." He made a face. "Making the Rigil Vow with you helped a lot with all these new mannerisms, but I miss the days I could just scare people into doing my bidding."

Nashi giggled. "God, you must have been such a tyrant back in the day."

"I was." Býleistr looked so proud of that. "Back then, Celestial Spirits were worshipped and coveted. It was so much fun watching mortals get nervous around me. They'd always approach with my meals and the second I snapped at them, they'd go running for the hills." He cackled. "Leo would get all pissy how I wasn't representing our lineage, but he was always such a buzzkill." With a roll of his eyes, he ticked off each trait with a finger. "Always so honorable and noble and gentlemanly. Ugh. It was nauseating."

"Hold on." Nashi sat up. "Uncle Loke wasn't a womanizer when he was younger?"

Býleistr roared with laughter (and possibly scared with neighbors). "Not in a moon's chance!" he guffawed. "Leo? A womanizer? He could barely speak to a woman let alone court one!" He transformed into his Lion Form to lay across the bed. "C'mere. You want the truth of how Leo really was? I'm your lion."

Nashi crawled over and laid her head on Býleistr's side. "So, then, how did Uncle Loke and Aunt Aries happen? I mean he's such a lady-killer and she's so sweet and everything—"

"'Sweet'?" Býleistr shook out his man and lapped the side of his law to start washing his ears. "Princess, the Aries I knew was never sweet. She and her predecessor were had some of the loudest and dirtiest mouths out there in our galaxy and I've visited the Kerberos Nebulae." And so, the Spirit of the Leo Minor told tale upon tale about his fellow Star Spirits to his intrigued mistress.

Luna was bouncing in her seat as Bleu changed lanes. "I can't believe you're taking me to New Azalea City!" she squealed. "My parents would never let me go out this far! Well, they would as long as I brought along their pit-bull. Oh!" She smiled sheepishly when her silver key warmed. "Um, no offense, Icarus."

"I understand their need to protect you," Bleu conceded. "It might be extreme to keep you home like that, but even you told me you weren't that trained in Magic and your parents are well-known. Every hero has an enemy. And an enemy does whatever they came to gain the upper hand on the hero."

Luna shot him a sour look. "You're supposed to be on my side, not theirs," she whined. "And besides, I've gotten stronger."

"You think you could take me down?"

Eyebrows rose. "You want to fight me?"

"I don't know if I should be insulted or amused," Bleu said, tone dry, "but I'm not against it." He got off at his exit. "I wasn't raised defenseless. My father trained me in many techniques to disable powered and non-powered opponents." A well-earned grin. "We could always give it a try. What do you say, Treasure? Want to fight?"

Luna broke into a giggle. "No thank you. We both know you wouldn't be able to land a hit with how cute I am."

"Ah, using my weakness against me," Bleu quipped. "Clever girl."

Luna smothered her giggles and tossed them into a long exhale. "It doesn't matter anyways. Thanks to my papa's butt-kissing pit-bull—" She winced when the key warmed. "I-I mean thanks to my papa's butt-kissing student, I'm stuck sparring and training with him."

"And let me take a wild guess… That student is Gale?"

Luna made an unceremonious harrumph. "He's always over," she grumbled. "He's so annoying. And he even has my mama fooled! She sees him as this do-nothing-wrong goody-goody!" A heavy eye roll. "I'm just grateful we're going to the Yule Cotillion because it will be my one night away from him." She snuck a shy look over to Bleu. "And you'll definitely be there?"

"Yeah." Bleu rubbed his neck with a hand. "It'll just be Luther and myself, though, to represent my father. Luther's on our side, so he won't report anything back to my father. But with your whole family at the cotillion, unless you want me to be formally introduced, I'm not too sure how we can be together. I'm going to be networking like Father wishes."

Luna read the exhaustion littered in Bleu's words and the stress. "We'll find a way," she promised with utmost certainty. "Even if it's us just sneaking out to a balcony, we'll figure something out." Her hand came up to cup her arm. "I'm sorry I'm making this difficult for us. Meeting my parents would make things easier, huh?"

"Maybe, but maybe not." Bleu sat back when his car had hit traffic and they were at an obvious standstill. "I know you're having problems with your dad—"

Luna snorted, disgusted, and shook her head.

Bleu reached a hand over to cover her own. "Treasure, he's just trying to look out for you," he rationalized. "Parents are protective of their kids. Dads are protective of their daughters."

"So they trap them?" Luna questioned, sarcastic. "Maybe Gale's right. I was some princess locked in a tower because of my parents. My mama is all for letting me explore as long as I bring a babysitter. But my papa? Every time I try to tell him something, we just end up in a fight." She concentrated on the shapes Bleu swirled into her palm. "It's not like I want to fight with him," she murmured. Guilt for the harsh words she said and the want to take them back burned in her throat. "He just doesn't understand."

"He doesn't understand how a daughter would think because he focuses on what a father thinks." Bleu smiled a little when Luna frowned. "Step into his shoes. You said your older sister is around, but she's gone more than often. So he's losing one daughter and I'm pretty sure he knows it's because of a guy. But she's an adult. You're still his little girl and I'm some unknown guy to him. He's just worried about you."

A scowl crusted around Luna's face. "But it doesn't give him the right to be so mean to me when we train," she argued. "I take my training seriously, but he gets to mean and uptight about it!"

VRR. VRRRRRRRRRRR.

Luna let go of Bleu to fumble for her Compact. But she scowled when she saw her father was calling. "Speak of the Devil…" What does he want? Gale said he wouldn't tell. Taking a deep breath, she answered the call. "Hi, Papa."

"Hi, baby girl," Natsu greeted pleasantly. "Your mom and Gale just told me the good news! Why didn't you tell me you wanted to train with Gale?"

"Because I don't," Luna retorted. "Papa, he's way beyond my level—!"

"Which is perfect! He's a little too open with some of his attacks, so teaching you will be perfect to teach him how to close himself off!" He could not see it, but Luna's nose scrunched up. "And he's a little stiff, anyways. With you teaching him some of your gymnastics—"

"Why can't Mama teach him that?" Luna blurted.

"You know she's going with Nashi on a trip and she has her own stuff for Master to do," Natsu patiently reminded. "And it'll be great for me to catch up training with Luke with Mystogan gone. I'll catch Gale up on your regimen this weekend so you two can start on Monday—"

"What?" Luna tried and failed to control her panic. "You're not going to be there?"

"Why would I be? Gale's a capable guy. I'll check in, maybe, but Luke and I have work to do. If you want, when you come home, we can talk training schedule with Gale since he and Metal Head and Levy are coming over for dinner—"

"O-Oh! Um, sorry, Papa, but I won't be home for dinner," Luna blurted.

Three beats.

"And where are you going to be then?"

Luna winced when she heard something shift in her father's tone. "I, um, just thought E, Silver, and I could get dinner together."

"Oh. Well, just invite them over then."

Luna nervously tittered. "That's okay, Papa. It'd be good for E to get out of the house, right? I was thinking I'd take her to her favorite place tonight, y'know, for some cheering up?"

Another three beats.

"All right…" Natsu slowly agreed. "But I want you and Ena both at home afterward. I don't need to find out you snuck off with him."

Luna wished she could reign in her annoyance, but she could not help it. "So what if I'm with a boy? I'm taking my training seriously. Shouldn't that make you happy?"

"You are still too young," Natsu retorted. "I'm proud of you for taking initiative in your training, but I told you no boys. Nashi is an adult," he cut in without even needing to see Luna was gearing up for a rebuttal. "I don't like it, but she can have a boyfriend and protect herself. You aren't old enough and we've barely scratched the surface with your training."

Hurt fueled Luna's ire. "So you're saying I'm too weak now?"

A growl crackled through the line. "Luna, don't start," Natsu warned. "You and Ena will come home straight after dinner."

Luna growled back, "Then, we'll be home late."

"You still have a curfew—"

"Because you don't trust me and you're punishing me for wanting to live my life!"

A louder growl came through the line. "Because you don't understand the dangers the world has and we know what's best for you."

"How do I not know?" Luna argued. "I've faced De—! I've faced enemies too—!"

"And you got lucky," Natsu snapped. "That's not a skill, Luna, that's a flaw that you're starting to rely on and that's dangerous. I'm trying to teach you to protect yourself so you don't have to wait for dumb luck. I'm trying to protect you."

Luna laughed, the sound ugly rather than bright. "Right, Papa, because your idea of protecting me was imprisoning me at home for years."

"Luna—"

But she was done and hung up with a huff. Still stewing in her frustration, she went to her « Messages » and began texting. "I'm sorry you had to hear that," Luna apologized.

But Bleu was unbothered. "Nothing to apologize for. And it's not my place to judge. Besides, I know a way to make you smile."

"Oh yeah?" Luna snorted. "What?"

"Look up, Treasure."

Luna did so—

—and chocolate widened.

"Oh, wow…!" Luna breathed. "That's New Azalea City?"

Even though they were deadlocked in traffic, the traffic was spewed across a lengthy bridge across a moat of water ferrying boats down its waters. The city itself was full of skyscrapers and towers that could be sleek and reflective to old and stone. One tower stood above them all like a watchman for the city. A Sky Boat passed overhead off to a destination unknown. While it was too far to depict life in New Azalea City, by the traffic, it was easy to see it was a fast-paced and busy environment where every second counted.

Luna realized her starstruck expression was being watched and she blushed. "Sorry. I know it's stupid when I get excited like this over new places—"

"No, no, it's refreshing," Bleu dubbed in assurance. "I can't say I was ever excited when my father took me on his travels. I took it for granted. Seeing you this hyped and appreciative definitely puts things in perspective for me."

Luna winked. "Glad I could humble you, rich boy, she teased. She sent her text message before locking her Compact. "Since you're well-traveled, tell me this. How long is traffic like this?"

"We should be in the city itself in an hour or so," Bleu told her blankly, unaware of the intention behind her words. "I'm sorry it's not sooner, but leaving NAC is easier than coming in with all the traffic. Luther offered to drive us, but… Well…" He scratched his cheek. "I didn't want to come off as pretentious," he said, rueful. "I just—"

"Bleu?"

"Yeah?"

"This car has auto pilot, right?"

Bleu tapped the screen on the car to show the autopilot system. "Yeah, it does. Why?"

"Bleu. Look at me."

Bleu turned his head and his bright eyes clashed with chocolate. Revelation donned on him and he grinned. He set the car to autopilot before both unbuckled themselves and Bleu did not hesitate to kiss her the moment he was able. When he pulled back, he groaned, "I should've said screw it and had Luther drive us."

And Luna's giggle was snuffed out with another kiss.

°•°•°•°

The fabric and textile shop was busy this Saturday. It was most with last-minute decorators and those trying to find the missing pieces for their child's costume for a school choir or band concert. The shop was expansive, mind you, but it was not like a typical fabric and textile shop. It carried an entire floor just for any material needed for clothing and required a membership in order for you to even shoo and checkout. A frantic nanny was looking for another tiara for the daughter she watched over. An exhausted father was trying to explain his order of belated holiday cards to the worker at the photo-station. A few band kids had come in to get some festive decoration for their trombones and tuba accordingly.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Bloom into Loom, an exclusive fabric and textile shop popular in western Ishgar, though it originated from Andüsa. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Silver could not hide his boredom as he leaned against the car while Ena was looking at a Vera Wong canary silk duchesse satin and feeling the fabric. He had been labeled her jockey and shouldered her fashion satchel and backpack. "How long is this going to take?" he complained. "You've been touching fabric for an hour, Fernandes."

Ena was unbothered at Silver's loud complaining. "I'm both restocking and about to start my spring line with the mock-ups I have," she reminded. "Normally, I can do this online for restocking, but for some of my designs, I need to feel what I want for them."

Silver huffed. "I could always just leave."

"You could."

Silver waited for a threat, but it did not come. "Really? You'd let me leave just like that?"

"You think I want a whiner following my every move?" Ena questioned woodenly. "I can't even say your help is appreciated. You're an unnecessary liability to my creativity with all your whining and pouting like a child." She flicked her hand. "So shoo, little boy. Go find some puddle to splash in."

Silver ground his teeth. "Don't act all high-and-mighty with me, Fernandes. You're not exactly a barrel of laughs while you just stare at all of this. This isn't an art museum."

"Maybe not to you, but to an actual artist, it is," Ena snapped back. "All these fabrics tell a story to whoever sees the final piece. Red silk creates passion. Royal blue is a more mature tone while violet can be seen as motherly." She looked over at his outfit (simple pants with the cuffs rolled up a little, a Fairy Tail long-sleeve, and a hooded vest). "Take your…simple ensemble, for example," she said. "It's art, barely, but it's art. It tells me…" Her eyes narrowed.

"What?" Silver asked when she was too silent for his liking. "What do my clothes say?"

Ena doctored a smirk. "It says you're a cheap mama's boy who doesn't iron his clothes and you don't understand how to properly wear monochrome." She grabbed the thin of silk duchesse satin and placed it in the cart before walking away.

Silver had to pause to try and understand everything she said and by the time he did, she had moved onto the bonded fabric section to look at a few hemp/silk blends. "I am not a mama's boy," he growled at her.

"Because that was the most concerning thing I listed in all your clothing fails," Ena retorted, sardonic. "No wonder Paige runs away from you from your fashion failures—Oh." She frowned at her own words. "I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

Silver had withdrawn a bit, but in the end, he shrugged. "It's fine," he placated.

A few moments of tense silence passed between them with the pair of them trying to find the words to say.

Silver was the one to find his words first. "Okay, so maybe I'm not as fashionable as you," he supposed. "I'm a guy. What am I supposed to do?"

Ena looked relieved when the tension dropped. "The 'guy' excuse is so two decades ago," she countered. "Male fashion has changed for the better and it's about time you joined it. I've been meaning to give you a makeover."

Silver scrunched his nose. "Not that I would have let you, but why didn't you?"

"Because I couldn't stand your personality."

A dreary aura fell unto Silver. So cruel!

"But now that you are a little more tolerable, I can give you a shove in the right direction," Ena supposed. She held out her hand. "Compact."

Silver retrieved her Compact from the satchel. "You could say, 'please'."

"And you can always leave." Ena took the Compact (Silver ground his teeth again, but he stayed put) and unlocked it. Her brow furrowed when she saw something, but it turned into a full-blown scowl. "Seriously, L?"

Silver grew alert. "What? What's wrong with Lulu?"

"Nothing," Ena grunted. "But she and her dad got into it and she needs me to cover for her. She told her dad she and I were getting dinner since Gale and his parents are coming over to hers for dinner. Dammit, Gale. Stop pissing off my best friend."

Silver grimaced. "Well, they say when a boy likes a girl, he bullies her…"

"He's about to wake up with my scarves tying him down and my rapier at his throat if he keeps pissing off L," Ena growled. "Great. I'll have to figure out dinner."

Silver broached the subject. "Can you go home?"

Ena shook her head. "No. Not now. I promised L I'd go home once she left for the cotillion, but not a day sooner." She chewed on her thumbnail.

"Go to dinner with me."

Ena looked at Silver with a blank stare. "What."

Pink dusted Silver's pale cheeks. "Don't get the wrong idea, okay? This isn't a date or anything and I'm not doing this to be nice to you. It's for Lulu. Nothing more. And, uh…" His pink cheeks darkened. "Maybe you could help me a little with my fashion sense and all that crap."

"Okay."

Silver gawked at Ena as she typed back on her Compact. "S-S-Seriously?!"

"Sure." Ena sent the message and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "It's for L. She convinced her parents to let me have an unlimited stay at her house. This is the least I can do. Dinner with you might be unpleasant, but you've grown on me a little. Like poison ivy."

A tick mark warred on Silver's temple. You're pushing it, Fernandes.

"And besides"—Ena held out her Compact for Silver to take—"it'll be the perfect opportunity for us to find a wardrobe that will have Paige looking at you. After all…"

Those mayan blues widened and sparkled as he took in Ena's smile.

"…even lovesick idiots need to look their best when they're confessing"—her smile widened—"right?"

Silver could not look away even when the pink hit the tips of his ears. Her smile… I rarely see it, but…

Ena turned away from him. "Step to it. We have a lot of shopping to do today." She added in a low mutter, "And I have a lot of work to do on you to make you decent." She paused and turned around to see Silver was just standing there. Raising an eyebrow, she snapped her fingers. "Well? Move it, assistant, we don't have all day." She whirled around. "And since I'm showing my generosity, I expect you to pay for dinner."

That somehow snapped Silver out of his daze as he adjusted the satchel and chased after her. "Hold on a second! I'm not paying for your food!"

"You know L would want you too," Ena tittered. "Stop complaining. I'm giving you free fashion consulting. And keep up."

As Silver argued back and Ena parried each blow he verbally gave, Silver could not help but remember that smile.

Her smile… It's…beautiful…

Tesla squealed as she spun around until she bumped into the railing that displayed the lobby of the hotel. More and more guests had arrived for Honey's event with bags upon bags, assistants making arrangements, and other guests who would be less involved with the event off to check out the two restaurants, the immersive game room, or the pools the hotel had to offer. Tesla was entranced when she saw a beautiful goth ribbing her assumed girlfriend who hugged her from behind and whispered things that made the goth woman purr.

"Wow…! When you told me Justin and Honey were doing this event, I didn't imagine it'd be so big…!" She felt Jaxton's arms slip around her waist and gently pull her away from the rail.

"Stop giving me a heart attack," Jaxton muttered. "My Magic can do a lot of things, but it can't help you if you fall."

Tesla waved a hand at that. "Oh, hush, you worrier, I'm just super excited!" She would have skipped around if Jaxton did not have such a grip on her. "When you told me you wanted to take me somewhere for a distraction, you didn't tell me this!"

Jaxton shrugged, but he could not fight his smile. "My guildmate Justin had invited me to this months ago," he revealed. "I had RSVP'd and booked a suite, but with your work and mine, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to make it." He smoothened his hands up and down her sides. "But with all the stress you've been going through, I thought with you having time off from work, you might like coming here instead of staying home in pajamas and watching awful J-Dramas."

Tesla poked his chest. "Stop being jealous of my Yong-wook. He's a hot as Hell Grim Reaper, yes, but"—she flattened a hand on Jaxton's chest when he tried to kiss her—"you make a sexier Grim Reaper any day of the week." Locking her hands behind his neck, she said, "And even if we stayed back at my place or yours to watch J-Dramas, my weekend would've been fine either way. And you know why?" She shivered when Jaxton lowered his head so their lips brushed.

"Why?" he whispered.

A coy smile. "Because at either place, there's an open bar—Mmmph!" She abruptly pulled away laughing. "Okay, okay, because you'd be there!" She rolled her eyes at his smug smile. "You know, for a bishōnen, you're so possessive." She, then, pouted. "Ugh, but that makes you even better, doesn't it? The stoic Z-Drama male lead possessive of the female protagonist? Dammit, Jax, you're literally what every girl is craving for!" She jabbed a finger at his chest. "Stop being so…you!"

Jaxton's lips twitched. "I'll get right on that." He kissed her brow.

Tesla turned away from him in playful agitation. "Whatever, smartass. I want to go to the bar. Can we go to the bar?" She widened her eyes and pouted even further when Jaxton frowned and she read disapproval all over his face. "C'mon, Daddy, please…? I'll be good and drink only two cocktails!" With Jaxton still unconvinced, Tesla wanted to curse until an idea came to her. Arching her eyebrow, she gave a salacious lick of her lips and reveled how Jaxton followed the movement. "You know…" she began to purr, pulling him close to her, "the more I drink and loosen up, the better mood I'm in for…" She crooked her finger.

Jaxton leaned down. As she whispered in his ear, his eyes widened for a moment before hardening when he pulled back. "Do you mean that?" he demanded in a low grunt.

Tesla trailed a finger up Jaxton's chest. "Yes," she hissed softly. "Every word."

"Two drinks," Jaxton confirmed to the condition. "Only two."

"Of course." Tesla watched as Jaxton tensed when her finger swirled around his pulse on his neck. "I could never disobey a command from you."

Jaxton caught her finger before it could stray more, but Tesla softened when he placed a sweet kiss on her finger, even if that sweetness was singed away from the heat in those dark eyes of his. "Good girl." He placed a kiss on her palm and wrist and smiled when she girlishly giggled. "Come. We'll get you your two cocktails. Stay close to me. I don't want to lose you." Warning glared in his dark eyes when Tesla looked like she wanted to defy him and to placate him, she locked her hand with his and nestled into his side.

The hotel bar has two different sections. For those who wanted to drink with a normal sense of conversation and nothing more, the bar was developed into a sleek night scene with dim lights, cushy velvet seats, and stools surrounding the squared bars. Already, guests from far and wide were filling the section and looked relatively dressed down and not at all out of place. The other section of the bar contained paid entertainment. The waiters and waitresses had their choice of scanty outfit as long as the most important parts of them were covered and were allotted more flirtatious time with the guests who stepped in their section. A pole was designated in the middle with a stage, but it was unused at this time.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is 30° North, one of the top-rated hotel bars in Fiore. At night, the more club-section of the bar opens itself up to exotic dancers for a cover fee unless a guest has asked for a deluxe package for their stay. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Jaxton steered Tesla towards the bar counter on the more dressed-down section of the bar. Two seats had opened up, and he seated Tesla before himself when his Compact rang. His jaw clenched as he murmured to Tesla, "I have to take this. Will you be all right on your own?" His eyes narrowed when he saw two young men eyeing a perky Tesla.

"I'll be fine." Tesla grabbed his collar and surprised him with a sweet kiss. "There. Now everyone should know my black ass belongs to you."

Jaxton was still unhappy. "I don't like leaving you alone."

"And I don't like how women are staring at you and hoping I'm just a phase." Tesla smoothened out Jaxton's shirt and offered him an easy smile. "It's just a Com-call. I'll stay right here and order you a—"

"Water."

Tesla pouted. "But—"

"No." Jaxton put his Compact on the counter to trap Tesla between his arms. "When you drink, I don't. That's how it is. And besides"—he kissed her cheek then the corner of her lips—"I'm not the one who needs the drink for tonight." He smirked when Tesla's inhale stuttered when he kissed her bottom lip. Pulling away, satisfaction relaxed him at the way Tesla's chest heaved and her eyes had darkened considerably and could not stray from his own. "I'll be right back," he promised. "Order your first drink. If I'm not back by the time you finish, get your second drink to go. Don't drink it until I get back."

"Bossy," Tesla grumbled. "I hate that I love it."

Jaxton glanced around. "There's enough reflection in here that I could—"

"I'm good." Tesla grabbed his Compact for him and handed it to her boyfriend. "Go take your call and save the world or something, I don't know. Leave me here all alone and vulnerable with people thinkin' I'm a fine as Hell chocolate treat for them."

Jaxton tensed and made a move for her, but he restrained herself when he saw Tesla sink her upper teeth into her lower lip. "You know the rules," he reminded, voice gravelly. "You know the punishments. I'll be back." He answered the Compact and hurried off with one final warning look at his girlfriend.

Tesla propped her elbow and placed her chin on her hand as she scanned the menu of drinks. As she looked over the cocktails, she did not even notice someone had approached the bar and stood next to her when she muttered, "Damn you. Now I'm going to be thinking about how much I want to break your rules so I can be punished."

"Ex-Excuse me?"

Tesla blinked and looked up into weirded out hickory eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Just cursing out my boyfriend," she explained, even if that was still hardly an explanation.

Those hickory eyes squinted. "Hold on a second… Are you Tesla? Jaxton's Tesla?"

Tesla shifted backwards, wary. "Who wants to know?"

"It's me." Hands came up to drop the hoodie and revealed cherry blossom pink hair. "Nashi Dragneel? You might not recognize me, but we met—"

"In the back of a club when I was hiding from Jax!" Both girls shared a laugh and a quick hug at that. Tesla added, "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!"

Nashi dismissed the apology. "Don't be. I look like a certified mess."

"A little, yeah, but a certified cute mess," Tesla laughed with Nashi doing the same. "What's going on? When I met you, you were hiding from that Gary guy, right? Your boyfriend?" When she saw the glint die on Nashi's eyes, she scrambled to rectify, "Ex-boyfriend? Ex-baby daddy? Oh, god, I'm so sorry! This is why Jaxton never wants me around his friends. I look fine as Hell, but I'm a dumb bitch."

Nashi sniffled and giggled at the same time. "No, no, you are not a dumb bitch," she assured. "Gary isn't my…anything, right now. It's, um…" She looked down at her feet. "It's complicated."

"Well, I just happen to love complicated. Sit and spill the tea." Tesla beamed when Nashi took her offer. "Believe me when I say I understand complicated. You think me dating Jaxton is a walk in the park?" She scoffed. "You wouldn't believe how many people disapprove of interracial relationships. I have white people saying our kids will be an abomination. Kids, Nashi. Our kids." She simpered. "Little did they know, we're going childfree because I'm not made to do the whole nine-month to seventeen years thing, but the audacity."

Nashi winced. "I can't even imagine."

Tesla waved her hand to flag down a bartender, a shaggy man with hair that covered his eyes, but a lip ring that spelled trouble. "What can I get you, ladies?" he asked over the roar of the incoming crowd, a lilt to his words.

"Oh my god, that accent is to die for," Tesla tittered. She pointed at the menu and did not seem to catch the smirk the bartender had at her flattery. "I'll have a Beachy Preachy Peachy to start and my friend here will have a banana rum colada." She brought out a credit card and Nashi tried to decline, but Tesla warranted her a look and handed over the credit card. "Don't worry. It's Jax's card." She offered a flirty smile when she got the card back and murmured a thanks in Sinnish. "He's so old-fashioned. I swear no one makes a man like him anymore. He lets me pay for things, don't get me wrong. I spoil my sugar daddy fair and square. But he's just one of those not-chauvinistic provider-type men."

Nashi bobbed her head. "He's a good guy." Her brow furrowed. "He doesn't talk much, but he's a strong Mage. Last time I checked, he made it through the ranks, but he denied an offer to go to the S-Class trials."

"Yeah, he told me about that," Tesla claimed. "He told me he wasn't looking to be an S-Class Mage, but girl, the money." She exaggerated a groan as she slapped the counter reputedly. "The money, Nashi, I could've been a sugar baby!"

Nashi snickered. "Agreed. You'd make a cute sugar baby, too." She and Tesla both thanked a bartender who came over to give them bread and butter. As Nashi broke off some bread, she questioned, "Can I ask why you were hiding from Jax when we met?" She gestured to the butter.

Tesla waved a hand, and Nashi took a swipe of butter for her bread. "I might've gone a little psychotic," she admitted, a tad sheepish. "Nothing like worrisome with knives or voodoo or anything like that. My friend's ex-girlfriend sent me something on Jax that I didn't believe. I asked him about it, but we ended up having an argument. So, in a typical irritating uncommunicative fashion, I decided to say screw it, grabbed Cane, and headed to the dance floor."

Nashi's eyes widened, but she could not help her snicker. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Tesla blew out a breath, but she could not help her thrilled smile. "And right on cue, Jaxton caught me, and, like the coward I was, I ran away." She shrugged. "And then you found me all emotional in the bathroom and that's that." A thought occurred to her. "You know, they say a girl finds her best friend in a club bathroom."

"My friend Ellie says that," Nashi chortled. "And I agree. Bathroom conversations are therapeutic."

"Agreed infinitesimally."

"Here you are, ladies." The bartender came back to set their drinks. "You need anything else"—he winked at Tesla—"you let me know, darlin'."

Much to Nashi's surprise, Tesla looked him up and down and grinned. "Believe me…" Her lips came down on her straw as she maintained eye contact with the bartender, almost amused at how he swallowed watching her. Swallow done, she parted her lips from her straw and let her thumb trail over her mouth. "I will"—and she winked back at him—"darlin'." She stirred her drink as the bartender cursed under his breath and was forced his attention to other customers. "I can feel you staring, Nashi."

Nashi was gobsmacked. "I just thought… I mean you and Jax…" She ducked her head and whispered, "Are you guys in an open relationship?"

Tesla barked a laugh. "Oh, god, no, are you kidding? I mean he lets me be my own independent woman and all, but the man gets jealous over me fanning myself over Young Nation let alone anyone I could actually physically touch." To answer Nashi's unspoken follow-up question, she explained, "Jax lets me flirt. And, sure, a threesome toys in my mind. But at the end of the day, we're loyal to each other, ride or die. I love him with all my heart. I just don't have enough love to share with anyone else."

Nashi was mesmerized when the beam on Tesla's face softened into something akin to fondness. An intimate fondness so wistful and full of the good and the bad.

"He adds onto me in the way I need," Tesla murmured, timbre gentle and adoring. "No more overbearing 'you complete me' crap. He didn't want to be that type of guy. He just wanted to add to who I was already. How could I not love someone who offered me that?"

Without Nashi even wanting to, a ring of magenta lit up in her eyes. Auras filled the room. Some sleazy, some aroused, some pleasant, others subdued. But her eyes widened as she saw Tesla's aura. It burned a strong silver within her body. Her aura… It's so open and honest… She doesn't just love him… She adores him and cares about him… And to do so so freely… The souls faded back into the flesh of man and Nashi lost touch with the Magic in her eyes. It felt like she swallowed a pumpkin, so she took a sip of her drink. She mumbled, "Yeah. He sounds like every girl's dream."

Tesla swiveled to Nashi as she took a few more sips of her drink. "So what about you and Gary is complicated? I'm good at helping uncomplicate matters."

Nashi snorted. "You might not be able to do that with me."

"Try me," Tesla challenged.

Nashi played around in her head, but at the end of it all, she decided to open up a little and tell a version of the truth that could sum everything up best. "He's so passionate about everything. He doesn't even show hesitation when it comes to his art or protecting someone. And he has it in his head he's in love with me."

"Okay. And?"

"And…" Nashi sighed. "And I started to believe him."

Tesla hummed as she slurped some more of her drink. "Why the past tense?"

Nashi toyed with her drink. "I don't know. I guess I still do believe me. But it's not exactly easy." She rolled her eyes. "And to top it off, we had sex and that just threw a wrench into everything. I was so good about denying him. I took him from granted and I told myself he didn't love me like he claimed he did. We had sex and even then, I kept convincing myself his feelings were just lust and not love. And by the time I started believing he was telling the truth, he's gone and I'm here and I'm just…" She pulled back her bangs. "I'm so confused. I know I care about him as a friend and a partner, but… What if I don't care about him enough? What if my feelings are just lust, y'know?" She took a big swig of her drink. "Sex just complicates everything."

Tesla smacked her lips experimentally before she said baldly, "No. Your lack of communication complicates everything."

Nashi blinked. "What?"

Tesla set down her drink to place her hands on her crossed legs. "Everyone says sex complicates things, but I don't buy that for a second. And you want to know why?" She plowed on when Nashi offered a hesitant nod, "Because sex is a physical action you can get from everywhere that doesn't need emotional involvement. Want to know what actually complicate things? Communication." She sat back. "I'll be frank to say I was a major slut because Daddy issues. You know, lack of father psychology bullshit makes me seek male approval? I was pretty much bullied at school and guys slept with me in secret because what guy wants to brag he bagged some hood rat girl in foster care?" A hand came up for silence when Nashi looked like she wanted to assure her.

"Anyways," Tesla continued, "I was like everyone else when I had this crush on this guy and we slept together. You know how the story goes. You sleep with your crush and think, 'O-M-G he likes me', but in reality, it was just some sort of sick ploy for him to get off? That happened to me. Long story short, I went on a spiral, ended up in a psych unit, blah, blah, blah, but then I met this in-house therapist. Other things brought me to the ward, by the way, not just a boy, but I brought it up in our session. Now, most therapists pretty much play into your sadness and tiptoe around you to make sure you don't detonate. So I told the woman my sob story and we talked about the boy. She asked me why I thought my crush liked me. And what do you think my answer is?"

"Easy," Nashi answered. "Because you guys had sex."

Tesla nodded. "Right. So, she said, 'Did he ever tell you he liked you? Did you tell him you liked him'? And what do you think I said?"

"You said, 'no'."

"Right. I said, 'no, but…' Well, girl, I didn't even get past the 'but' part of my sentence because this woman looks me dead in the eye and says, 'If you didn't say it and he didn't say it, it's not sex that was the issue. It's the fact you didn't clear the air'."

Nashi felt something in that sentence resonate with her. "Wow."

"I know, right?" Tesla took a healthy sip of her drink. "But she's right. People think sex changes things. But what does it change when you don't talk about it? Couples who get together because they had sex are ones who break-up a lot. Why? Because they both assumed sex meant more and had bad communication on where they stood. You can have a really great couple who had sex first and they work to have great communication together—make no mistake. But that's the thing. You have to communicate. If you don't communicate, you're left in this limbo of 'Does he like me? Does she like me? Does he love me? Well, we fucked, so that means something, right? Dear god, I'm such a psycho'." Her shoulders shook as she and Nashi shared their amusement. "You see what I'm saying, though?"

"I think I do," Nashi admitted, and she meant it. "I guess I just never thought about it that way. I just kept thinking I knew what was best. That his feelings were just infatuation or lust and I'd chalked up my own feelings to that. But he's been so open and honest about his feelings this whole time. I'm the one who hasn't been speaking my mind. I'm just tiptoeing." She groaned and slurped more of her drink. "What does Gary even see in me?"

Tesla giggled. "I don't know, honey. That's something you should ask him." On a more serious note, she added, "Having a conversation and laying everything on the table is much more useful than playing the waiting game. Even if you aren't one-hundred-percent sure of your feelings, it's better to talk them out so you both are on the same page." She looked down at her drink with a funny smile. "When I met Jax, I did just that and, boy, was he both shocked and impressed. He wasn't a talk. I kept my head down. But I was at the library studying and I saw him and I told him he looked like a bishōnen."

Nashi busted out laughing. "You did not!"

"I did." Tesla smirked, smug of her boldness. "He didn't get it at first until I showed him some of my favorite manga series with men like that. He told me he had been coming to the library and hoping I'd notice him." Her smirk broadened. "And I told him if he thought it was cute to play mind games, to find himself a guy because I needed someone who was upfront. No tricks."

Nashi took another sip of her drink. "And? What did he say to that?"

Tesla rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Well, let me see… I packed up my stuff and left the library. He caught me before I could even get down the street and apologized. And in his sexy 'baby girl, come hither' voice asked me if I'd come with him to dinner, wear something casual, and we'd see the new magical girl movie that came out that year. The Rebellion one? And he told me once the movie was finished, he planned to walk me straight to my door and kiss me."

At this point, Nashi's eyebrows rose higher and higher with each sentence. "He said that?"

"He said it better than me, but yeah, he said that," Tesla confirmed with a chortle. "I thought he was joking. You know how guys like to mock us when we ask them to do something and take a five to eleven because they think it's funny? But nope. He was dead serious. So!" She took another swallow of her drink. "Here we are now, loved up and sexed up and happily interracial. And our fairy tale continues." Her eyes lit up. "They should make a Magia movie out of us! A black princess and a Selan prince—could you even?"

Nashi scrunched her nose. "I thought they had a Cinderella movie like that though?"

That hyped Tesla up even more as she slapped the counter. "Oh my god, they did, didn't they? New cosplay idea is totally me as Cinderella and Jang-ta as Prince Charming. We are learning the dance and everything. I'm talking dips and spins and ev-ver-y-thing."

As Nashi and Tesla gleefully added more details to Tesla's idea, Jaxton came up to the duo, agitated. But when he locked eyes with Tesla, his agitation partially melted. "I see you have good company." He smiled at Nashi. "Glad to see you made it, Nashi."

"Glad to be here." Nashi raised her drink. "Your girlfriend here was telling me your guys' love origin story." She cocked her head. "You were that detailed when you asked her out?"

Jaxton saw nothing wrong with it. "She wanted me to be upfront. I did just that and I followed through with every word."

"He did," Tesla whispered loudly. "He even denied me sex because he wanted to take me out on three dates and then…" She peeked up at Jaxton. "What did you say again?"

Jaxton held nothing back. "I said I wanted to take you on three dates so we could properly get to know each other, build a level of trust, and then I would take her to a bedroom of her choosing, strip her naked, and make sure I remembered her taste on my lips." How one could say every word of that sentence with a straight face and a deadpan tone, no one would know.

Nashi was certainly stunned with her jaw almost at the floor. "Oh my god." Her eyes bounced to Tesla who nodded. "I-I-I don't think I can be that straightforward."

"Oh, honey, it's easy. Watch." Tesla set down her streak, pulled down her hand across her face to gather focus, and looked up at her boyfriend with a love-drunk grin. "Jang-ta, I'm going to get my second drink to go, but once I do, I want us to go back in our room, I want to tie your hands and tease you until you can't take it anymore."

Jaxton narrowed his eyes. "Yīnwèi Nàxī zài zhèlǐ, wǒ yúnxǔ nǐ zhèyàng duì wǒ shuō," he said lowly as he braced his arms on the counter and trapped her. "Dàn yì huídào fángjiān, nǐ jiù yāo shù nǐ de pìgǔ le nǐ juéde nǐ gāi dédào duōshǎo, baby girl?"

Nashi blinked rapidly. "What did he say?"

Tesla laughed and slapped Jaxton's chest, but her laughter puttered out when Jaxton dipped down to whisper in her ear. "Many things that promise me many things," she breathed. Something Jaxton struck made her visibly shiver and she pulled away from him and panted, "Lo siento, Papisongo, dame un poco de compasión. Todavía tengo que bailar—"

"Si digo que voy bailar," Jaxton growled, "tú bailas. Si te digo que abras tus piernas para que puedo amar tu coño, lo harás."

"What is going on?" Nashi whispered.

Tesla cleared her throat and tore her stare from Jaxton's (and she shuddered when Jaxton murmured something low for anyone to hear) and gave Nashi a shaky smile. Jaxton took to flagging down a bartender. "As you may or may not know, Jax and I are a bit of linguist freaks? Like Gale. Gale's pretty much the only person who can keep up with us. Y'know, Jax speaks Zhōnguánese, I speak Sinnish, and we speak other languages. Well, um, we like to foreplay a lot in public, so we use our multilingual skills whenever we can."

"What did he say?" Nashi wanted to know.

Tesla lifted a brow. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Nashi nodded, then she looked at Jaxton who smirked at her, and then she swallowed. "You know what? Never mind." She toyed with her drink. "So talking works, huh?"

"One-hundred-percent," Tesla chirped. "But not just talking. You have to be honest every step of the way and have an understanding that if words come out wrong or something, you give the other person a chance to gather themselves and further explain." She grimaced. "After that moment with Cane, you bet your ass I don't ever try to pull that 'I'm going to go psycho because lack of communication' BS ever again." She flashed Jaxton a tentative smile.

Jaxton was unimpressed. "I'm not changing my mind."

Tesla's face broke into a scowl and she defiantly got off the stool. She shifted to move, but a look from Jaxton had her rethinking it. Instead, she huffed and turned her back on Jaxton who looked very unhappy by that. "I promise you, Nashi, it will work," she insisted. "Good communication works. Honesty. Openness. Hold nothing back and give the other a chance to explain when they fumble their words." She patted Nashi's hand. "And who knows? You might end up like Jax and I, pissing off parents when we go to MagiaLand because I'm a huge child and we have no plans for children." She melted into Jaxton's embrace when he wrapped an arm around her waist, her drink alongside another were poured into cups and sat in a carrier.

Jaxton kissed her temple. "Not a chance, baby girl."

Tesla growled. "Nashi, get my number from Jax. Text me if you need anything." She served Jax a glare before she stormed off.

Nashi, wide-eyed, watched Tesla leave. "Um… What just happened?"

"Just a game," Jaxton dismissed as those dark eyes watched Tesla move through the throng of people and dash out of the bar. "She's a sore loser."

Nashi slowly nodded along. "Right…" Clearing her throat, she decided to question, "Is it true?" At Jaxton's raised eyebrow, Nashi elaborated," Her being in a psych unit? Is it true?"

Jaxton warranted Nashi a long and searching look. "You two have more in common than you think," he responded in vague, "but yes, it's true. She doesn't lie or bullshit about things that happened in her life."

"How can she say it so…?"

"Openly?"

Nashi bit her lip and nodded.

Jaxton let out a deep exhale. "I don't know. I'm still learning new things about her every day. She talks about her experiences like she saw a stray cat while she was driving." His features rearranged, and Nashi belatedly realized Jaxton was showing deep signs of concerns. "I've spoken to Mara about finding Tesla a therapist, but it's hard to find a trauma therapist for her. She might be open, but she has so many secrets. And I understand her not wanting to be open with her therapist. One in the past institutionalized her when she tried to speak her mind."

"That's awful." Nashi felt a gut-sadness and a deeper kinship to Tesla. She rooted out her Compact and went to her contacts to stop on one. I know Kyler called in this favor, but… She set her Compact on the counter and pushed it to Jaxton. "Here. This is the therapist I've been seeing. Doctor George Orr. He's god-sent."

"He?"

Nashi did not even have to think about why Jaxton questioned it. "If Tesla isn't comfortable with him, that's okay. I'll keep on the lookout. Maybe ask him if he knows women at his, uh, profession." She nodded at her Compact. "But I'd take the number. The first one is his direct line and the second one is to the facility. I know recommending therapists is bad and not everyone bonds with the same therapist, but something tells me Tesla might like this place."

Jaxton shot Nashi a grateful look before he took out his Compact and took a picture of her screen. "I'll look into it. Thanks, Nashi." He moved to leave, but he paused. "Tesla surprised me with how strong her morals are. She might keep a lot of secrets, but she keeps them for a reason. And it amazes me every day she trusts me with those secrets. I know it's not every secret, but when she shares them with me, I feel like the luckiest man on Earth Land she gave me that gift. I'm not religious in the slightest, but seeing how strong she is to get up and smile… It makes me just want to thank every deity out there."

"Jaxton…" Nashi was quite taken back. I've never heard him speak like this.

"I've talked to Gary before. Several times, really. We both have common interests." A bitter smile wound on Jaxton's face. "We do things to protect the ones we love even though we know they'd leave us if they knew." He shook his head and the bitter smile was gone. "What I feel for Tesla is something I know he feels for you. I never expected Tesla to return my love. For once in my life, the only fear I had was if I didn't do enough. If I didn't show her and tell her enough that I love her and I want to be with her and grow with her. Didn't matter I could be killed on a job. For Tesla to not know what she meant to me? It terrified me."

"But," Nashi spoke up quietly, "what if you did your all and she…? She just didn't know?"

"Then, I wouldn't stop." Such a simple statement with such significant words. "Even with Tesla loving me now, I don't stop for a damn day to let her know I will worship the ground she walks on if she asks me. But if she didn't love me even after I gave it everything I had, I'd respect her choice." He tipped his head. "But I don't think you'll be rejecting Gary any time soon."

"No." Nashi cupped her drink. "I don't either."

Jaxton offered his last piece of advice. "He just needs to know you care. That's all he wants to know, that you care and view him as your partner—your equal."

"What?" Nashi's head snapped up, perplexed. "But he's S-Class!"

Jaxton chuckled and shook his head. "Mage rankings have nothing to do with the power you hold over him. Tesla's Spiritless, but she holds more power of me than I could ever imagine. And I know, in her eyes, I hold power over her. But it's not a power struggle or one of us following the other. We're on equal terms. We're partners. Show him you view him as equal. Show him you care. Tell him that. And to him, that'll be enough."

"And if it's not enough?"

"Then, Gary isn't the guy I thought he was," Jaxton said. With a nod, he let his feet carry him down the same path his girlfriend took off. Getting out of the bar, he took his leisurely time going up the elevator. He joined it with a few others and requested for his floor. It took him a few minutes, but he was in no hurry to get to his floor. The odd thing about his floor was when you got to the floor, there was a lobby and another set of doors. He swiped his keycard and the door unlocked. He crossed the threshold.

The floor was dead quiet—save for the quiet music that came from a radio station overhead. The doors were thicker than the average hotel door and more spaced out than normal. Jaxton got to the fifth door down when he swiped his key card. The door recognized him and he opened the door—

CHNK!

He kept calm seeing the chain. "Tesla," he rumbled.

The chain was unlatched.

Jaxton opened the door and slipped inside. Their hotel room was gifted with a living room and kitchen. Fairly normal. Fairly standard. But the bedroom was a different story. Pleasure Palace Hotel pulled no punches being an adults-only hotel franchise. It was no love hotel, but it catered to any and all needs its guests had. He set down the drink carrier and pulled off his shirt next. "Before we get started," he murmured, "I just want to thank you for what you said to Nashi."

Jaxton sensed Tesla's presence before she pressed against him from behind. "Of course," she purred. "Every word I said was true."

"I know it was. You've never been one to be half-hearted." Jaxton removed his watch. "Do you understand why I'm angry, though?"

"I humiliated you," Tesla recited without any sass.

Jaxton took his time rubbing his wrist and did not look behind him. "How?"

"By saying I wanted to tie you up."

Jaxton rolled his shoulders. "I always enjoy your teasing," he complimented. "I love it. I love everything about you. But I have rules for a reason. You broke that rule. Do you understand that?"

A low whine.

Jaxton locked his jaw. "Are you breaking another one?"

"N-No." A meek whimper. "I was just hoping since we have the event later—"

"Get on the bed," Jaxton commanded. No hitch. No raise of voice. Just a command. He heard feet tiptoe away like a chastised child slinking away, embarrassed. Jaxton toed off his shoes and left them at the door and took off his socks. He took his time getting to the bedroom, but he stopped at the table. Toys had been laid out. He knew it was Tesla's doing. A flicker of approval was there as he picked out the toys he needed. "Thank you for setting the table, baby girl," he praised.

"I didn't want to upset you more," came demure reply.

Jaxton approached the bedroom and stood at the entryway. He drank in the sight before him like he wanted it imprinted into his mind so he would never forget. Tesla had chosen his favorite color on her—white. Lacy white kissed her skin and teased her curves and the contrast between the cream of the material and the brown of her skin was mouthwatering to observe. Hair swept into a high ponytail, she kept her eyes down, her head bowed, and hands behind her back. Jaxton wordlessly went to the bed and, with a hand, he drew her towards him. Tesla followed his movement and let him sweep her ponytail to the side as he brought upon a thick white collar onto her neck and clasped it to a leash. His eyes glanced down and his jaw went taut.

"Are you sure?" Jaxton asked and mouthed the words against the nape of her skin.

Tesla kept her voice steady and assured. "I am, Daddy." She shivered when Jaxton kissed her shoulder.

"Your safe word?"

"Labradoodle."

Jaxton smiled. "Good girl." He pulled away and his smile widened when he heard Tesla's whimper that she cut off as quickly as it started. "Face me."

Tesla did so without hesitation, but she kept her eyes down.

"Good girl but look at me."

She lifted her eyes.

Jaxton captured her cheek with a hand. "I love you, Tesla."

That surprised Tesla, but the subdued look in her eye softened. "I love you too. I won't ever doubt that again."

Jaxton nodded. "I won't hold back." He made a show of showing her the leash. "But I want your permission after cuddling. I want to love you. No scene. Just us. No rules. Do I have your permission?"

"Yes, Daddy." Tesla smiled and hummed when he stroked her cheek. "Thank you for asking. Thank you for loving me."

"Never thank me for loving you," Jaxton chided in the most delicate of voices. "You gave me the chance to love you. You gave me a gift. And nothing I do will ever repay you for that."

A glint sparkled in Tesla's eyes. "Daddy…" She felt a tear slip and was grateful Jaxton swept it away. "I understand. Hold nothing back. I can handle it. I promise."

Jaxton rewarded her with a chin kiss, then a kiss to the forehead. "Good girl."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Cade exited his shared hotel room with Mustang, both dressed up in vests, nice pants, and ties (though Mustang wore his cowboy hat). Cade yanked on his collar as they went to the elevator. "I feel like I got this a size too small," he complained. "I wish I could have worn a t-shirt." They got to the elevator and he pushed the up button. "I don't know how you're comfortable."

Mustang tipped his cowboy hat. "Because I still get to wear this."

DING!

The elevator opened.

"Show off," Cade muttered as they got into the elevator. He pressed two floors above them and the doors closed. "When are you going home with Bisca and Alzack to Bosco?"

"Mid-day Christmas Eve," Mustang explained. The elevator doors opened and both men got off. "We're staying at my grandmother's for Christmas and I want to pay my respects to my mentor. I'm sure Crimson wants to too." He looked at Cade as he led them down the hall. "What about you? Plans for Christmas?"

Cade shrugged. "Not sure. I got put on the on-call list to take any emergency missions, but I'll stop by T'oree's. She has some tradition she wanted to try. They don't celebrate Christmas on Valhalla, but they do have a few holidays." He got to the door and knocked. "I just hope it doesn't involve music."

Mustang laughed and clapped Cade's shoulder. "I wish you luck if it does."

The door creaked open.

"Yeah, thanks…" Cade's words trailed off when the door swung all the way open. Dazzler had opened the door and her dark locks were pulled into a high ponytail with a bump in the front. Dressed in a silver sequin maxi romper with a flowing skirt and clasped as a halter, it brought out the silver in her eyes and the contrast of her hair. Her hat for the night had been reduced to a hairclip with a mini top hat. Silver heels pulled everything together, laced like gladiator heels. Cade worked his mouth, but all that came out was, "Uh…"

Dazzler paid him no mind with her dreamy smile on Mustang. "I knew my cowboy wouldn't be able to leave his hat," she teased.

Mustang tipped his hat to her. "Lookin' mighty gorgeous now, darlin'," he complimented. "It's my honor and pleasure to be your date tonight."

Dazzler sparkled (literally) as she snuck past Cade to latch onto Mustang's arm. "The honor is all mine," she purred. "T, c'mon, your date is here!" She leaned her head on Mustang. "So, cowboy, glad to see you matched my look flawlessly, but that bowtie would look better on the floor."

Mustang laughed as he escorted them towards the elevator. "You're a funny one, Miss Lafayette."

Cade watched them leave, but his eyes could not lift from the swell of Dazzler's backside. She looks beautiful…

"Lord Cadorius?"

Cade turned to drink in T'oree. She had opted for a sweetheart red mermaid dress that matched his tie with her fiery hair bundled into a large bun. With her heels, she was a good three inches taller than Cade. She looked radiant, like the sun herself. She smiled at Cade. "You look the handsome, Lord Cadorius."

"You look beautiful, Tor." Cade offered his arm. "Shall we?"

T'oree thanked him and took his arm. They went slowly after Mustang and Dazzler, but both of their eyes were focused on the glittery Dazzler enamored with every word Mustang told her. "She fairs much better," T'oree murmured, "but I sense a sadness in Lady Dazzler than I cannot place. She beds no more men to rid her of this sadness, but I fear she will not speak to me about her woes." She looked at Cade for guidance. "Shall I initiate more direct conversation on the topic?"

"No." Cade watched as Dazzler swatted Mustang's chest and giggled at his southern drawl. "Let her breathe a little. She'll tell you when she's ready."

"Although…"

Cade looked up at T'oree, curious.

"Lady Dazzler did tell me she would be leaving the Eve of the New Year celebration we are attending early," T'oree relayed. "She has informed me she had an anniversary she must celebrate. I told her I did not understand as we are already celebrating the anniversary of this planet's solar cycle upon its completion, but she claimed this anniversary proved to be personal."

Cade frowned and pulled them back before they could reach Mustang and Dazzler. "Did she say where she's going?"

T'oree shook her head. "She only said she would be visiting a bar," she remembered, "and that she was meeting an old friend. She assured me I was not to worry and promised she would be home in the morn, but I still grow concerned not knowing her whereabouts. Perhaps this the 'old friend' will provide alleviation from the sadness she carries?"

Cade observed Dazzler and her wide beam for Mustang. "Maybe," he gave. An old friend? Does she mean John? Is she meeting with him? When the elevator door opened and both couples filed in, Cade could not help it when he glanced at Dazzler. I don't know, but I have to find out.

°•°•°•°

Spencer had taken Veronika's coat to show her asymmetrical navy blue one-shoulder dress and her hair had been diagonal Nederth braid with a low bun. Spencer had matched her with his deep gray suit and a tie to match her dress. Veronika kept her Compact out like she was waiting for something. She did not care about what was going on with the lobby. She routinely checked her messages and seemed worried when she did not see anything new notifications drop in.

Spencer noticed and said, "Mary Jane promised she'd call if something went wrong."

"I know," Veronika snapped, "but it doesn't mean I don't worry." She put her Compact into her clutch. "I should have never let Sprite talk me into this. Look at me." She gestured to her ensemble. "I don't wear things like this."

"You look stunning," Spencer told her as he placed a hand on the small of her back. "I gave Mary Jane my Com number too. She'll call if there's a problem. You walked her through Ivan's diabetic equipment and she knows what to do about Vanilla's hearing aid."

They got into the long line made for the event where tickets were collected to ensure all guests were account for, that said guests had the opportunity to get their picture taken on the red carpet and backdrop and got to sign their name in the guest book before entering. Veronika crossed her arms, agitated, but Spencer's hand slipped to her waist and drew her close. To anyone else, it was like two lovers sharing a secret. "They'll be fine," he promised once more. "If Mary Jane does run into trouble, we'll get in the car and go back to the lodge first thing."

"Do you mean that?" Veronika looked up and cerulean doused in sunset clashed with gunmetal dark blue. "Do you truly mean that?"

"Of course." Spencer said that with iron-clad conviction.

But Veronika was still hesitant. "Why do you care?" She knew she came off rude, but she needed to know. "Why do you care so much about my kids? They're my kids."

"I don't need to be their father to care about them," Spencer murmured to her. "I know it makes you unhappy, but I've bonded with Ivan and Lisa-Jane. I'll step back, if that's what you want. You're their mother. You decide who your kids speak to. But I will always care about them and want them safe and healthy." He drew away enough to give her space, but he kept an arm around her waist. "But you will always be their mother. So how much I'm allowed to be near them is up to you."

Veronika blinked and cursed how easily she wished to cry. She sucked it in and looked away. She was bent to not say another word, but her eyes caught Nik looking like he was walking away in his three-piece suit and she hardened. "Nikolai!" When he whipped around and searched for who said his name, Veronika beckoned him over. When he was within range, she quirked an eyebrow and took note of his Compact in his hand. "Running off with your local booty call?"

Nik glared at her. "No," he snapped. "Just have a call to return that I've been waiting for."

"Oh." That was news to Veronika. "Anything serious?"

"Very." He reached over to kiss her forehead. "I'll be in there soon." Nik's pale greens looked at Spencer's hand on Veronika's waist and hardened. "Watch where you put your hands, Captain," he warned.

Spencer took it in stride. "I only put my hands where they're wanted, Major."

Veronika rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Military speak," she muttered. "Go return your call, but I swear, Nikolai Yuri, if it's really some flavor of the month—"

"Then, you can kill me," Nik finished for her with a slight smirk. "Later." And he marched off.

Veronika huffed. "Jackass." She glanced up at Spencer. "How the Hell do you not curse him out every chance you get? Me calling him 'jackass' is me being nice."

Spencer chuckled and shuffled them a few steps forward as the line moved. "Because, Lucky, he's my superior and I'd like to stay in the military and not have him try and beat me out of it." He dipped his head to down to murmur, "But for the record, I could kick your brother's ass."

A grin wove on Veronika's face as she put a hand on his chest. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're flirting with me now, Captain."

Spencer grinned as well and pressed his forehead to her temple. "Depends. Is it working?"

"Keep telling me you can beat Nik's ass and it just might, Captain."

°•°•°•°

The first ballroom was set up as a large dining hall with little name cards for each guest. The tables were an expansive circle with Ellie's floral centerpiece complimented with candles and symbols of winter and its holidays. The dinner had been split. When Honey and Justin arranged for this, they were presented with the options of a menu and arranged course for their guests or a buffet and they decided both. Guests had been given menus for their main appetizers and entrees and desserts, but anyone who was still hungry had the choice to slip to the buffet line for crepes, salads, and other little side dishes and sweets. The bar had been set up with three bartenders on duty, and the waitstaff was in humble black and red for this evening.

Everyone has dressed to the nines in their fancier wear for the evening with some even deigning to bring a change of shoes or dress for the club scenes Honey and Justin had prepared. With everyone seated and orders placed, Justin and Honey took getting on the main stage. Justin had outdone himself in a flared out mini white sweater dress and thigh-high killer boots. His hair was pin straight beneath his Santa hat and his make-up was a glittery silver and blue. Honey had come in a bold red dress, sequins and all, with a blonde up-do, red gloves, and extra-long lashes.

Both miked and cued, Justin waved his hands. "Hello, hello, everyone, and welcome to another year of Miss Fortune and Sashay Rosé's Get Your Jollies Off Hoe-liday Event!" He and Honey blew kisses as everyone applauded and cheered. Justin raised his hand for quiet and pretended to think, tapping his chin. "Rosé, darling?"

Honey wrapped his hands on Justin's shoulders. "Why, yes, Miss Fortune?"

"I heard we have a ball tonight."

"Really?" Honey grinned. "Well, this ball is not ending at the stroke of midnight, doll. No, ma'am."

"Of course not," Justin agreed. "But I do declare we have a little Miss Cinderella attending our ball tonight, Rosé."

Honey whipped out his fan that spelled HOLIDAYZ BITCH and fanned himself. "Well, Missy, she best not take the greatest dick in the room and have it chase her because I am in the mood for something long, hard, and juicy."

Hoots went around as Justin snickered, "Rosé, I thought I told you we weren't allowing any thots at our event."

Honey looked aghast. "Well, honey, I don't know why you're standing there with that Christmas thong underneath there, Thothiana." As everyone laughed, Honey smiled and told the audience, "But my ladies, my queens, my kings, my royals, Miss Fortune and I have a special night planned for you all filled with workin' it on the dance floor and back to your bedrooms for a special treat."

"So eat, drink, and be merry," Justin encouraged, "because afterwards we are going to live, werk, and pose!" He and Rosé curtsied as everyone applauded and hollered their agreements. As the two descended down the steps, the wait staff hurried out from the kitchen with trays' worth of appetizers and drinks. Soft holiday jazz came on the overhead and most were covers from favored artists or drag queen friends of Justin and Honey.

Justin beamed as Ace helped him down. He was dressed in a cream billow shirt with tight-fitting black pants and designer flat boots, but he had colored his hair partially green for the occasion. "My knight in shining armor," Justin teased before kissing Ace.

"Always." Ace bowed to Honey. "And the queen herself, of course."

Honey grinned. "Oh, honey, save the ass-kissing," he jested. "I already like you and there is only one queen you need to be worshipping." He accepted the scepter one of his assistants offered him. "Okay, Miss Fortune, we need to flit and do some meet and greets for the appetizers, so no sneaking off to give your knight a BJ." He pointed his scepter at the happy couple with a knowing look. "Been there, done that, swallowed every last drop." And he sashayed away with his assistant keeping stride with a layout of the room and every attendee documented.

Justin released a heavy sigh. "Well, the worst is over. He likes you."

"Good." Ace lifted Justin's chin. "Even if Honey doesn't approve of me, it doesn't matter. I am who I am. I only care if it bothers you."

"Oh, god, no," Justin scrambled to assured. "You're being yourself and I like that about you." He smoothened his gloved hand over Ace's shirt. "By the way, you look hot and I love your shoes with this blouse. And they say jocks don't have a sense of style."

Ace chuckled. He scanned the room and wondered, "Is Nashi still in her room?"

"Pretty much." Displeasure was prominent, but the worry would always remain. "She's all dolled up, but she wanted some time to herself. I wanted to fight her, but I agreed if I'll have one of the assistants bring her dinner and dessert as long as she comes down for the categories." He leaned into the kiss Ace gifted to his cheek. "I just hate being this helpless. And you promised she ate?"

"She took five spoon-fulls and said she was done," Ace reported once again. "Do you want me to come get her when she wants to come out?"

Surprised flared in Justin. "You'd do that?"

Ace must have misinterpreted the tone Justin had as he quickly put in, "I mean I understand I'm here to support you—"

"No, no!" Justin intertwined his hands with Ace's. "No, I'm just so happy you asked. Honestly, yes, I'd feel a lot better if you were there for her. I'll be fine. Between Honey, the assistants, and MCing for the ball, I'll have my hands full. Thank you so much, Ace."

"Of course." Ace led them towards the tables. "Once everyone's moved to the other ballroom, I'll head up to get her. But if she doesn't want to come down, I will respect her wish. Don't pout like that unless you want me to kiss it away," he added, amused. "I don't want her upset either. But we can't force her to come downstairs and socialize if she's miserable. But I promise I'll try to bribe her with as much gelato as necessary."

Justin broke into a laugh. "Goodness, we sound like we're trying to get our daughter to get her ass downstairs to go to the prom."

"Do you want kids?"

Justin did not even think about it. "I do. I love helping my dad out with our Ladybug and babysitting my cousins." Uncertainty coursed through him as he peaked up at Ace. "Is that a problem…?"

"No." Ace meant that. "It isn't. I want kids." He grimaced. "But I don't want to have them. I want to adopt."

"I want that too." Uncertainty gone, Justin's eyes were full of glee. "I totally understand you. It's your body and your choice. But I've always wanted to adopt kids. If it wasn't for my dad adopted Bugaboo and me, I don't know where we would've been." A beat. "Are we planning our future?"

Ace barked a guffaw. "Maybe." He nudged Justin towards the people. "Go on. I'll get to my seat. But don't think my eyes won't be on you." His eyes dipped down to Justin's heels. "And I definitely want only those heels on later." He strode away without further comment.

Justin fanned himself. "Lord, give me strength, that king might be my soulmate."

°•°•°•°

The Strauss Clan stayed together. Nik, Pearson, and Ezra remained absent, but their seats were waiting for them whenever they decided to show up. Pacer, to no one's surprise, had snagged a pretty thing from one of the tables to join him as his spontaneous date for the evening. Veronika looked uncomfortable, but not because of her dress, but more embarrassed with how Spencer complimented her. She ignored him for the most part as she spoke to Ines, Ellie's date, while Ellie was a blushing bride practically. Evie was not a fan of her maxi dress and decided flats were the move for her, but she was a fan of her pockets. No make-up, but she had half her hair up while the other hair fluttered down her back. She got her long hair from her mother. But even seated, she could not stop touching Ola. She had come with her vegan leather stilettos, but her dress was partially sheer and partially velvet and covered to her mid-thigh. Her hair was pin straight with bold straight bangs and a mini cocktail hat with a dotted veil.

At one point, when Ola was engaged with Ye-ji, she slapped Evie's hand away. "Keep it to yourself," she admonished. "Goodness."

"You are the most gorgeous woman in the room," Evie argued in a low voice, "so, yes, I'm going to touch you."

Ola rolled her eyes and sought help from Esme who had gone all out for tonight with maxi satin dress with high slits and did favors to her breasts. "Esme," Ola whined, "your sister is being clingy again!"

"Let her." Esme winked at Ola. "Besides, you look extra hot tonight. If I didn't have my hands full, I'd keep my eyes on you." She kissed Guil's cheek (and he had been fitted in a gunmetal gray suit with a deep red tie the same as Esme's dress) and pecked Ye-ji's lips (and she had honored this night with a matte emerald plunge A-line dress that curved down her legs).

"See, even my own sister can't keep her eyes off you," Evie reasoned as she successfully placed her arm around Ola's shoulders.

"One of them." Ola pointed over to another table. Ellie and Ines were within sight with Ellie a blushing bride practically as she sat close to her date as Ines chatted pleasantly with a few other guests. "Your other sister seems to be preoccupied."

Evie snorted. "If Esme wasn't preggers, I'd tell my parents Eloise is their final hope for their genes to pass down," she quipped. "How are you holding up, Esme?"

"Fine!" Esme pouted as she watched Ye-ji drink her champagne. "But one drink wouldn't kill me—"

"It will." Veronika broke off from conversation with Ines to glare at her cousin. "No drinking, Esme. Think of the baby."

Esme whined. "I know, I know, but…" She stared longingly at the champagne flute. "Maybe just a whiff of it?" She threw her big eyes at Guil who could not resist her and passed his flute to her tiredly. She beamed, giddy, and took a deep sniff—

HRK!

Guil barely got the flute out of Esme's hands as his wife staggered to her feet, covering her mouth. Without further notice, she dashed off to find the nearest bathroom and Ye-ji was hot on her heels after sharing a look from Guil. Veronika rolled her as she played with her own champagne flute. "I told her she needs to stop just smelling things just because," she grumbled. "I swear it's a Strauss thing. My mom and Aunt Lis were the same way."

"Dad was the same way," Ellie confessed. "When Mom was pregnant with Eloise, Dad had all these sympathy pains and he got really nauseous with any smell."

Now Evie rolled her eyes as she hiked up her skirt. She murmured to Ola, "I'm going to get us some drinks. Bala Blast for you, right?"

"Yeah." Ola kissed Evie's cheek. "Thanks. Don't be too long."

"We could go to the room—"

Ola laughed as she shoved Evie away. "Drinks."

Evie smirked, but she complied. She weaved through wait staff and various other guests bobbing about to make introductions and such. The bar was well-populated. A Selan young man was ordering on behalf of his girlfriend, a gorgeous thing with long legs and eyes only on him. But those dark eyes flashed over to Evie in appreciation. Evie smirked back and was amused when the girl looked like a deer caught in headlights when she realized she had been seen and turned her head away. Evie wriggled her way to the counter and flagged down a bartender to place her order.

"Evangeline?"

Evie cringed at her full name. "Just 'Evie'." She turned around and could not withhold her surprise. "Saudade…" She drank in the lithe woman bundled in a halter drape dress a deep maroon. "Oh my god…" She launched herself to embrace her. "Hi! Oh my god, it's so good to see you!"

Saudade laughed, still in disbelief, and hugged Evie back. "It's good to see you too!" She pulled back and immediately inspected Evie's right hand.

Evie groaned. "I'm proposing in February, stop judging me."

Saudade squealed in delight. "Finally! I've been following your guys' insta and, ugh, you two are so in love! And she's so beautiful!" She looked around. "Is she here?"

"She's at the table," Evie explained, "but I'd be happy to introduce you."

"Oh, please, I'd love—!"

"Saudade?"

Both women turned when a man towering over them both appeared in a bold black and green suit. His eyes swept to Saudade then to Evie. "Who is this?"

"O-Oh! Majime, this is Evie Strauss," Saudade introduced. "Evie, this is Majime, my—"

"Boyfriend." Evie shook Majime's hand with a knowing smile. "It's nice to meet you, Majime."

"You too, Evie," Majime said warmly. He kissed Saudade's cheeks and murmured something in her ear before walking away.

"He's cute," Evie said before Saudade had the chance to get in a word. "I've seen him on your insta. He seems to think the world of you."

"He does." Saudade's voice came out small. "Is, um…? Is Ezra here?"

"He is," Evie confirmed. "He's running a little late." She paused meaningfully, but she decided to add, "He knew you'd be here with your boyfriend." When Saudade winced and guilt was apparent in her eyes, Evie felt the need to ask softly, "Do you still love him?"

"Not romantically." Saudade's voice did not waver. "But of course I care about Ezra."

Evie felt herself relax. "That's good then." At Saudade's confusion, she shook her head. "But I'm pretty sure my brother's still in love with you."

Saudade winced. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Evie asked not unkindly. Just incredulous. "Don't apologize for his feelings. I was just letting you know. He won't come between you and Majime, if you're worried about that."

But Saudade still could not look at her as sadness etched her features. "I'm not worried about that."

When Saudade offered nothing else, Evie decided to pick up the conversation when her drinks were called. She gathered both drinks and offered her last words to Saudade. "None of us blame you. Esme might be a little frosty, but she doesn't know everything. None of us do. That's between you and Ezra." A kind smile. "Stop by the table when you have a chance, okay?" And she walked off with no further farewell.

Ola accepted her drink when she saw the look on Evie's face. "What's wrong?"

Evie shook her head. "I just ran into Ezra's ex," she murmured under her breath.

"Oh." That surprised Ola. "Who is she?" Evie squinted and was able to point Saudade out. Ola caught sight of the Blood Mage and giggled to herself. "You Strausses must have a thing for melanin."

Evie broke into a laugh. "Apparently so." Her eyes bounced over to the entryway. I just hope Ezra can keep himself in check.

New Azalea City was covered in buildings and skyscrapers and everything in-between. Lacrima Cars and Buses and motorcycles flooded the streets. The occasional horse and sleigh could be seen walking down the streets too to get people in the festive spirit. However, New Azalea City was as festive as it could be. Buildings were covered in lights and Christmas signs. Green and red and white and gold were everywhere in the city. Songs of Christmas and the spirit of the season drifted over the bustling city and over the noise of talking and walking and engines roaring and horses neighing. An Idarin café was serving freshly brewed peppermint coffee. Hot chocolate and fresh snow made a blend that sucked in anyone who was not used to the intoxicating scent. In the theater district hidden in the arts district, a performance of a love story between a nutcracker and a niece was constructed beautifully. The largest toy store in all of Fiore was born and raised in New Azalea City. It was called Edward's Emporium, a magical shop run by a Mage running well-past a century. Kids, Spiritless and magical, burst into the store with beams on their faces and happiness in their eyes. Sox Fourth Avenue was filled per usual with rich clientele, but with the number of festive sales, anyone strutted down the shopping district with bags on arms and a list in hand. The center of New Azalea City was the Central Greens, a large nature reserve for the critters of the city.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« New Azalea City is a port city which is made of five districts, each with their own personality. The five districts are Brooks County, the arts and culture district, Kings, the market district, Richmond Island, the shopping district, Grand Bronck, the education district, and Mid-Manna, the mainland of New Azalea City. New Azalea City is the most popular city in the Kingdom of Fiore and known for its extravagant holiday celebrations, especially during Christmastime. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luna was entranced the moment they had arrived, over the moon they had made it to the city that never sleeps. Her wanderlust itched and she just had to scratch it. Grabbing Bleu's hand, she pulled him towards whatever captivated her. Their first stop was a tourist station and Luna had scouted for a map of the area only to be embarrassed when Bleu showed her the map he had downloaded on his Compact. He escorted her through the street and had to smile as Luna's eyes lit up as she took in the lights and was dazzled seeing how tall the skyscrapers could climb. She eagerly donated some change to one of the Santa's ringing their bells in the name of the homeless organization and was more than happy to stop and listen to a few carols singing in front of a department store.

Bleu surprised her with eggnog that had her groaning at how delicious it was as she slurped it through a peppermint straw. "This is amazing!" Luna praised.

"Best eggnog in Fiore," Bleu boasted as he sipped from his own cup. "Glad to see you like it."

"Like it? I love it!" Luna took a hearty sip as her eyes roamed up and down the street. "This city is so massive in comparison to Magnolia. There's so much to see and do." She looked at Bleu. "How do you know what to see and do when you're here?"

Bleu gave a sheepish smile. "Well, it's easier for me since I travel here often and I'm mainly here for business," he confessed. "Touring isn't something I usually do here unless I'm here to see Carlisle, but he's out of town and his moms are busy with The Nutcracker." He thought for a moment. "But I think I know where we can go."

"Where?"

His eyes sparkled, mischievous. "Ever taken a Sky Train?"

°•°•°•°

Luna proceeded to be amazed as she and Bleu loaded onto a train. This one was different than the trains she took. There were no booths. Instead, rings hung from the ceilings and there were harder seats against the walls of the train cars. A businessman reached up to grab a hoop dangling from the ceiling. A university student wrapped his arm around a pole while he listened to his Magic Headphones. A couple was sitting down as the woman flipped through a Dream magazine. A few elderly women sat down and mumbled amongst themselves. A worker, his wife, and their rambunctious daughter all sat together on the opposite end of the train car.

"This is so cool!" Luna squealed. "I feel stupid getting excited over a train, but I've never ridden one like this before!"

"Sky Trains are the fastest way to get from A to B in big cities like New Azalea." Bleu settled Luna with him on the pole. "Just hang onto the pole and me."

Luna did so as she looked around. "So where are we going?"

"The Square," Bleu named as the doors shut and the announcer came on to tell the passengers the rules of train etiquette and their destination. "It's one of the places you have to see in NAC. It's the center point for most of the city and has a bunch of shops and restaurants and Christmas lights. Crocus might do the ball drop, but nothing beats the Square's Christmas tree."

The announcer went: "Red E-Train to Kings on platform four is about to depart. Please stand by. Passengers, please prepare for departure."

As the train pulled out of the station, Bleu hugged her waist. "Hold onto me." He grinned. "And you might want to look down."

Luna wrinkled her nose. "What?" But she had no time to further question as the Sky Train came out of the tunnel. Her eyes widened when everything changed. The walls were gone. The ceiling was gone. Even the floor was gone. And all that remained was the rest of the world for them to view. She could see New Azalea City as they wove through the city and glided over buildings and passed by towers. Luna laughed to herself when she looked down and saw New Azalea from a bird's eye view. She could see a family gather into a sleigh with a broad black stallion and a white freckled mare. "This… This is amazing," she whispered.

"I'm glad you like it."

Luna looked up at him with sparkling eyes. "Thank you for bringing me here," she told him.

"Don't thank you me yet," Bleu warned not unkindly. "And I should thank you for coming. I'm happy you could." He kissed her forehead. "So, thank you, Treasure."

The train ride was just a seven-minute ride to get to the Square. Bleu and Luna came down the steps of the train station to the main street. Luna turned around as she took everything in. Lacrima Screens blown up had shown commercials as well as live news from around the world. Edward's Emporium was teeming with children, teens, adults, and elderlies who went in and out of those revolving doors, and almost every person who left came out with a bag or two. Book Land had a four-story building here linked to a Starfox café and it was easy to see business was booming this time of year. Restaurants and bars and bistros were everywhere and were packed for this time of day. But the focal point of it all was a large ice-skating rink that housed a larger-than-life Christmas tree decorated in lights and toys and tinsel and ornaments. A life concert pianist was in an elevated stage and miked as they played a beautiful ballad for two figure skaters on the ice. Both native and tourist alike took to the ice to skate in singles, in pairs, and otherwise.

"I know how much you like ice-skating," Bleu quipped.

"This is incredible," Luna whispered. "But where do we even start?"

"Wherever you want." Bleu slipped his hand in hers and interlocked their fingers. "I'm giving you the freedom to choose. Wherever you want to go, Treasure, I'll follow."

Luna looked up so Bleu's light eyes connected with her dark ones. No words could amount to the gratitude and warmth she felt towards him. "Okay," she agreed, hoarse. "How about Book Land first?"

Bleu maintained eye contact as he lifted their locked hands and kissed her knuckles. "Book Land it is."

°•°•°•°

The multilevel bookseller was not just for books. It had a large selection of books from action and architecture to young adult and zoology, but DVDs and CDs and even records were sold here. A few girls had put on Magic Headphones to listen to a demo of a new album by their favorite romance singer. An older gentleman was in the nonfiction section and was interested in a true crime true story. Beyond the shelves upon shelves of books and knowledge and art, the mini café was swollen with customers wanting some coffee, tea, and cakes. A blender went off for a Frappuccino while a girlfriend paid for her partner's brunch sandwich. With four floors, they had themed the floors in with red for the first floor, yellow for the second, green for the third, and blue for the fourth. Escalators and elevators were viable options to travel, but the perks of Book Land was the grand staircase that went from floor to floor and the spiral staircases on either end of the store, all of them littered with incredible finds of books and movies.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Book Land, one of the biggest and most popular booksellers in Fiore. NAC holds Book Land's flagship store. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Bleu had wondered into the nonfiction section and was browsing carelessly. Luna had gone to the romance section and was enthused to see the paranormal section. A promotion was on about a werewolf series and Luna plucked out the first of it, flipped to a random page, and began to read. Gradually, her eyes widened and widened…

…until Bleu found her a red-faced dazed mess.

They had made it to the audio section and Bleu had taken to listen to a speech from an autobiography when he glanced over and paused. A smile curled on his face when he saw Luna a few aisles over with her headphones on as she mutedly danced along to whatever song she was listening to and mouthed the lyrics. She browsed through the selection until she saw another girl with a BluePink sweatshirt jersey and just had to speak to a fellow fan about the Josean girl group and their latest EP.

The children section of Book Land was colorful and playful and a dream for any child. It covered the entire floor and divvied it up into four biodome themes: the rainforest, the desert, the tundra, and the savannah. The rainforest section was a mesh of live plants and foliage and leaves and fake vines with creatures pertaining to that and even monkey bars and a little swing. The tundra was carved out in blues and whites with a polar bear playhouse. The savannah had lion stuffed animals lying around with wild birds hanging from the ceiling. The desert had sandstone floors and little pyramids everywhere alongside stuffed animal camels. A train rode around the expansive of the children's wing with children as passengers and their cramped guardians.

Bleu played dutiful partner as Luna loaded up her basket. Graveyard Boys went in, then a fictitious series about Magicians and their schooling in Minstrel, and she even found a fascinating book series based on felines and the colonies they created. It was pure fiction, but the plot was enough for Luna to put the first subset of the series into her basket alongside several movies. By the time they arrived at the counter and everything was rung up, Luna saw the price and could have had a heart attack. Pitifully, she declined her purchase and mumbled for her and Bleu to leave before they were tempted.

She left the bookseller before him and mopily stood outside when a bag swung in her face. Startled, she stepped back only for Bleu to block her. She accepted the bag and looked inside to see Bleu had bought the books and movies she had wanted. Comical tears filled her eyes as she lunged at him for a hug, but the force knocked them both on the ground.

The next place they went to was Edward's Emporium, a toy store owned by an Independent Mage and they were proud of it. The entire floor plan might have been cramped and wonky and too chaotic to a Spiritless with Magic whizzing everywhere, but this was normal to a Mage. An infinity train tooted through as it built its own tracks and erased the tracks it crossed. A puppet on a unicycle and an umbrella was precariously traveling across a rope bridge upside down. A few kids who tried samples of a magical gum found the side effects comical as one friend blew steam out of their ears, enough friend turned into a black-and-white cat, and the other friend's tongue turned into that of a frog.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Edward's Emporium, a magical toy store built and crafted by an Independent Mage. It carries magical pranks and was a popular place for Pacer and Pearson to visit when they were younger. The Mage who owns the store is talking about opening a second store. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Bleu was inspecting a full-length mirror when the entire thing rippled. A hand shot out and pulled him through the mirror only for him to appear on a different level of the emporium as Luna laughed at his bewildered expression. A fellow Magician who worked in this store spared them samples of a few magical gummies. Both Bleu and Luna popped a gummy and the effects were immediate once they swallowed. Bleu at first could not see anything wrong with him until the worker offered a mirror and his lower half had turned into that of a horse. Luna was all giggles until her heart stopped seeing she had transformed into the boy version of herself. Once the spell had worn off, they had taken to playing Magic Chess with Luna as the queen on the blue side and Bleu riding the horse to play the red knight. He paled when one of Luna's rooks was about to conquer his spot and flinched when a club came down…

…only for Bleu to look around wildly when he realized he was in a seat with Luna on the other side and the chessboard was between them on a table.

They had left Edward's Emporium with a few parting gifts and Bleu caved into Luna's pleas and they made it to the ice rink. Putting their bags into a locker, Bleu paid for the rental skates, they laced up, and they were off. Smiles and chaste kisses were between them as they leisurely took to the ice.

A vibraphone began to play from the speaks in eighths notes going up in thirds. A sultry voice moaned overhead:

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

•

I…don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I needed

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

"I love this song!" Luna squealed. She sang along, "I just want you for my own…! More than you could ever know…!"

Much to her surprise, Bleu carried on the tune with a playful smile. "Make my wish come true…!"

Together, they crooned, "All I want for Christmas…"—Luna shook her head in amusement when Bleu pulled them to a stop and knelt in front of her—"is…"—Luna bent down so their foreheads touched—"you…!" She giggled as she let go of Bleu to skate around him and crooked a finger for him to chase her…and he gladly did so.

A piano pounded in triplets with straight sleigh bells before the drum set let its cadence into the first verse.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

•

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

(And I..) don't about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Bleu did not let Luna get too far ahead and twirled so he skated backwards while she skated before him. She kicked herself into an upright spin with her left leg in her hand and executed it flawlessly without breaking her stride when she came back into the general skate. Bleu made her giggle with his superfluous jazz hands as he skated around her before gathering the momentum for a sitting spin. As he came out, he saw Luna kicked into a laid-back spin and gave her a large berth until her free leg had glided back to the ice. He took her hand and she twirled beneath it and skated back to him. She craned her head to whisper in his air and Bleu nodded along.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

•

I don't need to hang my stocking

There upon the fireplace

(I…) Santa Claus won't make my happy

With a toy on Christmas day

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The pair of them gathered moment for Luna's free leg to lift into a Beilman spin, but she was intertwined with Bleu as he let them into the upright dance spin for five revolutions until Bleu guided her poised leg back down and he spun them out with their hands interlaced. Clapping erupted from bystanders and Luna's cheeks flushed deeply as she smiled at their spectators.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

•

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

You, baby

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

By the time they had finished skating, they had decided to warm up a little with some hot tea and took to touring the lights of New Azalea in Square Park. The Central Greens was the largest park in the city, but Square Park was a sensation all on its own with a dried-up waterfront, but the trees had been decorated and all sorts of holiday decorations were out. Some were kid-friendly. Others were meant to observed and not touched. A few university students took a picture for insta in front of a blow-up snowman. Neighborhood kids took to the piles of snow mashed together and used it as sledding terrain. A punky girl with Magic Headphones around her neck broke into a smile as her silly boyfriend begged for forgiveness in Sinnish.

As Bleu and Luna walked in comfortable silence, they were separated when block letters LET IT SNOW popped up. Bleu looked through the opening of the letters to see such a fond spark in Luna's eyes as she sipped her tea and that small smile. He looked away and took a sip of his own hot tea. When they reunited, Luna slipped her pinky to wrap around Bleu's own and they carried on in their comfortable silence. It was only when they got to the three Christmas trees that lorded over the park and would lead to The Palace hotel that they decided to sit on one of the benches offered for park-goers and set down their bags. Bleu tugged Luna to sit as close as possible to him with an arm on her shoulders and her head leaning against his own shoulder.

She let out a breath and could see it before her. "This has been incredible," she breathed. "Thanks for taking me here."

"No need to thank me," Bleu said warmly and kissed her head. "I'm happy I was the first person you came here with."

Luna hummed and looked up at the Christmas trees, mesmerized by the shining lights and bright ornaments. "My sister told me my family came here once when I was a baby," she told in quiet voice as though not to disturb the festive attitude. "Apparently, Ena and her family, my family, Silver's family, and Gale's family all came here for a mini-vacation." Her eyes flickered down. "Obviously, I don't remember it. But I'm happy I got to make new memories with you. I've only seen pictures of NAC during Christmastime, but to see it?" She smiled. "It makes me so much more excited for Christmas."

A comfortable silence.

"I never understood Christmas."

Luna peeked up to see Bleu watching the Christmas trees with morbid intent.

"My father doesn't celebrate holidays," Bleu explained. "None of my family celebrates the holidays. We have a day of rest, but the way I was raised, holidays were something we acknowledged others did, but to us, it was another day of work since our work didn't go away. We didn't really celebrate birthdays or anything like that."

"Did that bother you?"

"How could it bother me when that was all I knew?" Bleu wondered. "I shouldn't say that. I knew about celebrations, but I just didn't find it worth my attention. My work was important. And, from a religious standpoint, I never understood the crossing of a Pagan holiday and a Christian-Catholic holiday to represent their deity on the wrong day." A dry smile. "I'm a cynic like that."

Luna took a sip of her tea. "Are you religious?"

For a moment, it looked like Bleu was not going to answer. "In a way," he answered slowly. "Unlike my father, I learned to respect all religions and their practices in and deities. Just because it was something I disagreed with doesn't mean I had the right to force some to turn their back on their religion. Father thinks it's stupid for people to have separate faiths and worshipping 'false gods', but every religion has its purpose in my eyes. We're religious in the sense we have faith in a presence, but there's no holidays or anything like that that we celebrate."

"How do you practice it?"

"Through work." Bleu chuckled when Luna's face scrunched up. "It's weird, I know, but it's true. We practice it through our work." He looked back at the Christmas trees. "In my father's eyes, our work is the most important in our faith." He sighed. "He just refuses to change as times evolve. Our work is important, but it's important to adapt to the world around us. He lost sight of that a while ago."

Luna sipped more of her hot tea. "What changed you?" When Bleu tossed her a questioning look, Luna further explained, "What made you change from how he raised you?"

"Time," Bleu admitted in all honesty. "It took time. I won't lie and say I had all this evolutionary thinking before. But as I learned more and grew, I decided my father was stuck in his ways and he wouldn't change. The old ways, in his eyes, were the only thing we needed to follow." He scratched under his chin. "He's not too happy I deviated from his thinking."

"I think it's wonderful you guys have such different thinking."

Bleu arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Sure." Luna waved a hand. "I'm sure it's tough for you. With your dad wanting you to have his thinking, but you're changing and having your own. It's a good thing you changed and learned. And even if your dad hasn't done the same, you might learn something from his ways. I can't really say for sure what that would be, and I'm sure it'd be nice if he grew with you, but who knows? Having such different thoughts might teach you both something."

A sardonic smile. "You don't know my father. He doesn't learn and the only teaching he does is when he thinks I'm not focusing on work."

"I don't know your dad, no," Luna agreed, "but I'm just saying. His old ways might help you in your new ways. You just never know."

Bleu looked from Luna to the sky. His old ways…might help my new ones…

"But I didn't mean to overstep," Luna quickly inserted. "So, um, what made you change your mind about celebrating the holidays?"

Bleu did not even hesitate. "You."

"Me?" Luna's eyebrows shot up, incredulous. "But I thought you celebrate with your friends?"

"And I do…but more as an obligation than for pleasure," Bleu explained to her. "This is the first time I wanted to celebrate a holiday without doing it like it was a chore. I wanted to celebrate the holidays because of you."

Luna adjusted in his hold. "I'm sorry." Trouble sat within her words. "I just don't understand. What about me made you want to celebrate?"

"Just the way you appreciate the little things." Bleu looked directly into her eyes. "My father might have made sure I appreciate everything I have, but I was wavering. I know my friends appreciate things, but it's…different with you. You get a kick just from eggnog with peppermint straws and you lit up just from a little magic trick. I like that about you. And I want to see your face lit up when I give you a gift."

Luna grinned and teased, "You could always be my sugar daddy and really see me appreciative." Both laughed, and Luna later added, "I'm happy you're finally into the holiday spirit." But a second later, her face fell and she groaned. "Now this means the pressure is on for your gift to be perfect!"

Bleu snickered. "No pressure. I don't need a gift. I just want simplicity. Nothing else. So go easy on me. This is a first for me."

"Well, I am honored to share your first with you," Luna teased. "But for the record, you're getting a gift. It's illegal for you not to."

"Oh yeah?"

"For sure," Luna confirmed, sober. "I'm sure I could be arrested if I didn't give you a gift."

Bleu snickered. "Well, I'd prefer you to stay out of jail," he supposed. "I don't know. You'd look cute in an orange jumpsuit."

"Only if E designs it for me," Luna pointed out. "Are you crazy? Even imprisoned, she'd make sure I looked fashionable." A beat. "I wish I could fix her relationship with Misty," she revealed, quiet, sad. "I hate how she's so upset and there's nothing I can do."

"But you are doing something," Bleu countered. "You're being there for her and giving her a safe space. I'm sure that's enough for her. Her relationship with her family will take her course. But at the end of the day, humans choose their family, blood or not."

Luna sighed. "Yeah, I know." She nuzzled closer to him. Silence wafted over the two of them as the trees glinted and the sky darkened. Two kids passed by in a fit of giggles. The punk girl and her boyfriend had gone to the railing that enclosed the Christmas trees and had an intimate conversation.

Bleu looked down at Luna and memorized every detail of her face. My father's old way might have merit, but it's time we changed. Maybe he'll never see that…but I need to try one more time to make him see humanity deserves a second chance.

"Bleu?"

"Yes, Treasure?"

"I like you a lot."

Bleu smiled. "I like you too."

"Am I your first?"

"In what way?"

"First girl you've liked?" Luna cast her eyes downwards. "I'm sure you've had other crushes…"

"No. You're my first." Bleu rested his chin atop her head. "And soon to be my first girlfriend."

Luna could not help her smile. "Really?" Clearing her throat, she tried to tone down her excitement. "I'm mean… That's good then."

Bleu felt a sensation and his eyes scanned the park to connect with that of an older gentleman. Harmless to many, but the older man tipped his hat to Bleu before walking away. Bleu pressed Luna close to him as he watched the old man. "It'll be soon, I promise, Treasure," he murmured.

As Luna murmured her consent, Bleu watched the old man disappear into the crowd. And the sooner I can convince Father, the safe she'll be.

The Strauss-Dreyar lodge was not too chaotic this time of night. In fact, with everything winding down and the kitchen scrubbed clean from dinner, Mary Jane, Paige, and Peter had roped the triplets, Eloise, Libby. Lisa-Jane, and Ivan into watching a movie and the theater room. After much convincing, they settled on Home Alone II: Lost in New Azalea. Paige had Poseidon curled next to her and, for the first time in weeks, she seemed to have relaxed. Mary Jane and Peter's cuddling was interrupted when Lisa-Jane wanted to snuggle up to her favorite aunt and the couple shared amused frustration at that. Elvin had come down to join them in the theater room and Eloise to comfort in her brother, much to his happiness. James dozed off on Liberty's lap, the tomcat happy to finally rest.

Pearson had stayed behind as both the adult in the house and because he did not want to leave his guest upstairs. He came downstairs to make a drink for himself in his athletic shorts and a t-shirt when Penelope ventured upstairs. "Still working, Penny?" he asked.

"Yes. A guildmate and myself were assigned a task from Master that proved more challenging than I thought," Penelope revealed as she went to the refrigerator and got herself a juice box. It was comical such a powerful S-Class Mage was addicted to juice boxes. She took note of Pearson's drink. "Is that for you or for your guest?"

"Me." Pearson grimaced. "She doesn't drink."

Penelope nodded and looked at the ceiling. "Why does she hide being an Aberrant?" she wondered.

"In the US, we call them 'Another'," Pearson corrected, "but I'm not sure. She didn't tell me. I don't think she knows you and I and Dad and Mom can tell she's one." He took a sip of his finished drink. "Her soul is a dead giveaway." He looked at Penelope. "What's bothering you? I can see you're disturbed by something."

"Just my work," Penelope supposed. "I've been pulling every resource that I can, but it's difficult." She paused. Then, she ventured, "But even so, I need to complete it soon. I can't allow any harm to come to my guildmates or others."

Pearson smiled. "I know the feeling. Let me know if you need any help. Two Soul Mages on the job might speed up the process."

"I will." Penelope took another sip of her juice box. "I never knew being a Soul Mage could be so lonely. You can see every soul and understand them, but you can't help them. You have to watch."

Pearson granted her that. "I know the feeling," he said softly, "and I can't tell you it gets easier. But we find little ways to help here and there." He set down his drink. "Speaking of which… What are we going to do about Mary Jane?"

"I don't know." Penelope really did not. "Her soul is expanding. I felt it in Margaret Town and I felt it when the fire came. It split in half, but both halves are fighting for dominance. I've been meditating whenever I have a free chance to calm her wavelength to keep her balanced, but it's only a band-aid. I've told Aunt Mira. I'll start teaching Mary Jane what I can so she can keep herself balanced, but…"

"I know," Pearson said, grim. "It won't be enough. Even stressing on soul balance, there's a chance she could break if she's pushed hard enough. We can't let that happen." He put a hand on Penelope's shoulder. "Stick to your work. I'll balance her soul tonight and tomorrow."

"Thank you." A hint of relief touched Penelope's words.

"Don't worry about it," Pearson dismissed. "She's family." His eyes swept to the floor and those pale reds swirled with Magic. Everything blacked out as he focused on one soul. It was a swirl of gold, but the soul itself was not free like others. It was bound as though chains had locked it. But what are we going to do about his soul?

°•°•°•°

By the time the movie was over, nearly all the little cousins had fallen asleep. Paige, Mary Jane, Elvin, and Peter transported the kids to their beds, tucked them in, and turned off the lights. Elvin and Paige said their goodnights shortly after and that left Mary Jane and Peter alone. Grabbing a blanket and warming up the remaining hot chocolate from earlier in the morning, they headed out onto the deck that overhung the mountain. In the city, you could see the stars, sure, but out here in the mountains, the night somehow became crisper and the moon showed her true beauty to those who appreciated her.

"Today was fun," Peter regarded. "Your family is really great. And all the games? Is it really that insane every year?"

Mary Jane hummed and nodded. "Yeah, it is. And that was only day one. We still have tomorrow, then everyone leaves on Monday." She sipped their shared canister of hot chocolate. "I can't believe Esme is pregnant. I'm so happy for her, but man, was that a one-eighty from how she used to be. She and Ronnie were always so adamant about not having children and now, I have a niece and nephew and I'm about to have another cousin!" She tapped her chin. "Now I wonder who will have a baby next. Lance and Aine? Maybe Evie and Ola?"

"They want kids?"

"Mmm-hmm." Mary Jane passed him the canister so he could take some sips. "I feel like I heard about them getting a sperm donor if that's possible." She shrugged. "All I know is Ola wants to carry Evie's baby and Evie is perfectly fine with that." A giddy smile. "I can't wait for them to get married. Ola's practically family, anyways, and seeing them together makes me so happy."

Peter chuckled. "They're really in love," he agreed. "Even I can see it and I've known them for a day. Your cousin Liberty seems to really like Ola."

"That she does." Mary Jane nestled closer to him. "Uncle Freed tried hard to make sure Libby always knew where she came from and he learned a lot so Libby could have everything she needed, but Ola helps out whenever she and Evie are in town and FaceCalls Libby often. I'm pretty sure Libby sees Ola as a big sister. It's cute." She thanked Peter for the canister and took a swallow. "So what's your family like around the holidays?"

Peter rolled his lips as he thought on the question. "Well, definitely nothing like your family, but we're a little chaotic," he gave. "We flipflop every year to go to Suertland for my dad's side of the family or go to see some of my mom's family here. It's weird to think I have dual citizenship here and in Suertland."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Peter bobbed his head. "Even though I'm adopted, I'm still my dad's son legally. And since my dad's a natural citizen of Suertland, I get that right too."

Mary Jane's eyes sparkled. "That's amazing!"

Peter laughed. "I guess so. Not as impressive as Bleu, though. Dude's got, I think, five citizenships because of his dad? Maybe more, I'm not sure." He smiled at how awestruck Mary Jane looked. "I know, right? The show-off. Some countries force you to select a nationality, but his dad has this workaround so he's an honorary citizen and it extends to Bleu. It makes it easy for them when they travel."

"Do they travel often?" Mary Jane wondered.

"Often enough," Peter answered. "My mom normally travels with them and she's gone a lot. Whatever work Bleu and his dad do, it's important. I asked him once why he wanted to even attend high school when he could have just graduated early and moved on. I mean he's crazy smart. But he said he was fine where he was at—whatever that meant."

"Well, if he weren't in school, he wouldn't have met you, and then I wouldn't have been able to introduce him to Luna," Mary Jane mentioned, "so I'm grateful he likes where he's at." She gave Peter a long once-over and murmured, "And are you happy where you're at? With all the changes?"

Peter took three beats before he decided to answer. "I won't lie and say I'm not worried. Just a few weeks ago, I found out I'm an Alchemist and an Alkahest, my eyes turned gold, and I can do this." He showed his palm and when his eyes turned that liquid gold, a gold-encrusted symbol appeared for a few moments then melded back with his skin. "I don't know what it all means and it bothers me, but at the same time…it feels right, y'know? Like this was meant to happen and I'm meant to have these powers. Even if it means I have to go far away to school to learn more about them."

Mary Jane looked down. "Minstrel is far…"

Peter looked at her. "It is," he agreed, solemn. "But it doesn't mean I'm willing to lose you."

Insecurities fouled Mary Jane's mind and made her blurt, "But what if you do? The world is huge and you'll meet people from all over going to Alexandria. And on top of that, with your studies, and academic probation—"

"Sweets," Peter tried to warn.

But Mary Jane was on a roll. "And they say long-distance relationships don't work," she got out. "You'll be doing incredible things and I don't want to interfere—"

"Sweets."

"What?" Cerulean-scarlet connected with soft gold.

Peter shifted Mary Jane so his arm wrapped around her shoulders beneath the blanket. "I understand you're afraid," he murmured. "I am too. This is…a whole bunch of brand new we're facing. But we're facing it together."

"But Peter," Mary Jane argued, "how are we supposed to face it together when we hundreds of miles apart? You need to focus on school without me distracting you—"

"Couples fifteen minutes apart have a hard time staying together too," Peter pointed out as he searched her gaze. "I know you'll feel like a distraction, but you're going to be my motivation."

That puzzled Mary Jane. "Huh?"

Peter smiled. "You have to know how badass you are," he noted. "I've watched your fights and your interviews. You are an incredible Mage, Sweets. You think I came to Magnolia on Hallow's Eve just because? It was incredible to meet the Dark Empress in person. And even now, I'm amazed at your powers."

Pink spread on Mary Jane's skin. "I'm not that powerful anymore."

"But you are," Peter insisted. "Sure, it might take some time, but you are still that powerful even if you don't see it. And while I'm at school, busting my ass, I'll keep trying to get to be as strong as you are to prove to you I'm worthy of being your equal. Shhh," he hushed when Mary Jane tried to argue. "Your strength will be my motivation for me to get stronger. That doesn't sound like a distraction to me."

He made a good point, and Mary Jane knew that, but she could not help but bring up, "But what about the distance?"

Peter frowned. "I know the distance sucks. And I can't promise it won't be challenging. Our schedules are probably going to conflict at times and I'll be up at night really wanting to hold you and kiss you, but I can't. And you might cry and it'll break me because I can't be there for you. I can't guarantee it won't be hard. But"—he thumbed her bottom lip—"I will put more than one hundred percent into us if you'll let me. I'll focus on school. And I know school is my priority with how much is riding on me getting on good grades to maintain my spot and my scholarship. But I refuse for you to think I'm not thinking of you every day. You'll be a priority to me too."

Mary Jane's eyes sparkled. Peter… A soft smile overtook her place. "Second."

Peter blinked, confused. "What?"

"Make school your first priority," Mary Jane decided. "I'll be your second priority. That's the only way I'll feel comfortable. And I'll do the same."

Confusion melted in delight. "I can do that," Peter vowed. "And, if you let me, there's a question that's been on my mind since the moment I realized I cared about you so much. And I'd like to ask you now."

"Go on," Mary Jane encouraged softly. "I'm listening."

"Then, Sweets—Mary Jane Dreyar"—Peter set the canister on the railing and rested his forehead on hers—"will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes." Mary Jane smiled as she closed her eyes. "Yes, I will. Will you be my boyfriend?"

"For as long as you let me," Peter promised. "I promise I'll treat you the way you deserve as long as you promise to protect me from your dad."

Mary Jane giggled and pulled away for cerulean-scarlet and liquid gold to intimately connected. "I promise." She held fast to his shirt as he leaned down and swept her into a well-needed kiss that sealed their promise with the stars and the moon as their only witnesses.

Silver and Ena decided to go to Double Trouble for their late dinner with all of Ena's bags stored in her pocket dimension pack that Silver had been carrying around the entire day. Much to Silver's dismay, he told their waitress they would only need one check and he would be the payer and Ena looked too smug for his taste at his admittance. They worked through dinner in relative silence, which was fine with Ena, but it was awkward for Silver. He decided enough was enough, and he grouchily asked, "Well? Aren't you going to give me fashion advice or something?"

"I am," said Ena after she swallowed her mouthful. "I just want to finish my food before I lose my appetite speaking to you for an extended period of time."

Silver's eye twitched. Should've known she'd say something like that.

"But, anyways," Ena continued, "I guess gratitude is in order for your assistance today. If you'd like, I can pay for our food." Her eyes danced in hilarity. "After all, I'm pretty sure I make way more money than you do. You might want to save your chump change, Fullbuster."

Red coated Silver's cheeks as he gritted out, "Keep your money, Fernandes. I said I'm paying and I am paying." He took a swig of his drink. "Lulu would yell at me if I let you pay, anyways."

"She would." Ena could not hold back her slight laughter.

And Silver was amazed by it. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh like that without Lulu present." He smirked. "Getting soft already, Fernand—? Ah-ah-ah…!" He laughed nervously when a rapier was aimed for his throat. "N-Never mind."

Ena sheathed her blade. "I have to give it to L. With everything going on with her, she's taking it as well as I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Ena held her drink. "Think about it. She went from Spiritless to Mage pretty much overnight. And it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park for her." Something dimmed in her eyes. "I hated all those years she felt so useless. It must have hurt. All her family and friends had powers and she always felt like she was falling behind. I hated being so helpless to her pain."

Silver looked down at his food and remembered those times. "I know. I hated it too. I'm happy she has powers, but I'm really worried about her," he confided. "Her powers are amazing, but I've heard my dad and Aunt Lucy talk. She's so worried if more people find out about Luna's powers, more people will come after her."

"Can you blame them for worrying?" Ena pointed out. "I don't like it, but if they knew L's powers were this strong all this time, I get why they weren't ready to let her out of their sights. In the wrong hands, who knows what someone could do with L's Magic?" She frowned. "Which is why I keep stressing to her about training. I know she's angry with her dad for pushing her, but I get it. Maybe not the method, but I get it. She needs to control her Magic and, if she doesn't train, she'll just keep having outbursts until the wrong person likes what they see." Her jaw clenched. "I will never let her be used like that."

"Me neither," Silver agreed. "I know how it feels to have a family member in danger like that and I want to do everything in my power to protect them."

"Right. With Gary." Ena frowned. "Speaking of, where is Gary? Normally, when I'm staying with L, he always comes over to bug Nashi. I mean L told me Nashi's staying at his place, but I also know Gary's out of town…"

"O-Oh!" Silver swallowed. "Yeah, he's out of town for some job or something. He asked Nashi to take care of his houseplants while he was gone, so she decided to just stay at his place while he's gone."

Ena took a sip of her drink. "That's good. When will he be back? I need to get his new measurements for my spring line for his new under armor. He might have stopped growing, but people shift a little even if they don't notice it."

"I, um…" Silver toyed with his food. "I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"Ah." Ena did not think too far into it. "Well, I'll just use the measurements I have from the beginning of winter for now and make adjustments later. Not too big a deal." She cocked her head when she saw how closed off Silver had gotten. "Um… Was it something I said? Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Silver mumbled. "Everything's fine."

Ena furrowed her brow. "You don't have to lie to me," she put it to him bluntly. "We might not be friends, but we're guildmates, at the end of the day. You can be honest if something's bothering you."

Silver's jaw went taut. But I can't. You wouldn't understand. He looked away and his eyes caught one of the older models of LVs that sat in the dining room. It was playing the news and was showing coverage of Bellum alongside how reconstruction was going since disaster had struck.

Ena turned to see what he was looking at and saddened. "Yeah. The disaster in Bellum is tragic," she commented. "I wish the Prime Minister would just accept foreign aid. I talked about this with Aunt Lucy. It's a shame so many people lost their homes and their lives."

Silver watched Ena as he questioned, "What do you think of the suspect?"

"You mean that Devil they found in Bellum?" When Silver nodded, Ena toyed with the stray braid she had separate from the rest of her hair. "To me, it sounds like this was a setup," she believed. "I mean, I understand magical creatures can be chaotic, but they're just like wild animals. They don't attack provoked. What could have provoked a creature like that to demolish several cities?" She shook her head, repulsed. "I'm disgusted that Bellum pinned the whole thing on it. I don't know too much about Devils, but there are not too many magical creatures on Earth Land that can summon a floating country." She shrugged. "I doubt the trial will dig up enough evidence to even support it was behind it. My guess was this was a combined terrorist attack and the Devil is just the fall guy. We've seen it before. Terrorist blame an innocent bystander who gets incriminated."

"You think the Devil will be called innocent?"

Ena paused. "I'm not sure," she answered truthfully. "I don't know all the facts, but I personally think it's innocent and should be released back to its natural habitat. For all we know, it has a family and kids it needs to get back home to. And who knows? Maybe it was in the city to protect its family? I mean my mom told me plenty of stories about the alleged 'Demon Dragon King' that protected its family and…" Her eyes widened when she saw Silver had covered his face. "Fullbuster? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Silver sniffed. "It's nothing."

Ena sighed. "Fullbuster…"

"Look, it's nothing." Silver wiped his face with a clean napkin. "Just got a lot on my mind, okay? Don't make fun of me."

Ena softened. "I'm not making fun of you," she promised, gentle. "This time," she added. "But if you need to talk, I might be a last resort, but I'm here if you want to talk. And I won't judge. I'll just listen."

Silver eyed her. "You mean that?"

"Sure. You helped me." Ena reached across the table to cradle his hand in hers. "So let me help you out."

Those mayan blues glistened. Ena…

Ena dropped his hand. "And we can start with your absurd taste in clothing," she decided scathingly. "Tomorrow, we will be visiting a mall so we can get started. Today is the last day you're allowed to wear such a god-awful color scheme…"

Silver blanked. I should've known it was too good to be sure. He pressed his lips together, but it was no use. He blurted, "Hey, Fernandes?"

Ena paused on her tirade to pay him heed. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Ena was taken back when Silver smiled at her. No mockery or fakeness to her. A genuine smile. "You're kind of cool," Silver complimented, "so thanks for everything."

Ena fought down her own smile. "Well, that's nice, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy critiquing how bad you are at fashion."

Silver balked and jabbed a finger at her. "You're such a cruel witch!"

Ena raised an eyebrow. "And you're a lovesick idiot."

"Snot-nosed know-it-all," Silver bit.

Ena matched him and retorted, "Arrogant creep."

"Callous!"

"Insufferable!"

"Brat!"

"Jerk!"

Together, they shouted, "Freak of nature!" They held their glares at each other for a few moments before they broke into peals of laughter. Silver had paused to watch Ena laugh. It was subtle, but he could hear the song of the sea in her ears as her siren laugh added onto it and strengthened it. Maybe I don't have the answers to everything, he acknowledged, and I still don't understand what's going on with me, but… Whatever this feeling is, I hope it doesn't go away.

The Dragneel Residence was full of people tonight. Gajeel had booted Lucy out of her own kitchen to continue on with dinner so she and Levy could have their own little discussion over a glass of wine. Panther Lily had decided to go to Happy and Charla's for the evening for dinner. That left Natsu, Gale, and Gajeel in the kitchen, though Natsu was forbidden to touch anything and Gale helped his father out with dinner. Natsu groaned. "How come I don't get to cook anything?"

"Because you'd burned the house down," Gajeel and Gale deadpanned without hesitation.

Natsu sulked. "I'm not that bad…"

Gajeel snorted. "Salamander, it amazes me Bunny Girl hasn't left your ass since you can't do any housework," he guffawed. "Shoulda hooked up with a real man."

SMACK!

Natsu and Gajeel were head-to-head as Natsu growled, "Sounds like fighting words to me, Metal Head."

Gale inserted casually, "If you two fights, you can be your wives are going to leave you to fend for yourselves for the rest of the weekend." That was all it took for Natsu to sulk at the island and Gajeel to resume cooking, both grumbling under their breaths. "You guys might be powerful, but everyone knows you two are powerless over Mom and Aunt Lucy."

"Nuh-uh!" Natsu fired back. "I'm stronger than Lucy!" Cockily, he added, "I can tell her 'no' any time I want!"

"Really?" Gale challenged. "So if she walked in here and told you you had to the dishes, you'd tell her no?"

Natsu crossed his arms and imagined Lucy beckoning him with that sultry purr and dressed in one of his shirts. "Oh, Natsu…!" she cooed. "Can you do the dishes for me tonight, pretty please? If you get them done fast"—she played with them hem of her shirt—"we can get freaky later and you can do anything you want to me all – night – long." She winked at him. "Your Majesty."

Gajeel looked disturbed when Natsu slouched forward with a dreamy look on his face and drool running down his chin. "Whatever you're imagining, you perv, isn't what we were trying to say," he muttered dryly. He glanced down at his son. "Make sure you chop the onions in even chunks," he warned. "Making some big and some small will ruin the flavor."

"I got it, I got it," Gale grumbled. "Not like I haven't done this a thousand times or anything, Old Man."

"Just because you've done it a thousand times—"

"Doesn't mean I won't make a mistake." Gale shot his father a look. "I know, Dad."

Gajeel huffed, but he smirked afterwards. "Brat," he chuffed. "One of these days, you'll be cooking for yourself, y'know. Not like you'll have me to make all your meals for you." He halted after adding his potatoes to the stew and sighed through his nose. "Can't believe Liv's really leaving."

"Yeah." Gale fed off the sobriety as a frown cast on his face. "I'm gonna miss her."

Natsu agreed. "She's strong. She'll be okay," he assured. "Besides, that City of Metal seems like the best fit for her with her Magic." He punched a fist into an open hand. "Honestly, I'm tempted to go there and fight the chief. Sounds like she's pretty strong. I wonder how'd she'd fair against the Fire Dragon King?"

Gajeel threw a dishtowel at Natsu. "Don't let that title go to your head," he barked. "But I wouldn't mind going there myself." He grinned and showed his canines as he salivated. "Think of all the metal I could eat there."

You can't just eat an entire city! Gale shook his head. "Only you would want to go there to eat."

Natsu smirked. "Pretty soon you'll have those cravings too, and all you'll think about is food."

Gajeel chortled as Gale blushed. "Kid already has those cravings," he revealed as Gale turned redder. "Caught him the other trying to sneak in some—"

"Dad!" Gale looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. "You promised you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Oh, shut it. It's natural," Gajeel shushed him. "All Dragon Slayers get stronger eating their element. Glad to see the new types do the same. Nothing to embarrassed about. You know how many times your mom harassed me for eating the silverware at restaurants?" He licked his lips. "But those five-star restaurants used the best metal. How could I not eat it?"

Gale sweatdropped. And I'm supposed to consider that 'normal'?

"Whenever Lucy and I go out, she always gets mad when I ask them for my meat to be set on fire, but it tastes better that way," Natsu confessed. "She tried to get me to eat those stupid little flames from candles." He made a face. "But those taste so disgusting and I always taste the scent they give off. It's so gross. She used to let me bring a lighter, but…" He remembered the both of them standing outside the burned down establishment with Lucy forcing his head down as they furiously apologized to the entire staff.

Both Gajeel and Gale sweatdropped this time. How is he still married?

"Noticed any other changes?" Gajeel asked. "I know your mom's been on your ass, but she just wants to record everything for her book on Dragon Slayers."

Gale cringed as he remembered every single day since Margaret Town, his mother would startle him awake and poke and prod him and question him mercilessly over every little thing to record in her journal, even following what he ate. "I feel okay, I guess?" he supposed. "Nothing major. I guess a lot hungrier and a little tired, but at the same time, I have all this energy."

"Pretty standard," Natsu said. "You'll probably start growing taller than you would have been before." He boasted, "I know I grew even more with my Magic."

Gale could mentally see Natsu and his father standing against a measurement wall and the notable difference in their size. "Uh…"

"And you're still shorter than me," Gajeel teased. "What's that say about you, Salamander?"

"I could still grow!" Natsu defended. "I'm still young!" His cheeks grew red when Gajeel and Gale laughed at him. "Don't laugh at me! I could still grow!"

Gajeel shook his head and turned to his son (tuning out Natsu's rant about his height). "No urges or anything like that though?" he wanted to check. "I mean you are growing and you are a teenager... Being a Dragon Slayer sort of heightens all of that.

Gale gritted his teeth. He did not want to have this conversation. "No, Dad," he said tightly. "No 'urges'."

Gajeel was unconvinced. "Sure… Just let Natsu or me know if it happens." He lifted a pierced eyebrow when Gale wanted to object. "Not like if you have to jerk-off. We don't need to know that. But if these urges become intense to Igneel's level, try to let us know."

Now Gale understood and buried his objections. "I can do that." A few beats. "So he's really not coming back?"

"It's for the best." Natsu had rejoined the conversation, no longer feeling the need to grumble about his lack of height. "He needed the time to process and get his shit together. Let's just hope when he chooses to come home, he'll be calmer than before. We might be Fairy Tail, but that doesn't mean we let each other go unchecked." Gajeel and Gale murmured their agreements when they heard footsteps and Luke came to join them. Natsu nodded at his son. "Good to see you're actually out of your room," he noted. "Done with your work?"

Luke went straight to the refrigerator. "Nearly," he responded. "Just editing left." He took out beef jerky and tore into it with ease.

Gajeel raised his eyebrow. "I didn't know you ate meat? Thought you were a vegetarian?"

"I was." Luke tore into his next bite of beef jerky. "But I stopped a little while ago." He took a sniff of the stew and his face fell. "No meat?"

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "Not tonight."

Luke shrugged. "Bummer." He looked at his father. "I still have work to do, but I promised I'll come down to dinner."

Natsu sat back. "Before you go upstairs, there's been a change of plans," he informed. "With Mystogan gone, you'll be training with me. I can't promise we'll get as deep as he did with your studies, but we'll be working on finetuning your technique on Spiritless martial arts." He tilted his head to Gale. "I'll be training Gale too, but he'll be busy with Luna."

That caught Luke's attention and those disturbing dark eyes fled to Gale. "He's training Lu?"

Something about Luke's tone did not sit right with Gale and made his hackles raise. "Yeah," he grunted. "That a problem?"

Luke did not mind holding Gale's challenging stare. In fact, he drew closer to Gale and stared him down with those pitch-dark eyes. The Wild in ruby narrowed at the threat and a growl rumbled in Gale's chest. It was his declaration of challenge. Teeth bared, the Wild told he would not be disrespected. Normally, Luke was not one to retaliate. He would say his apologies and move on. But a shift came over Luke. A dark growl thundered from his throat. It was not a declaration. It was an outright command. Gale may not have liked Luke's tone, but Luke's growl told he would not be disrespected with this declaration. Those pitch-dark orbs held feral dominance within them and he flashed his Teeth of War. Gale flinched and tipped his chin down, but the Wild refused to give in.

Luke lifted his chin and deepened his growl. This was his final warning.

In a matter of seconds…

…Gale averted his eyes and shut his mouth.

Satisfied, Luke grinned. "Not at all. Lu won't like it, but it won't be fun." He flashed a smile at his father. "Mind if I spar with Gale from time to time too? I could use the practice."

Onyx observed look with a cool stare. "I'll allow it."

"Cool." Luke spared Gale another look and his smile widened when Gale did not lift his eyes. "See you at dinner." Tearing off more beef jerky, he climbed back up the steps.

Gajeel waited until he heard Luke had shut himself in his room to swing a glare to Natsu. "The Hell was that, Salamander?" he snarled. "Did you see—?"

"I did," Natsu addressed with no emotion in his voice. His eyes went from the staircase to Gale who set back to his task, ruffled. Lifting his eyes to Gajeel, his stare was all Gajeel needed to know his answer. Later when sensitive ears were not around, they would talk. Gajeel muttered instructions to Gale while Natsu tilted his head towards the ceiling.

I can't confirm it for now, but if he's really gone down that path, I'll have to watch him more. He's never used his influence against any except Igneel and they were always at a stalemate… His frown deepened. One way or another, he's changing…and I need to help him before it's too late.

The event had soon shifted from the first ballroom where Justin and Honey led everyone up and to the second ballroom. A nightclub setting had been set with a few hired dancers enticing the bold and the brave. The judges for the house ball were onstage with their microphones being checked and their assistants ensuring they looked fabulous. Honey's assistant Sugar and Justin's own assistant—a short entity with killer heels, a tailcoat, and a crop top button down—were doing last-minute setting sprays and fanning for the duo. But until the ball started, vogue house music took up the entire ballroom and many had begun to participate, some vogueing, other just dancing along.

The Strausses stuck together with at one of the high-rise tables near the sides of the ballroom with drinks in their hand. Esme came back to join the group with Guil escorting her and leaned on her husband for support. Evie regarded her sister in worry. "Are you sure you should be down here?" she asked over the music. "You aren't looking good."

"I'm fine," Esme dismissed, "I promise. Besides, I'm here to support JJ."

"And you've gone that," Ye-ji assured, "but you should get some rest, baby."

Esme shook her head. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid," she muttered, cross. "I can still party a little bit and have fun." She looked around the group. "Where's Ezra? And Nik? Nik was in and out of his sit at dinner."

Veronika shrugged. "I don't know. He was getting all worked up over a Com-call earlier," she noted. "Not sure about Ezra, but…" She drew close to Esme. "Don't force yourself, Es," she murmured. "I know you don't want to be left out of the fun, but just be careful."

"I know I need to be careful," Esme snapped. "How could you say that to me?"

Veronika was not one to back down. "I'm saying that as a reminder," she retorted. "I want you to be down here as much as you want to, trust me. I missed you like crazy and it feels like old times. But you're going to feel a lot of fatigue during pregnancy and that's okay. Nothing wrong with admitting you're tired and need a nap."

Esme did not snap back. She was the one to back down. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to get angry like that."

Veronika smiled. "Don't worry about it," she soothed. "Hormones are a bitch to deal with. But you have a husband and a girlfriend who love you enough to want to deal with all your crazy, pregnant or not. Take advantage of that."

Esme smiled and looked at Guil and Ye-ji in apology. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn. Can we stay for the ball and then go back to the room?" she asked them in a small voice. "I really want to see the ball, but I could also use a bedtime right afterwards. Someone's going to have to carry me."

Ye-ji and Guil exchanged smiles. "That's fine with us," Ye-ji assured. "Guil will carry you. I'll start a bath for you." She pulled Esme close to her. "And while I bathe you, Guil will get everything ready."

Esme's eyes comically widened. "But…"

"No buts," Ye-ji told her and placed a kiss on her nose, smiling when Guil rubbed Esme's shoulders. "We know you've been going through a lot these past few weeks, so we wanted to surprise you. We'll both be taking turns directing since I brought a few prototype toys with me to try."

Esme licked her lips. "So I'm just your little dummy you get to test on, huh?"

"You know you're much more than that, ma chattounette," Ye-ji purred. She could not hold back her delight when Esme shivered at Guil's hands. "You're carrying a child—Guil's child. We just want to worship you a little tonight as our thanks for being this incredible."

Esme looked at Ye-ji and hated how tears heated her eyes. "Oh, stop, you're going to make me cry," she blubbered. "And this isn't just mine and Guil's child. I was hoping you'd be there too."

"I know." Ye-ji met Guil's eyes. "Guil already told me. And I'd be honored to co-parent with you both. Just no 'mommy'," she jested. "They can call me by my first name." She wiped away Esme's tears. "Don't cry, Esme."

Esme fanned herself. "Well, then, you both need to stop being so sweet and loving to me," she admonished.

Veronika looked at the three of them in affection. I'm so happy Esme has two people who love her this much. She's so lucky. I'm happy the dynamic works so well. All of them are going to make great parents. She felt Spencer come closer to her and looked up at him to be taken back at the yearning she caught in his eyes as he gazed at Esme, Guil, and Ye-ji. "Something wrong, Captain?"

"Just jealous."

Veronika's eyebrows rose. "I didn't expect that. Of what?"

He gestured to her cousin and her partners. "Of them."

A fain grin. "Are you telling me you want a girlfriend and a husband?" Veronika asked in light jest. "I didn't beg you as the type, Captain."

But Spencer did not take to her joke as he usually would. He murmured, "I might have dated around when I was a boot, but it all stopped when I climbed up the ranks. It seemed impossible to balance what I do with a family. I've seen my teammates get Dear John letters and served divorce papers. I've watched them beg for their spouse or partner to not leave them. But it was hard and I get it. Being a military spouse isn't easy when your husband or wife is gone for weeks to months at a time to places you're not allowed to go."

Veronika looked away. "And that spouse is always worrying if their soldier is going to up and cheat on them with the first sign of fresh pussy they see on a job," she pointed out. "They question loyalty and infidelity until they can't take it anymore."

Spencer gave her that. "And everyone has the right to question it," he agreed. "But I've seen plenty of my teammates make it work too. Their partners and they have an understanding. It might not be an ideal situation, but they're willing to work through it. And the more I look at their families…" He sighed. "It makes me wish I had my own wife and kids."

"You want to get married?" Why did that bewilder her and unsettle her at the same time?

"Yeah." Spencer's lips twitched. "That shocking, Lucky?"

"A little, yeah," Veronika cared to admit. "I mean you don't seem like the type to settle down."

Spencer lifted his chin. "Because of who I am or because I'm a soldier?"

Veronika worked her mouth, but she could not bring herself to answer his question. So, she looked away and said, "Ivan and Lisa's fathers were soldiers—"

"Who didn't want to settle down," Spencer insisted with a low growl. "And both of them are rat bastards. I will never understand how one of them is still not dishonorably discharged from the force. But it wasn't because they were soldiers, Lucky, that they didn't want to settle down. They were pieces of shit to begin with."

"Maybe, maybe not," Veronika supposed, a little rattled at the fury in Spencer's tone. "But they were military all the same. They placed their work above everything else, even with knowing they had kids."

Spencer shook his head. "I don't understand why you don't just sue them for unpaid child support—"

"I am not dragging my kids through court." Veronika wanted to make that clear. "I don't want a jewel from those bastards. I make enough for Ivan and Lisa to live in comfort. I don't care about their fathers and I want nothing to do with them in either of their lives."

Spencer locked his jaw. "Understood, Lucky."

Veronika's shoulders drooped as she sighed. "Look, at the end of the day, Lisa and Ivan need stability. They need to know they aren't getting someone they see maybe six times out of the year. They need to know someone will be there on their birthday and at their first recital and their first day of school. I have to think about their feelings before anything."

"I understand that, Lucky." Spencer dipped his head to catch her eyes. "But I've always called when Lisa has a recital to hear her sing and play ukulele. And I get online when I can when Ivan wants to play Lacrima games with me. I might not be able to disclose my location to them, but they seem to understand even if I'm physically there, I'll put every effort into making sure I'm there for them in other ways. They understand that."

Veronika licked her lips. Why is he right? They do understand. Her eyes fell. But I… She turned her head out of Spencer's hold. "I need to use the bathroom." She waited for no one as she picked up the skirt of her dress and dashed off. She hated how aware she was of Spencer's stare following her, but she was relieved he did not chase after her.

She exited the bathroom with some hurried apologies and pardons and looked for the bathrooms. She found the women's restroom and was about to go in when she caught a glimpse of Nik and backtracked. He sat in an accent chair, hunched over. Curious, she approached him. He must have been too engrossed in what he was doing to notice she was sneaking up behind him, but she took advantage of that to read over his shoulder. His Compact and he was reading…

…DNA results?

Veronika's eyes widened when she saw the word CHILD (SON) and then ALLEGED FATHER. As Nik shifted down the chart notes on his Compact, Veronika gasped when she saw the category PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 99.99998%. "You have a kid?!" she shrieked, too shocked to laugh the way Nik was startled at her approach.

"Ronnie—!" Nik tried to calm.

Veronika was shaking her head and found herself hysterically laughing. "Nik, you have a kid? A son?" She shook her head, dazed. "Oh my god! You have a—! Mmmph!" She glared at Nik and bit into his hand when he tried to smother her shouting.

The bite did not work on Nik as he glared back. "I am not letting you speak until you can tell me you're not going to shout again." Pale greens narrowed. "Okay?"

Veronika nodded and worked her jaw when Nik let go of her. In a whisper-shout, she demanded to know, "Nik, you have a son!" She did not care that he rubbed his face, irked. "Why didn't you tell me? I mean I get we're not in the same country all the time, but I'd think after you were with me for Ivan, you'd tell me you had a son! A son, Nik?"

"Shut up!" Nik hissed back at her. "This is a new development for me too."

"What do you…?" Veronika caught on and snorted. "Oh my god, this is a kid from a one-night stand?" She laughed, hysterical and sanely amused, while Nik gritted his teeth. "And you got on me all those years ago. Who should've been using protection now, Nicky?"

Nik glared at her. "Are you done?"

Veronika smirked. "For now." She tore his Compact from his grasp and looked over the results himself. "Do you even know who the mother is? How did you find out about your son anyways? Hey!" She pouted when Nik took back his Compact. "I was looking at that, you dick!"

Nik scowled at her. "Well, don't," he retorted. He messed with his hair. "And yeah, I know who the mom is. Met her on a tour," he explained, but he pinned Veronika was a glare when she looked like she wanted to say something. She closed her mouth and encouraged him to keep talking. "Not like I messed around with a lot of women anyways—"

"Oh, that's a bunch of bullshit—"

"Anymore," Nik tacked on in a snarl. "Happy?"

Veronika raised her hands in surrender.

Nik rolled his eyes. "She was an archaeologist on the tour I was on down in Valchestria," he continued. "Met her after my meeting with one of the leaders there. We were in the middle of doing an infiltration to sus out Faction members."

"'Faction'?" Veronika parroted. Then, she remembered. "The terrorist group. I heard about them on the news with what happened in Bellum. They said that creature that destroyed all those cities was a part of the Faction."

Nik nodded. "Yep. That's the Faction. I got out of the meeting and she was there for a meeting after mind. We met and hit it off. It took some convincing, but we went on a date—"

"Well, that's a first," Veronika regarded. "You were always the type to meet them at bars."

Nik's nostrils flared as orange static clacked off him. "You want me to explain or not?"

Veronika batted off Nik's orange static with her own pink static. "Go on."

Nik huffed, but he went on: "The date was just her giving me a tour of the museum she was working with on this dig and dinner. We went on a few dates before we slept together and…" Agitation made more static clack off him. "Damn her. Second I got out of the shower, she up and disappeared on me. She just—!"

CLICK!

Veronika cared little Nik doubled over in pain for biting his tongue. "So, to get this straight, you dated this woman properly with actual dates before you slept with her," she surmised. A scowl grew on her face. "Okay, where is the woman and how do I get to her and shake her for leaving you like that and hiding your son?"

Nik recovered as he rubbed his jaw. "You think that wasn't my first question?" He tapped his Compact and offered it to Veronika to look at. "Took me a while until I hired a P.I. Occultist." He pulled a sneer. "The man was a bastard, but he could get the job done. At first, I just wanted to find her because I wanted to demand why she left since I thought we had something. But then…"

Veronika spoke his unsaid words. "But then you got the report she had a son."

Nik grimaced and nodded. "Yeah."

Concern danced in Veronika's eyes. "Since it's confirmed you're his father, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Nik answered. Exhaustion smothered his words. "I kept thinking of all my options, but I can't just show up at her doorstep like a I'm a ghost from Christmas past and tell her son I'm his father." He rubbed his brow. "I didn't even know the kid was mine until today when I got the test results back. Ezra pulled some strings for me with a geneticist he knows to do the test discreetly. I could take her to court—"

"No."

Nik raised an eyebrow at the steely adamancy in Veronika's tone. "Why not?"

"Think of her—your—son in all this," Veronika insisted. "Dragging her to court will affect him too. It won't be easy for him to see you're his father and make him want to get to know you if his mother wants nothing to do with you."

Nik gritted his teeth. "But I'm his father—"

"Who was absent his entire life—"

"And that's not my fault—!"

"I'm not saying it is," Veronika retorted. Expending her anger, she said softer, "It isn't your fault you weren't there for him. But you've got to take this slow. For now, I'd reach out to the mother. If she doesn't take to emails and Com-calls well, then maybe stop by her work. But you both need to make sure you meet your son on equal terms. Forcing this on them will just hurt everyone more." A bitter smile betrayed him. "I'd know, remember?"

Pale greens softened. "I'm sorry, Ronnie," he apologized.

"Don't be," Veronika shushed. "I'm just giving you my perspective as the mother in the situation. But you're a much better father than those two. You want to be in their life and you're a decent human being." She smiled. "You'll be a great dad, Nicky."

"Not like I had the best role model for it," Nik reminded.

Veronika wanted to agree with him. Out of all four of the Dreyar siblings, she was the most inclined to agree with him. But in this moment, she hesitated and decided to say, "Maybe, maybe not." Stepping past that, she added, "Whatever you need, I'm here for you. Everything might be frustrating, but I'm still here for you to help you in any way you can."

Nik managed a smile. "Thanks, Ronnie. I mean that. I know I was a dick to you—"

"Forget it," Veronika dismissed. "We were both pretty high strung about coming back here and seeing Laxus."

Nik nodded. "Do you regret coming back here?"

"At first, I did," Veronika admitted. "But I'm happy I listened to Sprite. Ivan and Lisa-Jane love being in this family and I remember loving being a part of it. And with Esme pregnant, I want to make sure we stay in contact. I want to be there for her and I want Ivan and Lisa-Jane to grow up with our family chaos."

"Even if that means they spend time with Laxus?" Nik noted the way Veronika flinched. "Whether you like it or not, he is our dad—"

"He's your dad," Veronika said harshly. "He is my biological father and that's that. No, don't say anything," she quieted when Nik opened his mouth. "You might have seen some of the arguments, but you didn't hear all of them, okay?" She took a breath to calm herself down before her Magic spiraled beyond her control. "But Captain Lates said some things that have me…consider if Laxus should be a part in their lives. I'm forced to accept he's their grandfather, but I'll need to speak with him about boundaries."

Nik resigned himself to a nod. "Whatever you want, Ronnie. They're your kids."

"And soon, you'll be seeing your son and making these decisions too," Veronika noted.

"A son…" Nik shook his head. "I can't believe it. I'm terrified, but…I'm also not. I've always wanted a mini-me." He winced. "But it's going to be a fight to the death, knowing that stubborn woman."

Veronika cocked her head. "Why is that?"

Nik offered her a faintly amused grin. "You're not the only one who despises the military."

Veronika had to laugh. "Then, I think I'm going to like her." She looked back down at the Compact. It was on the website for the Archaeology Society and had pulled up a profile on one of the members. Framed there was a kind face with black hair with blue at the roots. Her dark eyes had flecks of red if you looked closer and she carried with her a small, trustworthy smile. She had her doctorate with a list of titles after her last name listed as EMMA BAINBRIDGE. But it was her. It was the woman.

It was the woman in the photo Gale carried in his wallet.

°•°•°•°

Býleistr sat at Nashi's feet as she fiddled with her earrings, unhappy. He remarked, "You look fine. Stop fussing."

Nashi rolled her eyes. "I should just take everything off," she muttered. "Gary's in prison and here I am partying. How sick is that?" She left the bathroom to sit on the edge of the bed. The shoebox Ellie had gifted her remained untouched and unwrapped. "I just can't go downstairs and smile when he's somewhere in a detention center."

Býleistr hopped up onto the bed and put a paw on her thigh. "Tell me, Princess. With your brother gone, do you still eat?"

Nashi shot Býleistr a haphazard look. "What? Yes, I'm going to eat. Why wouldn't I eat?"

"Do you still go on jobs?"

"Well, yeah, I need to make money somehow and…" Nashi narrowed her eyes. "Okay, doing the bare basics to get by in life is a very different thing than attending a ball designed for everyone to hook-up by the end of the night."

"And do you think he would want you to be in his bed, crying your eyes out, miserable beyond belief?" Býleistr pressed.

Nashi growled. "No. Gary wouldn't want that."

"Then, why are you condemning yourself to that life?" Býleistr demanded to know. "If he wouldn't approve of you living like a shell of yourself—?"

"Am I not allowed to feel sad and freaking guilty that he's in jail, possibly about to be exposed to the world when I'm still here with my freedom and I have to lie and pretend to my friends and deal with them hating on Gary for not being there for me in the hospital when I should be there for him?" Nashi shouted in a broken voice.

"Princess, you were shot," Býleistr snarled. "Several times. With Anti-Ethernano bullets. You survived an explosion—!"

"Because of Gary and Skade!" Nashi cried as tears sprung up. "They shouldn't have protected me! You shouldn't have taken me away! We could've—! W-We could've stood up and fought—!"

"And for what?" Býleistr bellowed, tail lashing. It was almost comical a lion's roar came from such a fluffy tomcat. "For what, Princess? You were shot and weakened. You think you could've taken down all those soldiers on your own?" He licked his chest to calm himself down and flattened his fur. "We made an arrangement," he admitted, quiet.

Nashi reached over for a tissue to dab her eyes. "I'm sorry. What?"

Býleistr sighed. "Wolverine knew if it came down to it, you both would be put into jeopardy. He knew being so injured, you'd want to stay behind to help him. But he couldn't risk it." His eyes closed. "We agreed we would do what it took to protect you, but it was the Wolverine who made the plan." He opened his eyes to show no deceit in those wild oranges. "He cared about you too much for you to get caught up in his mess."

Nashi sniffled and checked the tissue for any make-up that had come off. "Yeah, well, I'm going to do everything in my power to get him out of this mess. I don't care what happens to me, Býleistr. I'll do whatever it takes to get him out." She got up.

"And then?"

Nashi paused.

Býleistr questioned again, "And then what?" He shook his head when Nashi had nothing to say. "This is exactly what happened in Bellum. You had such a big plan and you never thought outside of the first step."

Nashi tensed.

Býleistr braced himself for the war she would ensue, but she did something he did not expect. She crumpled to the ground with her dress flared around her as a huffing sob escaped her. Býleistr was quick to get back to the ground and circle her until he could slink into her lap. On two paws, he butted his head against her chin and let out soothing purrs.

"I hate feeling like this," Nashi whispered. "If Gary was here, he wouldn't be crying. He'd be getting things done." She hugged Býleistr close. "I feel like I'm failing him and his family."

"Princess, you're about to tell the entire world you are in an interspecies relationship to save the Wolverine from death," Býleistr reminded in murmur. "Kyler stressed the lash back, but you didn't care. You're risking so much to make sure he comes home. That is not failing, Princess."

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Nashi sniffled.

"Because even being turned by an Agent and being the daughter of a Demon, you are still human." Býleistr pulled back to give her such honest eyes. "And that, Princess, is why it is even more admirable for you to do this. Most mortals care for their image. They cannot bear the public shame. But there are some mortals who will forgo their own image for the sake of those who need protection—for the ones they care about."

Nashi sniffed again and looked down at Býleistr. "You sound like you're talking from experience."

Býleistr's ears twitched, but he said nothing.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK.

"Nashi? It's Ace."

Býleistr jumped off Nashi as she got to her bare feet and smoothened out her dress. Glancing in the mirror that her make-up was intact, she went over to her door and opened it wide. She aimed a smile at him. "Hi. Did Mama Justin send you up here to get me?"

"No, he didn't," Ace assured. "I was the one to want to come up and he…simply agreed with me." He took his time looking at her up and down. "And you look flawless except for your lack of shoes"

Nashi gestured to the inside of her hotel room before going over to the abandoned shoebox on her bed. "I have the shoes, I swear. I was just contemplating if I was in the mood to wear them."

"And the verdict is?" Ace asked as he shut the door behind him.

Nashi took off the lid and peeled back the tissue paper to present her heels to him. "Fairy Godmother, will you please help me complete my look for the ball?"

Ace chortled as he came over. "Of course, Cinderella. Sit." Nashi did so and Ace took a knee as he undid the ankle straps. "I love the shoes. Stilettos are a good choice for dancing." He gave a longing glance to his boots. "I'd be wearing mine if I could."

Nashi frowned. "Why didn't you?" Her mind flashed back to the tightness on Justin's face as he and Honey spoke of Ace. "Honey?"

"Yeah." Ace had both heels slipped on and strapped up. "I know Sashay Rosé from seeing them on Drag Race and I know he isn't the most…welcoming when jocks wear heels." He shrugged. "But it is what it is. My boots are fine." He helped Nashi stand by offering her a hand. "How are you feeling in your man-eater heels?"

"Like I'm tall enough to stop breaking my neck when I look up at people," Nashi giggled with Ace joining. "Did the dinner go well? I'll have to thank JJ for sending me up my food."

"It went well," Ace confirmed. "Justin was already introducing me to people when we got together, so it was much easier talking to everyone." A beat. "But some people were asking about you."

Nashi's eyes went downcast. "I didn't think I'd be noticed…"

"Not by too many people," Ace assured her. "It was mainly Justin's family and a few others. He told them you'd come down if and when you were ready." He searched Nashi's face. "Are you ready?" Soft question. No push. No pull. "I know Justin wants you there, but we won't force you downstairs."

Nashi took a moment to gather herself. "I want to go downstairs."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Nashi's smile was stronger now. "But thanks for checking on me."

Ace offered his arm and Nashi took it. "My pleasure." She grabbed her clutch as Ace opened the door and complimented, "And the clutch is beautiful. I take it Ena had a hand in it as well?"

"Like she did with most of our clothes." Nashi made sure the door was closed and she and Ace were off to the elevator. "She's a genius. She's really going to make a name for herself one day. Lu's lucky to have her as a best friend. Ena refuses for Lu to shop without her."

"I follow Ena on insta and I see your sister as her model a lot," Ace remarked.

"Yeah, Lu's Ena's muse. I don't think I've ever witnessed Luna in any horrible outfit." Nashi shook her head. "But that's what happens when your friends with the fashionista of Fairy Tail."

It did not take long for Ace and Nashi to board the elevator and get off at the lobby. Ace escorted Nashi down to the ballroom lounge. It was obvious those dressed up for the evening were part of Honey and Justin's event as they spoke in low conversation and took a break from the action. It was not until Ace opened one of the ballroom doors that Nashi heard the roaring crowd and the music. The lights were jarring at first, but Nashi got used to the strobes and flashes within seconds. It was amusing to see all these people in expensive suits and dresses hollering and shouting their praise as they parted for those participating in categories of the ball.

"Looks like some young blood is showin' all sorts of body, people!" Honey called from the stage with the other judges. "Werk, honey! Werk and twerk!"

Nashi searched the crowd of people. She caught a glimpse of Tesla jumping up and down as she wagged her finger in praise at the next contestant. She recognized the Strauss Clan sprinkled into the crowd, but when she caught Ellie's eye, she could not hold back her smile when Ellie squealed and pulled over a woman to come charging towards her.

"My true woman, you made it!" Ellie hugged Nashi tight. "I'm so happy you're down here and looking tres fabulous!"

Nashi hugged her back. "Thanks, Ellie. Glad to be here." She pulled back and looked between Ellie and the woman. "And is this the date you kept a secret from us?"

Ellie blushed while the woman laughed. "I'm Ines," she introduced and shook Nashi's hand. "I work with her at the firm."

"Ooo, a coworker relationship!" Nashi swatted at Ellie. "I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner! Ines, it's so nice to meet you! Finally, I have a face to the person who keeps making my best friend blossom all the damn time when she gets a text message!"

"Nashi!" Ellie hissed, mortified.

Nashi lifted her hands in innocence. "You and JJ betray me to Gary all the time. This is payback. And you have a lot more coming. A lot."

"Fine," Ellie sighed. "I deserve it." She jerked her thumb over to the crowd of people. "The next category is going to be is going to be sex sirens," she sing-sang. "Now I know Gary's the only sex siren on your mind"—Nashi blushed, but she spared a laugh—"but I mean it's bare-chested stripper men and a little eye candy makes the heart grow fonder."

Nashi shook her head, amused, and was about to voice her answer when Ines brought up, "And just think. When your man comes home and you tell him you were wowed by a bunch of mascs, think how hot jealous sex will be?"

"Ines!" Ellie yipped over Nashi's wide eyes and jaw drop.

But Ines was not the slightest bit apologetic. "What? It's true."

"It is," Ace agreed with his eyes finding Justin as he praised the next contestant. "And you can bet your ass Justin will drool a little over those sex sirens and I'll show him he only needs to care about this sex siren."

"Are you participating?" Nashi wondered.

Ace shook his head. "No, not this time."

Nashi blinked. I felt it. He's…uncomfortable. But why? She tucked away the information for now. "Well, if I'm going to get hot jealous sex, then we better get a front-row seat." She gave a loud laugh when Ellie squealed and pulled her through the throng.

Nashi and Ellie ended up next to Tesla and Jaxton as well as Evie and Ola. Nashi hugged Evie and Ola like they were family and was surprised when Tesla launched her with an embrace. But that surprise melted when Nashi could smell a hint of alcohol from Tesla.

"Nashi, I'm happy you're here!" Tesla crooned. "Ellie was telling me you might come downstairs, but we weren't sure!"

"Well, here I am." Nashi nodded at Jaxton. "Hi, Jax." Her lips twitched into a smirk. "Tesla, you excited to see some masc sex sirens?"

"You bet I am!" Tesla cheered. "All those muscles and pecs and ugh! Pardon me if I start drooling, ladies—Oh!" She looked up to see Jaxton had fastened his arms around her waist and she lovingly patted his cheek. "Don't worry, Jackie, I drool over you all the time, but tonight's our night to look at some pretty hot people."

Ellie and Nashi giggled amongst themselves when Jaxton looked disturbed at his new nickname and muttered, "You can look, but you know the rules."

Tesla sighed loudly. "Don't touch," she recited with a melodramatic eye roll. "Ellie, is your partner are clingy as Jackie?"

"Very much," Ines interjected as she kissed Ellie's temple and both women smiled. "And she likes it."

"I am not clingy." The words that came out from Jaxton were supposed to be annoyed, but he just sounded pouty.

"Of course not, Jackie, you're just a little puppy who gets jealous when Mommy plays with big dogs," Tesla cooed and did not notice or maybe did not care Jaxton's eye twitched and his jaw went taut. The look on his face might have been blank, but everyone could feel the murderous aura shrouding him when Tesla turned around to squish and pinch his cheeks. "Aww, don't worry, Jackie, Mommy always has time for her favorite puppy-wuppy…!"

Nashi whispered up to Ace, "How much do you want to bet Jaxton will not let this go until tomorrow?"

"No need to bet. I know he wouldn't let that shit go because I wouldn't let it go," Ace guffawed. "And you can bet Gary wouldn't either."

Nashi frowned. "I call him a dog and puppy all the time."

Ace's eyes twinkled in mischief. "Do you call him that or does he let you call him that?"

Nashi wanted to answer that when Justin called, "All right, all right, people it is time for our sex siren category!" The music changed to a laidback bass. "And as our goddesses Bartier and Jovon just said, 'There's some whores in this house'…!"

Nashi whooped and cheered alongside the others.

"Now, everyone, get out your singles for our muscular mascs as they walk it, bring it, and pose!" Justin announced. "To start this off, we've got Cleo from the House of Chantel coming on strong with that 'Daddy's home' look, my god!" His fan was whipped out so he could cool himself. "Honey, my bussy is dripping with this one!"

Cleo Chantel was a bulky man with twin scars beneath his pectorals and full of delicious tattoos. A mask feathered his eyes to reveal steep green orbs and his curled locks were ready to be tussled and clawed. Everyone could not stop gawking and whistling how his physique was wrapped in a skin-tight vest, cuffs, and slacks that showed the curve of his rear. He dove to the floor, but he gave a slow body roll strong enough that his muscles rippled and had everyone wagging their fingers and throwing the paper singles Honey and Justin provided for the event.

Ellie and Nashi rapped along to the category song as it played overhead and vibrated the room, "I said, certified freak…! Seven days a week…! Wet ass pussy…! Make that pull-out game weak…!"

Tesla locked eyes with Cleo and looked deliriously pleased when Cleo slid over to her. He rolled his body just centimeters away from her own until he towered over her. Tesla reached up to touch his mask, but he caught her wrist with delicate fingers and surprised her when he twirled and dipped her, the crowd going wild as his nose ran up her chest and to her jaw. He righted her and continued his strut with Tesla's drunk grin slapped on her gone the moment Jaxton whirled her around for a hard kiss.

Nashi and Ellie tittered at the display and continued to rap along with the song as they rolled their bodies. Ace joined in and Nashi let go of all the pain and guilt that had weighed her down to let loose at the ball. And as she allowed the energy to carry her, she did not notice Býleistr had slunk into the ballroom under the guise of his Cat Form and his eyes focused on her. He could not help but feel relief in seeing her smile. I'll do what you asked of me, Wolverine, Býleistr promised. Just do what you promised me… Make her smile every day just like this.

°•°•°•°

Saudade could barely stay on her feet. A lazy smile had crossed her face as she snuggled into Majime's side, but he was the reason she was still standing. She wanted to cheer along and smile and dance, but it was becoming increasingly hard as the night wore on. Majime noticed how her eyes drooped and concerned fettered into his system. "Tired, Bloody?" he murmured. When Saudade's hummed incoherently, he offered, "Why don't we take a little walk? If you feel more awake after that, we'll stay. If not, we'll go to the room and I'll give you a massage."

Saudade's humming increased. "Sounds lovely," she murmured. "Let's skip the walk and do the massage."

Majime chuckled. "Come on, Bloody." He kept Saudade pressed into his side as he skittered around the hyped crowd (and plagued the stray Mallow Coon sitting in the back of the ballroom an odd glance) and got them out of the ballroom. It was considerably colder outside the ballroom with soft orchestra music playing. Other guests who wanted to continue conversation had sat in the lounge, but Saudade and Majime passed them all to get back to the lobby.

Saudade was too exhausted as she stumbled to match Majime's strides, but her blood burned her and forced her eyes to open wide. Dread filled her. Oh no. I know that feeling. Her blood boiled even hotter. He's here. She did not have to look far when her eyes went to her left and connected with smokey topaz. The name slipped out before she could stop it. "Ezra…"

Majime halted to look down at his girlfriend. "What did you say?"

"Saudade?"

Majime looked over at a tall man dressed in a black with a green bowtie staring at Saudade with a mixture of horror, fear, and awe. "You know him?" Majime whispered down to Saudade.

Saudade winced when Ezra's eyes flashed to Majime. "Yeah. Do you remember Evie? This is Ezra, her younger brother," she introduced. Clearing her throat, she smiled hesitantly at Ezra. "Ezra, hi. It's been a while. This is my boyfriend Majime."

Majime beamed and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, man."

But Ezra did not take the hand. Slowly, those smokey topazes looked at the hand then back at Majime. Roughly, he said, "Nice to meet you too."

Majime's beam faltered and he dropped his hand. Saudade coughed and tugged on Majime's arm. "Sorry to bother you, Ezra. Your family is all in the ballroom," she told him. "Majime, let's get back to the room, okay?"

Ezra lurched forward. "W-Wait!"

Majime's eyes zeroed on Ezra's hand latched Saudade's arm. "Can you let go of her, please?" Tone hard. "It's rude to grab someone."

"A-Ah, it's okay, Majime," Saudade quickly inserted with a weak smile. "I haven't seen Ezra in a while and I'm sure he just wanted to catch up." She cast Ezra a meaningful look. "Right?"

Ezra let her go as if she burned him and shook his head. Not out of negation, but he shook his head like a pain came about him. "Right. Yeah, I-I'm sorry about that. Just been a while."

"Right…" Majime drawled. He turned to his girlfriend. "Saudade? What would you like to do?" Eyes wary glanced at Ezra. "We can go back to the room or stay down here…?"

Saudade did not even think about it. "Let's go back to the room—"

"Wait!" Ezra gazed at Saudade with imploring eyes. "Just for a few minutes? Pl-Please, that's all I ask."

Majime looked like he wanted to tell Ezra off at this very second, but he held himself back and stayed quiet. This was not his place to make a choice. He only raised his eyebrows when Saudade looked up at him with questioning in her eyes. Her eyes swept down for a moment before she gave a nod. "Sure." A quiet agreement. "The lounge should be good." She pulled Majime towards the lounge and Ezra followed with steps Saudade was all too aware of and bypassed a tipsy girl and her boyfriend. The three of them found a loveseat and an accent chair. Saudade and Majime took the loveseat and Ezra settled on the accent chair.

Majime's gaze darted between Ezra and Saudade. "So how do you two know each other?" he decided to ask.

Saudade cringed. "We used to date."

Now that shocked Majime. "Oh. Got it." He looked over at Ezra again. "Do you want me to stay or go?" he murmured to Saudade. "Whatever makes you comfortable."

Now Saudade raised her eyebrows. "You'd let us talk alone?"

"Well, yeah." Majime shrugged. "I'll make my rounds to everyone to tell them good night from both of us." A smile tugged at his lips when he saw the pressing concern on Saudade's face. "It's okay, Bloody. Neither one of us have anything to worry about. But it's up to you. Either way"—he leaned down so his forehead touched her temple—"definitely giving you a massage later."

Saudade sighed through her nose. "Go say your good-byes from you and me, Spidey," she decided. "I'll be here." She accepted Majime's kiss to her temple and watched his every move as he got up and walked away and back to the ballroom. Once he had slipped back into the ballroom, she let her eyes drift to Ezra—

Smokey topaz and dark chocolate clashed.

Breaking eye contact, Saudade smoothed down her baby hairs on her edges. "So." She cleared her throat. "How have you been?"

"Are you still afraid of me?"

Saudade's eyes jumped back up to Ezra's to see the sorrow in them. "No," she whooshed. "No, no, it's not that, I promise!" Without her meaning to, her eyes lowered. "But, well, you know… We might not have seen each other in a while, but I understand your Magic."

"You shouldn't have to adjust for me," Ezra whispered.

Saudade ignored that in favor of a brighter topic. "So, how have you been?" she tried again. "I saw on Evie's insta a few years ago about you moving to Melandia? How's that going for you? What do you do there?"

Ezra dropped his gaze. "I'm a lab tech, but I'm applying for a position as a magigeneticist assistant," he confessed. "I'm in my master's program since I graduated from my bachelor's early. I've been, uh…doing some more research on mutations geared towards Changelings."

Saudade's lips curled in fond memory. "You always said you wanted to study magical genetics," she remembered. "I'm happy you're accomplishing your goal. What's the current project you're on?"

But Ezra was half-listening and not because the conversation did not entice him. He could hear his own heartbeat as the world blurred before him, A trickle of sweat beaded down his temple and, in his mind, his breathing sounded louder than any conversation in the room.

"Ezra?"

His stare jerked up and Saudade was the only clear person in the room.

"Are you okay?" Saudade scooted closer to him from the loveseat. No fear in her movements. Only old worry. "Talk to me. What can I do to help?"

Ezra touched his temple as a chilling growl echoed in his mind and through his bones. "This was a bad idea," he choked. "I can't… I can't do this." He ignored Saudade calling his name as he leaped from his seat to dash away. He muttered his pardons and apologies for all those whom he bumbled into, but his breathing shuttered and that growl booming within his head started vibrating in his chest. An icy-hot drowned his body and he hated how he could feel himself sweating. Eyes darting around, he looked for an exit.

Need to leave. Can't say. I was so stupid.

"Everything all right, sir?"

It pained Ezra when he denied his body the instinctually need to throttle whoever was near him. He could smell them. Female. But the scent was unattractive to him. Ezra's lips curled, but he muffled any snarl trying to rise up and shook his head like he was trying to shake off the growl. "I'm fine," he panted. "Exit. I need an exit. Not to a main road."

"If you go straight and take the first right, you'll find an exit that leads to an alley—"

"Thank you," Ezra blurted and ushered himself away. No apologies left his lips for those he bumped into. He needed to get away. His breathing was consuming his ears and his very heartbeat felt like it was hurting each pump. He went down the hallway on his first right, but the snarl got out and he faltered. Blankly, he saw bathrooms were in this hallway and threw himself into the men's bathroom. He ignored the other occupants to find a stall and lock himself in it. "Gotta stay in control," Ezra whispered. "Can't… Can't…" He fiddled around within his jacket pocket to produce a syringe and a vial with…

…black serum…

Shakily, Ezra tried his hand at loading the syringe with the vial, but he could not. A force held him back. A force he had not felt in years. There were no words to this force. Nothing a human could understand. But Ezra knew what that growl meant. His mind flashed forward to large paws with claws unsheathed pacing back and forth. "No," Ezra whispered. "We were doing so well."

The growl increased.

Ezra swallowed, but his throat burned. His hands violently shook as he opened the vial and tried to load the syringe once more. "If you don't calm down, I have to use this," Ezra insisted in a hurried whisper. "Please. We've been doing so great so far—"

BANG-BANG-BANG!

The vial slipped.

"Everything okay in there?" came uneasy call.

Smokey topaz widened.

CRASH!

Black serum sprayed onto the floor.

Ezra's breath quickened. The questions from outside his stall were muffled as a dissonance set in. That growl, heady and demanding, filled his head to the point of an onset migraine and forced Ezra's back against the stall. His jaw flexed and he could feel his canines widening and his teeth shifting to make room. "Stay…in control," he begged in wheeze. "Can't…hurt her… Nnngh!" He saw brown fur sprout on his arm and break through his button-down and clamped a hand down on it. His eyes widened and for a moment, smokey topaz shifted to an electric blue, but he fought it off.

Please, Ezra begged again. Control. Can't hurt her.

But the growl resounded louder. He felt the pull, the need to run, and he knew where the destination was. Electric blues piled over one of the smokey topaz as black inked his sclera. The war waged on his mind was about to have a victor. Ezra shook his head. "No, please, calm down," he begged. "Please, I—Nnngh!" Horror filled him when he saw his shoe had been broken as his foot expanded and merged and darkened with the threat of a clawed paw. The metallic tang of blood hit the back of his throat as his overgrown incisors hung out of his mouth. It was one thing to transform with a willing host. It was another thing to transform with an unwilling one.

"I can't stay here!" Ezra tried to open the door, but the door was thrown back from his hand and he felt terrible seeing it had hit the man on the other side. But he knew what he had to do and started running. Can't stay here. Gotta stay in control. Can't hurt her again. And as he sprinted away, he did not notice a pair of eyes followed him…from within the bathroom mirror.

°•°•°•°

Tesla came out of the bathroom stall looking royally flushed and all giggles. She pardoned herself from other women and commented on a top a patron was wearing before she settled at a sink to wash her hand. She knew what she looked like and she loved what the mirror showed her. Lips thoroughly kissed and sucked, those red undertones in her skin making their presence known, her eyes a shade darker, her glitter on her skin. This has been such a great weekend, she thought as she finished with her hands and went to dry them. I'm so happy Jang-ta and I could come. I needed this after all the craziness back home.

She paused and all that giddy tipsiness she loved dulled into a morbid sobriety. Part of me wants to just ignore that 'Zelda' woman or whomever. I have enough to deal with. But…maybe she's onto something. That picture… I don't know why I cried, but… Her mind flashed to the old photo and the terrified little girl looking for an exit. That girl looks just like me. And that man… He looked exactly like—

Nausea rolled in her stomach and had her lurch. "No use thinking about it now," she muttered. Hands dry, she straightened out her dress and her hair. "Think of a wonderful thought. Jang-ta and I cosplaying as Cinderella and Selan Prince Charming." Her happy grin was back as she made her way to the exit. "There we go. All better—"

BANG!

Tesla flinched and looked down the hall to see the side exit had not just been pushed open, but one of the doors had been knocked down and the other was unhinged. Snow had drizzled down like rain and let all the cold air in that gave Tesla goosebumps. She inched closer to the exit when she cursed herself. "Please don't rush into danger," she begged herself. "Get the proper authorities. Don't do anything stupid—"

A ragged moan.

CRASH!

That alerted Tesla. Someone's out there! She ignored everything else and hugged her arms as she battled her way from the hallway and into the night. The side exit led to a large enough alleyway with a nice patio. It seemed like this would be a popular spot for a smoke break or a quickie when tensions were running high. To her left was the main street bustling with Lacrima Cars and buses. But to her right, the alleyway extended. She squinted, but she vaguely made out a stumbling shadow dragging itself along. "Okay, shady person, do not follow," Tesla ordered herself. "You are a strong, independent girl, but they looked stronger—"

The shadow collapsed on their knees and vomited.

Tesla weathered through the snowy rain to get down the alley. You're stupid. You're too soft. Jang-ta is going to so spank me. Why am I nice? As she hedged her way down and cursed out her heels for not being built for uneven asphalt, she called out to the shadowy figure, "H-H-Hello? Are you okay? Do you need me to get some help?"

The figure moan and hacked before trying to get to their feet. "Go away," came a cross between a moan and a snarl.

"I will," Tesla promised, "but I want to make sure you get some help first. You don't look good from this distance." She was about to grab her Compact, then she groaned to herself. "And my Com is still with my soon-to-be-angry-with-me boyfriend. Great." She looked left and right, up and down. "Do you need help walking back inside?" she offered. "I'm sure the staff will—!"

"NO!" The shadowy figure violently jerked and snarled. "Find…guards… Can't…hurt her—Nnngh…!"

Tesla's eyes widened when she caught the outline of the figure. She had thought they looked like the average person, but she was able to make out horns on their head and part of their body had amassed into what she saw were claws. Backing away, she whispered, "I need to find help."

"Ezra!"

Tesla turned her head to see a woman had come out into the alleyway, harried. The woman turned to her right and hurried, heels in her hand. Tesla shouted, "Wait, stay back! We need to get some help!"

"It's okay!" the woman panted as she still came closer until she moved Tesla behind her. "It's okay. I know him." She kept her gaze steady on the figure in the distance. "Ezra," she murmured, "it's okay."

Electric blues glowed in the darkness. "Stay back!" came snarl. "Can't hurt you again!"

Again? Tesla looked at the woman up and down. He hurt her?

"You didn't hurt me then." Sadness couched the woman's words. "And you won't hurt me now." She held out her hand and edged forward. "It's okay, Ezra. Please, let's go inside—"

A broader snarl withered into a distraught cry. "Saudade!" Half-whimper half-snarl. "Get away! Please!"

Tesla latched onto Saudade and tried to tug her in the opposite direction. "We need to run," she whispered, "and get help."

"No." Saudade held her ground. "If you can, go back into the ballroom. Look for a tall woman with curled blonde hair named 'Evie Strauss'. She's the only help we need."

But Tesla was already shaking her head. "I'm not leaving you with whatever that is," she argued. "You aren't safe here and it sounds like he hurt you—"

"He didn't." A steel assurance. "And he won't. But if I run, it'll make everything worse." She glanced down at Tesla. "Just trust me on this. Get Evie. If you can't find her, do you know any of the Strausses or Dreyars here? Esme, Veronika, Nikolai, Ellie—remember those names. Find any of them."

"I can't leave you—!"

A ragged moan burst into an angered roar.

"Go now," Saudade whispered quickly. "I can handle him for now." She did not wait for Tesla as she took steps forward and her cardinal red Magic Circle blossomed underneath her with an upside-down triangle and two lines as the center symbol. "Ezra," she called, "I'm sorry, but this is the only way." Her hands move in a circle. "Blood Reversal: Shutdown…!" Red swirled in her eyes as her hands clawed at the air, circling around.

If I can just reverse his blood flow and get him unconscious, we can get him somewhere safe, Saudade determined

A gag followed by a cruel snarl. "Saudade, stop!" Ezra called with his voice dropped to a heavy gravel. "Get…away…! I don't want to hurt you!"

Saudade closed her eyes and let out a terse breath. She could feel the heated blood as her hands swiped through the air and felt the rushing current. Her arm jerked and her hands burned against the hotness of the blood, but she kept at it. Just a little…a little more…

DRIP.

A stream of blood trickled from her nose.

DROP.

Saudade's eyes parted. Her Magic spiraled and she could feel her own blood heat within her body. Fatigue drenched down on her and her hands faltered. Suddenly, it felt like a chore to keep her arms up. Her hands struggled to churn against the current.

No… Just a little longer—

BLAH!

Blood spewed from Saudade's mouth.

N-No…

A furious roar.

Clothes tore.

A Magic Circle cracked and shattered.

A dullness coated Saudade's eyes as she fell to her knees. No… I c-can't be…

ZZT!

Lights had been blown out and began to flash in their battle for life.

Saudade crouched forward as blood dripped from her nose and mouth. It was like the ground was rejecting gravity on her behalf and she felt her head spin. No… Please…

Heated breath.

Saudade felt a claw on her skin and forced her head up. Dull dark chocolate clashed with large electric blues. "Ezra…" she breathed. A shaky hand came up to wrap around the large talon. "It's…okay…"

STEP. STEP.

Those electric blues looked up into the alleyway.

STEP. STEP.

Eyes masked in a swirl of dark gray and white started back at those electric blues.

The lights flickered in their grapple with life and death and in those flashes, those electric blues caught Tesla barefoot with her eyes possessed in those swirls.

FLICK!

Tesla had come even closer.

FLICK!

A hand filled with that swirling gray and white energy was in front of those electric blues and the light showed the outline of a large furred creature with overwhelming canines and dual horns.

FLICK!

No words left Tesla when she suddenly reached her hand charged with that swirling energy onto the creature.

FLICK!

At first, the creature snarled and raised its hand.

FLICK!

The size of it had decreased.

FLICK!

The horns were gone.

FLICK!

The canines were gone.

FLICK!

The creature was gone.

FLICK!

And in its place, a barely clothed Erza lay crouched, doubled over. He shivered and panted with clouds coming from his mouth. Blue was gone and his eyes were back to smokey topaz focused on Saudade's accepting gaze. "Saudade," he panted. "I'm s-s-sorry—!"

"It's okay," Saudade dreamily told him. She slumped against Tesla. "It's okay…Ezra…" And she was out.

A warbled cry left Ezra's lips as he whispered his fervent apologies. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

A heat.

Ezra looked up.

That hand with swirling energy was in his face.

Tesla had no reaction, just a blank face to her name. She wasted no time and, in Ezra's eyes, the hand came to him until it connected with his forehead. It took five seconds before his eyes roll to the back of his head and he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

She let him go and her hand turned back to normal. Setting Saudade on the ground, she got to her feet, eyes still possessed. Her eyes bared down on Ezra's form. No malice. No intent. They just stared.

WHISH!

A shadow rushed through the alleyway.

Tesla turned—

PING!

A syringe had been inserted into her shoulder with a white serum.

Tesla's swirled eyes turned to the syringe and began to take it out—

A mask was forced onto her mouth.

Tesla's body moved violently, but her hands were tied behind her. The syringe drained itself and a gloved covered hand retrieved it. She did not open her mouth to screen, but by the fifth breath she took, the swirl in her eyes dimmed. By the sixth, it flickered and faded. By the fifteenth, the swirl had died and Tesla's natural brown eyes were out even if they held no life in it. By the twentieth breath, her eyes drooped and she slumped.

The shadowy figure relinquished the mask. With delicate movements, they put Tesla on the ground and laid her on her side.

"They went this way!" came a distant shout.

The figure wasted no time and the moment the lights flickered, they were gone.

The next moments were a blur. A staffer alongside a random bystander and security came out to see the trio that had passed out. Walkie-talkie Lacrima were out and demands for emergency services and identifications were being made and, moments later, sirens wailed in the background. As the snow fell, a few staff members ventured to gather the three and move them inside. Two people were used for Ezra while Saudade and Tesla were cradled into chests and covered up. And as they were carried back inside…

…a pair of eyes flickered in a puddle to watch Tesla before vanishing.

°•°•°•°

Ace was the one to escort Nashi back to her room with her being plenty drunk and carried her heels so she could walk without tripping or stumbling. She giggled as Ace unlocked the door for her. "Thanks, Ace! I hope JJ gives you a bajillion bjs for this."

Ace grinned and guided Nashi inside. "As long as I get to give him a bajillion back," he quipped. "Justin and I already made sure to order you breakfast for the morning and Ellie put some medication on your nightstand and some water for you to take." He shook his head when Nashi dove into her bed and giggled. "Are you sure you don't want one of us to stay with you?"

Nashi rolled over to her back. "No. You all should go have wild sex," she decided. "I'll probably get naked and watch LV." She flopped onto her stomach again. "Can you unzip me?"

Ace nodded and came over. "Well, minibar is on us. I would recommend The Spy and the Gentleman, Elves, or Girlfriends of Christmas Past." With the dress unzipped, Ace went back to the door and put a hand on the doorknob. "And text if you need one of us." He took out his Compact, but his brow furrowed. "Shit."

Nashi sat up and swayed a little. "What? What's wrong?"

"There was a little bit of a scene with some of the guests." Ace's brow furrowed even further. "I need to get back downstairs and help Justin. Stay in the room, okay?

"Okay!" Nashi sang. as Ace left. She stretched and got back up. "Býleistr!" she trilled. "Hey, kitty, where are you?"

No answer.

Nashi shrugged. "Must be out getting catnip." She reached over for the remote and connected her Compact to the LV to start playing The Spy and the Gentleman from Nulu. "Ugh, I need to get all this make-up off my face."

The process of removing make-up was one Nashi knew intimately. Cleanser first, let it sit, and she wiped her face with a washcloth until every trace of make-up was gone. Shimming out of her dress and lingerie and undoing her hair to brush it out, she took advantage of the shower and made sure the water was on the highest setting. She could hear the starting credits and intense orchestral overture.

Tonight was fun, Nashi thought with a slight smile as she was washing her hair. I'll have so much to tell Gary when we get out. I really wish I could've spoken to Tesla some more. She's really funny. I'm excited to see her at the New Year's Eve party. I've never seen Jax so…expressive. It's cute.

She finished with her washing and let her shampoo set in as she started with the rest of her body. I didn't realize Gary and Jax knew each other. I guess I didn't know much about Gary. I just knew he was S-Class and was a lovesick puppy. A sigh escaped her. "I should've gotten to know him more."

Once Nashi's skin was tinged pink and she was satisfied, she rinsed herself off, patted herself dry, and blew out her hair. As she combed through her hair, a thought occurred to her and she went to find her Compact on her nightstand. She found Tesla's number (Jaxton had texted it to her) and sent out a text.

« Hi lady! Sorry I missed saying good-bye, but it was awesome to see you! Whenever you're free, want to do lunch? I'd love to hear more about Jax since he NEVER talks! Let me know! »

She went back to combing her hair when a knock was on her door. "Room service!"

Frowning, Nashi found the complimentary robe the hotel offered and slipped it on before she opened the door. A cute staff was on the other side with a cart cloaked in a white sheet. A silver tray was there with a covered dome. "Room service for Miss Nashi Dragneel."

"I didn't order anything," Nashi tried to say.

"Oh! It's a gift," the staffer explained. "The host of the event wanted to send you this." They opened the dome to showcase a present with a nice bow as well as a banana smoothie with a straw on the side. "A banana smoothie and the gift, they said, should help cheer you up."

Nashi smiled. "Always looking out for me." She took the smoothie and the gift. "Thank you! Have a good night!" She smiled when the staffer wished her the same. She set the present down to tend to her smoothie and take sips through the straw. "This tastes really good," she murmured appreciatively.

She dropped down on the bed and set aside the smoothie to tend to the gift. Opening up, she…

…sweat-dropped as she held up the sealed box to a pretty pink vibrating dildo.

JJ, you really don't know when to quit, do you? Nashi put the box back and settled onto the bed with her smoothie to watch the movie. For thirty minutes, she watched the movie and slurped her banana smoothie. But her eyes slid back to the vibrator. Sitting back up, she took the box again and thought on Justin's words and could see him as her shoulder devil.

"And when you do some self-loving, you feel a little better too."

She brushed aside his words and image to look at the box. She rolled her lips. Býleistr, where are you?

Scouting. Do you need me?

No, um… Could you…not come to my room for a little while?

A beat. Sure. Just let me know when you need me.

Nashi felt the link cut as she looked on the back of the box for the features. "Well," she sighed, "it couldn't hurt."

X – X – X – X – X

Nashi minded being naked in some situations and this was one. Lust would blindside about her own insecurities about her nudity, but she felt more awkward with the vibrating dildo charged up and out of the box, herself on her back, and her legs spread. She had kept on the movie for white noise, but she had turned off the lights.

"Okay," she breathed. "Well… Here goes." She closed her eyes as her body shifted. Forcing herself to relax, she let her hands drift up and cup the swell of her breasts. Her thumbs circled her nipples and a shuttered breath jerked her and she felt her nipples harden beneath her touch and a coil in her gut.

Self-pleasure was not a necessity for intimacy, but it was a nudge in the right direction. To self-pleasure was to indulge your body with the way you wanted to be touched. To self-pleasure was to feel confident in your body. Some found it was a means to an end. An outlet for unbridled lust and no one around. But others found it a revealing experience. Some found their darkest fantasies. Some found more than just lust.

"Look at you, Angel."

Nashi's breathing hitched when she heard the whispers of Gary's voice, low and obsessed. Her legs widened. "Gary…"

"Shhh…" Gary shushed and sent goosebumps down her body. "Keep your eyes closed, Angel."

"But I want to see you—"

"Closed, Angel." His whispers moved to the other ears. "I want to watch you touch yourself."

Nashi's hands traveled to her nether lips. She knew without even needing to touch herself she was wet just from hearing his voice and felt her muscles clench. She dragged two fingers down her center and openly groaned when her fingers were slick with stickiness. She could hear Gary's ragged pants and groans as she languidly rubbed her core and wished for it to be him.

"My naughty Angel touching herself," Gary purred. "You're so beautiful."

Nashi whimpered as more of her coated her fingers when her fingers ran over her clit.

"That's it, Angel. Touch yourself," Gary urged her. "I want to see cum on your fingers. Slip a finger inside you."

Nashi's whimper grew louder, but she dared not go against his order with her mind heady and her chest heaving. She started with her middle and pointer fingers and a loud moan cut through their air when she felt her muscles clench on her own fingers. "Gary," she moaned. "Please…"

A dark chuckle. "That's it, Angel. Fuck yourself. I want to see you make yourself cum."

Nashi widened her legs and took her fingers deeper. Her free hand squeezed her breast and squeezed her nipple and the pure sensitivity of it had her trembling. She moved her fingers inside her and felt that coil tighten and expand within her. Muted cries left her as she envisioned Gary's fingers inside her, dragging out as much as she could give him. She could feel that possessed stare on her core and longed to open her eyes, but she did not want to break the fantasy. She could feel herself clench and flex as she imagined Gary between her legs, watching in awe as he fingered her.

"So beautiful," Gary murmured. "I've dreamed about this, but you're a vision, Angel." A beat. "I want you to cum."

Nashi cried when her fingers went faster.

A grunt. "Yes, just like that. Fuck, you're so wet. I want to lick every last drop of you."

"Gary…!" The coil was about to snap. Her thighs shook and she felt her hips shift off the bed. She angled her fingers and her back arched as an orgasm rattled her entire being. Pleasure crashed over her and she could feel a rush of her essence seep out of her and onto her fingers. Her breaths were shaky and fast and a fragility replaced such a powerful feeling as the moments ticked by.

"So sexy," Gary murmured. "Beautiful. I love seeing your face when you cum."

"Need you," Nashi panted, "inside me…" Her eyes opened just a crack for her to find the vibrating dildo.

"Then, put me inside you," Gary whispered against her flesh.

Nashi swallowed, still reeling from her orgasm, as she took the toy in her hand and guided it to her center. Hesitation bit at her, but she let it go with a long exhale and pressed the tip to her. She winced at the girth, but the moment a full inch was inside her, her eyes rolled back and closed. A hum escaped her. "Yes…"

"Good girl," Gary soothed. "Go slow. I want to watch every inch disappear inside you."

Nashi complied with his wish and felt her legs raise as she clenched on the toy inch by inch. Her mouth moved in wordless mewl when she felt how stretched she had become and the true girth of this. With her eyes closed, her mind played tricks and lulled her into believing it was Gary stretching her, on top of her, between her legs, and she twitched just on the thought alone.

"You feel so perfect," Gary said in a strangled grunt. "Like you were made for me."

Nashi felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as he shifted inside her. A hand reached out and she could feel his back beneath her fingers tips and nails. Memories overlapped and compiled until her fantasy was complete and her eyes fluttered open. Gary laid on top of her with those ceruleans dark like the night-sky and looking at her like he saw her.

"Gary," Nashi murmured. "I miss you."

"Angel," he rumbled. "I miss you too." His head came down for his lips to brush over hers. "Let me show you how much."

Nashi's eyes slammed closed when Gary pulled back to the point where his tip teased her entrance only to thrust back into her. Her back arched when he drove deeper, filling her to the point his balls hit her. Her nails dug into his back unapologetically when she cried out. "More," she pleaded.

"Beg for it."

"Please, Gary, I need more—Oh, God!" she screeched when she felt him thrust back into her. Her hips lifted with his and jerkily matched each thrust, each push, and her nails dug into his shoulders to hold him steady for the ride. Mewls and cries panted out her like begging for him as all she ever knew. Each grunt and shudder she heard and felt from Gary made her nipples tighten painfully and her body wind up.

It was just too much. Too much to hold back. Nashi's thighs quaked as Gary growled and went faster. Whispered praise tickled her ears as Gary worshipped her for the beauty of their passion. So much so, Nashi was pushed into her next orgasm and tightened around him, weeping at the intensity. But it only spurred Gary to faster until he said the words she had been wanting to hear.

"Get on all fours."

He left her and she felt empty and naked. She never felt so alone. Shakily, she tried to turn, but a noise of surprise escaped when a rough hand flipped her over and staged her on her hands and knees. This was different. A rough touch was always appreciated, but this… This was not what she fantasized.

"Gary?" Nashi questioned. "What are you—? Ah-ha…!" Her eyes widened when Gary invaded her center with an unceremonious thrust that brought more pain to pleasure. A niggling was in the back of her mind as she keeled over and tried to accommodate. "G-Gary—Nnngh!"

Nashi winced when she felt nails dig into her hips and keep her and place as Gary pounded into her, balls slapping against her. Pleasure fought with pain, but the pain began to win. That coil was there but was nothing like before. It was there because it had to be, not because she wanted to be.

What's wrong with me? Nashi winced when a hurried thumb jabbed her clit. I don't touch myself like this. She closed her eyes and bit back the agonized grunt she wanted to give at the next hard thrust. I just need to stop fantasizing. Gary would never be this rough.

But the longer she wished to be taking out the vibrating dildo, the longer she was trapped with Gary holding her still and pounding into her. Tears prickled and trickled down her cheeks and she could not hold back on the next thrust when it felt like he was tearing her. "Gary, please, stop," she begged.

But a moan covered her plea. "Baby, you feel so good…!"

That niggling warmed her. Wait… 'Baby'… Gary never calls me—

The niggling turned into an overwhelming warning.

Flinching when Nashi felt uncomfortably stretched, she gathered herself until she shot up and pushed back. To her horror and her sad acceptance, she came into contact with muscle that stumbled back and had her wanting to sob when he was torn out of ger center. Before whoever had the chance, she ignored her pain to whip around and tried to gather her Magic…

…but she felt nothing.

"Wh-Who are you?" Nashi demanded to know even if she failed to cover up the tremor in her voice. She knew the tears would keep coming and she wanted to just shower and shower and never leave, but she needed to focus.

This Gary righted themselves, naked and cut, and offered a smirk at Nashi. "I'm your toy."

"Who are you?" Nashi's bottom lip trembled and she rubbed away her tears. "Tell me now!"

This Gary lifted his chin. "I don't see why you're upset. You invited me in. You used me."

Nashi felt sick when she realized what he meant. "You're the dildo," she concluded numbly. "You… Tha-That's not possible…."

"I've done my job," this Gary told her. "But I wish I could have stayed to finish it." His smirk widened and Nashi hated those blues that leered at her naked body. "Bye, Princess." Without warning, thus Gary crumbled into ash that wafted itself into the air ducts.

And she was alone.

DRIP.

Nashi covered her mouth.

DROP.

Her body shook as endless tears streamed down her face. She sucked in a wet breath and lowered her hand to shout in a cracked voice, "Býleistr…!" A muted sob left her as she curled into herself. "Býleistr…!"

It took a few moments for the Magic Circle to appear and Býleistr pounced through it in his Cat Form. He leaped up on the bed, panting. "Princess, what—?" Those wild oranges widened and Býleistr expanded to his Hybrid Form in an instant when he saw Nashi naked and crying. "Princess, what's wrong?" he fretted. "What…?"

His nose caught it.

"Who did this to you?" Býleistr snarled. "Who—?"

"Býleistr, please!" Nashi pushed back her hair, but she held in her wanted screams. "Just… Just hold me, please, I can't—!" Her voice gave out as she shook.

The rage Býleistr had was there, but he would set it aside for now with grief. He was slow to touch Nashi, but when she curled into a ball against him, he wrapped his arms around her. The grief deepened when he heard Nashi's muffled weeping and could smell her overwhelming despair and pain. He needed to know. "Princess…"

"Please, Býleistr, not now," Nashi beseeched of him. "Please."

Býleistr swallowed his question. "Whatever you need."

Nashi swallowed. "Please don't tell anyone."

That would not do. "Princess—"

"Býleistr!" Nashi calmed her voice down from her sudden shout. "Please. Just let it go. N-N-No one needs to know. It's not what you think—"

"The Hell it isn't!" Býleistr snarled. "Princess, I can smell it on you! Your parents need to—!" He was cut off when Nashi ripped away from him. He moved to go after her, but he was stunned when Nashi crawled to the floor, grabbed the bedside trashcan, and openly vomited. He got himself off the bed to pull back her hair as she vomited the contents of her stomach and wheezed her sobs before vomiting again. Self-hate and remorse burned throughout his body. I should've stayed with her. I should have never left. She's hurt. I failed her in the worst way.

Nashi finished retching, but she kept her head down as she gave uncontrollable cries. She let herself go. She let everything go. She could not stop seeing Gary's eyes as he overtook her. She could not stop feeling the invasion between her legs and the pain that burned with it. Memories upon memories hauled together. She remembered that darkness and those hands. She remembered those messy grunts in her ears and how her tears tasted like salt and blood. She remembered. "This is"—HIC!—"all my fault," she choked. "Pl-Please don't tell anyone."

Silence.

Nashi spat and rubbed her mouth with her arm. "B-Býleistr?" She risked a look behind for bloodshot hickory to clash with broken orange. It was in that instant she knew and she teared up all over again. "You saw." She could see it in his eyes. The pity. "Don't l-l-look at me like that," she snapped. Brushing away from tears, she questioned, "How could you—?"

"Your main Magic might be dulled, but our Rigil Link goes deeper," Býleistr murmured in a soft voice.

Nashi shook her head. "I couldn't…" she whispered. "I couldn't…" She covered her face. "I can't do this," she hissed, rattled. "I can't do this, Býleistr—!" Her snivels were snuffed when Býleistr embraced her and let her nuzzle into his chest. Her body shook as she latched onto his fur like he was her lifeline.

"I'm right here, Princess," Býleistr murmured to her. "I've got you." And as Nashi shook and sobbed, he could not help but think, They got past the wards under the pretense she was getting a gift. They fed off her desire for Gary. This isn't just about convicting Wolverine. This is more than that. And they will do whatever they can to do it. He stroked Nashi's hair, but his eyes drifted to the note left and narrowed.

I won't tell them the details, but her parents and Mirella and Kyler and Muta need to know…

The note caught on fire.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

…because these children…

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luke stared at his computer screen as he typed the word EDEN over and over and over again. But that did not matter. His wall had been covered with markings, ancient and unspoken markings, that looked jagged and beautiful at the same time. But there was one word he had wrote in Minstrish that did not fit with the rest of the marking:

PRESENCE

(The note crumbled and charred.)

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

…are in more life-threatening danger than they ever wanted.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luna was in bed, sound asleep, with Icarus sleeping right by her side. She turned over to curl into his stomach for his comfort. Do Not Disturb mode was on her Compact this late at night, but that did not mean it did not glitch and occasionally lit up when a notification came through. This time, it did. The screen let up in the darkness to show a notification from her « News » app.

⌜NEWS

FNN

Reports of secret documents may reveal a fatal error in the Alvarez Empire's lineage of rulers and call for current Emperor Ajeel to step down in the event of new heirs. ⌟

(Deteriorated, the note's ash left behind did not pile itself. It left behind a symbol…

…the symbol of an upside-down pentacle.)

— • — • — • —

Don't wanna Stop Stop koi suru kokoro ni

Kimi no Love Love ima tsukamaetai

Yasashiku sareru tabi ni sukoshi

Kitai shite shimau

•

Oh Never let me go dakishimete

Never let me go kimi janakya iya yo

Stop stop koi wa tomaranai

Negai wa hitotsu dake Stay by my side

•

Ah ah ah ha

Ah ah

Stay by my side

TO BE CONTINUED…

And here I thought we'd get one more relaxing episode before the heavy stuff, but here we are! Oh, Nashi, Ezra, Saudade, Nik, Tesla and… Who was that strange person in the shadows? Oh, well. To find out what happens next, tune into the next Fairy Adventure!

The place Zelda stayed at regularly was nothing she called home often. The apartment was in a crowded city for added measures. She had furnished it well, but if people actually noticed her apartment, they would see she carried no personal touches. No graduation plaques or pictures of family or anything that could draw attention to herself. Everything had an impersonal touch to it, but it was enough to set people at ease. A simple one-bedroom apartment was enough to suffice her. The more space, the more risk of hiding spots, but with one bedroom, she had a fall line to fall back on if someone invaded her living room.

She was doing laundry late into the night within her apartment and went back to her bedroom to sort out her delicate when all of a sudden, her PAL turned itself on. She abandoned her laundry to sit at her desk and watch as a flurry of code passed through her PAL screen. A black screen popped up under the name WHITE WOLF TERMINAL and a question typed out.

⟨ How do you get on the train with no ticket? _ ⟩

Zelda typed in her own answer:

⟨ By paying the conductor _ ⟩

A few seconds.

⟨ Accepted. Welcome aboard _ ⟩

Zelda watched as the black screen departed. Her eyes began to fill with code and light until she was no longer in her bedroom. She had boarded a moving train car with digital code moving about outside of the window. No one else was inside this private train car accepted for one person, huddled in a booth against the window with a cap to cover their hair and their eyes were blurred out. Zelda did not hesitate to move towards them, pajamas or not, and sat in front of them. "Well?" she prompted.

"The Raven flew once again," the person answered. "Like always, the flight was only a few seconds before I caught it and put it to sleep."

Zelda nodded. "Where is the Raven now?"

"Safe and asleep in a cage," the person answered. "I will need more bird feed for the Raven. I'm running low."

"I'll buy some more at the pet shop," Zelda assured, "and make it an expedited order. Where should I deliver it to this time?"

"Your kitchen window will do fine," the person told. "No need to make it expedited. You'll be seeing the Raven come to you. She will arrive on Odin's eve at the place where most things are hidden." The person shifted their hat. "Shall I continue to be the Raven's shadow?"

"Yes." Zelda crossed her legs. "Until the Raven is under my flock, you will be her shadow. I'll send you more tonight. If I can't sense when the Raven flies, neither can anyone else and I need that."

The person stood up. "Understood. I'll be getting off at this stop. Food for thought: where does the sun rest?"

Zelda saw a waterfall of code before her eyes until the train car had disappeared and she was back in her apartment. Her PAL was back to its home screen like no one had touched it. Her laundry was on the bed and she could hear her neighbors listening to a very loud LV show. But none of it mattered to her. She looked at the date. So in four days, Tesla will meet me. I have four days to prepare. She got up from her chair. Four days until I convince her of the truth—she's a Magic Hunter by blood. And she's even more dangerous than me.

°•°•°•°

Tesla knew very little when she was in a sleep coma, but she was aware when she drowsily opened her eyes that Jaxton was climbing back into bed. Both of them slept naked and it bothered them little. She only hummed when Jaxton pressed his front to her back and sighed dreamily when he stroked her stomach with one hand and cupped her breast with another. "Everything okay?" she yawned.

Jaxton kissed her neck and smiled when she let out a lazy giggle. "Fine. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Tesla yawned again and snuggled into his front. "Thanks for convincing them to let me out of the ED and come back with you."

"I know you don't like hospitals," Jaxton told. "Once they gave you the okay you were fine, just exhausted, there was no point in you staying there overnight."

Tesla hummed. "I just hope those other two are okay." She wriggled against him to get comfortable.

Jaxton grunt as he held her in place. "Last I heard, the woman and man were staying overnight, but they should be released tomorrow," he informed. "Did you want to stop by the hospital?"

"Could we?"

"Anything for you, baby girl." Jaxton grunted when Tesla pressed her butt against his hardened length. "Except that." When she whined, he murmured, "Not tonight, Tes. Sleep and maybe you'll get a surprise wake up." He chuckled when Tesla vibrated with glee.

"Well, now I'm too excited to go back to sleep," Tesla complained. "Can you sing me a lullaby?" Jaxton groaned, but Tesla was not giving up. "Please? Pretty please?"

Jaxton hugged her closer to him and sighed. "One lullaby," he conditioned. He raised the hand that stroked her stomach for his pinky to gently stroke down her nose in a soothing motion. The song started soft and subtle and tenor and warmed Tesla. "Fly like a raven… Black honey into the night… Soft like the air beneath… A swan in her flight…"

Beyond Jaxton and Tesla's bedroom, beyond the hotel, beyond the city, something was happening in Sororia City.

"Then return back home to bed… And bring the dancing stars…"

In the darkness of an apartment, something flickered into an existent. The black suitcase from before that laid on a desk. A Lacrima Screen expanded onto the black suitcase as code ran through and numbers were selected and the code stopped.

PASSWORD ACCEPTED

"Sleep and dream of a white wolf howling… And know that I am near…"

The screens disappeared for the case to unlock itself and open. But all that the case revealed was an old mini-tablet. The tablet was turned on and a loading screen was on there. Not just any loading screen. It was a virtual money wire. Fifty percent… Sixty percent… Seventy percent… Eighty… Ninety… Ninety-five…

"Shhhh, close your eyes, don't ask why… Let's dream, together, you and I…"

Once it hit one hundred percent, the loading bar closed and a message typed out:

⌜Wire Transfer has been labeled: « Successful ». Congratulations, « White Wolf – Sleeper Agent 016 »_ ⌟

"Oh, close your eyes, we will fly… Dreaming, together, you and I…"

The screen disappeared and the mini-tablet turned itself off. The black suitcase closed and locked itself and out of existence it went.

Jaxton watched as Tesla slept in his arms, snoring once and a while, but it was nothing loud. Little snores and snorts he found cute all the same. "Dream… Dream… Dream… Dreaming, together, you and I…" He stopped stroking her nose to kiss her temple and pressed his nose into her plaited hair. Closing his eyes, he tried to shut everything away except for the love he had for the woman beside him. "I love you, Tesla," he whispered. "Please don't forget that." He tightened his hold on her as the moon shone through their window. And as the moon danced onto Jaxton's skin, something revealed itself on the back of his neck.

The small top half of a howling wolf and a number:

16

Chibi-Luna welcomes the class, "Good day, class!"

"Good day, teacher," the class greeted her back. "Tell us what our Fairy Lesson is today!"

Chibi-Luna scooches over a dry erase board. "Today, we'll be talking about 'the Faction'," she introduces. She writes the word FACTION on the board. "The 'Faction' is an organization rumored be filled with magical terrorists. While many people we know practice Magic, many more people don't. Those are called 'Spiritless' people, those not in touch with their Magic Spirit. In a lot of parts around the world, any who displays any magical abilities or might have magical children in the future are forced to register on a state registry that varies from country to country."

A hand goes flying up. "But what about the Magic Council?"

"Good question!" Chibi-Luna writes the word MAGIC COUNCIL on the board. "The Magic Council still holds high regards over magical affairs and every country must have a Magic Speaker or the equivalent on their staff. What is supposed to happen is that Magic Representative should be defending the rights of Wizards, but that's happening less and less. While countries have to have a magical representative in their government, they can still limit their power. So in that case, Spiritless leaders take over and have the right to force anyone who shows magical properties to enlist or take some action within the government as long as the magical representative approves which most do."

She puts arrows connecting them. "Well, many wizards don't agree with that. While, yes, there are lawyers who practice Magic Law and right for our rights, Spiritless leaders drag on these fights so it becomes a hung trial or something or other so it takes even longer for these chains on freedom to be abolished. So, some wizards, who were tired of their government controlling their Magic usage and such decided they had enough, and with the Magic Council unable to do anything since the magical representatives that report to them agreed to any movements and laws, these wizards banded together to join the infamous 'Faction'."

"So their goal is to…?" a student questions.

"The Faction's goal is to allegedly free all Mages enslaved to the government and return their freedom," Chibi-Luna tells the class, "but some groups of the Faction have been going deeper than that. The reason they're labeled 'terrorists' is that some members of the Faction actively destroy Spiritless property, take hostages, and to these very wrongful tactics to get their point across. It puts Mages across the board in a bad light. And the worst part is, no one knows who the members are, but it's assumed some of these members work in the Magic Council."

"That's heavy," a student gasps.

Chibi-Luna nods. "Right?" she pops the cap on her marker. "So that's why, while the Faction might have a good overall message about liberating Mages, it's not something we should take part in since some of the rouge members are legitimate terrorists. It doesn't mean all of the Faction are considered terrorists. Just a small percentage. And that's all we have for our Fairy Lesson today."

The students groan and prompt Chibi-Luna to giggle. "Sorry, students, until next time. Insert songs used for this episode were: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU by Mariah Carey, CHRISTMAS STAR by John Williams, and the Home Alone Children's Choir when Bleu and I were in the park, the song Cleo Chantel was dancing to was WAP by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, and the lullaby Jaxton sings is called RAVEN by Jewel on her album Lullaby. Next time on, Fairy Adventure: And did anyone notice any of the little appearances this episode?"

Voices of Characters in Order of Appearance

Dazzler Lafayette – Kristi Rothcock

Nashi Dragneel – Laura Landa

Býleistr – Scott Freeman

Icarus – Christopher Sabot

Luna Dragneel – Bryn Apprill

Gale Redfox – Greg Cipes

Lucy Heartfilia-Dragneel – Cherami Leigh

Eliana "Ellie" Strauss – Reba Buhr

Honey Abrokovy – Shea Couleé

Sugar – Cassie Ewulu

Justin Justine – Ian Sinclar

Ines Sharabi – Michelle Hendley

Lucifer "Bleu" Demiurge – Xander Mobus

Natsu Dragneel – Todd Haberkorn

Silver Fullbuster – Yuri Lowenthal

Ena Fernandes – Xanthe Huynh

Hylia Lynk / Tesla Greer – Galena White

Jang-ta "Jaxton" Yang – Eddy Yeoung

Cadorius "Cade" le Fay – Ricco Farjado

Mustang Marvel – Nathan Fillion

Spencer Lates – Christopher Wekhamp

Veronika Strauss – Hilary Haag

Nikolai "Nik" Dreyar – Jason Liebricht

Ace Benson – Billy Kametz

Ola Wright – Kamali Winter

Evangeline "Evie" Strauss – Colleen O'Shaughnessy

Esmeralda "Esme" Strauss – Megan Hollingstead

Saudade Mixa – Enuka Okuma

Majime Scott-Kimura – Kyle Phillips

Pearson Strauss – David Matranga

Penelope Strauss – Cristina Vee

Peter Shuusei-Thompson – Joe Zieja

Mary Jane Dreyar – Erica Lindbeck

Gajeel Redfox – David Wald

Luke Dragneel – Alan Lee

Ye-ji Seydoux – Arden Cho

Ezra Strauss – Zach Aguilar

Gary Fullbuster – Griffin Burns

Zelda Lynk – Gabrielle Union

• — • — •

Additional Voices

Opening Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Description Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Closing Narrator – Melissa Fahn

— • — • — • —

⌜OPENING SONG

⟪ Mela! ⟫

Ryokuoushoku Shakai

Lyrics by

peppe & Shingo Anami ⌟

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⌜INSERT SONG 1

⟪ All I Want for Christmas ⟫

Mariah Carey

Lyrics by

Mariah Carey & Walter Afanaseiff ⌟

•

⌜INSERT SONG 2

⟪ Christmas Star (feat. Home Alone's Children's Choir) ⟫

John Williams

Lyrics by

John Williams ⌟

•

⌜INSERT SONG 3

⟪ WAP (feat. Megan Thee Stallion ⟫

Cardi B

Lyrics by

Belcalis Almanzar, Megan Pete, Austin Owens, James Foye III & Frank Rodriguez ⌟

•

⌜ENDING SONG

⟪ Stay By My Side ⟫

TWICE

Lyrics by

Atsushi Shimada, Fredrik "Figge" Boström & Malin Johansson⌟

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Next time, on Fairy Adventure

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Episode 062

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FAMILY REUNION PART TWO: WE WISH YOU A MERRY…!

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TRANSLATIONS

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Zhōnguánese → Fioren-Minstrish

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Yīnwèi Nàxī zài zhèlǐ, wǒ yúnxǔ nǐ zhèyàng duì wǒ shuō. Dàn yì huídào fángjiān, nǐ jiù yāo shù nǐ de pìgǔ le nǐ juéde nǐ gāi dédào duōshǎo?

Because Nashi is here, I'll allow you to say that to me. But the second we get back to our room, you'll be counting spankings. How many do you think you deserve?

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Sinnish → Fioren-Minstrish

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Lo siento, Papisongo, dame un poco de compassion. Todavía tengo que bailar—

I'm sorry, Daddy, give me some mercy. I still have to dance—

• — • — •

Si digo que voy bailar. tú bailas. Si te digo que abras tus piernas para que puedo amar tu coño, lo harás.

If I tell you to dance, you dance. If I tell you to open your legs so I can love your pussy, you will.