Disclaimer: I do not own Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail, any work professionally associated with it, nor any pop culture or classical 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.

PREVIOUSLY, on Fairy Adventure, Tesla and Jaxton needed time apart from all the drama, but it looks like Tesla was not alone when she finally got to meet Marlow and hear more about the lifestyle Jaxton was born into from others. Meanwhile, Ena got her chi unblocked which was a major help for her, but it looks like Silver still is at a loss of what to do when his future might be coming sooner than he planned. Luke's secret is out after he and Natsu finally discussed the elephant in the room and a new path to his training has opened up—training to become a Demon Prince. Gary and Uki might not have been on the right page, but with a little faith, trust, and Magic, their relationship is turning over a new leaf. Meanwhile, Mary Jane runs into Gale as her unlikely ally about her troubles with a gone Igneel, but even if she might not be able to figure out her love life, it doesn't mean she won't meddle in Gale and Luna's relationship. Carlisle and Dante ran into something friendly faces, Asuna and Oswald. But when Carlisle bumps into Cal alone, it looks like there is more to Cal than meets the eye.

'Those are some mysterious. But Jang-ta's heart… That's never been one of him.'

Secret's out and Jang-ta has been living as a Lycan all this time! I guess Tesla's wishes for a beast of a boyfriend did come true.

Chibi-Nashi appears. "Hi, guys! Ready for some more Fairy Adventure! Author-san wanted to refresh your memory about time zones, so here you are!"

Abbreviations – Time Zone Name • — • — •— • — Location • — Offset

MCDT • — • — Melandian Central Daylight Time – Melandia • — • UTC +7

CST • — • — • – Cipangu Standard Time • — • — • — Cipangu • — • – UTC +5

SST • — • — • – Sīchóu Standard Time • — • — • — Zhōnguá • — • – UTC +3

CIT • — • — • – Central Ishgaran Time • — • — • — Bellum • — • – UTC +2

CMT • — • — • – Charring Mean Time • — • — • — Minstrel • — • – UTC +1

FST • — • – Fiore Standard Time • — • — • — • Fiore • — • — • – UTC - 0:00

ACT • — • — Arcticados Central Time • — • — • – Arcticados • — • — UTC - 1

ADT • — • — • – Alvarez Daylight Time • — • — • – Alvarez • — • — UTC - 2

AT • — • — • – Amazone Time • — • — • — • — • — Valchestria • — UTC - 4

EST • — • — • – Eastern Standard Time • — • — • – Meidiland • — • UTC - 6

"Make sure when you're reading on the screen, you have on some low lighting to protect your eyes! And a fair advisory warning," Chibi-Nashi adds. "A scene containing rape, meaning no sexual consent, has been placed in this episode as a short memory with the X warning. If the scene is too disturbing, you are not obligated to read it. Strong language will always be used." Chibi-Nashi waves. "See you at the end of the episode!"

Tesla felt soreness and still was groggy, but the second she smelled food, she roused herself. A groan bubbled out on accident when she moved and her muscles ached. The aches from last night had faded, but these aches had come in the earl of the morn and needed some time until they faded away. She felt fortunate her braids had been swabbed into a bun and the silky sheets had done wonders on her skin, but whoever had made sure the room would stay in a twilight sort of light, she wanted to kiss. A hangover was not an accurate description of her mood, but, well…

It felt like a hangover.

"You're awake."

Tesla hummed her affirmative as she stretched out and took a deep sniff of the aroma of food in the air. "You brought me breakfast." She opened her eyes to see into the bedroom. The curtains barred the sun, and Jaxton was in a pair of shorts on the edge of the bed with a large tray of food for both of them to eat, ranging from scrambled eggs to rice to country-fried chicken and even biscuits.

"I figured you'd be hungry the second you wake up." Jaxton moved the tray to the center of the bed before he grabbed her hot tea and his own. "How are you feeling?" The amusement was thick in his tone. "You did say you could keep going and going and going."

Tesla snorted and blew on her tea. "Throw that back in my face, why don't you?" A healthy gulp of her tea made her feel rejuvenated and awake. "I feel…sore." A look of disturbance crossed her face. "I've never felt sore after sex. This is…weird. Do people actually feel like this?"

"Yes, but the reason you feel sore is because we didn't stop for a while." Jaxton gathered scrambled eggs and potatoes on a fork and offered it to her. "I'm sure you'll finish healing before you finish breakfast."

"Mmm." Tesla took the forkful only for her face to sour at the smugness radiating off Jaxton. She waited to finish her mouthful to scold, "Don't get used to this, buddy. This was a one-off for me, okay? And you're equally to blame for all this."

Jaxton quirked an eyebrow. "How was I supposed to know the second I came down and shifted back, you would want sex right then?"

"Because I've been telling you my greatest fantasy is to have a werewolf boyfriend, and you just fulfilled my dirtiest daydreams?" Tesla waved a hand. "Hello? So, yes, I was going to want to get naked with you. I think I'm just surprised at myself how deep my thirst for Aaron Gray went considering how long we went." She sweetly smiled when Jaxton turned grumpy and pinched his cheek. "No pouting. Aaron Gray has plenty of people to lust over his fictional ass, but I get you to pant over." Her eyes darkened. "Want to go again?"

Jaxton chuckled. "I feel like I'm becoming a trophy boyfriend. You fetishize my culture and now what I am…"

"No, no, I'm simply…embracing every side of you very enthusiastically to the point where I can't keep my hands off you," Tesla smoothly reasoned. When Jaxton tilted his head, she pouted and muttered, "Yeah, well, we bang like a hurricane against a screen door every time we do any sort of Sinnish dancing and you lose it when I twerk, so this is fair."

Jaxton smiled. "I suppose it is." He fed her another forkful. "And I'm also guessing…it's time I owe you an explanation."

Tesla was slow to chew and slow to swallow. "Only if you want to," she murmured.

"You don't want an explanation?"

"I do, but I also want you comfortable." Steely-grays softened. "So take your time, okay? There's no rush."

Jaxton sighed. "I'd like to tell you," he confessed. "I'm just trying to place where to start. This is new territory and I want to make sure I explain everything to you accurately and honestly. I don't want more secrets between us than there has to be."

Tesla reached to touch his hand. "Start from the beginning."

Jaxton's shoulders lifted and fell. "You know my father as 'Kuen She', but that's not his actual name. It's the name my mother adopted from his real name in Zhōnguánese." He threaded their fingers together. "My father's name is Mirzam. And as of the end of the Second Black War, he and I are the last Lycans of our kind."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Itsu datte kimi no sono-te wa

Itsu demo sekai o kae reru yo

Tsudzukete ku koto yamecha dame datte

Kon'na mon janaidaro? Susume!

•

Mukuwarenai sono doryoku wa `kabe' o `tobira' ni kaerukara

Kowagarazu ni sa~a nokku shite

It will be OK

Let's go sonosakihe

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

"A Lycan…" Tesla echoed. "So that's…a werewolf?"

Jaxton shook his head. "No. Werewolves don't exist. According to my father, humans called Rogues 'werewolves' and the name stuck. But I want to explain this in the proper order so things make sense." He offered her another forkful and Tesla took to it. "My father had six brothers: Sirius, Muliphen, Wezen, Adhara, Furund, and Aludra. They were the seven children from the first Lycan, but my father can't remember my grandfather's name."

Tesla's brow furrowed. "Those names sound familiar…"

"Those are the seven major stars in the Canis Major constellation, yes."

"Oh." Tesla's eyebrows rose. "Oh, wow…"

Jaxton ate a bite of his food. "From how my father explained, our own Guardian first granted my grandfather a Human Spirit and a Wolf Spirit. Then, he had my father and my uncles. Others not part of our family were granted two Spirits later on. We weren't the only ones with a Human and Beast Spirit, obviously, but we were the only ones to shift into Lycans—wolves."

"You say…'Wolf Spirit'…"

"Right." Jaxton nodded. "In all the media you watch and read, your werewolves are written having two Souls, a Human Soul and a Wolf Soul, two separate beings who share a body." He shook his head. "For a Rogue, that could be true, but Lycans are born with one soul and we can shift between our Spirits." He saw the questions in Tesla's eyes.

"A Rogue across the board is someone who rejects their power and goes out of control," he explained. "Therians, or Shifters, were responsible for a lot of the Rogue population. If we refused to use the Spirits we were gifted, that power would take over and cause us to turn into feral monsters. That's where you get the mythology about werewolves. Rogues in Magic and in the spiritual sense were deplorable people who couldn't think past their basal instincts."

Tesla nodded as she processed. "I see."

Jaxton continued: "My father told me the first Black War wiped out a lot of forces, including his brothers except for Sirius. A lot of Therians were targeted. People thought we were unnatural or had Black Magic to shift and contracted Demons. Hunters could easily spot the difference between a Therian and a natural animal and hunted us to the extinction for sport and for mindless vengeance on crimes we didn't commit." His eyes darkened. "Weiwei told me it was like that for anyone who wasn't Spiritless. The first Black War caused a lot of tension between races. Trust was fickle. And the Second Black War eradicated any trust left."

Blood and soot that rained like snow. Eyes full of deceit. The collision of black and white.

"I was born right after the Second Black War, so I only understood the ramifications of it," Jaxton explained. "At that point, many races had been slaughtered to almost nothing. Most races who had a Veil with Earth Land withdrew from Earth Land altogether."

"A Veil?"

"It's hard to explain, but some realms were very close to Earth Land in a spiritual and magical sense. Our worlds were neighbors. A Veil is like a fence between neighbors and there was a gate people could come and go from as they pleased," Jaxton described. "But the Second Black War made people lockdown their gateway and stay in their homes. They wanted nothing to do with Earth Land since Spiritless were the majority and they were murdering anyone 'unnatural' under the justification it was our fault for the war."

"That makes no sense," Tesla protested. "You aren't unnatural. You wouldn't have been born this way if it wasn't natural. That's just common sense."

Gratitude flickered in Jaxton's eyes. "Some people don't see us that way," he murmured. "For centuries after the Second Black War, there was peace between Magic and Spiritless. But as of late, that rift has started up again. The Faction is tired of the Magic Council oppressing Wizards and alike. The Magic Council is trying to re-establish dominance and order amongst the chaos, but they're too corrupt for actual order. And the Spiritless caught in the crossfire are sick and tired of anyone 'unnatural' causing trouble and infringe on our freedoms to protect their own freedom."

"Huh." Tesla shifted. "I never really paid too much attention."

"It makes sense you wouldn't. The politics are murky and since news stations are mainly Spiritless-ran, it paints Wizards and Magic and anyone different in a bad light," Jaxton supplied.

Tesla hummed. "Back to your explanation." She offered him food this time.

Jaxton obliged to the forkful and to his continuation. "My uncle Siris had been killed in the Second Black War. He was a bit like my grandfather, my father tells me."

"What does that mean?"

"My father's brothers each had a different mother." Jaxton's face went flat. "My father told me my grandfather was no stranger to harems. And my uncle Sirius was a philanderer."

"I-I see." Tesla sweatdropped as she imagined an elderly Zhōnguánese man in imperial regalia and a black bar over his eyes as a harem of youthful women surrounded him with flirtatious smiles. If his grandfather was a harem main protagonist and his uncle…

"Master Jang-ta!"

Tesla felt a silent rage fill her as she imagined her boyfriend in that same position with a willing and seductive harem of women touching him at every angle and eager to serve him. A dark aura draped over her. I'm feeling awfully homicidal right now.

"Even though Sirius had been with many women, my father told me he never had any children. And he confirmed for himself that the rest of my uncles' bloodlines had been wiped out." A sadness swept through Jaxton. "I was born with my father as the last Lycan. I might not see eye to eye with him, but… I can't imagine what it must have felt like for him to know his entire race was gone and he had no family. Even his own Guardian had abandoned him. He was…all alone."

Tesla squeezed Jaxton's hand in comfort.

Jaxton shot her an appreciative look. "I don't know the details behind my parents' marriage outside the dream my grandmother had. The love they have is twisted and honestly…" He coughed into a fist. "When my father took me away to teach me how to be a Lycan, he told me it'd be best if I stayed away from all women."

To be fair, he married a batshit psycho woman, Tesla reasoned. "Hold on. Weiwei and your dad mentioned that. That he took you away because it's a cultural thing. So…"

"Yes, that's right." Jaxton fed her some more. "In Therian culture, many take their young to live in the wild and embrace their Beast Spirit with their own kind. My father took me to live among wild wolves. I had to learn how to survive. He taught me how to shift fluidly and the basics of hunting, but I had to learn how to function in a unit."

"Like a pack?"

Jaxton shook his head. "Similar but not the way you think. I told you. Lycan culture isn't the same as what the media thinks. My father told me we never had 'packs' and the stuff of those 'alphas' and 'lunas' and a 'Moon Goddess' never existed outside of a bad scientist and fantasy authors. We learned how to exist as wolves do in a family unit. Apparently, when a Lycan was old enough, he'd leave to start his own family and teach any future sons the same way."

"I feel like it's sexist in some way, shape, or form that other people couldn't be born Lycans," Tesla muttered.

Jaxton chuckled. "I'm not sure why that was, but it is what it is."

"And that makes you and your dad really the last." Tesla sipped her tea. "I guess I don't understand. What stops your dad from having a harem of his own?" Her eyes gleamed. "Is this like that whole—?"

"If you're about to ask me about those stupid little 'mate bond' things you read about, I won't hesitate to spank you."

Tesla scowled. "Asshole."

"Therians were just like regular people," Jaxton explained. "We didn't have 'soul mates' or anything like that. We're fairly monogamous—"

Tesla muttered into her next sip, "You better be." She yipped when Jaxton hard-pinched her nipple. "Hey…!" She took back her hand to rub her breast. "I'm still healing, you ass."

"Hmph." A glint of amusement flickered through Jaxton. "Since our power is spiritual, we had the power to tie ourselves to someone spiritually if we put effort into it. But that practice was pretty rare unless we partnered with someone else with spiritual energy or a Wizard. Tying ourselves that intimately with a Spiritless wouldn't render much."

Tesla considered this. "Have you done that with me?"

"No."

"Aw." Tesla pouted. "But it sounds cool."

"It's similar to marriage," Jaxton reminded. "It's not something I'd like to do on a whim. When you're older, I'd ask you. But I settled on a less permanent tying." He held up a finger when Tesla got excited. "No. It isn't anything like what you've read about."

Tesla pouted again.

"Therians can imprint—"

"Ah-ha! Ow…!" Tesla grabbed some of the sheets to cover herself petulantly. "Well, technically, I have read about it," she mumbled. "It was in Dawn, remember?"

Jaxton sighed. This was going to be a long day. "It's not as much of involuntary romantic phenomena as it is a willing familial action," he told her. "Imprinting is natural among animals to do with family members."

Tesla's face twisted. "Oh, please hurry with this explanation before it turns weird."

"But it's also common to do so among intimate partners," Jaxton continued. "It's a physical and spiritual tie that's temporary and needs constant tending to. Between myself and my father, when I was younger, in my wolf form, that would involve us bonding, scenting—something like that. When I would come home, my father and I would normally take a day to ourselves to stay in Lycan Form and strengthen the imprint. With you, it's the same. But it's more…intimate."

Tesla blanked. "Uh…" A light bulb went off. "Oh! Oh…" She gestured between them. "So that strengthens when we…"

"It can be any intimate action, but yes, that too."

"I see." Tesla took another swig of her tea. "It's not something I can feel, is it?"

Jaxton cocked his head, curious. "I'm unsure. I was born when the Anti-Ether Wielders had vanished and not much research of the physiology remained. They were a private people and most were too afraid to provoke them. I'm not sure what you can or can't feel. Had you been a Wizard, you'd feel the connection, and your Magic would react around me. It's an emphatic tying, so you might feel more relaxed and maybe you'd catch glimpses of my emotions."

Tesla shook her head, downtrodden. "No, I've never felt any of that."

"It's not to say you can't," Jaxton soothed. "It might mean you won't feel anything unless we had a permanent spiritual connection." He added thoughtfully, "Your body did react positively when I share my Qi with you throughout the night when you were sick."

Tesla's eyes widened. "When was I sick?"

"It was after your fight at Tē Gōng," Jaxton told her, and his mood darkened. "Which reminds me about your regeneration abilities. When your foot regenerated, your body was unable to internally handle it. You ran a high fever and your heart rate and blood pressure were dangerously high. I shared my Qi in the hopes it could counteract and it worked to calm you down, but I can't promise you I'll always be around to help you recover."

"Right." Tesla lowered her eyes. "I don't want to make a plan of relying on regenerating. That was…awful. But I…I don't know what to do."

Jaxton cupped her cheek. "All it means is that we train harder so you become less reliant on your abilities and more resilient in the event you do need them," he assured. "Having regenerative powers can work like a blessing if used right, but it's better for you to be trained to only use it sparingly. You should keep training with Zelda. She knows more about your abilities than I do. But…I'd like to train with you against my Cultivation."

"What?" Tesla was taken back. "Why?"

"Your body responded positively to my Qi," Jaxton said. "I'm curious to see if Anti-Ether can't counter against pure spiritual power. Spiritual energy isn't Ether or Anti-Ether. If you ever encountered a Spirit, you'd be defenseless against it. I want to test my Qi against your Anti-Ether to see if my theory is right."

"But isn't your Cultivation about reflection?"

"It is," Jaxton conceded. "But I can use my powers without reflections. It's easier to facilitate it through specialty, but my mother trained me to use raw spiritual energy. And I want to make sure you're trained in every capacity." He looked away. "You're not actively involved in the magical world because you were raised Spiritless. And even if you were involved, having Anti-Ether to your extent makes you an enemy to the magical world. It's not fair of me to say this, but I want you ready if you ever face someone who can counter your abilities."

"No," Tesla sighed. "It's fair to say that. My mom always wanted me to go into the world ready to defend myself, but we only thought about defenses from Spiritless. I don't think either of us thought I'd have to defend myself against, well, anyone else."

Jaxton leaned forward to peck her lips. "It won't be easy," he murmured. "Training in this sense is a lot different from Spiritless training. Your body was built to have longer stamina, speed, and durability, similar to a Wizard. Now, we just have to fine-tune it so you can use it."

"So…" Tesla trailed her fingers up his shoulder. "Does this mean naked sparring matches?"

Jaxton chuckled. "Only in our planned sessions. But for actual training, we'll be using training weights. You can create regalia with your Anti-Ether. I want to see how far that extends. It's almost like you've combined Requip and Enchantment into one, similar to a very rare guildmate of mine. She can fashion attire with her powers and change into them."

"Your guildmate." Tesla gaped. "Wait, you said fashion? Are you talking about the Ena Fernandes?"

Jaxton nodded.

Tesla squealed. "Oh my god, I love her style! I preordered some lingerie from her Heart's Day collection and she never disappoints! How come you've never introduced me to her? She's famous!"

"She's a forced to be reckoned, as is my guild master, her mother," Jaxton said with a tone of respect. "Erza Fernandes and Ena Fernandes are both very powerful women. Ena will probably exceed Erza in her twenties, give or take a few years."

"Do you think your guild master could beat your mother?"

Jaxton stilled. "I don't know." He considered the possibilities. "Master Erza is powerful, but my mother could take away her Magic Spirit if she wanted. She picked up tricks from one of the last Exorcist bloodlines before they died. But in a fair fight with honor involved… I'm not sure." He tucked away the thought for later.

"Can I ask you something?"

Jaxton nodded.

"Your dad and Weiwei mentioned you possibly being 'the Child of Báihǔ'." Tesla gauged Jaxton's reaction. "And it seems like your mother thinks you're that too. But…why is that? Does it have to do with you being a white wolf and that whole legend about Báihǔ stripping the white off every animal?"

Jaxton bobbed his head and fed her a portion before he ate the last bit of their breakfast. "I wasn't born with black hair. When I was born, I had white hair and yellow eyes. Báihǔ is a white tiger with yellow eyes." He tensed. "My mother took that as fate Báihǔ had chosen me…and…she's not wrong."

Tesla sensed a shift in the air. "What do you mean?" She softened when Jaxton locked his jaw. "It's okay," she soothed. "How about you tell me later when we're not here and everything doesn't feel too fresh?"

"Are you sure?"

Tesla nodded. "I'm sure talking about it here in the place where all your suffering happened is difficult for you. We can talk about this when we come home." She stroked his cheek. "Black or white hair—human or Lycan—none of that matters to me, Jang-ta, as long as you keep being you. You loved me even when I got bright red braids."

"You wanted to look like the Little Mermaid," Jaxton remembered. "I thought you looked adorable."

"I looked like a fire hydrant."

Jaxton smiled. "A very adorable fire hydrant."

"If you could love me when I looked like a fire hydrant, I think I can love you if you have black or white hair," Tesla said in good humor. "What matters to me is that you're comfortable in your own body and that you like what you see when you look at your reflection." She brushed her hair with lazy fingers. "You must've been coloring your hair for years."

"No. This is a simple spell that I can do even unconscious," Jaxton told her. "My eyes are different. They naturally darkened as I grew up. The more emotional I was, that's when my eyes would turn colors."

Tesla sparkled. "See, now, that's just like what happens in Wolf Teens." She shielded her breasts when Jaxton narrowed his eyes. "Come on…! They say every myth has, like, a nugget of truth. Do you have night vision? Do you howl a lot? Can you smell me when I get turned on? Are you actually horny all the time? Can you heal? Are you super strong?"

Jaxton sighed. "I do have night vision, I can heal, and I have speed and strength, but it's because of my Cultivation training. Lycans don't have magical powers, just heightened senses. Even my Lycan Form isn't the natural Lycan Form, according to my father. Most Lycans looked the same size as wolves. We howl for the same reason wolves do, to communicate. My lust has nothing to do with me being a Lycan and everything to do with you, and yes." His nostrils flared. "I can smell you when you're horny."

"This is making more sense why you're on me all the time since I'm pretty much thinking about sex constantly," Tesla muttered as she drummed her fingers on her cheek. "Do Lycans typically live long lives? How often do you shift? Do you guys call your girlfriends 'mates' and your kids 'pups' and stuff?" Horror filled her, and she scooted away from him. "We don't have to have sex when you're in your other body, right?"

Jaxton shook his head instantly. "No. I'm not into bestiality. But I did bring up my concerns to my father. He told me it depends on the couple for that, but most Lycan pairings never did that."

"Did he and your mom do that?"

A dark aura shrouded around Jaxton. "He never confirmed it, but he never denied it."

"Oh, my…" Somehow, I have a feeling Mister Yang wouldn't have had a say in it if Misses Yang was into it…

"My father never called me 'pup' and he's never called my mother 'mate'. But without any other Lycans around, I'm unsure how they spoke," Jaxton told her. "My father told me the only reason he and his brothers had long lives was that our previous Guardian Spirit graced us with it with us being the first bloodline. It was his final gift to us. But other Lycans and Therians lived the typical eighty to one-hundred years, similar to Chimaera."

"But you'll live longer." Tesla swallowed back her worries and pain. "And…I won't."

"We don't know that yet," Jaxton reminded. "Theoretically, your regenerative powers could allow you to live longer than normal. Your body automatically replaces anything deadened and heals anything that isn't functioning, which means you'll be saved from any bodily dysfunctions and diseases—"

"But growing old isn't a disease, Jang-ta," Tesla murmured.

Jaxton was careful to set the empty tray and their tea back onto the bedside table. He stripped himself of his shorts to get under the sheets with her and embrace her tightly. "I'm doing everything in my power to find out more about your physiology. Little is known about Anti-Ether Wielders outside of their abilities, location, and disappearance. But I have hope that what I'll find is about your longevity."

"And what if it isn't?" Tesla whispered. "You go on to live, and I die at eighty?"

"A spiritually bonding could allow you to live as long as me," Jaxton hypothesized. "When two people bond in Magic, in blood, or in soul, they facilitate a spiritual connection between them. Their Spirits feed from each other and stretch out their lives." He paused. "But that's a serious decision I wouldn't have you worry about until far into the future." He added, "Maybe you should ask Nashi."

"Nashi?" Tesla looked up at him in clear confusion. "Why her?"

"She understands more about this than you think," Jaxton said cryptically. "And she'll be able to answer a lot of your questions better than I can."

Tesla rolled her lips. "I'll think about it." She snuggled into his chest. "How often do you have to shift?"

"In my youth, I needed to shift every day, then every week. Now, I can go months in one form or the other without turning into a Rogue. Both my Spirits are content with my actions and my control." Jaxton kissed her brow.

Tesla mumbled into his skin, "Thanks for being my dream come true Lycan-Cultivator boyfriend. Please don't ever break up with me when I get all wrinkly and have to shave my hair because it's too nappy."

Jaxton's chest vibrated with his mirth. "Thank you for being my dream come true, strong, resourceful, independent girlfriend and for accepting me for who I am."

"You're not going to ask me to not break up with me?" Tesla grumpily peeked up at him. "I revealed all my cards too soon."

Jaxton smiled and teased, "I would ask you, but I'd try to distract you from leaving."

"Oh, really?" Tesla lifted an eyebrow. "Like how?"

Jaxton bent his head to rumble in her ear, "You can't get out any words when I'm deep inside you."

Tesla snorted. "Using sex as a weapon. I mean…you're not wrong, per se, but it goes both ways." She nuzzled under his jaw. "I know I can't tell anyone about you, but Dawn-hards would murder me in cold blood that I got my own Aaron Gray." She smiled when Jaxton growled. "Except you're hotter with a better ass and you don't lose your clothes when you shift. Actually, that's a negative."

"Well, I'm thankful I don't lose half my wardrobe through all my shifting," Jaxton muttered. "And we're naked a lot at home."

"Touché," Tesla ruled. She hummed in deep pleasure when Jaxton kneaded her ass and placed a heated kiss along the side of her head. "We're going to have to eventually get out of bed and get ready so we can go to the Sky Port." She offered no resistance when Jaxton nudged her on her back and let her nails raked up through his hair. "I feel like my surprise to you is going to mean even more after this insane past couple of days."

Jaxton hummed as he kissed her throat. "We still have time until Huang Chun comes knocking," he murmured before snaking another kiss onto her jaw. "And I haven't touched you in so long."

Tesla simpered. "We're a match made in sex Hell," she laughed. "I was thinking the exact same thing." She rubbed down his shoulders and down his back. "We'll still need to shower and pack, you know."

"That sounds like something we should worry about in the future." Jaxton pressed a feverish kiss onto her lips as he nudged her legs apart.

Tesla sighed. "We'll have the entire three hours on the plane—" She sucked in a breath when Jaxton pressed against her. "I know, I know, it's still not enough." Steely-grays glistened in love when she witnessed Jaxton check for her approval. "I'm green," she murmured. "I love you."

Jaxton kissed her nose, then her mouth. "I love you too." Without preamble, he went slow and shivered as Tesla openly mewled. Little resistance was to be had, but that first thrust always felt like an overwhelming invasion that could bring you your greatest pleasure or a horrid pain. The moment he was fully sheathed, he stilled and peppered her face in soothing kisses.

Tesla panted and anchored her nails into his back. She needed to ground herself.

Jaxton pulled up his head to search her eyes. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." Tesla dug her nails into his skin to prove her point. She kissed his chin and let out a deep breath, but heated excitement crowded her eyes. "Cāo wǒ, Jang-ta."

Darkness lightened into yellow-ambers in that second and Jaxton let go of his restraint with a growl to hear Tesla's scream of his name.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure 096

•

On the Horizon

•

変化は目の前にありますが、一緒に立ち向かおう

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Pleasure Palace might have come with a plethora of kinky amenities, but that also meant the staff was thorough in providing a safe, clean, and organized space for all consenting parties. The lobby was a revolving door of guests who would become spectators in the highly anticipated burlesque show and wanted a room to themselves to enjoy the full, sensual experience of tonight. Justin and Honey were at the helm with their faithful assistants as they kissed cheeks and hugged other drag queens and performers for tonight and made sure to stay in constant communication with the palace's event planner and vendors.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Pleasure Palace

Ixia City

Fiore, Ishgar

10:47 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Nashi watched the organized chaos from the second-level overhang. The event was later tonight, so it left her able to dress down in one of Gary's sweatshirts and her hair in twin buns. She waved her hand as she yawned.

"I'm surprised you're tired."

Nashi hummed as Orochi came to join her alongside the railing. "Long night," she supposed.

"Long week," he corrected. "You've been doing a lot of interviews lately. I've been keeping up. You've sounded articulate and eloquent in all of them."

Nashi smiled and bumped his arm. "Thanks. It helps I've known how to deal with the media being in Fairy Tail, and Master and my mama helped run through how to divert weirder questions back to my cause." She rubbed her nose. "I just keep fearing I'll say the wrong thing."

"As long as you continued to be yourself, you'll be fine."

"Thanks." She looked up at Orochi. "How are you? I feel like I barely see anyone outside JJ and Ellie these days."

"I'm okay. Mira and my mom have been trusting me more with the bar and other administrative stuff," Orochi filled her in. "I'm thinking about taking a trip down to Melandia to visit Ezra." He frowned. "I'm worried about him. He's been avoiding answering my calls, and Saudade reached out to me that he left her some troubling voicemails."

Nashi frowned as well. "But didn't they break up a while ago?"

"They did," Orochi sighed. "It's why I want to go visit him. I spoke to Gary about it. We were the only two who knew how deep their relationship went. And since Gary's up north, I thought at least one of us should visit. I'd rather not surprise him, but he's not leaving us with much choice."

"If he's not responding, it's better to see for yourself he's okay than for something serious to have happened," Nashi reasoned. "That's too bad, though. I remember when Ezra and Saudade got together. He was never that extroverted to begin with, but he was very different."

Orochi nodded. "Yeah, he was." He smiled at her. "But enough of the past. Are you excited for the show?"

"Definitely. There's a lot of talent tonight," Nashi praised. And JJ promised he'd introduce me to Carlisle. I need to figure out why I reacted that way seeing him. It was just so strange… She ribbed Orochi and teased, "Tesla's going to be doing something pretty slutty tonight, y'know."

"I'd rather not Jaxton kill me, thanks," Orochi said, tone dry.

Nashi laughed. "Well, tonight is going to be a pretty hot night. A lot of single women—"

"Who I can't touch."

Nashi sighed. "What if there was a woman you could touch out there? What would you do then?"

"Marry her." Orochi grinned when Nashi snorted. "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know how I'd test the theory I could touch her without killing her. But if she really did exist and I could touch her, I'd still want to see if I was attracted to her. And if it was mutual, then I'd pursue it." He shook his head. "But that'd be impossible." He looked at his gloved hands. "And it's something that I'm okay with."

Nashi sighed. "Speaking of women, how's Livy? We texted a little, but I'd figure you guys might call a lot more."

"She's good. Last I heard, she was enjoying Wu Xing with a possible boyfriend on the horizon."

"Get out." Nashi gaped. "And she had the audacity to hide that from me after all the shit she gave me about Gary? Where's my revenge? Where's the payback?"

Orochi snickered. "I think that's why she didn't tell you. So, you never heard any of this from me."

"She's going to hear it from me," Nashi grumbled as she pushed off the railing. "If you're all checked in, do you want to go down and get a late second breakfast?" She made a face. "My actual breakfast got ruined with JJ banging on my door and telling me we had to move."

Orochi chuckled. "Sure. Second breakfast sounds nice."

The pair of them headed down the steps to where all the chaos was. Justin and Honey were over the moon as they greeted the great and iconic Superia. Both Nashi and Orochi had to bob and weave through the influx of guests, assistants, and staff until they were able to make it to one of the more casual restaurants Pleasure Palace offered. It looked like it was a brunch restaurant, from the washed-out wooden floors to the bright yet muted tones. It was easy to see how the veranda would be used in the summertime. Without all the extremities Pleasure Palace normally had, you would never tell the restaurant was part of such a kinky hotel.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is Haus of Bazaar, open from 7 AM to 1 AM and serves alcohol the entire time. While it may not fit the aesthetic of Pleasure Palace, it does help wind down guests who might feel overwhelmed by everything Pleasure Palace has to offer. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Orochi and Nashi quickly decided the bar was a better option than waiting around for a table. With a couple of menus, they took their seats. Nashi had to laugh when she saw Orochi scanning the bar. "You're supposed to be relaxing."

"I know. I am." Orochi flipped open his menu. "I'm used to being busy all the time. I offered to help Justin with the bar tonight, but he insisted I enjoy myself…among other suggestions."

Nashi propped a cheek on a fist. "Let me guess. He's trying to see what will set your ticker off?"

"I have all working parts," Orochi muttered. "And I know what sets me off, but I refuse to give Justin that sort of ammunition."

"Mmm, fair."

The bartender was quick to come up to them with a casual quip, but Nashi had to bite back her amusement when she saw the bartender was more than a little impressed with Orochi's tattoos. They placed their drink orders and Nashi turned to tease Orochi—

"Hi, sorry to bother, but you're Nashi Dragneel, right?"

Both turned to see a very nervous skinny lad had approached Nashi.

She smiled with ease. "That's me."

"Wow, hi, it's amazing to meet you!" the young man enthused, eyes shining. "You're such an inspiration and it's such an honor to meet you!" His cheeks reddened. "I was too afraid to ask out this guy I really liked. He's a Chimera and I knew I'd catch Hell at home since my parents aren't all that okay with anyone different. But hearing your speech made me go for it and we've been really happy since."

Nashi softened. "That's wonderful," she praised. "I'm happy you both are finding happiness in your life."

"Thank you! Is it okay if I get a picture with you? He's going to freak out I met you in person!"

"Sure!"

Orochi had admiration clear on his face once the pictures were done and the young man scurried away, beaming with happiness. "Has that been happening to you often?"

Their drinks came back, but they decided to have a few more minutes to figure out what they wanted to eat.

Nashi took a sip of her drink while she shrugged. "When I don't transform my hair, yeah, but it's not like a massive swarm of people try to drag me down with questions. Some people come up to me and want to thank me. Some people tell me their stories." Hickories glinted. "I didn't think I did much speaking at the trial. I just told the truth. And I guess my truth set a lot of people free about their own feelings."

"That's amazing you've inspired change," Orochi praised. "It's hard to navigate romance to begin with, but we shouldn't let appearances divide us from potential partners."

"But the world thinks it's unnatural," Nashi sighed. "Some random church-goer stopped me and told me they felt so sorry for me for being seduced by the Devil. They said they were praying for me to break free of his Curse and hoping I wouldn't have any kids." She waved her hand when Orochi looked disturbed on her behalf. "It doesn't happen often, but it's whatever. People can say what they want."

"It doesn't make it right, but I understand." Orochi took a swig of his drink.

"I did an interview and they threw me a curveball question about being poly," Nashi recalled. "Master had prepared me for it. But it feels weird. I totally endorse if someone is poly and it's healthy, but I'm not technically poly, y'know? I don't want to speak on behalf of a culture I'm not a part of, so I try to deflect the question, but if they keep pressing, I try to back it as much as I can."

"At least you're empowering the poly community," Orochi gave to her. "It already has a bad reputation as is with all the toxic poly things happening in Alakitasia and Giltena."

"I know. Ellie's sister Esme and her husband and girlfriend were really great at helping me with all my questions," Nashi said. "If I have to have people think I'm that to keep up this protection, I want to make sure I'm being factual about it."

The bartender came back, and they both placed their orders.

"I know Gary is proud of you, Nana," Orochi murmured. "He'd be with you for every interview if he could."

"I know," Nashi said. "I know he feels awful I'm doing this alone, but I like doing this alone. We'll be doing a whole Rogue magazine interview and photoshoot in July, I think, hinging on if Skade passes his assessment, and then we have our Majish thing and then I think he's doing some stuff for that men's magazine, so we'll be doing things together and he has his own interviews. But it's…nice starting this alone, I don't know. I'm gaining my footing if that makes sense."

Orochi nodded. "It does. Just don't overwork yourself."

"I won't," Nashi assured. "I'm taking on what I can handle." She did mention, "I haven't talked to my parents yet, but…" A deep breath. "When Kyary came and gave me that business card for Project Humane, I did some research. I finally made a call and…I'm considering going to college over in the USM and working with Project Humane."

Orochi did not look all that surprised. "Have you looked at universities? Are you planning to do a gap year?"

"I got back all my Fioren-based acceptance letters back in November and December for early decision and I'm waiting on two other schools." Nashi heaved an exhale. "I'm already too late to consider applying for any USM universities, so I'd probably take a gap semester and work alongside Project Humane. Mister Collier emailed me about the possibility of an advocacy tour." She made a vague gesture. "I don't know. It feels right. But I'm also training to be selected for the S-Class Exam."

"It's a lot to think about," Orochi conceded.

Nashi looked up at him. "Any advice?"

"Your activism is important," Orochi started, "but your education and Magic training are equally important. I know you'll graduate with your Associate's Degree and a few more credits this spring. Depending on the route you go, you can get your degree in two years. S-Class comes annually, and I know how much it means to you to have that title, but you have to think about the added responsibilities of being S-Class too." He ticked off a finger as he listed, "You have meetings, workshops, weekend and holiday rotation for emergency deployment, and a field you have to go into."

Nashi sagged against the bar counter and lamented, "Thanks for all this pep talk, Orochi."

"I'm not saying it's impossible to accomplish it all," Orochi said soothingly. "But I am saying you have to plan it delicately." He smiled when Nashi looked stress. "Becoming S-Class doesn't mean you have to take on a constant battling role. Misses Redfox does more with anthropology and linguistics and education. Your mom does a lot with the Celestial Spirit community and that big class-action suit. Laxus works a lot with curation and Mira does more with education too."

Nashi's gears were turning. "If I became S-Class, I could pursue my activism," she slowly put together. "I could do empowering workshops. I could still help people find themselves."

"But you have to think about your education too," Orochi put in. "It was easier for Lance and Mystogan and Gary because they were S-Class before they had to worry about university and they chose Fioren schools. I'm sure Master would be willing to work with you…"

"But that's on the basis I go to school here and not in the USM."

Orochi considered, "You could always finish your undergraduate in Fiore and pursue your Master's Degree in the USM. It's your Master's Degree that matters most." He nudged her. "And you can see if your activism tours can be limited to summers, which gives you a wider audience."

"You know…" Nashi looked up at Orochi with appreciation. "I think that's a great idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Nashi slowly sat up as thoughts shifted around. "Yeah, it really is." She beamed. "I think I have a plan. Thanks, Chi-chi! I owe you!"

Orochi chuckled. "I'll hold you to that."

Their food came back. Nashi had decided to go with an omelet, waffles, and potatoes while Orochi had decided on a steak and eggs and a side of pancakes. Nashi raised her drink in a toast. "How about we toast to having a good show tonight and to the future?"

"I'll drink to that." Orochi's vibrant violets softened as he looked at Nashi. "To the future."

KLINK!

"More power!"

"Right!"

Natsu and Gajeel were outside with Gale as they worked on cultivating his Dragon Slayer abilities. Gajeel had carved little iron shields and Natsu had melted in a bullseye into them. Gale was working on controlling his roar for precision and power and tried his best to belt out his Earth Dragon's Roar to hit the target straight through iron while Gajeel called which target for him to hit and Natsu judged him on his technique.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Dragneel Residence

Magnolia Town

Fiore, Ishgar

11:30 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The dogs were all together today in a big fluff. Plue had settled at the top of the heap and was quietly snoozing away while Icarus, Actaeon, and Lelantos curled together. Luna had taken a picture of such a sweet sight and posted it before she had decided to change into her athletic clothes and do some stretches by the window. A few weeks of neglect had not done irreparable damage, but she winced as she pushed herself through harder stretches. As she rolled herself out into the splits, she watched outside.

"Don't roar from your throat," Natsu instructed. "It comes from your center. Use your core."

"Try relaxing your shoulders," Gajeel suggested.

Gale panted and wiped his chin as he finished with one roar. "Right."

Gajeel raised a pierced eyebrow. "You need a break, pipsqueak?"

"No, sir." Gale stood tall. "What's my next target?"

Gajeel pointed. "Fourth one in the third row."

Gale nodded. His eyes glowed as he gathered the powers inside him. His shoulders dropped as green Magic fizzled from his mouth, and he unleashed it all in a mighty roar onto his target.

Luna softened as she watched Gale. He's getting stronger every day. I hear him and Papa and Uncle Gajeel training here pretty much every day. Sometimes, Uncle Lily comes along too. She twisted herself and bent low to touch her left foot for a few counts. It was only in November when he found Sycaña. And now he can do all this. She stretched out in the center, but her eyes kept watch of Gale. I wish I was as strong as him. And courageous. She laid her head on her stretched-out bicep as those browns trailed him slowly from head to toe. He really is handsome.

"I think he is too."

Luna pushed herself up and twisted her head back to see her mother was in the living room with two yoga mats, her hair in its long ponytail, and in a comfortable sports bra and tights. "Mama!" Luna's cheeks reddened. "I didn't say that out loud, right?"

Lucy laughed. "About the part where you think Gale is handsome?" She smiled when Luna covered her face with her hands, abashed. "I didn't hear a word."

Luna groaned and got out of her splits to lift her knees to her chest. "Can you pretend you didn't hear that?" Her head popped up, panicked. "And he didn't—!"

"I doubt he did," Lucy soothed as she laid out both mats. "He is a handsome young man." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "But he inherited Gajeel's brashness and Levy's intelligence. He could grow up to be an evil genius. Poor Levy. I can't imagine."

Luna giggled.

"Why don't you join me for some yoga?" Lucy suggested. "Unless you'd rather stare at the rather handsome Dragon outside? Personally, I prefer your papa—"

"Ew, Mama, gross," Luna complained, but she did come over to claim the other mat. "And I wasn't staring. I was stretching." She followed along with her mother's form for the first pose.

Lucy smiled. "You're not fooling me. I used to do that trick too. Pretend to warm-up while Natsu trained just so I could see him and all those muscles." Her amusement grew when Luna turned red. "There's nothing wrong with looking, Lu." She slid fluidly into the next pose and spotted her daughter. "But I'm not sure how your boyfriend would feel."

"Oh, um." Luna blew out a piece of hair from her face. "Bleu and I broke up, actually."

"You did?" Lucy frowned. "When did this happen?"

"On Heart's Day weekend." Luna carefully dropped into the next pose alongside her mother. "It's not a big deal, really, and I'm fine."

Lucy hummed. "I'm sorry for the heartbreak, still. If you need anything from your papa or me, just let us know, okay? We're here to support you."

"Yes, Mama."

Luna blocked out the noise from outside to focus on her breathing instead. Yoga was a slow-burn exercise for her. She felt limber already from her warm-ups and the poses her mother guided her into felt as though her energy shifted around with her weight. Her breathing slowed into a deep and stable flow, and she found her mind wandering.

Even though Bleu and I broke up…everything has been so complicated. And then there's his birthday thing he's sharing with his dad that I'm going to. Luna sighed and closed her eyes for this next pose. I wish things weren't complicated. I wish things were easy.

Loving rubies.

Luna cracked open her eyes, and a sadness was there. I shouldn't be thinking about him. It's not right.

"Something on your mind, baby?"

Luna sighed and shifted her weight into the next pose that had upped in difficulty. "Nothing, Mama." She avoided her mother's searching gaze.

"I know when's something bothering you, Lu," Lucy murmured, "and I won't pry if you don't want me to. I'm just…worried for you. I don't want you to feel like you're alone in dealing with whatever you're dealing with."

Luna's stomach contracted when she remembered Hemlock and his touches. "I'm fine, Mama," she whispered in the hopes she came across as convincing. "I guess… I just wish things were easier. Everything feels like it got so complicated. Me, Gale… This."

Lucy moved onto the next difficult pose, and Luna kept up with ease. "Now that you're single…are you thinking about Gale in that way?"

Luna faltered.

Lucy glanced at her before looking straight ahead. A fond smile wove onto her lips. "When you were little, Gale had the biggest crush on you. But Igneel would always get in the way." She chuckled to herself. "He was always so determined that he'd be your Dragon. You'd think Gale would've given up, but he always found little ways to keep trying. I felt so bad. Igneel was a right menace, so…I might've helped Gale along."

Luna gaped at her mother. "You did? Seriously?"

"I just felt so bad when he looked so shocked whenever Igneel would ruin his plans," Lucy confessed. "I didn't do too much. Although," she added, "I might've let it slip to him you wanted a new camera when you were younger."

Luna's eyes rounded. "Mama, you didn't."

"I did." Lucy moved them into another pose. "And I'll never forget how you yelled at Igneel for even thinking about destroying your brand-new camera. You got into his face and told him he wouldn't be your brother anymore if he hurt Gale and you were glued to Gale's side the entire night of your birthday."

Luna cleared her throat. "I wasn't 'glued to his side'."

"Oh, yes, you were," Lucy remembered. "You two even fell asleep together." She chortled. "I remember feeling so bad having to wake him up so his parents could take him home. And you were clinging onto him—"

"Okay, Mama, that's enough," Luna mumbled, ears tinged red. "I think I can die of embarrassment now."

Lucy grinned. "I'm just saying crushes can be innocent," she told her daughter. "They don't have to go anywhere and they can be completely secret. They don't need to grow into relationships, Luna. It's okay to have a crush on someone."

Luna pressed her lips together as she thought about it while she and Lucy twisted into a harder pose. "I just… I don't feel…ready for that," she tried to word, but she felt she was getting it wrong. "It still feels like a lot."

"You're in control of your body and your boundaries," Lucy assured. "Your heart can want someone even when you're not ready for it, but that doesn't mean you have to think about it or act on it."

"How do I not think about it?"

"Keeping yourself busy," Lucy suggested. "It's easier to forget the smaller things when you have a full schedule. If you're up for it, you can come with me to Saint Layla's and help out with my lectures and observations. You can take missions or get back into training. You can pick up a new hobby. Even just having a full schedule with friends helps keep your mind off sweating the small stuff." She cooled them down as she settled them both into a relaxed child's pose.

"I guess that could help," Luna murmured. "I guess I don't get it."

"What?"

"My feelings." Luna licked her lips. "It's weird, right? I was dating Bleu. How can I like someone when we just broke up? Doesn't that make me a slut?"

Lucy sat up, face stern. "Did someone tell you that?"

Luna was slower to sit up. "No…" She tugged at her tank top. "I just thought…"

"You are not a slut for having feelings for someone else," Lucy ardently spoke. "None of that is true if someone ever said that to you. It just makes you a person who likes another person. Even if you're dating someone and you like someone else too, that doesn't make you a slut. Nothing makes you a slut, Luna, okay?"

Luna rubbed her arm and offered a hum as her answer.

Lucy sighed and scooted closer until she was in front of Luna. "I know you had strong feelings for Blue," she murmured. "And I know you loved Gale. Maybe you still do. It's all pretty confusing, huh?" She brushed back Luna's hair. "Being a teenager is confusing."

"Is it always like this?" Luna miserably wondered.

"Well…" Lucy rose and dropped her shoulders as she inhaled and exhaled. "Yes," she conceded. "It's a bit of a mess. Emotions suck, boys are the worst, and you might start hating your papa and me and feeling like the world is always ending." She brought Luna's hands into her own. "But the friends you make and maintain can be some of the greatest friends of your life. And I already know Silver and Ena are wonderful friends to you who you trust with anything. They might not know all the answers, but they'll be great support. And," she added, "I can be too whenever it becomes cool for teens to talk to their parents about what's happening in your world."

Luna smiled a little. "It's never been cool."

"Tell that to your papa. I can't even pity him when he mopes around with his Compact hoping Nashi will call." Lucy made a show of rolling her eyes while Luna laughed. "She didn't even move up the country; she's just living at Gary's, which we can walk to. But he's acting like she went off to fight a war. That man." She shook her head. "I think he's going to be a worse empty-nester than me once you move out. I can already tell he's subtly trying to make sure Luke never moves out."

"And Luke and I have to deal with him while you go on tour—"

"I'll be gone only for two weeks," Lucy promised as she shook Luna's hands. "It'll be boring. I'm just giving some presentations to a few magical schools and some magical education boards about their Celestial Spirit Magic programs, and then I'll be straight home."

"And you'll call every day?"

Lucy smiled. "Every day," she promised.

"And you'll bring back presents?"

"You are so like your father," Lucy muttered. She could not help but snort when Luna pouted and forced her eyes to shimmer. "We'll see about the souvenirs. It's a business trip, not a vacation. But if you can survive your papa for two weeks, I'd say that'd deserve a reward."

"It's not like he can't do anything, but he goes into his Emo Mode when you're gone," Luna whined. "It's so pathetic! We had to use an actual shovel to get him out of bed, and Igneel had to shovel fire down his mouth because he said he wasn't hungry and we all know that's a lie." She remembered how her father had looked his age as he lay in bed with his pink hair losing its luster, and how neither she nor her siblings were impressed with his theatrics. Why are you the way you are, Papa?

A flash caught her eye, and to her dismay, the moonstone in her bracelet was glowing. Oh, no…

SLIDE…

Natsu came in first with a grin. "My ears are burnin'. Lucy, were you talking about me?"

"We were talking about my tour," Lucy said as she shared a glance with her daughter, "and how sad you get when I'm gone." She laughed when Natsu clung to her. "Natsu…!"

"Ya can't just remind me you're abandoning me for a whole two weeks like that, Lucy," Natsu complained. "Now it makes me want to hoard ya even more!" His eyes gleamed. "I know the perfect place I can store you too!"

"Lucy-Punch!"

Natsu laid on the ground with his eyes swirling while Lucy hmphed and dusted herself off. "I am not one of your possessions, Natsu," she scolded. She smiled as Gajeel and Gale came inside after removing their shoes. "How's training?"

"Coming along." Gajeel clapped Gale's shoulder. "He'll turn into a fine Dragon yet."

"Thanks, Dad." Gale sought a shy Luna and softened. "Hi, Blondie."

"Oh, um." Luna got to her feet and kept closer to her mother. "Hi, Gale."

Gajeel grinned. "Come on, Squirt, the Hell's my hello? Or are ya just gonna be a stranger?"

Luna grinned back. "Hi, Uncle Gajeel."

"That's more like it." Gajeel easily picked up Natsu from the ground. "Bunny Girl, ya got a minute? Shorty sent me with a list of books she wanted to borrow from ya if ya don't mind."

"Not at all!" Lucy winked at her panicking daughter. "You two play nice. We'll be right back." And she padded away with Gajeel following and dragging an unconscious Natsu in his wake.

And that left Gale and Luna alone.

An awkward silence birthed into the world as Luna picked at her leggings while Gale rocked on the balls of his feet and kept his arms crossed. Luna decided to take the plunge. "Th-Thanks for walking me home yesterday."

"It was nothing," Gale was quick to assure. "It was nice, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. It was nice."

Rubies held chocolates for an intense few counts.

Luna, embarrassed, looked away first while Gale was content keeping up his gaze. She cleared her throat and offered, "U-Um, you look really good out there." Her cheeks pinched into pink, and her tongue felt tied. "No, wait, um! Th-That's not what I meant!" she hurriedly covered up. "I meant you look good training out there! You look really good, um…" Her flush deepened, and now her stare was very much interested in the carpet.

Gale released a slow chuckle. "Thanks, Blondie. You look good too."

"You saw me stretching from out there?"

"No. You just look good."

Luna's head lifted and stunned chocolate collided with ruby. But it was always Luna who looked away first when her emotions caught up with her, never Gale. She kneaded her toes on the carpet. "W-We probably shouldn't be talking like this, right?"

"Why? Your mom practically told us to go at it. Unless you've got somewhere to be, I don't mind."

Luna swallowed. "N-No, I don't have anywhere to be, uh…" She toyed with the hem of her tank top. "It's just… Well, it's just… I don't know. Doesn't this feel—?" Her head lifted and she could barely process a thing when she realized Gale had closed in on her with those intense eyes pinned on her and refusing to shy away.

"Doesn't it feel like 'what', Blondie?" Gale murmured, tone low and gravelly.

"I…" Luna licked her lips—

"Don't do that."

Luna froze.

Gale locked his jaw. "Sorry." He took a step back and ran agitated naked fingers through his hair. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No." Luna stepped back as well. "No, it's okay."

Another silence enveloped them.

This is weird, Luna thought. I don't know what to say. And he looks at me like that… She shifted her weight. The walk home was a little awkward. Our hands kept touching and then he pulled me away from that cyclist and he felt…warm… A pit hit her stomach. But I don't know if I should feel like this. After Hemlock… Her body locked down as shame and guilt sunk their claws into her.

Steps saved them from more awkwardcy.

"Lu…!" Luke caterwauled. "Yuu and I are meeting up and I'm missing my extra charger. Have you seen it?" He jogged down the hallway to break into the living room with his gaming backpack on. "I'm pretty sure I left it in the living room…" His words trailed off when he realized Gale was her. A rigidness took over his body, and he stayed where he was. "Hi…Gale."

Gale stiffly nodded. "Luke."

Luna looked between the two of them before she addressed her brother. "Um, Luke, I'm pretty sure you left your other charger in the kitchen last night, remember?" she prompted. "We were making dinner, and you were showing me something on your Com when your battery was almost dead."

"Right. The kitchen." Luke flashed a weak smile towards her in thanks. He moved a few steps but paused. For a moment, it looked like he had more to say, but his courage was lost and he went down the hall towards the kitchen.

Gale blew out a breath and scrubbed his jaw. "Well, that was fucking awkward."

"Are you okay?" Luna drifted closer out of genuine concern. "I don't think you guys have spoken to each other ever since…then."

Gale offered a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm fine. It's just awkward, but we'll deal." He smiled when Luna's stubborn worry refused to go away. "I'm fine, Blondie-girl, honest. Is it uncomfortable as shit to be in the same room as him? Sure. But I'll get over it soon enough."

Luna frowned. "If you're sure…"

"'Course I am, Blondie." Without a thought, Gale reached out his hand to touch her cheek. "I—"

• — • — •

X — X — X — X — X

Water was running.

A humid mist cloaked the vision, but the sensation was sharp in contrast. A spearing invasion scissored below, awkward and painful, and heavy sobs shook her to the core when the invasion would not stop stretching her and shoving in and out at a nauseatingly languid pace.

"It's okay, Your Highness," came perverse soothe. "It'll feel better soon once you get used to it."

"Please st-st-stop. It hurts—"

"Ah-ah-ah… Think of Your Majesty, Your Highness."

The sobs rained harder as the burning water did nothing to alleviate the awkward pain. The more the invasion moved, an off sensation filled her. It felt like a heated pressure that combed through her legs and focused on her center. That pain betrayed her when she felt her body…cave. The pressure tried to tingle her with this feeling she could only describe as warmth. Pleasure? Was this pleasure?

"That's it. Your Life Scent is increasing just like that. A little more, Your Highness."

The tears burned her when her body twitched. What was this? She did not like this. Her body was trying to fool her that this invasion was meant to happen—that she should enjoy it. She felt her center make way for the invasion for its passage to have no resistance as it amped up its speed. Her sobs turned into confused wails when her thighs twitched and that pressure started to become unbearable. A sound she had never heard before had slipped out between her wails and made her cry even more. What was this? Her body had never done this—

Her heart stopped when the pressure expanded into a relaxed heat. She felt something in her contract and spasm and a mess of confusion and satisfaction and anguish ripped through her so hard that she nearly threw up.

"That's it," came satisfied moan. "That's it, Your Highness. Just like that. Just like that."

X — X — X — X — X

• — • — •

"Gale. What's wrong?"

It took Gale a moment to blink back into reality. Rage and pain warred in him as he looked down at a concerned Luna with his eyes heated. His hand slowly reached into a white-knuckled fist. She… She was…

"I'm going!"

Luna turned around as Luke quickly moved out of one hallway and into the next. "Hey, wait!" She turned around to Gale. "I'll be right back!" And she scurried after her brother.

Gale knew he did not have the strength to keep her back. The memory he had seen and the sensations he had felt—his stomach bottomed out for a roaring nausea, and he felt his skin itch to forge scales. Who did that to her? That voice… I don't recognize that voice, but it sounded like a grown man. What motherfucker—his teeth gritted, and those rubies glowed with swatches of emerald—raped Blondie?

Sky Port traffic was some of the worst traffic in the world, especially at none, but thankfully, they had prepared an efficient pick-up and drop-off zone with porters at the ready. One teenaged girl was flying solo for the first time and had an emotional farewell with her family. The inside of the Sky Port had arrival and departures and announcements going off one after the other. Security was a bitch-and-a-half to handle this time of the day with the lines excessively long. Fiore did not employ a CMSA (Civic Magical Security Agreement) like other countries, but that did not mean a Wizard would not be stopped in another country.

The food court was packed with MgRonald's gaining more guests than they knew what to do with. The court was right beside the area for those waiting for loved ones to arrive and one impatient fiancé took to playing their fiancé's favorite song on the grand piano. A little family and their dog grew excited when they saw their military relative arrive, and the family dog jerked on their leash, whining in happiness.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Jaborosa-Crocus International Sky Port

Jaborosa City

Fiore, Ishgar

12:05 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Carlisle leaned a good portion of his body weight onto Dante. He was in one of those I-need-to-cuddle moods, and Dante took no issue with it. Both recognized when they saw Tesla and Jaxton coming up from the escalator, and Carlisle grinned like a fool when she saw how giggly and flushed Tesla looked while Jaxton looked ready to devour her. Their clothes looked a little mistreated, and neither had any shame about it.

"Is it safe to say you two joined the Mile High Club?" Carlisle jested once they were in range. "And now you're both frequent members?"

Tesla was bubbly as all get out and giggled at whatever Jaxton had whispered in her ear. "Don't hate us because we're elites now." She shivered and shoved Jaxton away from her with half a stern look and half a turned-on one. "No. No more. Keep the dirty talk to yourself." She skittered away before Jaxton could grab her and hugged Dante's arm. "Hi, husband."

Dante's lips twitched. "Hi, wife." He nodded at Jaxton. "Did you guys enjoy the trip?"

"It was pretty Crazy, Rich Selans insanity," Tesla conceded. Those grays softened as she eyed a guilty Jaxton. "But I learned a lot about this one. And fell in love with him again." The precious moment was ruined when she muttered, "And the sex was hot."

Carlisle snickered while Dante sighed and Jaxton looked pleased with himself. "Oh, to be young and to be in love," Carlisle teased. "Falling back into that honeymoon phase." He grew defensive when Dante shot him an arched eyebrow. "Well, that's what the documentary I watched called it."

"You and your documentaries," Dante murmured. He tried to move, but he had Carlisle draped onto him and Tesla clinging onto his other arm. "Am I going to have to carry you both to the car?"

Carlisle fluttered his eyelashes. "Yes, pretty please?"

"Jaxton, murder me now."

Carlisle huffed while Tesla cackled and let go of Dante. "Don't worry, Carlisle, Dante will be the gentlemanly prince he is and carry you to the car." She sided back with Jaxton. "I want to squeeze in as much as I can with this one before we're forced apart."

"You can survive several hours apart." Dante bit the bullet and bent down. Carlisle yipped, excited, and clamored on for his piggyback ride. As Dante adjusted his hold on Carlisle, he told Jaxton, "And you won't know which room she's in either." He started to guide them away.

Tesla pouted. "Why not?" She rubbed Jaxton's arm before she latched onto it. "You're being so cruel, tearing me apart from him after the week we had."

"You'll live," Dante countered dryly. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Oh, right, like I'm supposed to believe the one living with his boyfriend," Tesla muttered.

Carlisle put in his two jewel. "I don't live with him full-time. And he's right. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. When he abandons me for his job, I miss him like crazy."

"No, you don't. You try to raid my kitchen to see if I have any sugar," Dante retorted. "And then when I come home, you try to act cute and distract me from the fact that you raided my kitchen."

"You'll screw up one day," Carlisle muttered darkly. "You'll buy sugar one day. I just know you will."

Dante sighed. "Jaxton, when Tesla gets like this, what do you do?"

"Spankings. Edging. Clamps," Jaxton breezily listed. He ignored the gawk from a passing parent and kissed Tesla's temple. "I'm fond of remote controls." He hummed when Tesla nuzzled into him.

Carlisle blushed and whispered in Dante's ear, "You wouldn't do that to me, right, Prince? Right?" He blanched when Dante chuckled. "I think I want to give you back your ring."

"Oh, the rings!" Tesla squealed, excited. "Oh, I need to hear all about Zvonvratia and see the rings and everything once we get to Pleasure Palace. And don't worry, Jaxton sent everyone all the souvenirs we bought. And Carlisle, I definitely found you tank tops you'll love in summer and I might've brought some candy."

"Can I date you instead?" Carlisle muttered in complaint, but he jolted when Dante roughly adjusted him. "See? Rude!" He clawed Dante's shoulders when he was threatened with being put down. "No, no, carry me, carry me…!"

Dante grumbled, but he continued to carry him. "You're such a brat."

It was then Jaxton noticed Carlisle had acquired a playful yet simple choker. "A day collar?"

"Working on it," Dante grunted. He glanced back at Jaxton with a knowing look. "He's very willing."

Carlisle flushed. "Prince…"

Jaxton chuckled. "I wish you luck then."

The underground parking lot was an elevator ride and a long hallway away. Jaxton had accompanied them to Dante's truck and loaded Tesla's bags into the back while Dante had to haul Carlisle into the truck and kiss him to silence him from complaining. Tesla lingered once Jaxton finished and tugged on his jacket.

"I really don't want you to go," Tesla mumbled. "I feel like there's still so much we need to talk about."

Jaxton circled her waist with his arms. "I know." He kissed her forehead. "We'll talk more after the show." He closed his eyes when she combed through his hair. "And I can't know this surprise? Or what you're wearing?"

"Nope." Tesla cheekily grinned when Jaxton sighed. "Sorry, not sorry, but that defeats the purpose of the surprise. But I did get us a nice suite with your card, so thank you for your generosity." She hummed when Jaxton mouthed a kiss on her jaw. "I told you nothing would change. This week has been rough, but…nothing about you changes this, okay?" She searched his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I know," Jaxton breathed. "You don't know how grateful I am to you."

"Nothing for you to be grateful for," Tesla countered. "I'm just happy you trusted me enough with the truth, Jang-ta." She softly smiled. "It just makes me love you more."

Jaxton tipped her head up as he fervently kissed her with Tesla eagerly reciprocating—

"You are not having sex in the bed of my truck."

Both reluctantly pulled away, and Tesla pouted at an impassive Dante. "Where's your sense of romanticism?"

"I shot it repeatedly until it died a bloody death." Dante beckoned her with a hand. "Come on. Carlisle is whining that he's hungry, and I'm not about to deal with a food tantrum. Romeo, you'll see Juliet in a few hours. Keep your dick in your pants. Juliet, kindly get your ass in my truck before I put you there myself."

Tesla muttered, "Someone needs to get laid." She hid behind Jaxton when Dante narrowed his eyes. "Okay, okay, we're going. Don't rush this." She kissed Jaxton's cheek. "Bye, Daddy. See you soon. I can't keep my husband and his boyfriend waiting."

"I'll see you in a few hours." Jaxton stopped her for a peck on her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." She stuck her tongue out at Dante before she darted to the passenger's side of the truck.

Dante let out a ragged breath. "If I ever get to your guys' point, please murder me." He smiled when Jaxton chuckled. "I'm meeting up with Justin's boyfriend Ace for drinks while Carlisle and Tesla finish up if you want to come."

"I might take you up on that." Jaxton cocked his head. "Does he…?"

"That's the vibe I got that both he and Justin do as a couple. And tonight would be a perfect night if they wanted to ask." Dante shrugged. "I'll think about it. It's more Carlisle's decision than mine." He nodded to Jaxton. "I'll text you the bar. See you later."

"Later."

Dante climbed in the truck and was already subjected to Tesla's fawning over Carlisle's ring the second he shut the door and buckled in. "You two didn't waste any time."

"It's so pretty!" Tesla cooed. She patted Carlisle's hand. "The engagement ring is going to be phenomenal."

Dante backed out of the spot. "Not something I'm thinking about for a few more years," he grunted. "Stop giving him ideas."

"Hey, I'm not thinking of that either," Carlisle protested. "I'm not that desperate to be domesticated, y'know!"

Dante's lips twitched. "Right. Says the one with a fluffy apron at my house."

"I refuse to engage with rude people," Carlisle sniffed. He turned to Tesla with a beam. "How was Zhōnguá, though? The pictures you sent were beautiful!"

"Because it was beautiful!" Tesla gushed. "There were some rough spots—I'm not gonna lie—but the country is astounding and wonderful and full of a rich history that you can't learn from textbooks." She sighed deeply as she looked out the window. "I learned so much. And I'm ready to learn more and appreciate Jaxton's culture in its entirety." I might not know what comes next for us, but I do know this. There's a whole new world out there. Steely-grays resolved. And I'm going to learn everything I can to live and fight in it.

°•°•°•°

Jaxton finished putting his light belongings in his drunk and took a moment to pause. I found someone who accepts me for who I am. He covered his mouth as darkness shimmered. I understand how Gary feels now. This feeling… I've never felt freedom like it.

His ears pricked when he heard an engine.

A limousine cruised through the parking garage with no trouble at all. Jaxton turned around to watch as the limousine slowed down as it approached him and those passenger doors stopped right next to him.

The tinted windows dropped a few inches.

Jaxton lifted his chin. "You're not one to make personal visits." His tone alluded no-nonsense. "I hope you're not about to ask me what I declined before."

"No. I'm not. I understand your reason of refusal," she murmured with her face hidden. "This was too important and I've been in the area." She shifted as though the reason for her being local made her uncomfortable. She pulled out an L-Pad and sent it through the window to give to Jaxton.

Jaxton took it to look at the case file. His eyes darkened. "Is this true?"

"The Archaeology Society confirmed it with their analysts. As of now, they will continue their excavation with even more PPE once they have permission to do so," she murmured. "I understand your personal reasons for not accepting international requests. But the Chairman and I are in agreement you alone would be fit for this task."

Jaxton glanced through the case file before he handed back the tablet. "When?"

"You would leave at the beginning of summer. Magical relations are on a thin line in Andüsa considering the extraction of Liberty Justine. June is the earliest you could commit to departure. From there, you will have no support. We can't afford to send you with anyone else we break the fragile trust we're rebuilding." A pause. "Unless…"

"No." Jaxton shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"But it's her people," she softly reminded. When Jaxton growled, she sighed. "Pandemonium and Stitches will handle the laboratory situation in your stead and will need to establish relations with your inside contact. You have three days to accept or decline this and three months to consider having her as a welcomed addition so she has time to be trained. She'll receive an additional contract, hazard pay on top of normal commission, and Magic Council internal protection courtesy of the Chairman."

"And if I reject?"

Silence.

"I'll be in touch, White Wolf. Have a nice night."

Jaxton added before she could close the window, "It's not healthy for you to ignore your bond, Checkmate. I can smell the sickness on you."

"He's too young," Checkmate reasoned bitingly.

"Yet you still did it at his age without his consent," Jaxton rumbled. "You need to consider approaching his parents and lessening the pain."

"I never thought there would come a day you would show concern to me," Checkmate commented, though a tad sour. "You've never minded anyone else before. I don't see why you mind now."

Jaxton raised an eyebrow. "I don't care. If this is something you want to die over, be my guest, Your Majesty. But you've always prided yourself on living this long and being independent and now you are throwing your life away because even a king couldn't resist the temptation of a lure scent." His eyes narrowed. "Just like your former king and father when he bonded without his Chosen's consent, if I'm not mistaken."

More silence.

"Good night, White Wolf."

Jaxton locked his jaw as the window closed and took a step back for the limousine to push off and leave his sight. He rounded the car to get to the driver's side, but he did not turn his car on yet.

We're a step closer to learning about the Anti-Ether Wielders and to learning about Tesla's powers. But I just don't understand it. He turned on his car. How does an entire group of people just…vanish overnight?

Mira was in the middle of packing in the master bedroom and flitting about to make sure she had all her clothes and toiletries when Mary Jane came strolling in with her Compact and in her "lazy-day" attire.

"Hey, Mom." Mary Jane frowned. "Why are you packing?"

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Dreyar Household

Magnolia Town

Fiore, Ishgar

3:04 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

"Veronika called," Mira explained. "Miss Chelsea is sick and bedridden, and she needs help. So I'm flying up to Myosotis to help take care of Miss Chelsea and Lisa-Jane and Ivan so Veronika can keep working. I'll be gone for a couple of days."

"Oh." Mary Jane sat on the edge of the bed. "Is Miss Chelsea going to be okay?"

"She will be as long as she stays in bed." Mira disappeared into the bathroom. "Apparently, she's been insistent she's fine, but she fainted. Veronika has a big client she's event-planning for, so I decided I could help out with some tough love. And it's always a treat to see my grand-babies."

"Can I come too?"

Mira came out with a few shirts. "Not this time, Mary Jane." She carefully loaded them into her large suitcase. "You're going on a small mission with your father and Lance on Saturday, remember? And I think you should get in a few hours of flying practice."

Mary Jane sulked, but she replied, "Yes, Mom."

Mira smiled and cupped her daughter's cheek. "Everything will be fine," she soothed. "You'll be back to doing solo missions and flying in no time." She let her go. "That reminds me. Would you go over to the Fernandes' and drop off some documents for me? I was going to do so today, but with my flight this evening, I won't have enough time."

"Sure, Mom. It's fine."

"Thank you." Mira shot her a grateful look. "Ena needs those documents so she can start working. We want to revamp the uniforms for all Fairy Tail employees and she was more than happy to do it."

Mary Jane smiled. "I'm sure she was." She jumped off the bed. "I can drop them off to her."

"Thank you! They're in the office!"

"All right! I'll change and get going." Mary Jane traipsed out of the room. I feel like it's been a while since I've seen Ena. Last time I really saw her was at the New Year's Eve party and she and Silver were dancing together. She laughed to herself. Those are two people I never thought would get along. That was probably a one-off.

°•°•°•°

I stand corrected. This is weird.

Mary Jane's eyebrow twitched. She stood in the Fernandes Household in the study with the sealed documents in one hand, but she was in utter disbelief at what she was seeing. Ena was in her chair on the Compact while Silver was waiting on her hand and foot like an obedient puppy eager to do every trick right.

This is…unexpected. Weren't they at each other's throats? Now it's like I'm watching a queen and her head butler.

Ena ended the call with a sigh. "Thanks for waiting, Mary Jane." She effortlessly handed off her Compact to Silver and was gifted her tea. "Silver said you had something for me."

Mary Jane tried to wrap her head around what was happening. "Um, yes?" She showed the sealed envelope. "My mom said she had some documents for you."

"Oh." Ena smiled. "Right, of course. I've been hoping for them back."

Silver scurried forth to collect the envelope (Mary Jane tried not to pinch herself that this was reality) and came back to fluidly collect her tea from her and hand her the envelope.

"Thank you, Silver." Ena patted his cheek (and very much missed Silver's blush while Mary Jane gawked) and focused her attention on the envelope. "This is the finale piece so I can officially start the uniform revival. Wonderful. Thank you for bringing this to me."

"It's, uh…"—Mary Jane's eyes shifted to Silver how could not keep his awed eyes off Ena then her stare slid back to Ena—"no problem." I'm not the only one seeing this, right? She has to see he's looking at her like that, right?

"And if you have a minute, I'd like to discuss with you new battle regalia," Ena said. For some reason, Silver shuffled away and started sifting through portfolio folders. "Now I know you no longer practice Darkness Magic, but I was inspired watching you fight Gale on a rather…unfortunate night. Your use of red and blue to merge into violet was truly beautiful."

Silver came back to her with two large pages in protectors and handed them over.

"Yes, these are the ones." Ena smiled. "Thank you, Silver."

Mary Jane did not know what face to make when she saw Silver redden again while Ena got up and she knew her eyes widened when Silver offered his hand and Ena took it to draw herself up. Ena walked over to Mary Jane to present to her the drawings. "Now these are simple rough drafts that I can adjust with your input," she warned. "But what do you think?"

Mary Jane looked down at the large pages and wonderment settled on her face. "Oh, wow…" Multiple angles had been sketched for the design. Ena had decided she would be more suited for a violet battle suit with veins dressed in fading and glowing scarlet and cerulean. Her combat boots had been designed in a deeper violet, but the soles alternated with the left scarlet and right cerulean. "I…" She smiled. "I love it, Ena!"

"This is just a first pitch," Ena reminded. "I have no issue at all with any ideas you would like to employ—"

"No, no, this is amazing!" Mary Jane shook her head in disbelief. "You're a goddess of fashion, hands down!"

Ena laughed, and Silver came forward to take back the pages. "I wouldn't call myself that. I happened to have some free time and with the Inter-Guild Training Camp coming up, I wanted to make sure you were prepared. Whenever you have some free time, I'd like to discuss with you more about your powers so I can understand what sort of Magic to thread into the material."

"I mean… I'm free right now?"

"Are you? Great!" Ena called, "Silver, what's my schedule like?"

Silver scrambled for his tablet. "You have a three-forty-five conference call."

"Then we have plenty of time for a conversation," Ena decided. She gestured to the door. "Why don't we speak in the dining room? Silver? Tea?"

"Yes, mistress."

Mary Jane followed Ena, but she had to ask out of her own puzzlement, "I'm sorry, but… Weren't you two trying to kill each other a few months ago? I mean, I'm happy you two are on better terms and all…"

Ena chuckled. "We've settled onto more beneficial and amicable terms, yes. He's become quite the asset." She whispered teasingly, "He might be clumsy, but he'd make a very good house husband in his future."

"I… I see."

Mary Jane and Ena settled in the dining room across from each other. Mary Jane could not even push out a word when Silver came in with a pen and notepad to give to Ena before he shuffled away, back into the kitchen. "Does he…always do that?"

Ena clicked her pen. "Does he do what?"

"Well, I mean, just…"—Mary Jane tried to figure out what she was trying to say—"know…what you want?"

"If you're alarmed, don't be. He's taken his assistant role far more seriously than I anticipated." Ena started jotting down the date and the topic.

"And the way he looks at you?"

Ena hummed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean—" Mary Jane searched for the right description. "It's just…that look in his eye. You know?"

"What look?" Ena stared at Mary Jane in expectance.

"Ah, well…" Mary Jane paused as the perfect words came to her, which echoed Luna's own. "He has this spark in his eyes," she explained softly. But her mind drifted to such calm onyx and gleaming emerald. "I've…never seen such eyes before…"

Ena softened when she noticed Mary Jane's distant look. "Igneel certainly had unique eyes around you."

Mary Jane snapped out of her daze to flush. "I thought we were talking about Silver?"

"Yes, but you sounded like you were talking about Igneel." Ena smiled when Silver returned with a tray of tea and finger snacks. "Thank you, Silver." Back to Mary Jane. "I'm not surprised you're thinking of him. He always had a thing for you."

Mary Jane cleared her throat, hot. "I-I wouldn't say that. We were friends."

"Perhaps in your eyes, but I doubt he saw it that way," Ena delicately put. "He would constantly find little ways to be around you, remember? Even for the most mundane things, I'm sure he was insistent on accompanying you. I'm sure he found little ways to try to touch you."

Her smile turned soft when Mary Jane considered her words. "I'm sure he learned your favorite foods just to share them with you. He'd probably pour hours to learn your interests just so he had another thing to bond with you over." She took hold of the tea Silver offered. "He'd create situations that would stick you both together. And I'm sure whenever you asked him to leave…he'd beg you to stay."

Mary Jane swallowed.

Ena sipped her tea. "The touch of cinnamon is poetic. Well done, Silver."

"Thanks." Silver hesitated, then rasped, "Your hair…"

"Hmm?" Ena frowned over to him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just…" Silver tucked back a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "There." Mayan blues softened. "Perfect." A pretty pink flushed down his neck, and he pulled away. "I'll, um, take notes—"

"Silver." Ena stopped him there. "I'm more than capable of taking notes on a simple conversation."

Silver fidgeted. "I know, but as your assistant, I should be doing that."

"Silver—"

"Please?"

Ena gave a long-suffering sigh and pushed her pad and pen to him. "I'm not an invalid."

Silver coveted the seat next to her and took up the pen and notepad. "No, but you work a lot. I can at least help." He cut in when she looked like she was going to snap something at him, "You don't have to do everything alone. I'm here too as your assistant."

Ena held his gaze for a few steady moments. "I know you're here. I do appreciate it." Dark chocolates softened. "Thank you, Silver."

He smiled. "You're welcome." His smile froze when her finger was in his face.

"But you're more than just an assistant," Ena sternly reminded. "Cater to yourself, not just to me. Understand?"

Silver sighed as though he had heard this all before. "I will."

Ena nodded her approval. "Good. Now. Mary Jane. About your powers… I have a general consensus about them…"

Mary Jane tilted her head curiously as she watched Ena and Silver. It's strange. Months ago, Ena would have snapped or done something, but now…she's learning how to trust and let someone in. And Silver had these weird ideas about love, but now, it's almost like he realizes what love is. It's the little things that matter. They're talking to each other. And it's obvious Silver loves her.

A fondness filled her. I never thought I'd see this coming. It's sweet, those two. Like a queen and her loyal right hand. It's like they balance each other.

GAN-GAN.

Mary Jane cringed when a pain shot through her head and openly groaned.

Ena stopped talking out of worry. "Mary Jane?" She got up. "Silver, get the kit and some water." As Silver rushed away, Ena rounded the table to tend to Mary Jane. "Are you okay? Are you in pain?"

"It's just…my head…" Mary Jane grimaced when another sharp pain wrangled her. "I don't know. It just…hurts…"

"Do you get headaches often?" Ena asked. "Any auras? Flashing lights? Black spots?"

Mary Jane shook her head as she bit in the inside of her cheek to keep back her whimper.

Silver came back with a box and a glass of water, and Ena instructed, "Take out caffeine, acetaminophen, and Aspirin." To Mary Jane, she questioned, "Do you take any medications for migraines currently? Have you eaten today? I want to give you a migraine cocktail and have you rest in the guest room."

"I don't have any meds," Mary Jane rasped. "I d-didn't eat."

"Well, we'll make you something." Ena beckoned her hand for the pills, and Silver placed them in her hand and slid the water before Mary Jane. "Take these pills and drink some water. We'll move you into the guest bedroom afterward."

"I'm fine—"

Ena resolutely shook her head. "You are not fine. You're having a severe headache, and you're not leaving until you feel better. Take the pills. I wasn't asking."

Mary Jane was too in pain to argue and sucked one pill at a time and chased them with a few swallows of water. She grunted and her legs shook when she got up, but Ena was quick to shoulder her weight and murmur her encouragements. What's wrong with me? Why does my head hurt so much?

The walk to the guest bedroom was a slow and pained one, but Ena navigated Mary Jane every step of the way with patience. She helped Mary Jane take off her shoes before she fell onto the bed and closed the curtains to keep out the sun. Mary Jane's tongue was thick with an apology. "I'm sorry about this."

"Don't be. Migraines can be beastly." Ena rounded the bed to Mary Jane's side while Silver came in with more water and brought some vegetables. She rubbed his arm in her absence thanks as she murmured to Mary Jane, "We can talk at a later date. Eat a little and relax here until you feel better. I'll let your mom know what's going on."

"Ena, I'm really sorry—"

"Mary Jane, stop it," Ena commanded. "There's nothing to be sorry about." Browns softened. "We're guild and friends. Your family has treated me extremely well, and I've always thought of you as my own cousin. Family looks out for family. Guild looks out for guild." She touched Mary Jane's shoulder. "Rest," she emphasized. "If you need anything, just call. We'll hear you."

"Right," Silver chimed in. "Don't hesitate."

Mary Jane croaked, "Thank you." Ena nodded and walked away, but before Silver could get far, Mary Jane weakly called, "Silver?"

Silver stopped and stayed behind. "Did you need something?"

"No, it's just…" Mary Jane sighed and advised quietly, "Don't be like me. She's still here and right in front of you. I think you should go for it."

Silver blinked, surprised, then he saddened a little on her behalf. "I didn't speak to Igneel that much," he murmured, "but for what it's worth…I know he thought the world about you, Mary Jane." He nodded at her. "Just call if you need something."

"Thanks."

Silver closed the door behind him.

Mary Jane curled into a ball as the pain fed into her. Igneel… Her head throbbed as though punishing her for thinking about him. Her eyes fell shut. Did I ever have that spark in my eye around you?

°•°•°•°

Silver rejoined a worried Ena in the living room. "I think she'll be okay."

"It just came on so suddenly." Ena shook her head and turned away. "I'll check in on her later. We should prepare for the conference."

"Right."

They made it back into the study. Ena stretched out her arms and logged back in before she started drawing up her files and the emails she wanted to review for the conference call. I hope she's okay. If Igneel was here, I doubt he'd leave her alone. He'd probably sleep on the floor like a well-trained dog to watch over her. She sighed. We might've never gotten along, but he was good to her. She's strong, intelligent, and beautiful. He'd be a fool not to be. And now he left… Looks like he missed his chance.

"Ena?"

Ena swiveled in her chair. "Yes?"

Silver held up two different files. "Did you also want to unveil the samples of photos from Jasper for the summer re-shoots of the swimwear line? I got all the hard copies, but I wasn't sure…"

"Yes, bring out the samples, and can you also get the sketches for Fantasia too, please? I need versions three and seven."

"Yeah, of course."

Ena was about to turn back to the DAL, but she paused and watched Silver so concentrated on his task as he went through the locks cabinets with precision. Then again, he had filed away a good majority of the contents. It would make sense he would know where what would be. She watched when his hands found purchase for the sample product hard copies.

"He has this spark in his eyes."

A spark? I'm not sure I see that. Ena kept up her observation. He's fairly adorable in a pet-sort of way. I suppose I see the appeal. He's cute and athletic. Not much for academia and not well-mannered, but…he's very determined. Stubbornly so. And an eager learner. I suppose that will help him in romance. But a spark in his eyes? I'm not so sure. She turned around to get back to work. I suppose he does have…nice eyes, yes. A very charming blue. Very open. An attractive color. Handsome. Focused. She slowed in her typing. Yes, he has…attractive eyes.

"Ena?"

She looked up—

Dark chocolates connected with warm mayan blues.

"Here are the files for your meeting," Silver told her with a faint flush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Silver," Ena appreciated with a hoarse voice. She blinked, but the blues would not leave her own browns.

Yes… Nice blue eyes… She was slow in taking the files from him and looked back at her screen. I've… Dark chocolates quietly sparkled. I've never seen…such eyes…

With modern times came modern solutions in Adélie City and that meant fast-food restaurants and modern shops. Dinnertime had become with the evening kicking off, and it was popular to see teenagers taking up the fast-food spots and those who lived in Adélie but were not one of the Iñuipav people. The shops, tonight, were alive. With many year-round schools breaking for spring half-term holiday, tourists and visiting family members had come to see their loved ones and be bewitched at the culture and livelihood here.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Uki's Home

Adélie City

Arcticados

5:15 PM ACT

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

It was Uki's turn to host the Shamans from the neighboring cities, and she did not mind one bit. Her home was always her with no Spirits to keep her company, so she welcomed new faces and old. The food was always homemade for their Full Moon Feast with traditional dishes of caribou, arctic char, polar bear stew, beans, and imported vegetables that were a true treat.

Uki brought out the bread. She still wore her Anti-Either long shirt and gloves, but she let her hair down in the traditional leather wraps today. "I think I've got everything." She set the bread down on the table. "Does everything look good?"

"Everything looks delicious, Uki." The Shaman who had said this was a beautiful gentleman with an atrocious burn mark that had taken his left eye. His hair had grown back in his raven locks, but he had lost his pinky finger on his right hand and had a viable scar on the side of his neck. But when he smiled, the whole room lit up. "It's all perfect, thank you."

⌜HUMBOLDT CITY (ARCTICADOS)

Name: André Kigusiq

Age: 27

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman

Likes: fireworks Dislikes: sneezing

Special Note: André is half-Iñuipav and half-Perench, don't let that fool you! He dishes a lot of tough love to his apprentice—including making her clean out the herb inventory!⌟

André slapped a wandering hand from taking some arctic char. "Eva," he admonished, "let Uki get settled and we still have to say our thanks to the Spirits for this meal."

Eva—a thick beauty with a pierced eyebrow, lovely ebony skin, and an iconic t-shirt from her favorite band—rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. "Whatever," she grumbled. "I don't see why we have to 'thank the Spirits'. It's just food."

⌜HUMBOLDT CITY (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Eva Møller-Ashoona

Age: 15

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman Apprentice

Likes: her potential girlfriend Dislikes: being a Shaman

Special Note: Eva might be a Shaman Apprentice by the Spirits, but she's still a rebellious teenager who enjoys sneaking out to movies with her friends over her duties—just don't tell her mentor!⌟

André sighed. "Please forgive my apprentice," he told Uki. "She's still upset I banned her from seeing that girl when she should be doing her recitations and meditation."

Eva huffed. "I was!" she said in her defense. "It's not my fault those stupid things are boring."

"They aren't boring," came instant stern defense. Another apprentice had said this, a little older but not by much. He was an oddball with his pale skin and brunette hair and green eyes, but he was thrilled to wear traditional Iñuipav fashion. "They're a lot of fun! And the Spirits love it when we read to them."

⌜GENTOO TOWN (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Daniel Burton

Age: 16

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman Apprentice

Likes: herbalism Dislikes: chewing with mouths open

Special Note: Daniel is from the USM and his parents moved to Arcticados when he was three! He had a hard time adjusting against the prejudice of his skin color, but he fits right in as a Shaman Apprentice!⌟

"Not everyone is a kiss-up like you, Danny," Eva grumbled. "Sorry I'm not as perfect as the white boy."

"Eva!" André snapped, and his apprentice did look a little fearful. "How incredibly rude of you to say! You wouldn't like it if people called you 'black girl', and you do that to Daniel?"

Eva swallowed and mumbled, "Sorry, Danny."

"I don't accept," Danial sniffed. "I know she's not sincere about and she'll just do it again." He saddled Eva with a distasteful look. "She doesn't know how to properly speak to people."

Eva glared at him. "I said I was sorry, okay? Move on."

"Well, you can't say dinners aren't interesting." A gorgeous and tall woman had said that with brown skin and natural red hair and blue eyes that made anyone turn heads. She never minded, though. She rubbed her apprentice's shoulder as she addressed André, "Perhaps it might do our apprentices good to have them do some training together so they can learn proper manners."

⌜GENTOO TOWN (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Akna

Age: 30

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman

Likes: old-time LV Dislikes: Bluetooth

Special Note: Akna had trained to be a hunter before she became a Shaman and still uses her abilities to help Gentoo!⌟

André sighed and eyed his willful apprentice. "Maybe that's for the best." He looked expectantly at Uki. "Have the Spirits guided you to an apprentice, Uki? I would think now would be a good as time as ever."

Uki stilled, but she forced herself to relax. "Not yet." She kept her tone light. "The Spirits…haven't sent me a sign yet about an apprentice."

"I'm sure they will once you're ready," Akna assured. "Your apprentice might not be born yet or perhaps hasn't moved yet." She looked affectionately at her apprentice. "I never thought I would have an apprentice who was born in another country, but I couldn't be prouder."

Daniel preened while Eva rolled her eyes.

A hoarse chuckle. "Or she might be my age and never get an apprentice." The oldest person in the room was a woman with pretty wrinkles and beautiful silver hair with traces of black. She was dressed in a handmade long shirt and pants and her Glaciumiho faithful sat by her side. "But I can't say I envy you two."

⌜INGUZA CITY (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Yuka

Age: 84

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman

Likes: making pipes Dislikes: losing money

Special Note: Yuka might be one of the older Shamans in the Arcticados, but that doesn't mean she's frail! She and her Glaciumiho Nuvua hunt for their own food and have even helped to kill a whale!⌟

"You'll find an apprentice soon," Uki assured Yuka. "I know you will. The Spirits will guide you to yours soon."

Yuka's eyes twinkled. "I should hope they find me an apprentice who can keep up with me," she jested. "Now. Is everyone ready to enjoy dinner? We have a long journey up to the mountains to celebrate the full moon." She extended her hands and everyone clasped the other's hands beside them. The prayer Yuka led them through was in Iñuipav, woven about her gratitude to the Spirits and hopes of appeasement, before she ended it and everyone feasted.

Akna asked Uki, "How is everything going with all the modernizing? Are you still seeing resistance?"

"It's difficult teaching the younger generation our history," Uki maintained after her first bite of arctic char. "They're not as interested. But I've been working with the local hospital to help integrate our two systems. The elders, however, are still requesting to die on the ice."

"They don't know any other way," André feared. "One of our elders snuck out and committed suicide on the ice. I tried to tell her we could still do the ritual in the clinic and she would still receive her place in the Land of Day, but she was adamant and, well…"

Even Eva looked morbid at the memories and said nothing.

"You'll have to forgive my generation," Yuka sighed as she fixed a plate of food for Nuvua and her Glaciumiho offered her gratitude before she ate. "Change is difficult for them to comprehend. They see our culture being erased with the influx of new blood."

"I can understand why," Akna reasoned. "Tourist season is awful. It's hard enough keeping our sacred ground without those 'glampers' and influencers trying to trespass. And I'm sure they're seeing all the modern buildings and cars and fashion and fearing the worst."

Daniel shrunk a little and admitted, "When I went into town for supplies, this old man called me a 'qallunaat' and wasn't that nice to me. I tried to tell him I was an apprentice, but he didn't believe me."

"It's difficult to work alongside those with other skin colors," Akna said, "mainly because they all think our ways are backward and uncivil. I have no issue with us adding modernization while we keep our old ways and finding a middle ground, but it is ridiculous schools are trying to erase us learning our own language."

André sighed. "Minstrish is the more commonplace language," he supposed. "But I can't imagine not speaking Iñuipakit anymore. Even the Spirits know there's an imbalance and don't frequent the city. The flow of the pulse is weak, but none of the Wizards there care. We're losing our connections to the Land of Day with all of this imbalance."

Yuka offered a sage nod. "I hope to ask the Spirits for guidance tonight. I have three to send to the Land of Day soon enough and I'm sure they'll cross without a flaw, but I need to make sure the Spirits aren't abandoning us." She caught Uki being silent and gently asked, "How is your training with tuungak?"

Uki froze.

"Has he gotten rid of your Curse yet?" Daniel asked in hope. "What's he like? Does he have bad Spirits around him?"

"Daniel," Akna admonished. "You shouldn't make assumptions like that. The Spirits would have warned us all if the tuungak was dangerous or brought with it bad Spirits."

"He's…okay," Uki decided to share. "He hasn't harmed me in any way. He's very loyal to his partner, and he's a patient teacher."

"'Teacher'?" André frowned. "I thought he was trying to remove your Curse so you're no longer blocked from speaking directly to the Spirits?"

Uki took a bite of her food to save herself from answering. Yuka spoke up, "I'm sure the tuungak is doing everything in his power to help out Uki and her powers. The Spirits assured me that he would guide Uki on the correct path. Trust in them."

"Trust in a Devil?" Eva asked, skeptical. "But he murdered all those people."

"He didn't do it," Uki found herself saying in Gary's defense.

"That's right." Yuka gave Uki a long look before turning to Eva and Daniel. "Bellum framed that innocent creature for the deaths of thousands, which is never right. That's why he was given a fair trial."

"If he's so innocent, then why did he Curse Miss Uki?" Daniel questioned. "Isn't that evil?"

"He didn't—" Uki jolted when she realized she was the one to go on the defense. "I-I don't think he meant to Curse me. The Polar Calamity was full of chaos and he was just a child like me. I'm sure he was confused and didn't understand what was going on." Quickly, she inhaled more food.

Daniel opened his mouth, but Akna shushed him. "Enough of that. We have to eat dinner, clean up, and make sure we're ready for the journey to the mountains for the Full Moon Festival with the Spirits."

Dinner was a fond affair. Daniel and Eva bickered as all apprentices do while André, Akna, and Yuka engaged about stories from the previous month and politics. But Uki kept to herself as she consumed her meal with a ball of confusion and shame and guilt muddled inside her.

Vivid ceruleans.

He isn't the monster I always thought he was, Uki figured. He's…just a boy. At least one part of him is. I can't speak for Skade. But Gary… I thought I would hate him after all this time for what he did to me. I thought he was cruel and vile and a murderer.

"I was barely a teenager when I tried committing suicide. I couldn't handle the pain."

But when he couldn't handle the pain…he did what I did, Uki thought. I'm sure he cried, just like I did. But I'm just Cursed. It's worse from him being a Devil and the last of his kind.

"Because I would do anything for her." Harsh blues. "I would let them test me, treat me like an animal, sacrifice me to a breeding program if it meant she was safe."

He would sacrifice himself for her…and she'd do the same. I was horrified when that lawyer spoke about her trauma. Uki's appetite vanished as her own nausea and shame washed her. And I thought about using her as a means to my end. I called him that name. Nanuk would be so furious with me, but I was just so angry…

"Everything okay, Uki?"

She realized Yuka had asked her this and blithely lied, "Everything's fine. I'm just…thinking about Nanuk again. And how happy she'd be if she were here." If it wasn't for me, she would have been my mentor for a longer time.

Yuka sent her a measured look, but she said nothing more.

°•°•°•°

Once dinner and dessert were over, Yuka closed the meal with prayer and everyone helped to clean up. Meals had always been prepped for no leftovers and the feelings of satisfaction rather than fullness. Since Uki's home had no dishwasher—which was rare in many of the traditional homes as is—everyone pitched in to handwash and wipe down counters. Because Uki had prepared the dishes and this was her home, she was exempted from clean-up duty. Instead, she leaned on the doorway and a small smile traipsed on her lips as Eva and Daniel started up again with Eva's disrespect for Shaman culture and Daniel's rigid faith in it.

"Those two are quite the interesting apprentices."

Uki looked over her shoulder to see Yuka had come up by her. She hummed. "Yes. The other apprentices get along, but…" She scanned Daniel and Eva in a twinge of sadness. "It's been hard for both of them. Eva never wanted to be an apprentice in the first place and Daniel…" She sighed. "The other apprentices and even Shamans are leery of him because he's white."

"We've never had a white Shaman," Yuka recalled.

Uki frowned. "No, but the Spirits chose him for a reason. That's reasoning enough for them to accept him. And he's taken beautifully to our ways."

"The others don't see it that way," Yuka sighed. She hung onto Uki's arm. "Could you help me sit down, dear? I think it's time I get one last smoke in before we start the journey." She ruefully grinned when Uki looked disappointed. "Ah, I know. It's a bad habit I just can't seem to break. Nanuk would scold me all the time."

Uki helped Yuka with Nuvua following closely and said, "You're the only Shaman I know who smokes."

"Don't let those others fool you," Yuka snorted. "They aren't saints. I know Jiemba drinks like a sinner with the best of them. And Tarnak thinks his apprentice doesn't know it, but I know that old man gambles with those church ladies." She grinned with a twinkle in her eyes. "He's certainly helped my pockets."

Uki chuckled as she helped Yuka sit on the loveseat. "You're horrible, Yuka. Your poor apprentice will learn so many bad habits from you."

Yuka laughed. "No, they'll learn how to live life." She took out her pipe, her lighter, and her loose tobacco. The motions were routine enough for her, and soon she was lighting her carved pipe and taking a puff. She let out a relaxed sigh. "Shamans have to learn to adapt to the new ways, but I fear I may never find an apprentice to teach such as that."

"What?" Uki sat on the coffee table in front of the Shaman. "What do you mean? Did the Spirits say something?"

Yuka took another puff of her pipe. "It's not that." She closed her eyes. "Nanuk and I spoke often. The Spirits slowly withdrawing seems like a sign something dark is coming. It would make sense they not choose more apprentices."

"Is it like what happened during the Second Black War?" Uki asked.

"I'm unsure. I'm hoping tonight the Spirits will have more answers." Yuka cracked open her eyes and waved a hand towards Uki. "The Spirit of Nanuk lingers around you, Uki."

Uki bowed her head. "Yes."

"I take it your lessons with the tuungak have been fruitful?" Yuka took another puff when Uki was quiet. "You used to have all kinds of words for the tuungak when you would visit me. Nanuk often thought you were raised among the fishers with how diverse your language was."

Uki flushed and cleared her throat. "Yes, well… I was young, then. And I might've been too hasty with a few of my judgments."

"Really?" Amusement danced in Yuka's eyes. "A few of them?" She chuckled when Uki huffed and took another puff. "Nanuk always knew the up-and-coming apprentices we would have would have different challenges ahead. For Daniel, because he is white and foreign, he has to face unfair adversity amongst the Shamans to find his place. For Eva, she must accept the Spirits chose her and adhere to our ways while carving her own." Another puff. "And you, Uki…"

"I'm not an apprentice, Yuka."

"But you once were," Yuka reminded.

"I was honored to be an apprentice. My family is from here and I knew I was destined to be a Shaman—"

"But there has never been a Cursed Shaman before, now has there?"

Uki closed her mouth.

Yuka took a long puff this time around. "You may not believe me when I tell you this…but Nanuk knew you would carry a Curse inside you. The Spirits warned her so."

"What?" Uki's cattish eyes widened. "She knew this would happen to me?" None of this made sense. "But…if she knew, why didn't she—?"

"Why didn't she make sure you didn't participate in the Polar Calamity?" Yuka took another puff before she searched the inside of her shirt. "Nanuk was many things, but she was a believer in the Spirits and in you, Uki. And…"—she withdrew a sealed envelope—"she wanted you to have this upon her death."

Uki was slow to take the letter. "What's this?" Confusion hit her. "I don't understand. I thought I received everything from Nanuk after she passed and we sent her to the Land of Day?"

"You received everything you needed to, yes." Yuka took another puff. "Nanuk knew you had hatred in your heart regarding the tuungak. And she knew that hatred for him and for yourself would stay long after her passing. She never wanted you to have that letter when you had hatred in your heart." Her eyes gleamed. "But I think that hatred in your heart is slowly evaporating for the tuungak. Wouldn't you say, Uki?"

Uki could not stop looking at the letter. She saw her name written in her mentor's handwriting and her seal. "I-I, um…" She cleared her throat. "Excuse me."

She got up and tried to keep her pace steady as she abandoned the living room and went down the hall. Her bedroom had stayed as her apprentice bedroom. She had used Nanuk's room as a shrine to her mentor, and her apprentice bedroom was good enough for her sparse belongings.

She quietly closed the door and took to sitting on the edge of the bed. With trembling fingers, she covered the letter and ripped the seam of the envelope. It took her a few moments to dip in to find the contents. The silence felt poisoned with fearful tension and nerves, but she tried to muck up any courage she had and pulled out the letter. The envelope fell to her lap as she unfolded the letter and saw her mentor's beautiful calligraphy in Iñuipakit.

She heard her mentor's voice as she read the letter:

⌜My kuluk,

I have passed into the Land of Day. It was inevitable for me to cross, even if you think me to still have much life left. I have done all I needed to do and have named you the Angakkuq of Adélie. I have settled my affairs. My work on this land is done and starts in the Land of Day.

My kuluk, I have loved you as my own since you became my apprentice. You were a friend of the Spirits and the Spirits were friends to you. Never have I seen such a strong pulse from a child outside the Spiritwalkers. Your faith in the Spirits had been unshakeable, and I know that has changed.

As I watch you, I grow sad for the pain and rage you carry with you. It seeps into the herbs you pick and the Spirits feel it as well. I hear you crying late at night for the grave you have created for yourself. It breaks my heart that you feel such anguish and sorrow, for you needn't feel either.

Kuluk, the name "Uki" means survivor. You were not made to succumb. You were made to overcome. Your Curse has been your reaper and jailor in your mind. You find it unnatural and Hellish and the wall that blocks you from the connection to the pulse of the land and the Spirits you laughed with. But it is not a Curse that blocks you, Uki. It is you who blocks yourself.

A Curse is not death on ice. Your power may not have happy origins, but that does not mean it cannot have a happy ending. Just as Shamans can abuse the Spirits, you can learn to harvest your power into something beautiful and honest. But you must have the will to do so. If hatred storms you, your Curse will continue to be a burden. But when love and kindness drive you, your Curse can be a powerful ally.

I know my words may seem impossible, but allow me to say one more impossible thing.

Do not hate the tuungak.

I know. I know the pain he caused you. I know the hurt he caused you with your Curse. But my kuluk, what you don't know is his pain and suffering. While I had you in my arms, I saw a mere boy in the snow, alone and scared and frightened. He was not a disastrous Spirit or angry God. He was not a Demon. He was not even a tuungak. He was just a boy without a family to protect him. And in my error, I allowed him to be captured and taken away. I cannot imagine the suffering the boy is enduring. I've never seen such fear in such a child's eyes.

My kuluk, that boy is not your reaper—he is a victim. And I have prayed to the Spirits every night for his safe passage and to send him someone to free him from his suffering. I fear for the worst from those men who took him away and was disgusted that our own people cheered for his detainment. They did not see the fear on his face. They did not see he was a child. He is a child who deserves to be cared for, not feared. He is no monster.

And I hope you will one day understand that. The Spirits have told me he will become your mentor in ways I cannot and I fear you will continue to have hatred in your heart when that happens. But I beg you to remember he is a person like you who has suffered in ways you could not imagine. He has a good heart. And he will guide you back to me if you let him. If you still find fault in him, bring him to the Spirits. They will set a Judgment before him. And you will know where your trust should lie.

You have my knowledge and my love, my kuluk. And I hope we will speak again once you can open your heart.

Go with my care and love

Nanuk ⌟

DRIP…

DROP…

Tears filled those cattish medallions as Uki looked at the letter, her fingers covering her mouth. Her eyes closed as the tears fell and her cries were muffled behind her lips, but she clutched the letter close to her heart. She mourned the same grief she had carried with him. But she mourned something new tonight.

She mourned the horrible direction of her hatred.

°•°•°•°

Yuka had put out her pipe as the Shamans and their apprentices had cloaked themselves in their winter gear with their packs full of offerings and supplies. Daniel glanced around the room as everyone double-checked themselves and asked, "Where's Uki?"

A throat cleared.

Everyone turned around to see Uki lingering at the hallway entrance. André frowned. "Uki, are you not ready?"

"I will be. But—" Uki wiped her cheeks. "I have an unusual favor to ask of all of you."

And Yuka smiled a secretive smile to herself.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Tonight, the Dragneel Residence was full of people. Dinner was a colorful affair, thanks to Virgo and Gajeel, and the tantalizing scents of spice and heat went up your nose and warmed your entire body. It was one of those scents that made your eyes come alive and your body tingle a little. Cocktails had been stirred, but Natsu and Gajeel preferred their elemental whiskey and Cana had yet to be let on in on Gale being an Earth Dragon Slayer to craft a brew that would curb his appetite. Silverware clinked and conversation filled the air.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Dragneel Residence

Magnolia Town

Fiore, Ishgar

6:51 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Lucy had a bit of a flush from her cocktail, but she complimented with a steady tongue, "Everything is so delicious! It's times like these I wish I had a Dragon Slayer's stomach!"

"I know, right?" Levy had a bit of a looser tongue than her best friend after she sloshed down two more cocktails over her. "I'd be eating all the sweets I could if I had their stomachs! Oh, Lu, we should totally go to that high-class buffet place and eat until we pop!"

"You're on!"

Gajeel stole the cocktail from Levy's hand and inhaled it with one gulp. "Damn, Short stack, already getting tipsy on a pussy drink like this?" he teased his wife. "How have you not gotten any tolerance?"

Levy hit her husband and waved a finger at him. "You have no right to judge me! I'm an excellent drinker!"

"Uh, Mom?" Gale sweatdropped when his red-faced mother was wagging her finger at him. "You're scolding the wrong person." Strong drinker, my ass. I have the feeling the old man's gonna be carrying her home.

Natsu cackled. "Suck it, Gajeel! Lucy's better at drinking than Levy is! My wife is the best!"

Who even makes that a comparison? Gale thought.

Lucy swallowed her next gulp before she leaned close to Natsu with narrowed eyes. "Hey. Don't think I'm not onto you, buddy. I know you're just trying to get me drunk enough to call you 'Your Majesty'." She hmphed and took another mouthful of her food. "Well, it's not going to work this time. Levy promised she'd spot my drinks."

"Gajeel, gimme…!" Levy reached up high with her red face so determined, but Gajeel had made sure to keep her drink far up there from her. "I can handle another drink, you dumb iron giant! Gimme back my drink!"

Gajeel snickered. "Ghihi. C'mon, Shorty, ya gotta sweat some of that shit off to get your next drink. Or if you gimme a kiss, you can have your drink—Mmmph!" Those reds went wide-eyed when Levy aggressively yanked him down for a hard kiss on the mouth.

She pulled away with an angry pout on her lips (even if her flush made her seem all that more adorable). "Gimme my drink now, Redfox," she petulantly mumbled. "You got your kiss."

Gale wished death on himself. Please do us a favor and get a room. He thought he could look at his aunt and uncle for more a mature outlook on how dinner etiquette should be. At least Aunt Lucy isn't—

"Drink up, Lucy!" Natsu had a devious grin on his face as he refilled Lucy's glass. "You always said you love this stuff!"

Lucy shot her husband a suspicious pout. "You're not just trying to do this, so I'll call you that stupid name, right?"

"'Course not!" Natsu topped off her glass and offered it to her with a boyish grin. "I just wanna show my queen I'm all about taking care of her and this is your favorite drink, right? So relax, Lucy." Onyx glittered. "Let me take care of you."

Gale narrowed his eyes. What a bunch of bullshit. It's obvious he's just—

"Aw…! Natsu…!" Lucy happily took the drink and pinched her husband's cheek lovingly. "You really do care!"

How is she buying into it! Gale cried. He tucked in more of his food with noticeable disgust on his face. Why are all the adults I know so disgusting? I should've bailed on the dinner invite when I had the chance like Luke did, but…

He swallowed and looked at the empty place setting across from him. I was hoping Blondie would be here. Rubies darkened. I couldn't recognize that voice and I still didn't catch a face. But I have his scent. It's weird I could smell through her memories, but I have it. He stabbed his next morsel. The second I smell that bastard, I should take a page out of Igneel's book.

Gale sighed. But I can't talk to her about it. If she had wanted me to know, she would've told me. I didn't mean to look into her past. It was a knee-jerk reaction to touch her, but I forgot my gloves. And now I know…

He fought down his rage. I need to calm down and think logically. Blondie's moods shifted back in January. This could've happened before then, but she has that sad scent on her. I think I can assume it happened then. He gripped his fork. It explains her being in her room. She's been dealing with this by herself. And I don't even know how far it went for her. I can't just sit back and do nothing, but… I can't ask her about it when I found out without her consent. But what can I do?

"Easy on the silverware, Pipsqueak."

Gale blinked and realized he had gnarled his fork under his grip. "Oh, uh… Sorry about that."

Natsu waved it off. "Nah. You wouldn't believe how much stuff we went through because Igneel melted shit." He and Gajeel exchanged a look. "Your draconic strength will come and go without you realizing it until you can control it."

"Right." Gale wolfed down another few bites. "I understand."

"Looks like Squirt didn't join us for dinner," Gajeel let slip, casual. "Salamander?"

"She headed to the treehouse with Icarus," Natsu confided. "Virgo and Aquarius are watching over her, but I'm sure she hasn't eaten yet." He jerked his chin at Gale. "You should bring her a plate. I'm sure she'd cheer up with some food in her belly."

Gale looked unequivocally unsure. "Ah… Is that okay? I mean…" He pushed some food around. "After everything… Are you sure?"

"It's fine with me. You've been improving." Natsu added in a cautionary fashion, "But neither of you are ready for anything close to what happened in December. You have one chance, Gale, to prove to me you've changed.

Gale nodded. "I understand, sir."

Natsu nodded back and murmured something to his wife. Lucy sobered up and sent Natsu a look before she consented. She turned to Gale and said, "Pyxis will guide you to the treehouse and back. You can't find the treehouse without a member of our family and you won't be able to retrace your steps." She softened. "We're trusting you."

"I know." Gale held her eyes. "I promise I won't break it." And he did with every fiber of his being. He scarfed down the rest of his food and muttered his excuses before he took his dish and glass and abandoned the dining room. Extra portions had been made, and it was easy enough to dish out Luna's fair share and wrap it up. I don't want to mess this up. I just wish I knew what to say. I don't want her to know I know, but I want her to know she can rely on me. But…how do I say that?

He stomped into his boots and put on his jacket before he came back the way he left and headed out the kitchen door to the deck. He did see the Compass Celestial Spirit waiting for him in its cut penguin form. But surprise stopped him when he saw Panther Lily outside in the cold in his Battle Mode Shift as he looked into the depths of the forest with a drink in his hand. He approached his uncle in part curiosity and part concern.

"Drinking alone again tonight, Uncle Lily?" Gale wondered.

Panther Lily chuckled. "I'll try to make sure you don't see my bad habit."

"Nah, it's fine." Gale shrugged. "Everyone has those nights, days, lifetimes…." He eyed his uncle and questioned, "Are you thinking about the Exceed you were in love with?"

Panther Lily sighed. "What are you doing outside, Gale?"

"I'm going to deliver some food to Blondie." Gale gestured to the wrapped-up plate. "I'm sure she's hungry, knowing her." Rubies saddened. "And I'm sure she might want some company right about now."

Panther Lily looked over to study his nephew before he looked up at the moon. "You can take my advice or ignore the rumblings of this old panther," he murmured, garnering Gale's attention, "but once you find that someone…make sure you're as sure as yourself as you are as sure as her." His tail flicked. "The loss of that someone can stem from your uncertainties and foolishness. But when done right and when you are surer of yourself and your imperfections"—burgundies glistened—"you can create something truly magnificent."

Rubies glinted before Gale pulled his gaze from his uncle to look at the moon. "Are you lonely, Uncle Lily?"

Panther Lily took a healthy gulp of his drink. "I have Gajeel and Levy and you and the others. I'm never truly alone."

"You know that's not what I'm asking."

"Yes, I know." Panther Lily's ears twitched. "I lost the right to feel that type of loneliness." He gripped his drink. And no matter how much I want to take back my actions…I know I'll feel this type of loneliness for the rest of my life. I'm a traitor. My mentor… Her… They will never trust me again. She'll never want to give me a future. "I think I'll go for a flight. Clear my head."

"Didn't anyone teach you not to drink and fly?" Gale goaded.

Panther Lily chuckled. "I can outlast your father in drinking and I've only had the one. I'll be all right."

"If you say so…" Gale watched as Panther Lily conjured his white wings and took off in a powerful stroke into the air. It's strange seeing him so alone. Rubies focus on Panther Lily's form. I wonder…if he found her again, what would he do? He deserves happiness too.

Pyxis tugged on Gale's pant leg and made a wild gesture.

Gale chuckled. "All right, all right, let's go." He followed the Compass Celestial Spirit down the steps and into the woods. Even though the moon was a dull light, Gale could see in full color. It's pretty sick I have night vision now.

You will soon inherit my vision, Sycaña informed him. My sight allowed me to see the ebbs and flows of nature. I could spot a hawk and see an anthill. You will inherit this as well once you are ready. But your training breeds impressive results. Your sire spoke the truth. You will make a mighty Earth Dragon.

It's weird not training beside Igneel, Gale admitted. We'd always train together since we were different. We'd push each other. I might've had power, but Igneel was a monster.

I remember the Fire Dragon King, the young prince's grandsire, Sycaña relayed. My Thunder had limited interactions with him, but I had met him through the battle with the western Dragons. He and King Belserion and Metalicanna's dame and your grand-dame, Landromeda, plotted a-many of our strategies in Dragnof when it was alive. Igneel was a competent King with a roar that would awaken volcanoes and control the lava beneath my claws. I suspect the young prince has inherited such power. A pause. But…I do have my concerns.

Gale frowned. What do you mean?

He smells of a Dragon. I recognized him to be the future King. Yet he turned into a Phoenix.

Gale remembered the glimpses he had caught of Igneel's monstrous form. Yeah… He did, didn't he?

Yes. I am not much for the beliefs of Flame Dragons nor am I familiar with Phoenixes, but to combine their flames into one entity feels extremely dangerous. Were I in my prime, I fear even my roar would not match his own.

Seriously?

Yes. The young prince's flames felt weaker when he retained his humanity. But it would seem he is not just a Dragon but something else. Following your sire and grandsire's footsteps, you will act as his aide. You will need to train yourself and sharpen your claws in the event the young prince comes unstable. We do not want another Black Dragon.

Gale nearly faltered in his steps. I mean, yeah, Igneel might've been unhinged at times, but… He wasn't that bad. Not enough to be another Acnologia.

Perhaps. Sycaña did not sound convinced. 'Acnologia'… Who is this 'Acnologia'?

I mean… Isn't that what you meant when you said, 'Black Dragon'?

No. The name is vaguely familiar, but it does not bode clear recognition. Obscuritan was the Black Dragon in my day. Hatred fueled Sycaña. I have told you about him. An impudent snake who pillaged and destroyed. He slaughtered my mother and my nestmates. He ate his own kind, sought interest where he was not wanted, and was nothing more than a rotten beast.

It clicked for Gale. Right. Him. Is it…not normal for Dragons to be born with black scales?

A Black Dragon seldom refers to the scales. It refers to the heart of a Dragon, Sycaña explained. Rogues did not follow our ways, but Black Dragons were true creatures of the Under Realm. Obscuritan had participated in the Black War with other Dragons who believed that murder and sin were the only ways to live.

How did he die?

His mate, Sycaña recalled. She was human, if I remember correctly, and had been taken unwillingly as his permanent mate. It was said he had done so out of sick amusement, but…he gave into their bond. He contradicted himself, however, constantly. In the end, his mate died in the Black War. And Obscuritan, driven into madness at the loss, was easy to kill. He died over the same race he deemed 'insects' and 'prey'. How ironic.

Something tickled Gale's brain. Yeah… Ironic…

"Strange little mouse… She smells like my little mouse…" Gleaming reds the color of blood. "My little mouse smells of moon and stars…"

We met him. Gale's eyes widened. When we went back in time. That's right. We met Obscuritan on accident. And his 'little mouse'… He must've been talking about that woman. A woman who smelled of the moon and stars… It was like he was describing Aunt Lucy—

Gale stopped in his tracks and his stomach plummeted. Then that means… His mate was a Celestial Spirit Wizard… And if that's the case, his mate could've been a Heartfilia… He thought to Sycaña, Sycaña… Do you think Obscuritan's mate could've been one of Blondie's ancestors?

I am unsure. Rumors circulated about Obscuritan's human mate, but no one had ever seen her. Obscuritan coveted her religiously. And while I knew of the Heartfilia Clan and their fair treatment of their Star Dragons, I never involved myself in their politics. If Obscuritan had taken one of their own as his mate, it would have been a great insult to the Clan.

I see… Gale asked, Do you know if Obscuritan had any kids?

I do not know. If he had, he would have had to have been careful to conceal their births. He was an egg-stealer and egg-eater. Had other Dragons known he had eggs of his own, they would have swarmed to kill his offspring. As he often killed mated pairs, I am sure that is the reason he kept his own mate a secret, even from those who served his cause. Sycaña mentioned with blatant discomfort, I am aware he did…consummate his bond with his human mate. But I can assume it was not consensual. He would not have gone mad at her death had their bond not been solidified. I have pity for the poor human. She did not deserve it.

Gale continued to follow Pyxis and decided to switch gears before he felt too sick. Do Dragons really go mad if their mate dies? Doesn't that make you not want a mate?

Any creature who loses its mate enters a death-like madness. Seldom can they spiritually repair themselves to continue on with their lives, Sycaña informed. Many beings able to mate choose not to out of prevention of that madness. They see it as a weakness. Sorrelo and I saw it as our greatest strength. At first, I was overwhelmed with emotions and instincts. Leaving his side made me miserable. But centuries passed, and our bond calmed into something comforting and strong. For a Dragon to mate for life is rare, but it allows you such a deep intimacy with your mate. You will never know loneliness and always know love. The death of one mate naturally leads to the death of another unless they chose to mate right away.

Gale grimaced. That sounds wrong.

It was commonplace for some creatures, Sycaña told him. The Gods were instigators of this method. Rather than grieve, they selected a fresh body to attach themselves to. Demons often did the same, and some Dragons too. I know little of Devils, but they were fiercely monogamous and loyal, even for being Dark Creatures. Two beats. The Winter Devil part of your guild has taken a mate. Once she passes, I'm sure he will pass with her.

It was so sick hearing about the trial and then talking about revamping Devils, like… Gale shivered. He's his own person. Last of his kind or not, that shouldn't matter. But—he sighed—I see the science behind it, even if it's brutally disgusting. If they considered him a critically endangered animal, they'd try to put him in captivity and set him up with a viable mate to restart the population. He snorted. I know they don't know it's Gary, but he's very much head-over-heels for Nashi. Like… He sweatdropped as a montage of Gary's wild pursuits of Nashi came to mind. He's scarily so in love with her to the point where I don't even know if he'd recognize another woman.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Gale's imagination

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Gary yawned as he perused the library and scanned up and down the aisles for the one book he needed. 'This is taking forever.' He pouted. 'I just want to get my book and go back home to Angel. I'm missing valuable snuggle time.' He turned into the next aisle—

"Hey there, stud."

Gary stopped.

Saxophone music, sultry and low, came out of nowhere when a young woman leaned against the bookshelf with her curled hair and pouty lips glossed. Such a silky dress left little to the imagination as it showed the elegance of all her curves and her heels were made for walking. She twirled a curl with her finger as she bit the corner of her bottom lip and eyed Gary up and down like he was an entire menu on display.

Gary blinked. "Hello."

She grinned to show those pearly whites. "I saw you were looking for a book." Voice sweet and sinful. "And I think I might've found it for you."

"Really?" Gary beamed. "Great! Where is it?" He scanned the shelves. "Is it close by…?"

She throatily laughed and even that sounded sexy. She beckoned him with a finger. "Come here." When he came closer, she whispered, "It's right behind me. You'll have to reach for it." Her eyes wandered down his throat and to his chest. "Maybe if you ask me nicely, I'll turn around for you and get it myself."

"Okay. Would you mind…?"

She winked. "Certainly not for you." She turned around and made a show of curving her back. "Sorry. It's a little low…" Her movements were languid as she bent over. "I can almost reach it," she groaned. "Do you think could you—?"

"I found it." Gary plucked the book, pleased. "Finally! Now I can leave!" He drifted away with a flowery aura about him and said dreamily (oblivious to the gawking and very stunning woman he left behind), "Now I can spend the rest of my day getting Angel to snuggle with me…!"

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

LA FIN!

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Gale's face went flat. Yeah. That seems pretty accurate for him. He paused when Pyxis stopped him and pointed. He squinted, however, when it saw nothing outside of more trees and forest. "Uh… You sure we're here, little guy?"

"He's not mistaken." Virgo appeared out of nowhere with her blank stare. "Greetings, Master Gale. Would you like to punish me?"

"Nope." Gale was used to this by now. "I'm here to bring Blondie dinner."

"Yes. We were told you were coming and adjusted the spell." Virgo turned around. "Follow me." And she disappeared into thin air.

Gale hesitated, but with an encouraging nod from Pyxis, he followed in Virgo's footsteps. Magic spilled into him in a goose flesh feeling, but he crossed the barrier with no issues. The forest was gone in exchange for a concise clearing. The treehouse was elaborate and built in a tree that looked like it had been born centuries ago and would continue on centuries later. A little watermill powered the warm lights in the treehouse. It was easy to see that this place was considered a safe haven.

"Whoa…" Gale looked around. "This place has some powerful enchantments."

Virgo commented, "My Queen and King Natsu have made this a failsafe in the event someone makes it past the protective enchantments placed around their main property. You are the second non-blood person to know its location. However, should you become a liability, we will make sure you have no memory of this." Her words were the same tone each syllable, but her last few words sounded like a pure threat, even if her inflection did not change.

"I understand." Gale meant that. "Can I go up?"

Virgo nodded. "Aquarius has been trying to get Princess to cheer up by telling her the romantic tales of her and her fiancé. I will remain guard."

"Got it." Gale walked up—

"Please cheer up Princess."

Gale paused and angled his head to nod at her, but then he kept walking. He climbed up the steps, but he heard not a sound. This tree is heavily fortified, even with a Sound-Canceling Charm. Considering how valuable their blood is, it makes sense they have a failsafe. And it makes sense Blondie feels safe here. He found the hatch to come inside and opened it. His eyes adjusted to the brightness and he realized he had entered into a mini-foyer with its own shoe shelf. The conversation flooded his ears as he closed the hatch and took off his shoes. Wow. This is nice.

He could see the small kitchen and nook and the little living room with its own little telescope and numerous pictures. They made sure everyone who got here would be comfortable. It's a nice pad.

STEP… STEP…

Luna came downstairs, but she paused at the bottom step when she saw—"Gale?" She frowned as she took the final step. "What are you doing here?"

"Damn. I didn't think you hated me that much."

Luna flushed and muttered, "You know what I mean."

A holler came down with steps to match, "Is that Gajeel's brat bringing you dinner?"

Luna perked. "You brought food?"

"Oh, so you sound happy to see me when I've got the goods?" Gale jested. He tapped over his heart. "That stings, Blondie-girl, truly. You should always be happy to see this handsome face." He laughed when Luna tried to go for the dish and held it up too high for her. Still, she jumped for it. "Dance, monkey, dance," he cackled.

Luna stomped her feet and whined, "Gale…!"

"Nuh-uh, Blondie, you gotta pay up first." Gale leaned forward and tapped his cheek. "Right here."

Luna reddened. "I'm not doing that."

Gale feigned a heartbreaking sigh. "I guess I'll have to eat this food all by my—" He stilled when Luna darted in quick to peck his cheek and shuffled back with her cheeks puffed and hands out.

"Food now," Luna demanded in a mumble. "I paid."

Gale cleared his throat. "R-Right." He handed it to her. "Here. Your dinner." He rubbed his neck with his skin a little hot.

Aquarius came downstairs with a roll of her eyes when she saw the pair of them. "Well, on this note, I'll be outside." She softened as she looked at Luna. "Call me if you need anything." Her eyes went to Gale, and she barked, "Hey, kid. You touch her, I drown you. End of story." Her eyes narrowed menacingly. "No one will miss you."

Gale gulped. "Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Aquarius poofed herself away.

Luna grinned and teased, "I should've told Auntie Aquarius you forced me to give you a kiss. You might've met your fate right then and there."

"Hey, I was kidding!" Gale defended when Luna skipped away to the kitchen. He trailed after her. "I was still gonna give you your dinner. Just wanted to give you a little bit of a hard time about it."

Luna flashed him an unimpressed look as she unwrapped her food near the microwave. "You're the one who forced me to tell Cane I'd never kiss him in a million years and that you were the greatest man of my life." She shoved in the plate and decided to warm it for thirty seconds.

"In my defense, it's not like you'd ever want to kiss Cane." Gale froze when she offered a mischievous grin. "Oh. Oh, that ain't right. No. No way."

Luna shrugged. "I don't kiss and tell, Gale."

"Why the Hell would you kiss him?" Gale demanded to know, though it came off more in a complaint. "He's probably got permanent mono and he totally sucks."

Luna batted her lashes. "A lady never tells." She giggled when Gale looked grumpy. "And besides, it was a long time ago, so who cares? It's not like I plan to kiss him again. And it's not like I go around kissing people at random, y'know."

"Better not be," Gale muttered darkly. "Igneel would have my ass when he comes home if he found out I let you run wild."

Luna gaped. "'Let me'?"

Gale opened, closed, then opened his mouth. "That…came out wrong. I meant, uh… If he found out you went wild and I did nothing to politely and considerately talk you out of bad choices since you are your own person and deserve your freedom to do as you want."

DING!

Luna hmphed as she took out her food, and that spicy aroma was quick to cluster the kitchen. "I'm sure that's what you meant." She went on the hunt of silverware. "Did Igneel leave any other instructions about me that you should be following?" If he thinks I'm not going to yell at him about this when he gets home, he's wrong. I'll give him a piece of my mind for thinking I needed some dumb babysitter.

"He did have another instruction…"

"Really?" Luna took out a fork. "And what was that?"

Five beats of quiet.

"He told me not to go after you."

Luna froze. Slowly, she turned around for her stare to meet Gale's intense one. And, like always, she looked away first. After she cleared her throat, she asked him, "Do you, um…? Do you want to join me for dinner? I'm sure you already ate, and it's not fun to watch someone else eat—"

"I can stay."

"Cool." Luna started walking. "Come on. We can go upstairs. Icarus is sleeping." An alert feeling tingled her body as she climbed up the stairs. The awareness of Gale following her made her heart quicken, and she bit her lip to force herself to breathe from her nose at an even pace. Calm down. It's just Gale. She entered into the large upstairs with the low bed and the desk and the telescope. Icarus was dozing in a silly position on his back with his tongue hanging out.

Gale looked around. "This is cool."

"Thanks." Luna sat on the bed with her plate on her lap and paused when Gale took to the other side of the bed and laid down on his back. "Tired?"

"Eh." Gale waved his fingers. "A little. Training is pushing me to my limit, but I know that's the point. Luckily, tomorrow's my free day." He sighed with his shoulders and chest. "And I am going to take extreme advantage of that and fucking sleep in for once."

Luna giggled into her next mouthful. "That tough, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Gale laid a hand on his stomach and another under his head as he turned and jerked his chin toward her. "What about you?" Rubies softened. "How have you been feeling lately?"

Luna slowed in her eating until she came to a complete stop.

Gale felt guilty. "I'm sorry. You should eat. I don't want you to lose your appetite over me being shitty."

"No, you're not." Luna's shoulders drooped, and she looked at her plate in despair. "It's fine."

Gale sat up and stole the plate. "How about you talk and I feed?" To punctuate his question, he forked over some food and extended it to her. "Here. You can talk and keep eating."

"Okay." Luna took her forkful and chewed and swallowed. "I've been okay," she told him truthfully. "And it's…not about the break-up. I mean, things are weird right now, sure, but…" She took up another bite that Gale offered. "I don't know. It's all complicated. We broke up, but…I'm still going to his birthday thing in June."

Gale's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"It's complicated," Luna answered, uncomfortable. "I wouldn't go, but…"

Gale offered her another bite to put her out of her misery. "Well… Do you want some company?"

Luna looked at Gale in surprise. "You'd come with me?"

"Sure." Gale shrugged as he scooped up some more food. "I don't mind if it means you feel comfortable. And I can be a wall between you and your ex if needed." He grinned and teased, "You can use me all you want, Blondie. I don't mind."

Luna's cheeks pinkened. "Thanks, Gale." She took the next bite. "Outside of that, I…guess things are okay." Her eyes lowered. "I'm still not sure about leaving home but having that sleepover at E's was really nice."

"Baby steps," Gale murmured. "Take your time and as much of it as you need." He fed her another bite. "I'm here too. I know I can't be there all the time, but if you ever feel uncomfortable or unsafe, just call me. I'll come running." He tossed her a grin and a wink. "And no, your brother didn't ask me to do that."

Luna laughed a little. "Well, thank you." She played with her fingers. "This is nice, right? Us hanging out again?"

"Yeah." Gale softened. "It's nice."

Luna brushed a few locks behind her ear. "I know we can't hang out like we used to, but that Friday night… It was…really nice." Chocolates tinged, embarrassed, while she ducked her head. "I missed having you as a friend," she murmured, timbre soft. "I missed us being friends. I missed feeling…"

"Safe?" Gale supplied.

Luna swallowed and whispered, "Yeah."

Gale set aside the plate to scoot closer to her. "Blondie…" He licked his lips as he gathered his thoughts. "I… I don't know what's going on with you lately, and I'm not about to ask," he added when she shrunk back. "But I want you to know I'm here for you, okay? I know I fucked up at the Snow Ball." Rubies glinted. "I ruined something I wanted for so long. And I get what's going on. I get…I'm not better. But that doesn't take away that you're important to me, Blondie."

With care, he touched her hands and slowly threaded their fingers together. "I might not always be around, but I'm here for you whenever you need me. I want you to feel safe wherever you are. I don't want to see you get hurt or go through nightmares or have bad memories. You're… I really care about, Blondie."

Luna whispered, "You mean that?"

"I do." Gale caught her eyes and saw their clouded gaze. He let go of her hand to thumb her cheek. "I'm sorry for whatever you're going through," he murmured to her. "I want to protect you. And I don't want you to feel like you're alone in this."

Luna's bottom lip quivered. "I'm not?"

"No," Gale whispered. "You're not alone, I promise." He cupped her cheek. "You have me too, Blondie," he vowed. "I'm not going to let you go through this alone, principessa."

Chocolates watered.

The air had thickened and an intense tension had banded around them, but that still did not mean Gale had expected it when Luna leaned in first to kiss him. He stilled, shocked, but before regret and awareness could make her pull away, he gathered her cheeks in his hands and kissed her back rougher than she had anticipated. It was one of those kisses so impulsive and needy and helpless that it was tone-deaf to whatever was going on around it. The kiss extended from one to a fervent two to a passionate three and a watery yet burning four. By the fifth kiss, that hotheaded impulsivity had slowed into an emotional love affair and Gale could taste the saltiness of Luna's tears.

That tension had loosened when they pulled away…

…and open rubies connected with tear-stricken chocolates.

Luna sniffled and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have done that." The realization of her actions crashed down on her, and a new wave of tears flooded. "Why did I do that? I-I shouldn't have done that."

Hurt, guilt, shame, regret—they diseased Gale as they tore up his stomach and pierced his heart. "Blondie," he soothed, "it's okay." His hurt left for secondhand grief when Luna shook her head, trembling, and a cry bubbled out. "God, Blondie, I'm so sorry." Gently, he grabbed his arms around her and embraced her into his chest. "I'm so sorry." He closed his eyes as self-loathing hit him when Luna sobbed into his shoulder. "That was the last thing you needed. I'm so…so sorry."

"I'm sorry," Luna hiccupped. "I'm really sorry—!"

"Shhh… It's fine, Blondie, it's fine," Gale shushed her. "This doesn't have to mean anything, okay? We're still friends. Nothing has to happen." He held her tighter as she shook. "We're both still healing, right? We've got a lot of things we have to do. It's all right. We're still going to heal. We're still going to be friends. I'm still here for you, okay?" He pulled away to wipe the tears from her face. "There's nothing to be sorry about," he soothed. "This doesn't change anything."

But Luna still looked miserable. "I'm so sorry—"

"There's nothing to apologize for," Gale promised. "I was saying things. We felt things. It happens. But it doesn't have to mean anything." He kissed her forehead before drawing her back for a hug. "You're not ready. Neither of us is ready. It's okay, Blondie." He felt her bite back another cry. "Can we just lay here, Blondie? Just lay down until you're calmer?" He felt Luna nod into his shirt and brought them both down on the bed. He thumbed her back while she sniffled. "We can just do this," he promised her. "We can just lay here. Nothing else has to happen, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Luna whispered. "I keep hurting you."

"Nah, Blondie, you didn't hurt me." Gale's reds glinted. I keep hurting myself. She's feeling vulnerable. What the fuck is wrong with me? I knew what she went through and I still kissed her. He closed his eyes. "We're both hurting and we do things we shouldn't. It happens. But we've got this, Blondie, you and me. And you know what we're gonna do when we're healed?"

Luna sniffled and mumbled, "What?"

"We are totally going to get the fattest, greasiest burgers known to man with all the works and chow down." Gale smiled when Luna wetly laughed. "So we gotta work hard getting better because there is heart attack food on the line for us, Blondie-girl, and that's some serious shit. I know how serious you are about food." He tickled her side and chuckled when she giggled. "There's that cute laugh, eh? Should I make you laugh even more?"

"No…!" Luna shifted to peek up at him.

He opened his eyes and tipped his head to get a good look at her. "That's better." He rubbed her cheek. "All gone. No more tears. No more sorries."

"Are you sure?"

"Apologize to me one more time and I will eat the rest of your dinner and lick the plate," Gale jokingly threatened, but his heart fluttered seeing her small smile. "It's okay. We kissed. It happened. It wasn't a good idea and we shouldn't do it again until we're in a better place. Things are shitty. But we're makin' it better one day at a time, right?"

"Right." Luna snuggled into him again. "How do you always know what to say?"

"I'm a Wizard. Fuck…" Gale groaned when Luna socked his side with a punch. "Well, it's technically true. Or did you want me to do the snobby 'I have a high IQ and teenage hormones are inferior to my intellect' bit? Because I can do that." He laughed when Luna pinched him. "So violent. I thought blondes were the ones who just wanted to have fun. What's up with this? I get Bad Barbie?"

Luna snorted. "Oh-ho, that was such a bad joke."

"You laughed though. Remember that. You have shit taste in humor now."

Luna shook her head with a bone-deep sigh. "What are we going to do, Gale?"

"Well." Gale heaved a breath. "I am going to keep going to therapy. You are going to choose how you want to manage what you're going through. And we are going to be supportive friends to each other. Because neither of us knows how to be anything else outside of friends in a healthy sense." He stared at the ceiling. "I sure as Hell know I'd make one shitty boyfriend. Emma taught me her version of love and…I'm still trying to figure out how to undo it all."

Luna shifted her weight. "I know you can do it," she encouraged.

"Yeah. My therapist knocks me on my ass. I need it though. He might get on my last nerve, but he knows what he's doing."

Silence.

"Do you think I could have that?"

"What, a therapist?"

Luna hummed.

"I think you should choose whatever you feel will help you figure out yourself," Gale said with care. "If it's therapy, go for it. If it's dance, go for it. But do what makes you comfortable. And I'll be right there with you." A pause. "Just, like, don't go around to parties and drinking and making out with the star player on the football team or some shit, please—"

Luna burst into laughter.

"I'm serious!" Gale tried to defend even when he chortled. "If you're gonna try to get better, be healthy about it, please."

"But didn't you do something exactly like that?" Luna coyly reminded. "You went to a party and drank and kissed a bunch of people—" She broke into a giggle when Gale tickled her side. "Hey!"

"Oh, so she's got jokes now," Gale mocked. "All right, that's fair. I made a toxic choice and I regret it. But this is me talking you out of bad choices like Igneel wanted, by the way, so I'm just doing my due diligence."

Luna snickered. "Noted."

An amicable hush fell over the two as Gale continued to stroke her spine, and Luna loosened against him. It was Luna who broke the silence when she murmured, "We're going to get through this, right?"

"Yeah, Blondie." Gale sighed out of his nose. "We're going to get through this."

Another silence brushed against them and neither deigned to ship it away. Emotions had bottomed out into exhausted contentment, and no more words needed to be spoken between them. There was no use for impulse or need or helplessness. Now was the time when their hearts had been scrubbed raw that they fed off the warmth of the other to process and heal. And as they just laid there, together, apart, thinking and drifting, neither noticed that Icarus had awoken to observe the pair of them with quiet sadness.

The road they have is not easy. Icarus laid his head on his paws. But I pray that they may have a break in the storm for tonight.

Pleasure Palace was aflutter this evening, and everyone knew why. The collars and chains and whips had come out for the evening. From saucy lace numbers to sparkly nude suites, everyone who had crowded for tonight's Bon-Bon Burlesque showed all sorts of body in the most beautiful ways. Tops were optional tonight even for the staff and many parades about the venue with their breasts free while others decided more was less and teased others with their cheek singlets and high heels. The music already had the crowd in a tizzy with their drinks, and the stage and runway had been set with success.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Pleasure Palace

Ixia City

Fiore, Ishgar

8:50 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Nashi spent her time socializing. She had opted for a dark blue Cinderella number that Gary had mysteriously sent to her (though he would not say how he came about it) and smiled for pictures and agreed to signatures from those enthusiastic their inspiration was in attendance tonight. She spotted Ace's frame amongst the crowd and gave her pardons to swim over to him.

"Ace!" Nashi called. "Hey!"

Ace swiveled around with an easy smile. "Hey, Nashi." He was dressed relatively tame, but he had a devil-may-care about him in his suit and half-mask. A riding crop was in his hands, and he was well-versed in how to use it. "You look fantastic."

"So you do!" Nashi praised. "I'm surprised you're not backstage with JJ."

"He shooed me out so I can be surprised," Ace chuckled. "He's been teasing me with a bunch of outfit ideas so I wouldn't know his final look."

Nashi laughed. "Yeah, that's JJ." That was when she noticed Ace had not been alone. A young man was with him in a leather vest and a face mask and fingerless gloves with a dog tag around his neck. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She held out a hand. "I'm Nashi. It's very nice to meet you!"

"Dante," he introduced. He briefly shook her hand. "You're an incredible Wizard, Nashi, and an amazing spokesperson."

Nashi smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot! Now, I just need to make sure that I don't mess it up."

"You won't," Ace assured. "Nashi, this is actually Carlisle's boyfriend. Carlisle's participating tonight with Tesla for their segment."

"Oh. Oh…!" Nashi gaped. "You're the one I saw on Carlisle's Insta then!"

Dante hooked down his face mask as he chuckled. "Yeah, that was me. Justin asked us last minute if we wanted to do a promo shoot and Carlisle said, 'yes' before I could say anything. Thank goodness I don't have an Instagraph."

"You're not missing much outside of thirst traps and influencers," Ace told him in good humor. "But that promotional photo came out spectacular."

"It was hot!" Nashi gushed. "You both looked sexy!"

Dante chortled, a little abashed. "Thank you, but Carlisle should get most of the credit. He blindfolded me and positioned me, so I had no idea what we looked like until after the pictures."

"Well, you both looked smokin'," Nashi teased. "Tesla's been pretty secretive about what she's doing tonight." She glanced around with a grin. "And that reminds me. Where is her boyfriend?"

Dante blanched. "Not again. I need to go. Nashi, it was nice to meet you." He ducked into the crowd and disappeared.

Nashi snickered. "How much do you want to bet Tesla and Jax found somewhere to bang?"

"I can't take that bet when it's true," Ace chuckled. "I met up with Dante and Jaxton for some drinks before we came here. Dante is in charge of keeping Jaxton away from Tesla, but we both looked away for five minutes once we got here to talk to Justin and Jaxton disappeared and, well…" He grinned. "Let's just say the two of them aren't subtle. And it was interesting to listen to."

"How do they not cramp up?" Nashi muttered, shaking her head. "I understand some people have stamina, but theirs is ridiculous." She noticed Ace's wandering eyes. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Ace glanced left and right before he pulled Nashi closer. He confided in her ear, "Justin and I want to ask Dante and Carlisle if they swing since we both got a vibe from Dante that he might be interested at Nine-Dollar and Carlisle looked on board too."

"Wow." Nashi looked up at Ace in disbelief. "I thought JJ was kidding about a three-way or four-way or whatever, but he was serious. How do you guys just…know someone else is into it?"

Ace shrugged. "There are some subtle signs," he supposed. "It's a risk to ask unless you decided to use an app or a website, but Nine-Dollar made us both know they might be into it." His grin turned lecherous. "And it helps we'd both want to top."

"I'm going to pray for Carlisle because his boyfriend looks like a top and three against one is going to be so brutal," Nashi lamented. She hit Ace when he shook with laughter. "I'm serious! Don't break him! I want to know but I don't want to know what happened with Nine-Dollar that you guys just meet and instantly think 'we should have a three-way'."

"It's better if you don't," Ace simpered. "And Justin did let me know if I saw you that he'll introduce you to Carlisle after the show and hopefully before Dante drags him to their room. I think you'll like him. He's very…interesting."

Nashi tossed Ace a nasty look. "Don't say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're thinking about him naked."

Ace guffawed. "If it helps, Justin and I both think about him naked."

"No, that doesn't help me at all," Nashi said dryly. "You both are perfect for each other. Equally horny and equally horny." She playfully rolled her eyes when Ace smirked. "Well, I wish you both luck. Dante seems nice from the five seconds I met him." She extended her hand and said in faux-diplomacy, "I hope all three of you enjoy tormenting your bottom."

Ace took her hand with a mischievous glint in his eye. "If they agree, I think we'll have one helluva time."

°•°•°•°

The preparation rooms and halls behind the stage were busy as the crew steeped in black with their headsets were making sure everything was in place for the grand entrances. The rehearsals had gone well, tech night had been grand, and all the checks this morning had gone off without a hitch, but that did not mean they could relax. Most of the drag queens were in their dressing rooms as they finished making sure their hair was perfect, while others spoke to the crew one last time for a rundown of their lighting.

Dante wove through backstage in frustration. He did not even have to think about where to go when he found a narrow door and banged on it. "Get out here now." He stepped back and waited. The silence did not fool him.

A few minutes had passed when the door opened. A sheepish Tesla stepped out, face flushed, while Jaxton's hair was clearly a mess. His outfit required him to be half-naked as a rampant warrior, but you could see that he had been working up a sweat.

Dante was unimpressed. "I leave you alone for five minutes." He held up a finger when Tesla tried to explain. "No. You are coming with me." He took Tesla's hand and jabbed Jaxton's chest. "You are going to leave, blue balls or not. You will see her after the show." He stormed away with a guilty Tesla in tow. "I hope he didn't finish."

"We didn't even get to start," Tesla mumbled.

"Good." Dante glanced back at her. "You're going to need all your strength to seduce him later. Which dressing room is yours?" Where Tesla pointed was where Dante guided them. The dressing room was a shared space between them and a few other men and women. No one minded any sort of nudity and, if they did, they could change in the changing room. Hair and setting spray filled the room with sharp scents.

Carlisle was in his robe as Aphtan finished applying his make-up, and he got distracted when he saw Dante. "Prince!" He pouted when Aphtan turned him back to face front. "Am I almost done?"

"Almost, Carlisle-po," Aphtan replied. "Carlisle-po's lover, you shouldn't be back here. This is for performers, crew, and assistants only."

"I'm here to assist this one back to her space." Dante steered Tesla in her chair beside Carlisle. "Can you stay put or should I tie you up in the un-fun way?"

Tesla sighed. "I can stay put."

"Good." Dante moved on to be at Carlisle's side. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous and excited," Carlisle supposed. "At school, we never get to do dancing like this. Maman and I have danced like this before, but it was for exercise more so than seduction." He shivered when Dante fingered his collar. "I hope you like it."

"I know I will," Dante murmured. "You both will do beautifully." He kissed Carlisle's knuckles. "You two perform after intermission, so let me know if you need me to loosen your collar, okay?"

Carlisle flushed. "Prince…"

"What? I'm wearing my dog tag too." Dante rubbed Carlisle's empty fingers. "And we can put on the rings once we're back in our suite." He paused. "If we're alone."

Carlisle frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I have a suspicion we'll be asked something tonight," Dante said cryptically. "But I don't want to say anything and make things awkward if I'm wrong." He smiled when Carlisle narrowed his eyes, wary. "Relax. It's nothing big. But you made an impression on people at Nine-Dollar, Lips. Remember that."

Carlisle huffed. "It's unbecoming of princes to speak in riddles, you know." He groaned when Aphtan shifted him again. "Tantan…!"

"Almost finished, Carlisle-po," Aphtan promised. "Carlisle-po's lover, you are distracting Carlisle-po from getting his make-up finished. Please leave. I'll only ask nicely once."

Dante refrained from biting something. "I'll leave." He kissed Carlisle's fingers once more and mouthed his farewell to Tesla before he left.

Carlisle lifted his chin as Aphtan worked on his jaw. "Tesla, are you ready for this?"

"Yes. And thanks for doing this with me, Carlisle," Tesla appreciated. "Thanks to your choreography skills, we managed to pull this off." She fidgeted in her seat. "I just hope the song I chose fits. When I heard the song and saw it on YouView, I thought it was perfect."

"It is perfect." Carlisle reached and grabbed her hand. "Most of the acts before intermission are more comedic, but everything after intermission is more serious and X-rated. We're going to do wonderful tonight and we're going to drink and then go upstairs and—"

"Crash because I'm going to be so exhausted," Tesla complained.

Carlisle snickered. "That too. But we're still going to do great." He squeezed her hand. "Everything is going to turn out perfect." Even so… I can't shake the feeling something's coming… And I don't know what it is…or who.

°•°•°•°

Nashi and Orochi had found each other in the masses and music as Nashi nursed a cocktail while Orochi nursed some bourbon. She whistled upon his approach and took in his suspenders and bow tie and shirt with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to show his tattoo sleeves.

"Well, well, someone cleans up nicely," Nashi teased.

Orochi chuckled. "Don't get used to this. I promised Justin I would participate." He gestured to Nashi's clothing. "And I see you're Miss Cinderella, Nana."

"No Prince Charming sadly," Nashi quipped with a shrug. "I guess I'm still at the point of the plot where he's trying to find me." She pointed at her heels. "But this time, I have both my shoes, so I'm not exactly sure how this is supposed to work."

"I'm sure Gary's upset he's missing out on finding his Cinderella," Orochi humored. "You looked gorgeous, Nana."

"Thanks—Oh!" Nashi stumbled into Orochi and caught the apologies given to her the person who bumped into her turned around. "Goodness. Tonight is really packed." She patted Orochi's chest. "Thanks for the catch."

"Sure." Orochi sipped his bourbon and looked around. "Justin and Honey always know how to throw a party and the turnout is always crazy." He looked up when the lights dimmed. "And it looks like the show is starting."

Nashi grabbed onto his arm. "Better hang onto you before the crowd sweeps me away," she jested.

"Sure." Orochi's violets softened. "That's fine."

A timpani roll started as the lights darkened and spotlights sifted the curtains. Everyone hooted and hollered as the announcer dramatically started, "Kings, queens, and non-binaries…introducing to you…the beautiful and slutty hosts of this event…Miss Fortunate and Sashay Rosé!"

The applause and cheers rocked the venue as the curtains parted to show Miss Fortune dressed as a Catahoula Girl with his outrageous whipped cream cane bra, red shorts, and a garter belt with mesh stockings and candy heels. Even his hair had a candy headband and his shades were candy cane themed. Sashay Rosé perfected Cruella de Vil this evening with a black and white bob wife, her iconic fur coat, a black slinky dress, and even a false smoke. Both crossed had their microphones as they strutted onto the runway that had a stripper pole in the center and took in the applause and whistles.

Justin clacked his gum and grinned. "My, oh my, Sashay, we have a lot of hot whores tonight." He bent down and captured the chin of a beautiful Sinnish woman dressed in cheetah print lingerie that showed all sorts of curves. "And you, my darling kitten, are particularly sexy."

Ooohs came around as the woman smirked and mocked a kiss at Justin.

Honey wrapped himself around the pole. "You're right, Miss Fortune, we got some whores in this house." He made a show of squatting down and teasing taking off his fur coat and the audience screamed for him to take it off take it off. He laughed and said, "Y'all really be that thirsty, damn." Chortles passed around as he stood up. "Now I can't reveal all our acts so soon, but my kings and queens and enbies, look at the way Miss Fortune is bodying her look tonight. Girl, give us a twirl! Look at all this body!"

Orochi chuckled and Nashi waved her finger and cheered with the crowd when Justin made a show of twirling and dropping it low.

"Yeah, we know you're gettin' on your knees often, don't we now?" Sashay guffawed. "Look at how she just bents over like that."

Justin sassed back, "Oh, please, we all know why you got a big mouth, big lips, and a loose jaw."

Sashay clapped her hands as everyone laughed. "Baby, and I know how to use these lips, okay?" He circled his mouth with a finger. "Deep – throat – queen right here, okay? Never had one complaint." He hip-checked Justin as the crowd chuckled. "But enough about me giving away all my talents unless someone here wants a live demonstration?" He waved his hands, grinning, when hands went up. "No, no, not tonight."

"I mean." Justin shrugged. "I'm down if you want to… I mean, this is what the people paid for, isn't it?" He beckoned to the audience as they started cheering and shouting. "See? I think they want to see you suck some dick live, Sashay."

"Honey, we would need a whole new ticket tier for you to see all of this in action," Sashay quipped. "But I mean if we have some grapefruit—no, no, I'm just playin'," he cackled when the crowd went wild. "No, tonight, we have some great acts for you."

"That's right," Justin added. "You will see chains. You will see whips. You'll see all sorts of titties and ass."

"You'll see some bodies, crazy curvy, wavy, big titties, little waists," Sashay continued. He paused when some of the audience picked up on the rap. "Oh, so you like that song?" He shrugged and started to rap, "Body crazy, curvy, wavy, big titties, lil' waist! Body crazy, curvy, wavy, big titties, lil' waist!" He pointed his mic at the audience.

The crowd carried on the tune: "Body-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody…!"

Justin rapped, "Look at how I bodied that, ate it up and gave it back…!" He waved his hand when everyone hollered. "No, we have better songs tonight than Jovon." He laughed when Sashay looked offended. "I mean, we have other songs tonight. All the respect for Jovon."

"That's right, sluts, we have live tonight, comin' at you," Honey went on, "Ursula, Auntie Superia"—the crowd roared—"Vanilla Manila, Poundcake, Dominatrixxie, BeBe Botox, and the one, the only, the vogue fucking queen herself, Lady Monét! Make some noise for this fine ass queen joining us tonight along with some very special new talent!"

Nashi screamed with the crowd while Orochi laughed and clapped.

"And!" Justin added. "To kick off tonight's Bon-Bon Burl-X Show, we have invited a very special guest to open. My hoes and sluts, please give it up for the queen of range of herself—María Rose…!"

Whoops and hollers barraged the venue as everyone was vibrating with excitement when Justin and Honey stepped back. The curtains revealed a wide stage as a silhouetted woman with a bob sat on a large B in a risqué dress. Her heavy voice rang out as she started, "Underneath the city lights… There is a world few know about… Where the rules don't apply, no… And you can't"—everyone screamed when she growled—"let a good girl down…"

The lights flared to reveal the words BURL-X with dancers draped in sinful, sparkling numbers grinding and shaking on each letter as the brass and drums played into the segue instrumental.

Nashi went crazy with the crowd and yelled up to Orochi, "This is amazing! I can't believe Justin got María Rose, and he didn't tell me! Ah, this is phenomenal!" She stamped her heels in excitement as the jazz song carried on. This is incredible! She sighed, but the smile on her face would not leave. I just wish…he was here with me to enjoy it.

The mountains this time of night teemed with life, but it was odd to see that life was human. The stars had come out, curious to look at what was going on. The moon, full tonight, decided to lazy about with her clouds, but her gorgeous reflection took up a lake too perfect to be made by Mother Nature, but it was true. It molded into a perfect oval with reflections so perfect, it made sense its name translated into Minstrish meant "Mirror Lake".

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« These are the Skuaiggilk which translates to the Skua Mountains. These mountains are sacred to the Shamans as they come here for their Full Moon Festival to celebrate the Spirits, exchange news and information, and name apprentices into Shamans. In Iñuipakit, Mirror Lake is called Taggaktuuntaksruk. It is a tradition that the Shamans and their apprentices drink the water from the lake before they begin their songs and prayers to summon the Spirits. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Clusters of Shamans and apprentices had come to the lake with their offerings placed nicely. The apprentices were more than happy to see each other as they bragged about their new skills and stories they did not get to share from their month of not seeing each other. The Shamans were not as excitable. Well, that was not true. There was one particularly bubbly Shaman with energy as all get out that was talking the ear off a grumpy bloodshot Shaman. Make no mistake, however, about his eyes. He was merely a severe insomniac who carried eyedrops with him everywhere

Yuka was the oldest Shaman and made her rounds to greet everyone. Eva was still an outsider when it came to the apprentices with her sourness she was one, and even though Daniel was enthusiastic about his teachings, his skin color made the others avoid him. Unfortunately, that made the pair of them stick together, bickering.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Skua Mountains

Arcticados

9:30 PM ACT

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Uki took a look around before she glanced over her shoulder. "Come on. We're here."

CRUNCH… CRUNCH…

"Are you sure I should be here?"

Uki sighed. "I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't think you should be here"—she turned around to see an awkward Gary dressed down in shorts and a shirt, comfortable in such winter—"Gary."

Gary shuffled his feet. The snow was like grass to him and he enjoyed walking in it barefoot. He did notice the Shamans and apprentices who saw him and his attire gave him weird looks. "I-I don't think I'm welcomed here. This is holy ground." He took a step back, uneasy. "I should go. But thank you, Miss Uki, for the invite." He turned around—

"Gary!"

He froze and offered Uki a curious look.

Uki glanced around before she approached him and murmured, "Listen. You…showed me something I never thought was possible. You gave me hope that I could fix this—me." She looked away. "I've been hating the wrong person for so many years. And I might not be all the way there with you yet, but…I think I understand."

"Understand what?"

"That you were just a scared little boy." Medallions clashed with ceruleans. "You were young and afraid and unlike me who had my mentor…you had no one in your corner when you were suffering."

Gary swallowed. "Maybe not, and I'm happy you understand me, but…" He grew uncomfortable when more glances were thrown his way. "I don't visit churches for a reason or any sort of sacred ground. As much as I hide it, people can always sense I'm…different. And I don't want to interrupt your traditions and be the reason something goes wrong—"

"Gary, you told me that winter can make something beautiful"—Uki gestured to the lake—"if I were to give it the chance. And that it takes one person to show you that. So, please. You've shown me your world. Now let me show you my mine." She added softly, "Ilisaurri." She stared into his eyes meaningfully. "Teacher."

Gary softened. "Okay."

"Thank you." Uki gestured for him to follow and heard his close footsteps. She nodded to the Shamans and did not care about their disturbed stares towards Gary. But she did feel bad that he had to endure them. The second they got to the lake to claim their place, Uki did something that shocked everyone. She disrobed from her Anti-Ether clothing and shucked off her gloves. Nerves and courage fueled her blood as everyone saw the black Accursed bruises on her skin, but she did not care.

Gary did and whispered, worried, "Miss Uki? Are you sure?"

"Yes." Uki let out a breath and exhaled frost. "This takes the attention off you. And besides, if I get out of control, you can stop me." She cast him a nervous look. "Right? You can stop me?"

Gary nodded. "I can."

"Good." Uki looked at the lake. "I can do this." I can stay in control. This is not a Curse. She shakily looked at her blackened hand and tried to swallow down her fear.

"Uki!"

Uki choked when someone barreled into her back for a bear hug, and she wheezed when they squeezed her neck. "Una!" she gasped. "Let – me – go! Can't – breathe!" She gathered her bearings when the body was taken off her and panicked when she saw little shards of ice had popped up, but her panic calmed when Gary offered her an encouraging nod. "Gary, meet Una."

Gary turned his head to smile. "Hello. It's very nice to meet yo—! Mmmph!" His words were cut off when a hand squeezed his cheeks.

"Whoa…! He's a total babe!" Una might be tiny, but she was mighty. Deep brown skin and natural silver hair despite her youth that covered one eye, but you saw her crisp blue eye on the other side. An interesting birth mark was on the side of her neck and nothing could take away from her gap-toothed beam. "We finally get some eye candy around here!"

⌜MAGELLANIA TOWN (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Una

Age: 23

Ability: Shaman

Occupation: Shaman

Likes: raunchy magazines Dislikes: being called a "pet"

Special Note: Una has an unusual amount of energy and is a little unorthodox as a Shaman—and her two apprentices certainly have trouble keeping up with her!⌟

"Una, let him go." The bloodshot grumpy Shaman had said this with an uneven shadow across his jaw and his hair unruly, like he had just rolled out of bed. It was clear he did not want to be here and would do anything to go back to bed. "And calm it down. You're too fucking energetic."

⌜AUK CITY (ARCTICADOS)

Name: Tidam

Age: 25

Magic: Snow

Occupation: Shaman

Likes: sleeping Dislikes: people with high energy

Special Note: Tidam might be an insomniac, but he is the only Shaman who trained as a Wizard first, which is unheard of! Just don't tell the other Shamans his apprentice has to badger him to stay awake!⌟

"And this is Tidam, Gary," Uki introduced. "Both of them are Shamans, but we all apprenticed together." She narrowed her eyes when Tidam yawned. "Don't tell me I need to find your apprentice to give you a caffeine patch again?"

"Shut up." Tidam rubbed his eyes. "I had to deal with Miss Smiles-A-Lot the entire way here." He was nearly knocked off his feet when Una hit his side. "Watch it!"

"I was too excited to tell you all about the summoning!" Una said in defense. She beamed at Uki. "Emily was able to summon her first Helper!"

Uki smiled. "That's wonderful! I'll have to congratulate her once we're finished her!" She explained to Gary, "A 'Helper" is a low-level Spirit we can contract to help us to remedial tasks. They can help with herbs or healings or even chores. That sort of thing."

Gary nodded. "I see."

"So…" Una glanced between Uki and Gary with a grin and whispered loudly, "Where did you snag him and where can I get one?"

Gary blinked when Tidam picked up a pouty Una with one hand and grumbled, "Pardon our pet. She doesn't have manners, and she's well-aware that Shamans taken an oath of abstinence."

"Well, I can look, can't I?" Una grumbled under her breath.

Uki chuckled. "Gary's just an observer tonight. I invited him since I thought he might appreciate the guidance. He's actually a Guild Wizard from Fairy Tail."

"You're Gary Fullbuster," Tidam recognized with a hint of wonder. "You revolutionized Ice Magic and Snow Magic single-handedly." He scowled. "I could've been in a guild too if the Spirits hadn't tied me here."

Gary chuckled. "I didn't really do much, but thank you for the compliment. And I'm certain your work here is more important than mine. Your culture is breath-taking and I'm very honored to be here."

"Yeah, well, hold on to that feeling," Tidam snorted. "The second the apprentices find out you're a Wizard from a famous guild, they'll be leaping all over you with their nagging questions." He gestured to Una. "Like our pet."

Una twisted out of Tidam's grip to stick her tongue at him. "I'm not a pet, you insomniac!"

"You're as tiny as a hare"—Tidam ruffled her hair—"and as fluffy as one."

Una had puffs of steam coming out of her nose as she punched his chest. "Stop it! I'm not a hare!"

Gary cocked his head. I feel like I've seen this dynamic before… Vaguely, he started remembering how Gajeel would taunt Lucy about being a bunny and her having to be held back by Levy from using her whip on him, but he popped out of his thoughts when he heard Uki laughing.

"They never change," Uki murmured, tone warm.

"You've known them for a long time?" Gary inferred.

"Yes. We weren't from the same towns, but being apprentices gave us more leeway to see each other." Uki stared into the water as fond memories glistened before her eyes. "They were the first friends I made who understood being away from home. Una was always high energy. Tidam was a serial insomniac who was always so annoyed at everything. I had to play peacemaker." Her hand glided against the water. "They were…simpler times." Medallions looked at her black-scarred hand.

Gary prompted, "And now?"

"Now, it's difficult for named Shamans to see each other. We have a lot of work to do," Uki explained. "But they were there with me…through all this. Through Nanuk's death… Through…everything."

"You've missed them."

"Yes," Uki whispered. "Being named Shaman after Nanuk's death… My heart felt like it shattered. And not being able to see Tidam and Una besides the Full Moon Festival… I just…gave up."

Gary somberly understood her words, but he could not say more when Yuka called all to attention. Her words, however, were in Iñuipakit and he understood not a lick of it. "What's happening?"

"Yuka is saying it is time for us to start the Full Moon Festival and for us to be seated," Uki translated. She gestured to the Shamans and apprentices all taking their seats and drinking from the lake. "Yuka will lead us through the prayer and start singings and we'll all join in. Since you're only observing, you don't need to do much outside of staying quiet. We join hands and sing, but we don't expect that of you."

Gary shifted, uneasy. "And you're sure I should be here?"

"Yes." Uki looked to the moon. "I'm sure." This will tell me the truth. I'm doing what you asked of me, Nanuk. And she too drank from the lake.

Yuka settled down with her Glaciumiho behind her, all nine tales wrapped around. The prayer she opened with was symbolic and significant. Eyes closed as hands encircled wrists like it was the natural thing to do. Their responses flowed out when she paused in such a unified harmony that it felt like a well-rehearsed performance. Everyone knew when to hit their note at the right pitch as they swayed right to left in such a mesmerizing fashion.

Gary felt moved as he heard the language swirl around him. A chilling breeze picked up and his stomach fluttered when a mysterious mist rolled onto Mirror Lake with dotted crystals. The stars winked as though in on the secret.

I feel like an intruder, Gary thought to himself.

Skade, however, surprised him when he rumbled, Wait. Do you feel that?

Gary stilled. His skin turned to goose flesh as warm energy fizzled in the air and expanded in his chest. I do. What…is this? It feels similar to Angel and Looney and Aunt Lucy. He felt his winter swirl inside him in a rhythm as though adjusting to the prayer.

Yuka's prayer tumbled into an ancient young and the words were so tear-jerkingly pronounced and sung. The harmonies and melodies felt like they controlled the weight of the world as Shamans and their apprentices matched their breathing and their hearts beat as one. Nuvua lifted her head and sung long in her crisp cry, but it did not feel out of place. She balanced herself among the music as though she had her own written part in the orchestration.

LUB-DUB.

Gary looked up—

Ceruleans sparkled. What…?

The Northern Lights danced across the sky, but it was not the lights he was used to. This… This felt surreal. These hues of emeralds and blues and transcendent violets had sprung clear from Mirror Lake to gallivant into the sky. And as the song rose and fell in its ancient ways, the stars blinked and fluttered until the northern lights stole them for themselves. Gary's eyes widened when he saw the stars stolen and outlined the body of a roaming caribou.

What is…this…?

The Spirits of the Arctic had heard the song of the Shamans and heeded the call. A wolf and her young emerged from the lights and bounced down to touch Mirror Lake without leaving a ripple. Gary held his breath when the Spirit and her young walked straight to an apprentice and breathed on their face. A reindeer Spirit had pranced down and bowed low to a Shaman before breathing upon their face. More and more Spirits poured from the lights, some with their young, some with their mates, and some alone, but it felt like he was in a dream as each one of them chose a Shaman or apprentice to breathe upon or walk through.

This… This is incredible. Gary watched when a narwhal Spirit had emerged to swim through Tidam. These are Spirits. True Spirits. He felt Skade jerk. What's wrong? His heart lurched. What's this?

I am…unsure. Something is coming, Skade thought.

A polar bear was one of the last Spirits to make the journey fashion from light and stars. It looked bigger than the average bear as it wandered to Yuka and breathed in her face. But unlike the other Spirits, the polar bear moved on. Gary froze when the polar bear moved to Uki and puffed its breath onto her face as she sang.

But the polar bear turned to Gary.

Gary tried not to shuffle back when the polar bear stood in front of him. He waited for it to move on, but it did no such thing.

Hello, young tuungak.

A woman's voice filled Gary's head. What…? You can speak?

Yes. I can speak. The polar bear stood, but the light and stars that made its body shrunk and remodeled until a woman appeared before him with kind eyes and long hair. Her smile was sad as she looked at him. I am Nanuk, the Shaman of Adélie.

It was instinct. Gary closed a hand around a fist and bowed to her. His mouth would not open, so he thought in the most respectful tone he could muster, It's an honor to meet you, Miss Nanuk. I'm sorry for all the pain and trouble I've caused you and Uki. It wasn't my intention to Curse her—

I know it was not. Lift your head, young tuungak, for I must speak with you before I return to the Land of Day.

Gary lifted his head.

Nanuk nodded. I understand you are not at fault. The Spirits had told me about you. Her eyes turned sad. Had I heeded their words, I could have saved you from your fate amongst the Winter General.

Invel. Gary felt a sharp pain inside him. You know him?

Yes. Once one of us with a hopeful path, he turned deplorable. He abused the power the Spirits gave him and, in turn, he hurt you, a Child of Winter.

Gary was in disbelief. Invel was a Shaman?

No, Nanuk said. But he was once part of the people of Anticados. His winter is strong. He was gifted it for the Spirit who trusted him had faith he would choose a better path. But he did not. Just as I did not. She glided closer to him. The Spirits told me a young tuungak would arrive at my home. He would need my help. But my blindness towards reality caused you a lifetime of agony and sorry. I am sorry, Gary Fullbuster. Humanity is not a race. It is an idea. It is a way of life. And I should have seen that sooner.

It's okay, Gary pardoned. I'm happy with what I have now.

Yes. Nanuk's smile turned sincere. Nashi Dragneel is a welcomed friend to the Spirits. The Heartfilia Clan blood runs strong through her. And as her Chosen, it is why I have come with a friend.

Gary frown. A friend?

Nanuk nodded and glanced at Uki. Before I must go, I must ask you to remain Uki's new mentor. I have shared all my knowledge with her and she has made a beautiful Shaman. But you must guide her on this next journey of her life.

You can't tell her this, can you?

No. Nanuk shook her head. I visit her every Full Moon Festival, but her hesitation and self-hatred block her from hearing my words. But she is starting to hear me because of your guidance. Teach my kuluk well, tuungak. And tell her I will continue to watch her until it is her time to cross into the Land of Day and that she is ready to wear my necklace. She saddled him with a meaningful look. Goodbye, Gary Fullbuster. We will meet again.

Before Gary could get a word in, Nanuk reverted back to a proud polar bear. She touched Gary's brow with her snout before she took her leave and climbed back into the lights. But her friend she had promised was next. Unlike Nanuk, she did not emerge from the lights. She emerged from the reflection of the moon fashioned of stardust and moonbeams that flashed too bright for Gary to stare at until the luminosity died down. He squinted as she approached in a flowing white dress, but he recognized that blonde hair and kind brown eyes.

Aunt Lucy? he guessed, perplexed.

She smiled. "No. I'm not my daughter." Her voice echoed as though fifty of her had spoken at once, all a millisecond apart from the other. She stood on the water right before Gary with those moon-touched golden locks flowing around her. "I am Layla Heartfilia, mother to Lucy."

You're Angel's grandmother? Gary was barely able to process this. And you came…to see me?

"Yes. This was the only opportunity I could have to make the journey to meet you." Layla stepped back to bend and touched the water. Ripples were forged, but a picture was birthed into the water. It showed Nashi enjoying herself at the Bon-Bon Burl-X Show. "You have given back my granddaughter a part of herself we grieved for. And our Clan cannot thank you enough for returning her."

I didn't do much, Gary excused, a bit embarrassed. No, it was… Those blues softened on Nashi's form when she smiled. It was Angel who gave me back a part of myself I thought was gone. I owe her everything, Misses Heartfilia. And I hope to repay it to her.

"Love has no need for debt and repayments," Layla murmured. "But love has a way of tricking you." She waved the image away. "I have seen your paths and I heed you warning, Gary Fullbuster. When you think love has failed you, know that it has not. But all must believe it has. Even you may believe that your love has crumbled. The Bond will wither, but it will not break. You will feel the thin threads of it barely alive. Nashi's love for you will remain unshaken. But all must believe."

What? Gary felt a growing sense of alarm. What do you mean? Is something going to happen to Angel?

"I cannot say," Layla said sadly. "What will come to pass may not be spoken in the present. Even now, my warning was unauthorized. But you must know that Nashi's love for you has never been tested nor will it be broken."

I know. Gary felt for that summer in his heart. I know that.

"Good. Because I come bearing one last warning to you." Layla touched the water and it rippled to show golden eyes that gleamed in the darkness. "There is and never will be another like you in this life or another. You are the last of your kind. But that does not mean other forces will not try to make a replacement for their ideology. With you, they could have everything. With your replacement, they will die while trying to attain everything."

Gary imprinted those gold eyes into his mind. A replacement? A fake Devil?

"No. A Devil cannot be created through science. You are an endangered resource. However, another power that has resources on this planet can be created. And in its creation, it will wreak only destruction."

Gary watched as those gold eyes were washed away. Why are you telling me this?

"My ancestors may adhere to the rules of the Spirit Realm, but I cannot agree to watch my descendants falter," Layla said. "You have done the impossible, Gary Fullbuster, and have maintained your sense of self. You have Bonded to my granddaughter. You have suffered and will suffer, but you will survive through it all. But to do so, you weigh your Choices. You will have impossible choices to make."

Gary saw Nashi in the water.

"You will have choices of love."

Nashi washed away for those gleaming golden eyes.

"You will have choices of war."

Those eyes were gone instead of the stoic face of Invel Yura.

"And you will have choices of death." Layla waved away the image as she stood up. "Each choice will become worse than the last. But you must choose. For in your Choices, done right, you will be granted what your heart desires the most."

Gary was taken back, and he looked away. I'm sorry, Misses Heartfilia, but you're too late for that. The world isn't safe for children. I'm a hunted man. And even if I wasn't, Angel doesn't want that. And I would never force her to sacrifice her body for my wants.

"I know. You have my gratitude and respect for that. It is true my granddaughter has no desire for the biological way of children." Layla smiled with a glint in her eyes. "But you must remember, Gary Fullbuster." The moon and stars started to reclaim her body as she whispered, "A family is more than just blood. A family is the one that you choose."

Wait! What does that mean! Gary was too late when she disappeared into thin air. Invel, gold eyes, Uki, Angel, a family… Choices I'll have to make. He closed his eyes and let out a steady breath. I might not understand everything, but I do understand one thing… Something is coming. It could be the War Lance and I discussed or something else, but it doesn't matter. I have people to protect. And I will make sure to protect them with everything I've got.

"Gary?"

Gary snapped his eyes open and felt like he was disoriented with a dizziness in his head, which made no sense. He was fine a moment ago. But now, the mists that had rolled in had vanished, and the northern lights had disappeared from sight. The aura that had spurred along his power had been reduced to nothingness and not a trace of it remained within him. He blinked, still a little out of it.

Uki looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Gary rubbed down the bridge of his nose. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep." Uki gestured to the Shamans and apprentices getting up and socializing. "The Full Moon Festival is almost over. Now, it's time for the Shamans and apprentices to finish up conversations and say our farewells."

"I was asleep?" Gary looked at the lake. "You… You didn't see any of that?"

"See what?" Uki frowned. "Gary, if this is a joke—"

"It's not a joke," Gary insisted. I know I saw it. Those Spirits, the lights, the mist… Angel's grandmother… Nanuk. He stilled. "Nanuk."

Uki froze. "What?"

"Nanuk. Your mentor." Gary slowly turned to Uki. "She's been watching over you this entire time, Miss Uki, and she told me to tell you she would be until you crossed into the Land of Day."

Uki's brow furrowed. "I appreciate you're trying to make me feel happy, but this is gone on too far—"

"And she said that you're ready to wear her necklace."

Uki was speechless.

Gary gentled. "I'm not sure what that means," he murmured, "but she said to tell you that, Miss Uki. I'm not lying, I promise."

"Oh, Gary…!" Una hopped over with Tidam and a bunch of apprentices behind them all, who wanted a glimpse. "Word might've got out you're a big shot Wizard and you have an entourage waiting to hear your story."

"Translation: Una couldn't keep her mouth shut," Tidam grunted.

Una scowled, but she could not argue.

"Sure. I'd love to meet them." Gary leaned in to murmur to Uki, "Please take your time." He got up with a smile as the apprentices looked at him with sparkling eyes and the moment he offered his hellos, they talked over each other with questions going a mile a minute.

And Uki remained by the lake. She said…I could wear her necklace? But that would mean…she had to have spoken with him. And that means…she has been watching over me. She looked up at the moon as her eyes clouded. You've been watching over me this whole time and I couldn't hear you, but… The tears fell, but she bit her lip from crying. I'll hear you one day again, I promise. Please wait for me, Nanuk. I miss you so much.

Her tear rippled into the lake.

And for second—just for a second—a constellation of a polar bear was in the sky before it vanished.

It was rare for the Fernandes Household to have two awake people in the house, but it did happen, thank you very much. The living room and kitchen lights were on tonight and a decidedly old school musical film was pasted onto the LV.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Fernandes Household

Magnolia Town

Fiore, Ishgar

10:49 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Erza and Ena often caught glimpses of each other due to both of their schedules, but tonight was a night they could relax in their pajamas with some healthy snacks between them as they bundled up in their blankets and decided on a classic film they both adored, Mary Poppins. They were at Jolly Holiday where Bert the chimney sweep and hack-of-all-trades tried his hand at flirting at the lovely practically-perfect-in-every-way Mary Poppins.

"We used to sing A Spoonful of Sugar when you were younger," Erza amusedly remembered. "Every time we cleaned the house, we would sing." She nudged her daughter. "You made a very fine whistler."

Ena snorted. "I can't sing to save my life. I think I'll pass on singing."

"It's a shame." Erza snacked on her celery stick dipped in peanut butter. "But you know… You always thought Bert and Mary Poppins were perfect for each other. I'm inclined to agree. He's silly and sweet, the sort of man she needs."

"He does have a certain charm," Ena agreed with a smile as she watched Bert on his knees keep up as Mary Poppins skipped along their animated path. "He's just so determined, but he also doesn't tie her down. Mary Poppins does her own thing with all her Magic and everything. But it's so clear that they love each other even without this being a romance movie. The only unrealistic thing is that she's perfect."

Erza hummed. "Wouldn't you want someone to tell you that?"

"Anyone who tells me that is lying," Ena said dryly. "And I doubt me holding anyone's hand would make someone's heart start 'beating like a big brass band'." She sighed as she picked at the knitted blanket. "But their outfits are everything. If I knew someone who could be my Bert, I'd do Mary Poppins and make some free-spirited carousel rides."

"You could ask Silver," Erza suggested. "I'm sure he would."

Ena decided to snack on a few grapes. "He's my assistant. He'd do it because I told him too and I'd rather it not be that. And I doubt he'd want to anything couple-like with me when he has someone else he likes."

"How is it going with Paige?"

"He doesn't love her anymore."

"Really?"

Ena chewed on her grapes. "No. Or that's what he said." She swallowed. "I'm not sure who he likes, but I told him he has my support so long as he doesn't cross any lines. The last thing I need is for him to be in jail."

"We wouldn't want that," Erza chuckled. "Has he told you anything about the young lady he likes? A name?"

"No." Ena kept watching the scene as Bert and Mary Poppins met the animated farm animals.

"You don't want to know?"

"Why? It's not my business."

"You are his friend," Erza pointed out. "I'm sure Luna is aware."

"We're friends, Mother, but we're not that close," Ena explained as she reached for a carrot. "I'm sure my support is enough."

Erza hummed and teased Ena's blanket with a few fingers. "Well, it was nice of him to make you such a gorgeous blanket. And your Rainbow Rose looks beautiful, but it might outgrow its glass soon."

"I didn't think it would grow a second flower," Ena said, a bit perturbed. "But, yeah, the blanket is nice." Her eyes befell the brand symbol Silver had crafted for her. "He's got the hands of a craftsman. It's an attractive quality." She frowned when she saw something in her mother's smile. "What?"

Erza shook her head. "Nothing." She turned back to the movie. "You just horribly remind me of myself at your age is all."

Ena wanted to ask what that meant when the doorbell rang. Erza paused the movie while Ena got out from under her blanket to attend to the door. She swung it open to see— "Silver? What are you doing here? At this hour?"

"Um, hi." Silver stood on the porch in a hoodie and some athletic pants from his swim team, a little awkward and nervous. "Sorry. I know it's late and all. I texted, but you didn't respond. You know what? It doesn't matter. I should go—"

"Wait." Ena stopped him. "You came here for a reason. Speak."

"Um…" Silver shifted his weight from one side to the other. "Well, I just…" It was then, much to his mortification, he noticed Erza in the living room and weakly greeted, "H-Hi, Misses Fernandes."

Erza wiggled her fingers with an amused smile. "Good evening, Silver. Are you here for a game of chess?"

"'Chess'?" Ena echoed in disbelief, oblivious to Silver's blush at the reminder of his game with Erza and their wager. "You came all this way for a chess lesson? I admire your eagerness to learn, Silver, but do you know what time it is? And I'm quite busy at the moment, so this really is not the appropriate time for a lesson."

Embarrassed and chastised, Silver swallowed and stepped back. "I'm sorry. You're right. I-I-I should go. I didn't mean to interrupt. Um… Good night, then—"

"Wait." It was Erza who stopped him as she stood up. "Silver? Are you sure that's all you wanted to say?"

Silver thickly swallowed and looked at an expectant Ena. His nerves were frayed, but he tried to get out, "I-I, um, well…" A deep breath. "Julia told me they were doing this old horror movie thing down at the theatre and, um, when we went on our date—friend-date, I mean—you seemed to have fun during the movie, so I just thought, y'know, if you weren't busy, we could…" Nerves shot, he stepped back and quickly put, "But you're busy and, um, I don't want to interrupt, so I'll just leave. Forget I was here. Just pretend this never happened—"

"Silver, wait." Ena cracked open the screen door, but her words failed her for once in her life when Silver turned around and those blues met her browns. I… What was I going to say? I am busy. Mother's home. But he seems so embarrassed… I'd rather not make him feel awkward when he's already so awkward…

"Ena?" Erza called. "I think that was quite enough for me tonight. I'll go to bed early."

"What?" Ena frowned. "Are you okay?"

Erza waved a hand in dismissal. "Yes, I'm fine. But I've been exhausted with all these meetings and the audits that I think it's a good idea for me to turn in early." She gathered up the tray of snacks. "Why don't you escort Silver to the movie theatre tonight?"

"Oh, no, really, it's okay," Silver backpedaled. "It was a stupid suggestion, really. I should've called ahead or something, so it's fine—"

"No. I will go."

Silver froze, and he felt like his heart did too. "You…will?"

"Of course." Ena lifted her chin. "You think I trust you to go alone to someplace this late at night? You can barely stand next to me without tripping or stuttering, and I'm supposed to let you wander in the middle of the night alone?"

Silver had no idea where this was going. "A-Ah, well, um…" He saw Erza giving him an encouraging gesture. "Ah… Right. Yes. Absolutely." He turned back to Ena with a smile. "You're right. I shouldn't be wandering alone without you to protect me."

"I never said anything about 'protection'. I expect you to pull your weight in a battle." Ena gestured for Silver to step inside and he did. "But considering your lack of spatial awareness, I could foresee you getting hit by a bus or being kidnapped. And I'd rather not lose my assistant so quickly."

Silver wanted to cry. I'm not that helpless, you just turn my brain wonky when you're around me! "Of course, mistress."

"Wait here. Let me change—"

"Why not go in your pajamas?" Erza suggested. "A movie night in pajamas is certainly a comfortable one."

"And you'd still looked beautiful—" Silver closed his mouth as red patted his cheeks.

Ena had not heard his words and had only heard her mother. "You're right. I don't need to make a statement. I'll just put on my coat and some boots then." She pointed a finger at Silver and commanded, "Stay." And she marched off.

Silver sighed. And I'm back to being her pet again.

"Silver."

He straightened in Erza's presence. Ena might have caused him romantic panic, but her mother was intimidating on very different grounds. "Yes, Misses Fernandes?"

Erza smiled. "I trust Ena. There's no curfew she needs to follow. But if she starts to yawn, don't comment. She'll tell you she isn't tired and she could stay awake all night."

"Right." Silver chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." Dark mochas glinted. "And I hope you haven't forgotten our wager?" Her smile widened when Silver flushed. "Have a nice night, Silver." And she carried on to put away the snacks.

Ena came back with a winter coat and comfortable boots. "Let's go."

"Okay."

Silver opened the screen door for her as Ena hollered, "Good night, Mom!"

Silver hurried to follow, "Good night, Misses Fernandes!"

"Good night, you two! Stay safe! Have fun!"

Ena exited and Silver was quick to follow when she paused and saw a Ryde waiting for them. "I thought we were walking?"

"I never said anything about us walking there." Silver nudged her forward. "After you."

Ena huffed. "You're turning cheekier by the day. I'm not sure I'm fond of it."

"You're not fond of anything I do," Silver complained. He opened the door for her. "I could bring you back the sun and you'd still complain about it."

"Not true. I am fond of a few things about you."

"Like what?"

Ena cupped his cheeks as dark chocolates stared into mayan blues. "Your loyalty," she murmured. "Your ability to surprise me. Your determination. And…"

Silver felt like the world was at a standstill. "'And'…?"

"Your eyes." Ena thumbed his cheek. "You have very…nice eyes."

"I do?" Silver whispered.

"Yes." Her thumb moved to the corner of his eyes. "I've never seen…such nice eyes." Their connection doused them both into a slow trance as those blues and those browns refused to move—

RYEER!

An angry cat's meow made Ena rapidly blink and clear her throat. "Yes. Well. Enough of that." She pulled her hand away when Silver caught her. "Silver—"

"Thank you for the compliment, mistress." Silver closed his eyes when he kissed her knuckles.

"Ah, yes, well…" Ena cleared her throat again and took back her hand. "Enough, Silver. We have a movie to see." Without looking at him, she slid into the car.

My eyes… She likes my eyes? Silver lingered outside to touch his cheek and could feel the warmth her skin imprinted. She likes my eyes…

"Silver," Ena barked from within the Ryde. "Come. Now."

"Yes, mistress." Silver hurried into the Ryde and closed the door behind him. Ena had shoved herself into a far corner with her legs crossed as she looked out the window. Silver looked at his lap with dazed amazement. She likes my eyes… She thinks I'm cute… Does she…? He shook off the thought, much to his resigned disappointment. No, don't think that. It'll never happen. He leaned his head on the window and watched as houses passed by. Just be happy she wants you by your side, idiot. Don't get your hopes up over a compliment.

But maybe if he had looked a little further, he could have seen Ena. And he could have caught the slight pink on her cheeks. And he could have noticed her eyes were watching his reflection in the window. And he could have seen how the hand he kissed was cradled over her heart.

The crowd was roaring by the time 'Cuz I Love You was in its final note by Poundcake and the curtains closed on her spectacular performance. The emotional rendition had spawned equal tears and applause from the audience, and everyone was ready for more.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Pleasure Palace

Ixia City

Fiore, Ishgar

11:15 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Miss Fortune came out, clapping along with the crowd. He laughed as he dabbed under his eyes with his handkerchief, and the crowd laughed with him. "Sorry, everyone. That was an emotional moment for me and the girls backstage. But please give it up again for thicka-than-snicka Poundcake, everyone!"

The audience was foaming with applause and cheers once again.

Justin smiled. "All right, everyone, now that we all relived our own trauma, we are going to lighten the mood with some new blood this evening." He chortled when the hollers came back. "I know, I know. This new blood comes with some perky titties and an ass…I personally want to bite. So please put your hands together and clap your ass cheeks for a very special and a very saucy show. And, um, just a fair warning out there, people. Hands off the merchandise." He winked. "I already called first dibs."

Everyone broke into applause as Justin strut off the stage. An EDM whoosh came on when the lights went dark with a lone piano key playing. But the curtains pulled back to show a neon spider web with a heart in the middle and everyone was psyched when a new pole had been added to the main stage. A curvaceous body had aligned with it, with nails meant to pleasurably claw skin and the pink of the neon showed the outline of an outfit that was made for sinning.

Jaxton watched as he sipped his whiskey.

She started to lip-synch to the music. "Till death do us part… But we're already past that phase…" Her body twirled around the pole as she kicked up a leg. "This is a brand-new start…" She swung low. "And I think I deserve some praise… For the way that I am…"

The audience howled when vibrant pink lightning showed Tesla as she climbed onto the pole and relaxed upside down as she controlled herself in a slow spin.

"Despite having overdosed and ended up comatose…" She hauled herself up and the wild shouts continued when she spun with just her thighs and a hand. "I don't give a damn… I've let my emotions go… Fuck being a sober hoe…" She gracefully dismounted from the pole to show everyone what she was made of. Hot pink had been strapped to her in a tiny skirt and fishnets, and her bustier had outraged handprints on the breasts.

Jaxton's eyes darkened.

She sauntered forth as she lip-synched, "This is the mantra… This is my life…! You're playing with now till the end of the night…!" She tipped low to let her hand slid across the cheek of a half-naked gentleman with a collar and cuffs and he kissed her hand. "Surrounded by fire, the passion ignites…!" She came to the pole on the runway and hopped up for her thighs to grip it. "A hit of that heaven and hell, a hell of a high…!"

Silhouettes appeared onto the stage of all genders with their risqué costumes of black and red. They stared at her hungrily as she spun upside down from the pole and lip-synched, "I'm addicted to the madness…! This hotel is my Atlantis…!" Hands came up as they caressed Tesla's body and shifted her off the pole. "We're forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin… Let me leave my soul to burn and I'll be breathing it in…!

On the ground, she centered between the troupe of dancers all eager to touch her as they pushed and pulled her and she gave in like a wanton rag-doll. "I'm addicted to the feeling… Getting higher than the ceiling…" She was in the arms of a woman ready to kiss her only for a man to pull her away and her thighs grappled onto his hips in such a way that had those nearby screaming.

Jaxton sipped his drink.

She gyrated her hips against the dancer. "And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end… Just concede and give in to your inner demons again…"

With a smirk, she let him go, but no one had time to react when the lights changed when their sensual dance started. Screams and shouts erupted as Tesla danced down the line with roaming hands and body rolls and almost kisses. The last dancer had cornered her against the pole and dropped to her knees before her, hellbent on tasting her, but the lights darkened before anyone could see the final outcome.

"Yeah, you fell in love…"

More screams erupted once everyone realized that the main stage had changed into a curtain of stringed pearls tinged in blue lightning.

Carlisle had gripped onto the chains with ease as he hung upside down a pearl body harness and choker around him and he grinned as he lip-synched, "But you fell deeper in this pit… While death rains from above…" He lowered himself to the ground where a strong man dressed in blacks and blues was ready for him. "So count your blessings 'cause this is it… You're not letting it go…"

Applause rang out when everyone saw the full essence of Carlisle's pearl body chain harness attached to his intricate choker. His fishnet stockings were a bright blue that blended with his eyes shadow, but his cheeky underwear had a heart on the ass with pearls that lined the rim.

"So what if I misbehave? It's what everybody craves…" His dance with his partner was an erotica dominant-submissive piece as each step showed Carlisle's willful submission to such a rough man. "You already know…!"

The dance switched as Carlisle spun into a woman dressed in silky black and blues ready to control him. "So come if you're feeling brave and fancy yourself a mate…!"

Other dancers had joined the stage alongside Carlisle, all greedy to touch him, but he played coy and made them work for their touches. "You want it, I got it…! See what you like…? We could have it all by the end of the night…!"

One of the dancers had captured him and lifted him high in the air. "Your money and power, my sinful delight…!" He was slowly let down as he brushed lips with the dancer. "A hit of that heaven and hell, a hell of a high…!"

The lights blacked out.

Silence.

"I'm addicted to the madness…" The stage had split between hot pink and neon blue as everyone cheered when they saw the silhouettes of Carlisle and Tesla and their dancers. "This hotel is my Atlantis…"

Tesla strode forward with her hand extended and lip-synched, "We're forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin…!"

Carlisle took her hand as he carried on: "Let me leave my soul to burn and I'll be breathing it in…!"

The dancers took up their unified strut as the lights pulsed with each big beat with Tesla and Carlisle stepping down the runway to the pre-chorus. "I'm addicted to the feeling…! Getting higher than the ceiling…! And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end…! Just concede and give in to your inner demons again…!"

Whoops and whistles took over as the music started to build up. The dancers were prowling forth with lust in their eyes, but Carlisle and Tesla were in their own little world. Tesla was against the pole as Carlisle's hands slowly covered her chest and she threw her head back. The lights were going like crazy and the audience was egging on for Carlisle to do what they all hoped for while the dancers honed on their prey.

Tesla mouthed as she took hold of Carlisle's choker, "Just concede and give in to your inner demons again…!"

RIP!

Pieces clattered to the ground and everyone howled as the lights only showed neon violet silhouettes of Carlisle and Tesla enraptured in the heat of a frenzied orgy. All anyone could see were bodies moving and their delirious delight forced the entire room to ascend into madness as people jumped up and down with their fingers waving and their drinks in the air.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

I'm addicted to the feeling

Getting higher than the ceiling

And we're never gonna want this fucking feeling to end

Just concede and give in to your inner demons again!

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The final shot has the lights flare for the crowd to go crazy when they saw Carlisle's body covered by a dancer while Tesla had succumbed to two women covering her chest, but the lights shut down and it was amazing throats had not been rubbed raw from all the screaming and hailing. For a minute, the rambunctious applause continued until the lights came back on, and a new wave of it all hit with Carlisle and Tesla holding hands with the dancers and taking their final bow together.

Justin came on stage with a beam. "Sluts and hoes, please give it up for the amazing talent of Carlisle Justino and Tesla Greer and this beautiful, sexy troupe of dancers right here!" As the applause and noise quadrupled, Justin came over with a hug to Tesla and a kiss on the cheek before he went to Carlisle and whatever was said in his ear had him flush. Ooohs came about and screams for more when Justin feigned kissing Carlisle only for both of them to laugh.

Justin pulled back to clap. "Tesla and Carlisle, everyone!"

Both took a bow and blew kisses to the audience before they exited the stage with friendly waves and smiles. The second they had made it far enough backstage, Tesla squealed and jumped into Carlisle's arms.

"Oh my god, we pulled it off!" She kissed his face. "I love you so much! We did it!"

"We did!" Carlisle put her back on the ground. "I told you it would work out! That last rehearsal really nailed the kinks out, sure, but you just had to feel the music and feed off the energy."

"And we fucking did that!" Tesla smacked Carlisle's ass. "Oh god, that was so much fun!" She hugged him again. "Thanks for doing this with me, Carlisle. If this is what you feel like all the time after a performance, I can see why you do it!"

Carlisle laughed. "It's a rush. I love watching the audience's reactions." He paused when he caught Dante watching with him in all his pleather. "And watching my prince's reaction too." He looked down at her with a cheeky grin. "Ready to crash?"

"Hell no, are you crazy? I've got all this pent-up sex energy I need to bang out of my system!" Tesla kissed his cheek. "I need to go find my man and do him all night long." She smirked when Dante could not wait any longer and made his way toward them. "I'll thank all the dancers on your behalf and let Aphtan know his beautiful make-up stuck to us like a charm. Make sure you're down at breakfast at ten." She skipped away only to be stopped and eagerly talked to the drag queen who wanted to rave about the performance.

Carlisle would have headed for Dante when he was roped into a conversation with Auntie Superia and Ursula, both who praised his performance. By the time the conversation was done, kisses were exchanged, and promises were made for brunch, Carlisle was ready for Dante, only to be disappointed he had disappeared.

"Princess."

Carlisle jumped when Dante wrapped his arms around him. "Don't scare me like that, you brute!" he admonished. "I'm all energized!" He smiled, however, when Dante slipped his collar around his neck. "You're so possessive."

"Is that a turnoff?"

"Mmm, no, you're not that possessive." Carlisle turned around in Dante's arms to rake his fingers through his hair. "How'd you like the surprise? Oh…!" He shivered when Dante ground against him. "You're supposed to wait until we're in a private setting, you rutting bull," he grumbled, flushed.

"Are you ready to go to a private setting, Princess?" Dante rumbled in Carlisle's ear.

Carlisle swallowed. "Y-Yeah."

Dante chuckled low. "You sound a little scared, Princess."

"I'm not scared of you!" Carlisle huffed. He marched out of Dante's arms and down the hall. "Now, if you don't mind…" He did not get very far when Dante wrapped an arm around his waist. He mumbled, "You really are a possessive prince." His flush deepened when Dante's laugh affected him as they walked backstage.

They breached the outside in the hotel and cool air flushed against Carlisle's skin in a semblance of relief. Since house rules within the hotel allotted for anything outside of full nudity and genitalia covered outside of rooms, neither felt self-conscious as they passed by a topless woman and her friends and one man wearing a rainbow jockstrap as he walked down the stairs. The elevators were close at hand—

"Excuse me!"

Both stopped, Dante expectant and Carlisle confused, when Ace came jogging over to them. He stopped and had to smile at Carlisle. "You and Tesla were fantastic out there, Carlisle," he praised. "I've never seen anything like it. It was incredible."

Carlisle smiled back. "Thank you." A bout of shyness hit him when he noticed Ace scanned him with a slow onceover. "I appreciate it. I'll have to thank Justin and Honey again for the opportunity for letting me dance at their event." He looked up at Dante. "Did you record our dance?"

"Yeah, but Ace let me know they'll be selling professional recordings of the entire show." Dante subtly moved them into a remote part of the hotel with a couch and a chair emptied. "I figured we could buy two copies, one for us and one for your mom. I'm sure she would love that."

Carlisle beamed. "We should! She was so bummed she couldn't attend tonight!" He let Dante sit him down, but confusion and more shyness hit him when Ace sat next to him. A bit of pink burned on his cheeks as he tried not to look at Ace's physique. "So, um… What's going on?"

"I think Ace has something to ask us, Princess," Dante murmured as he stroked Carlisle's thigh.

"I do." Ace leveled Dante with a steady stare before he focused on Carlisle. "You were phenomenal tonight and were incredible at Nine-Dollar, Carlisle." His eyes flicked to Dante again for silent permission and received Dante's nod. "And we were both impressed with the way you danced afterward at the club. You're gorgeous."

"Thank you," Carlisle managed to get out as his face heated. "Sorry for how I was at the club. I lose myself a little to the music—"

"We loved seeing you like that." Ace's murmured words came out hypnotic and burningly sweet. "You were passionate and liberated. We both found it very attractive. And we both find Dante very attractive too." He searched Carlisle's face. "Am I making you uncomfortable by saying that?"

Carlisle shook his head. "No, you're not." He looked at Dante with understanding. "Is this about what we talked about the other night?"

"Yeah." Dante thumbed Carlisle's bottom lip. "I asked you about how comfortable you were and your feelings behind it just in case we were asked something like this. I wanted you to know where I stood, and I wanted to know where you stood. But we can stop now if this is uncomfortable."

"It's not. I've never…" Carlisle swallowed. "I mean… I have before, but it's…"

"We can start this slow," Ace offered, relaxed. "Justin wanted to be here for this, but we were afraid we'd miss our opportunity if we waited. We can talk about it more later when we're all together. This isn't a spontaneous thing, I promise."

"Do you guys do this often?" Carlisle found himself asking.

Ace simpered. "We have three ways on occasion with the right people we can trust. But this would be different with you and Dante."

Dante whispered in Carlisle's ear, and those words turned him bright red. "Oh. Oh. I see." Carlisle blinked wide up at Ace as wonder, curiosity, and bashfulness crossed his face. "I've never done that before."

"We have for a three-way but not for this. It's why it'll be a learning curve for all of us." Ace offered his hand. "Can I have your hand, Carlisle?" He smiled when Carlisle daintily put his hand in his and thumbed his knuckles. "We're not expecting it tonight, and it's nothing permanent. But we both found you incredibly beautiful. And we're very willing to keep talking and go as slow as you need."

Carlisle rasped, "Okay."

Ace chuckled and shared a look with Dante. "Thank you, Dante. I hope we didn't come on too strong."

"No. I picked up on the signs pretty early on," Dante alluded, ignoring Carlisle's gawk. "Thanks for asking."

Ace nodded and shifted as something crossed his face. "There is one other thing I think you both should know before we have more conversations about this," he told them. He studied both their expectant faces before he confessed, "I'm trans. And I just want you both to know that if that changes anything about this."

"It doesn't." Carlisle was the one to say this as he squeezed Ace's hand. "But thank you for telling us both. It's an honor you're sharing this with us."

Dante agreed. "Is this something you're already out with?"

"No." Ace shook his head. "If someone asks me, I'll tell them, but as it stands, no. Justin knows and his friend Ellie and her girlfriend Ines knows too and so do a few students I train, but I'm not out-out if that makes sense."

"It does," Dante affirmed. "But it doesn't change anything for us. We're still open to talking about this."

Carlisle nodded his agreement.

Ace smiled, relieved. "Great. I'll let Justin know." He said cheekily, "Had he have known you both were often, he would have made out with you on stage." He chuckled when Carlisle deeply blushed. "He'll be ecstatic to hear the news. Just be careful. He likes you and he might work overtime on his seduction. His love language is gift giving."

Dante laughed when Carlisle looked panicky. "Tell him the three of us will have to talk about what sort of gifts. He might try to bribe Carlisle with sugar and it's game over for me."

"I'm not that shallow," Carlisle grumbled. "But if you just gave me a teeny bit of chocolate a day, I might love you more."

"No."

Carlisle pouted. "Brute."

"How do you not want to kiss that pout?" Ace wondered, amused when Carlisle ducked his head, abashed.

Dante grinned. "I do. Often. But he's been embarrassed enough, so I'll be nice and wait until we're back in our room."

"I don't think I want to go with you now," Carlisle sniffed. "You're being mean to me."

"I could leave you with Ace and Justin," Dante teased.

Ace barked a laugh. "With the energy Justin has pent up, Carlisle, it might be better for you to be good and go with Dante. I doubt I'll survive him tonight. But if you're up for it and want to be awake for the next few hours, you're welcome to come up."

"I don't like where this conversation is going," Carlisle whined as he buried his head into Dante's shoulder. "Screw you both. I'll sleep with Tesla."

"Yeah, no. I'm very sure Jaxton and her got lucky they made it to their room and we won't see them even if we have a fire," Dante said dryly. He got up and hauled Carlisle up with him, taking pity on his embarrassed boyfriend. "We'll talk about this later. He's being too bashful for us to go even further."

Carlisle whined, "Dante…!"

Ace snickered as he got to his feet. "That sounds good. You certainly have a cute one." He kissed Carlisle's cheek. "Good night, little one."

Carlisle mumbled, "Night, Ace."

Ace winked at Dante before he headed off.

Carlisle glared up at his boyfriend and hissed, "You were going to feed me to the wolves, you brute! I can't believe you!"

"I know. I'm terrible." Dante guided them back to the elevators. "You can throw your tantrum naked upstairs and I'll listen to every word you have to say, okay?"

"Well, you can't just—!" Carlisle groaned and muttered, "Don't just say it like that. It makes me less mad at you."

Dante laughed. "Sorry. Should I piss you off even more? Have you cursing out my name?"

"No, because you're trying to lead this into angry sex," Carlisle grumbled. "I can't win with you. I give up." He was stopped, and his chin was tipped up for a sweet kiss that left him positively breathless. "You're not playing fair, Prince."

"Fuck if I ever play fair." Dante kissed him again before he pressed the elevator button and the doors opened. "You and those fucking delicious lips of yours make me want to play dirty every time if I get to win you." He crowded Carlisle into a corner of the elevator and barely pressed the number of their floor. "And you were sexy as Hell out there, Princess."

"Yeah?" Carlisle lifted his chin in challenge. "Then why aren't you praising me more about it, Dante?" And his question was answered the moment Dante kissed his neck and bite down hard.

°•°•°•°

Nashi was out in the lounge for some refreshing cool air and good conversation, but she felt exhausted and delirious from all the energy. She offered her farewells to the group she had been talking to as she stumbled over to the elevators with a tipsy smile.

Wow… Tonight's been amazing. I've had a buzz going on since intermission, but I think it's time I go to call Gary, take a shower, and go to bed. I feel bad I couldn't see all of Tesla and Carlisle's performance, but JJ will introduce me tomorrow. As she bumbled to the elevators, she noticed one of them was closing with a fervent couple inside who could not wait another minute. Wow. They're getting busy. I'll wait for the next one. I'm not in the mood for a three-way.

Nashi bounced on her feet as the doors started to close. But as she swung her head—

Hickories clashed with sea-greens flecked in violet.

The doors shut.

Nashi's buzz was gone.

What…? What was that? Her heart was hurting, and her body burned her for a few seconds as she stumbled. I… His eyes… His eyes, Cael…

I know. Cael sounded distressed. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry, Nashi. His eyes… Something about his eyes… Seraphim, do you feel it?

Yes. It is most unusual. Even Seraphim sounded disturbed. I felt nothing from the picture, but to see his eyes up close… I am unsure why we are deeply affected. I sensed no other Agents or their kin in their area outside finely diluted bloodlines. That young man is not from one of them.

Nashi sank against the wall to try to collect herself. That was Carlisle. I remembered his eyes. She vaguely hit the elevator bottom. I don't understand it. Why are we so affected by his eyes?

DING!

The elevator doors opened, and Nashi staggered inside. She hit her floor before she sagged against the wall. What the Hell is he?

And the doors clicked shut.

One last party had been thrown on Calabash Avenue for students of Magnolia High, but it was a quieter affair than before. Their cars took sides of the street, but it was good that the neighborhood could not hear their music or conversation. No notice had to be sent out. The rest of the neighborhood decided on a low-key night. Lights off, some with LVs on, some going to their remote night job, and others returning from a late shift.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Dreyar Household

Magnolia Town

Fiore, Ishgar

12:45 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

It was not often father and son shared a drink, considering their schedules, but tonight seemed appropriate with Mira away for a few days and Aine on a night shift tonight. They kept the kitchen lights on as they sat at the table and nursed the drinks and talked shopped. But as the night stretched out, the topics grew heavier and lower.

Laxus sloshed around his liquid in its rock glass. "What will you do with the divusiometers in the meantime? If you're absolutely sure it works, you'll have to be quick finding more Slayers with all the restrictions happening around the world."

"I know." Lance took a swig. "It's hard for me to know where to start from with such limited information. I have to be in range for it to work. I could always do a fair bit of traveling, but that would be a waste of time. And no other Custodians or their children are talking."

Laxus thoughtfully hummed. "Have you tried reaching out to Penelope?"

"I did, but she's far too busy with her work for Master right now. For her to meditate on that large a scale would cost her weeks of setback."

"I see." Laxus sipped his drink. "Ask around to see if there's another Mage capable of that, but I think we both know the answer. For now, until someone starts talking, you'll have to carry the damn thing around and pray for some luck." He grinned. "Might want to pay Liberty a visit. She's always happy enough to give you a touch of her luck if you have a tea party with her."

Lance chuckled. "I might have to make the sacrifice." His laughter faded. "I know Uncle Freed is doing his best to protect her and without them all being able to go back to her home country, it lessens the chance of her capture, but the world is getting scarier."

"I know what you meant. She's a bright girl. Freed's raised her well to understand her position." Laxus saddened. "So much bloodshed over her. I'm happy she doesn't remember it, but I can't imagine. And I know it's gotten worse with government officials trying to swipe up any Wizards with telepathic powers. Did you see the article about that poor boy with hypnotic powers?"

Lance grimaced. "Yeah, I did. The entire affair was a mess. His parents sold him to the dictator to get them out of debt and they left him there. And the marks on that boy's body… He wasn't just whipped and abused." He shook his head in disgust and sucked down another drink. "We're 'unnatural' to Spiritless, but they want to use us for war and politics."

"Illegal or not, they'll do it," Laxus supposed. "That accord to keep guilds out of wars might be upheld, but guilds aren't as common in other countries and leaves many Wizards defenseless when their country yanks them and collars and chains them. Those rumors about those Wizard concentration camps make me sick, but we can't do a damn thing about it without being blacklisted." He sighed. "After Zeref, I would have hoped for a little more peace. But instead, he was the tip of the iceberg. A war… God…" He scrubbed his face. "Never thought I'd go through another war."

Lance solemnly nodded. "Even without the warning, the tensions are high. The Magic Council is too big and spread out, which makes it corrupted. It's exercising its dominance in countries that don't want it by force, while those Spiritless-ran countries don't want to abide by Magic Law and want total control of their Wizard population and any creatures and Aberrants. The Faction is sick and tired of the corruption of the Magic Council, but they're such an extremist terrorist group that they make it seem like all Wizards are the five percent."

Another long gulp. "Saw the other day that the rates of immigration to Fiore is jumping up."

"Yeah," Laxus snorted. "We've always been the safe haven country, but that doesn't mean we don't have our fair share of problems. People bitch and moan how we have only a queen and how she's a Mage and all the 'down with the monarchy' shit. Fuck, even some Spiritless towns get freaked seeing Wizards now, but they aren't as bad as other places. They let you get in and get out and don't talk to you unlike all the witch hunts out there."

"Do you think the Witch Trials will come back?"

Laxus gave a haggard exhale. "I hope to God not, but I could see it happening to the countries being decimated by the Faction with an already small Wizard population. If that's the case, you need to be on the move to find those God Slayers. A true God Slayer being born is a rarity. We'd have to bring them back to Fiore where they can train in safety."

"That's another thing I've thought about: relocation," Lance said. "If these Slayers are all over the world, depending on the status of their country, they'll have to migrate here. I need to find them proper housing."

"Fairy Tail?"

"No. I'm not sure how they'll feel about guilds and I still have to figure out if they even speak Minstrish at all." Lance finished off his drink. "The funding for this will be ridiculous. But I saw for my own eyes that a God Slayer was near me when Aine and I were at the waterfront. They're out there. I don't know if they have a clue about their powers and I still don't know what's fully expected of me when I find them, but I know I need to find them."

"A war. Hmph." Laxus shook his head. "If a war is on its way, kid, you might want to up the date of a proposal."

Lance chuckled. "We'll see. I have some time left."

"You'll never know when a war hits until it does," Laxus reminded. "Even for a battle—you don't know until it's on your front door. When I was your age, we went from fight to fight to fight. Some of them we knew were coming and others destroyed our home to make a grand entrance. It's unpredictable and aggressive. That's why I stopped fucking around and married your mom." He smirked. "Granted, she was the one to ask me when I was going to propose and made me look like a damn idiot."

"Yeah, that sounds like Mom."

Laxus finished his drink and gestured to Lance's empty glass. "Another?"

"Sure."

Laxus got up, but he slowed when he saw Mary Jane creeping down the hallway with a blanket wrapped around her. "Hey, Butterfly," he murmured. "Did we wake you up? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I just had a bad dream." Mary Jane backed into the hall. "Sorry—"

"No, no, don't be, come on over." Laxus went into the kitchen to fix his and Lance's poison. "We were just talking."

Mary Jane was slow to enter the room. "About what?"

"How the world has gone mad." Lance studied his sister. "And that we all need to be taking precautions." He thanked his father when he came back with his drink.

"Oh." Mary Jane drifted to her father when he sat down and curled into his lap. "Things are getting that bad out there?" She wriggled her toes. "And that means Nik has to go and fight more…"

Laxus snorted. "The dumb ass doesn't know how else to function outside of yelling at his cadets and fighting. But I doubt his fighting will be anything on the front lines, Butterfly, since he's special-ops. He might be there as security for an official or on a manhunt." He rubbed her back. "But he'll be fine."

Mary Jane pointed at his glass. "Can I try some?"

Lance and Laxus exchanged an amused glance before Laxus picked up his drink and handed it to her. "You can have a sip. Just don't tell your mom. She'd throw my ass out if she heard I gave you some of your grandad's favorite." Both men snickered when Mary Jane wrinkled her nose when she sniffed the drink.

"You sure you want to try some?" Lance taunted. "It's some pretty strong stuff."

Mary Jane scowled. "I can handle it." To prove her point, she took a sip, but her eyes watered and whatever face she pulled had her brother and her father laughing at her expense. "Oh my god, that's so gross!" She sourly pouted when they kept laughing. "You guys are assholes."

"Hey, I warned you," Lance said good-naturedly. "It's strong stuff. Granddad's favorite Suertish whiskey." He took a sip and laughed a little at Mary Jane's face of disgust. "You have to uphold the Dreyar name by acquiring a taste for it."

"No thanks," Mary Jane sniffed. "I have all the Dreyar I need with the Giltenan vodka we have." She snuggled against her father with a sigh.

"What was your bad dream about, Butterfly?" Laxus murmured.

"I don't know. A keep getting flashes of it," Mary Jane mumbled. "But it felt bad. Today's been really weird. This week has been really weird. I still don't know why I got a headache when I was at Ena's house. I was just thinking how cute she and Silver were together and how they balance each other out and then my head started hurting."

Laxus and Lance exchanged a meaningful look.

"Have you been getting headaches often?" Lance questioned.

"No. Wait, yeah, I think. I don't know. I was at Pizzeria Da Domo with Luna and we were talking about Igneel when my head started hurting, but it went away pretty quick," Mary Jane described. Scarlet-ceruleans softened. "I've been trying to figure out something, but I feel like if I do, it'll change everything."

Laxus rumbled, "What do you mean?"

"I mean… It's like deep down, I feel like I know the answer, but I don't want to know the answer," Mary Jane tried to explain. "It just feels like it'd change everything and…I don't know if I want things to change. I thought I was happy. I am happy, but…"

"But you might feel a little happier if a certain someone was here," Lance gently completed.

Mary Jane covered her mouth with her blanket and nodded. "I don't know anymore," she whispered. "I don't know about my powers or anything. I don't even know where to start trying to find the answers."

"You start with the basics," Laxus suggested. "Our mission tomorrow will help you figure out where your powers lean towards. The more you train on the basics, the more you use your ability, and the more you discover yourself. It might take a while to find all the answers, but we'll help you find them, Butterfly, no matter what it takes. The most important thing to a person is their identity."

"I feel like I don't have one," Mary Jane mumbled.

"Then we'll help guide you," Laxus assured. "It's what we're here for, to help you. But you have to take control. If you want the answers, you have to put in the effort for them. And we'll be with you every step of the way to help you."

Mary Jane fettered out a sigh. "But what if the answers change everything?"

"Then it changes things." Lance softened. "But it doesn't change that we still love you and support you and that we'll help with those changes."

Mary Jane shifted. "Granddaddy said something would happen in August." She looked up at her father. "Do you think everything will change then?"

"I don't know, Butterfly," Laxus said, honest. "But we'll be ready for it. August is the month of change and with the world getting scarier, things are on the horizon for change." He caught Mary Jane's yawn and pushed back in his seat. "Come on. You're tired and we have an early train to catch tomorrow." He lifted up his daughter.

Mary Jane sleepily hummed. "Night, Lance."

"Night, Janie." Lance watched as his father carried her out of the room and down the hall. He nursed his drink. A change in August, huh? Could it be the war? Or something we can't see just yet? He sighed and looked at his glass. Dad's right. Change is on the horizon whether we like it or not. And we'll all have to adapt. He lowered his drink. Cheers, Dad.

CLINK.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

saikin sukoshi yowaki ni natte iru kamo

kesa mo kimi no henji wakitenai

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The rundown movie theater felt prehistoric. Old-time movie buffs had come to see the old-school horror movies with their bad jump scares and dramatic screams, but this late into the night, the theater had a group of friends, a couple of two, and one single lad content. Silver snacked on popcorn and laughed to himself when the woman was running in heels from the angry werewolf and went to comment to Ena about the lack of realness and tease her about her attraction to werewolves, but he stopped himself.

Ena had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

He paused, stunned, but those blues softened. He craned his neck a little to kiss her hair before he shifted down to let her be more comfortable and turned back to the movie.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

denwa shitara meiwaku kakechau yo na

gaman shite mo homete mo kurenai

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Lucy had come up to the treehouse and climbed up the steps to the open bedroom when she stopped. Gale and Luna had curled up together on the bed with Luna drooling a little and Gale's mouth open as he snored. The pinnacle of sleeping beauties, those two. Icarus lifted his head, guilty, but Lucy put him at ease with a small smile. She tiptoed over to get out the light blanket and draped it over them before she quietly left.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

kono mama ja itsuka kitto

honto ni ienakunaru yo

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The moonlight touched their dark room, but Jaxton did not mind. Tesla laid balled up into him, content and sated. He drifted a finger up and down her naked arm as he watched her with love and gratitude in his eyes before he kissed her forehead and repositioned himself around her to fall into his own content sleep.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

ima ikanakucha

riaru na kimi no koe mo wasuresou da

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Býleistr had made himself at home in the suite, but he was all for watching LV and could not get enough of watching messy shows like Real Housewives for "research on modernization" as he always diplomatically told Nashi. Nashi exited the bathroom with one of Gary's practice jerseys for hockey on, ready to go to bed, but she balked when she saw Býleistr had overdone it on room service with the card Gary was insistent on her using for her pleasure. The second Nashi started screaming at him, he was quick to dodge her lunges in his Cat Form and tried to slink away, only for his scuff to be grabbed, and his eyes swirled when she shook him from the mess he caused.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

sugu ni aitai noni aenai

kyori ga zutto futari o jama shiteru no

surechigatta mama de baibai

sonna no iya da yo

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Orochi was a night owl. He always had been and always would be. He stayed up with the late-nighters downstairs, but he preferred to people watch rather than engage. He smiled to himself as Ace carried an exhausted Justin like a child as they socialized with the remainder of those who came to the Bon-Bon Burl-X Show. His eyes dropped back to his sketchpad, and the broken butterfly he had been working on for so long. But this time, he had started the rough outline of a snake on the paper.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

aitai noni aenai

hibi mo zutto kimi no tame ni waratta no

"erai ne" tte atama o nadete

nakasete yo baby

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Mary Jane fell into a deep sleep, but something about her bedroom had changed. Peter Pan the manuscript had taken its rightful place with the framed picture of her and Igneel together on her bedside table. Her wrists were barren. The knitted bracelet she and Peter shared was on her other bedside table, as was the necklace Igneel had gifted her. You should not fall asleep with a necklace on, you know. However, she had sleepily grasped onto Igneel's scarf and buried her nose into it. And perhaps that was the reason she no longer had such frightful dreams tonight.

°•°•°•°

STEP… STEP… STEP…

The doors to the master suite were obnoxious and preserved from the late emperor with a set of guards at the ready. Kuen She needed no shakedown as the guards opened the door for him and he went inside. The entire suite was ridiculously lavish with gold walls and antiques that would cost two mansions as a base auction price. He noted the servants had been cleared out as he moved through the living area to the high-vaulted bedroom.

Blood-red lips curled in a smile without teeth. "You've been away from me too long, beloved. I thought you had forgotten me, your poor little wife."

"Why have you summoned me, Ping-Mei?" Kuen She asked, toneless.

Silk slid against silk. "A wife can't desire for her husband to join her in their marital bed. I know you're an untamed beast, but I would have thought walking this earth as a human would have made you understand your duties." Her steps were slow against the floor.

"I did what you want," Kuen She spoke, but his fists clenched. "There's no need for us to share a bed in this farce. You have gotten everything you wanted from me."

Ping-Mei loftily laughed. "My beloved, I could never grow bored of you." Her claw guards gripped onto his firm jaw. "You're just as desirable as the day I met you."

"The day you lured me from the woman I had wanted and trapped me," Kuen She corrected.

"I would have thought you would have seen our fated meeting in a more poetic sense, beloved." She circled him as those claws drifted down his regalia and teased him. "That woman would have never satisfied you. She was frail and meek and unable to understand the needs beasts like you have, beloved." Blood-red lips broadened in a hummed chuckle. "Your hatred is just as sweet as all those centuries ago. You hate me, but you can't kill me. You don't want to touch me, but you have no choice."

"I'm not drinking that poison." Kuen She's tone had dropped the formalities and spewed his seething.

"Oh, beloved." Those claws captured his jaw and hateful yellow-ambers collided with swirling obsidians. "Not even you can resist your Chosen."

"I never chose you."

"But you fell in love with me."

"I did." Yellow-ambers darkened. "My biggest regret that will stay with me until I join my brothers."

Ping-Mei laughed. "Such hurtful words to your pitiful wife. Have you no words of sympathy and comfort? My daughter is a failure and my son refuses to love me." Her claws dragged down his chest. "And Matsumoto is trying his hand to sniff my boundaries."

"You don't need me for that—"

"I do, beloved. I will always have a need for you." Draped in a sheer red robe that showed she harbored nothing underneath than a lithe, toned body, Ping-Mei looked like the epitome of refined grace and beauty, even if her lips were poison and her eyes were from Hell. But she pressed against Kuen She as she tipped up his jaw and eyes his throat. "My sources tell me Matsumoto is working with that elusive Doctor on a new pet project and your tracking skills are second to none. I want to know what it is and if it is of any value to me."

"Even Immortal Yang can't leave her territory," Kuen She rumbled in mocking.

"Which is why I am sending the Untamable One in my place." She danced her claws down his throat. "I wish you wouldn't regard me as such a monster, beloved. I have held up the deal you brokered to me when I left you with an inch of your life for trying to take away my precious Jang-ta. Do you not remember your end of it?"

Kuen She locked his jaw. "I remember well." He turned his head when those blood-red lips came up and kissed his cheek.

"So catty tonight," Ping-Mei sighed. "I find you sweet for being such a caring father willing to sacrifice everything. I gave to you what you promised. I gave Weiwei immortality and I won't kill her as I planned to. And I have kept up our agreement with Jang-ta." She took his hand and guided him forward. "But your loyalty to a failure and your successor are second to your loyalty to me."

Kuen She showed her teeth. "You are a monster."

"And I embrace that title gladly, beloved, if it means I meet the goals my mother dreamt for." Ping-Mei stopped them at the foot of the bed to rub his cheek. "Against it all, I do love you, beloved, and Jang-ta. If only you would see that. You both are my greatest honors."

"I am a trophy from your spoils of war."

"Then you deserve to be treasured as such a trophy," Ping-Mei purred as she tipped his head down towards her. "And as my prized trophy, I will make sure you are locked in a cage where none shall touch you except for me." And she kissed him.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

kimi no yume nara subete

kanau you inoru kedo

risou no asu no kimi no tonari ni watashi

irareru kana

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The poison was on her lips.

The second Kuen She tried to pull away, her claws sunk into his neck as a warning she would not hesitate to make him bleed if he defied her. He could feel that same dizzy feeling loosen him and the mental blocks he had a tight grip on slipped with nary a thought. Instinct took over control, and he could feel the sickness of her pleasure that she had won her prize.

Jang-ta… I know you hate me and will never trust me again…

He was dragged down onto the bed as that dizzy feeling killed his humanity.

But I ask this of you as her final victim….

His eyes glowed when a growl tore from his throat and those blood-red lips curled in satisfaction when she saw not a man glaring down at her but a capable beast who could not resist its Chosen.

…you must kill us both to earn your rightful freedom.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

sugu ni aitai noni aenai

kyori ni zutto watashi amaete ita no

surechigatta mama de baibai

sonna no iya da shi

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

After a steamy shower and playful intimate touches, Carlisle and Dante had crawled into bed with a warm buzz between them as the thread they shared was pleased and awarded them with a drowsy affection that had them randomly kiss each other with Carlisle in Dante's arms. But that thread flicked Dante with an ache in his chest, and he looked down at Carlisle to catch a frown on his face.

"What's wrong, Lips?" Dante murmured. "I can feel you worried about something."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

aitai no ni aenai

hibi o zutto uranderu dake ja nai no

tobinotta shiranai densha

kimi no machi made

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Carlisle sighed from his nose. "It's nothing." He smiled when Dante gave him a punishing nipple pinch. "Okay, okay, I'm just thinking," he supposed, snuggling into him.

"About what?"

"I don't know. Something feels different. Something feels like it's coming." Carlisle closed his eyes. "I know it doesn't make any sense. It's just how I feel." He hummed when Dante kissed the bridge of his nose.

"I believe you." Dante put Carlisle under his chin and thumbed his bicep. "If you feel like something's going to happen, trust your gut. I'll stick by you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Dante kissed his hair and nuzzled him. "Change is natural. But I'll right with you when it comes, Carlisle. I'm not going anywhere." He smiled when he heard Carlisle's sniffle. "If you're going to cry, I'll give you something to cry about," he teased.

"Hush, you brute prince," Carlisle mumbled.

Dante chuckled and closed his eyes. "I love you, Princess."

Carlisle peeked open those sea-greens that freckled with violet. "I love you too."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

sugu ni aitai noni aenai

kimi ni sotto chikazuite yuku

honto no koto kikutte kowai keredo

tashikame ni yuku yo

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Panther Lily perched like a bird. The forest was extensive and without a proper owner. Unlike the forest where the Dragneels where the animals had a respect that the Dragon and Demon King had claimed the forest as his territory, this forest offered no such protection or claim. The wind blew through his fur, and his tail twitched as he looked up at the full moon.

Loving yellows and the scent of earth and lavender and sweetness.

Proud grays and the musk of nature and strength and a bit of whiskey.

I have missed you both so very much, Panther Lily thought. Those burgundies clouded with reclaimed memories of those beautiful, hypnotic stripes and a full mane of white. And I failed you both when you needed me the most. I lost my mentor…and I lost my future because I was foolish.

He closed his eyes. The humans tell me… There is a deity called "God" who grants miracles and has lorded this planet. So…if such a deity does exist, then I ask you now as an old panther who has been a traitor for far too long…

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

aitai noni aenai

hibi mo zutto kimi no tame ni waratta no

"arigatou" tte saigo datta tte

kaomisete baby

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Please… Allow me the chance to make it right with them, Panther Lily prayed. I tried to wash away my sins by becoming a knight, defending Extalia, and taking in the child as my mentor would have. I tried to honor them, but I have done none of that. I know I don't have the right to ask this when I betrayed them, but I'm begging…

(A fat white tomcat rolled over as he dozed off on his lonesome in a nice big bed all to himself without the warmth and comfort of his human companions.)

(A sleek tigress prowled through the jungle with paw steps concise and certain and jaw open to scent any enemies. But in the blink of an eye, she transcended into a beauteous woman with a black stripe on each cheek and her hair halved in orange and halved in raven-black. She climbed the tree to scope out the territory with those hard yellows until she found her mark.)

Please allow me to see them once more, Panther Lily beseeched. I ask for the forgiveness of my mentor, Moon Lily, who gave me my name and taught me to be the warrior that I am. And—his jaw locked as those burgundies stared, glossed, at the full moon—I ask for one more chance to atone to my precious future…my Tiger Lily.

And a tear shed from those burgundies as he cast his mournful prayer and received a breeze in return that smelled like his gruffness and her sweetness. Panther Lily bowed his head for a moment before those angelic white wings dispersed and he took off into the sky with the stars glittering and the moon on full watch.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

kaomisete baby

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Voices of Characters in Order of Appearance

— • — • — • —

Jang-ta "Jaxton" Yang / Bái Láng – Eddy Yeong

Tesla Greer / Hylia Link – Galena White

Orochi – Aaron Roberts

Nashi Dragneel – Lauren Landa

Natsu Dragneel – Todd Haberkorn

Gale Redfox – Greg Cipes

Gajeel Redfox – David Wald

Luna Dragneel – Brynn Apprill

Lucy Heartfilia-Dragneel – Cherami Leigh

Carlisle Justino – Eric Scott Kimerer

Dante Princeton-O'Neill – Adrian Petriw

Checkmate – Jeannie Tirado

Mary Jane Dreyar – Erica Lindbeck

Mirajane Dreyar – Monica Rial

Ena Fernandes – Xanthe Huynh

Silver Fullbuster – Yuri Lowenthal

Uki – Devery Jacobs

André Kigusiq -

Eva Møller-Ashoona -

Daniel Burton -

Akna -

Yuka -

Nanuk (voice only) -

Levy Redox – Kristi Kang

Panther Lily – Rick Keeling

Sycaña – Christen Autin

Obscuritan (voice only) -

Gary Fullbuster – Griffin Burns

Virgo – Terri Doty

Ace – Billy Kametz

Aphtan Ángel – Adam Gibbs

Justin Justine / Miss Fortune – Ian Sinclair

Honey Abrovoky / Sashay Rosé – Shea Couleé

Una –

Tidam –

Layla Heartfilia – Wendee Lee

Ezra Fernandes – Colleen Clinkenbeard

Cael – Jason Griffith

Seraphim – Jamieson Price

Laxus Dreyar – Patrick Seitz

Lance Dreyar – Johnny Young Bosch

Yang Kuen She / Mirzam / Untamed One – Marc Diraison

Yang Ping-Mei / Venerable One/ Immortal Yang – Ming-Na Wen

• — • — •

Additional Voices

Opening Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Description Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Closing Narrator – Melissa Fahn

— • — • — • —

⌜OPENING SONG

⟪ HANDS ⟫

BLUE ENCOUNT

Lyrics by

Junichi Tanabe ⌟

•

⌜INSERT SONG 1

⟪ Show Me How to Burlesque ⟫

Christina Aguilera

Lyrics & Composed by

Christina Aguilera, Tricky Stewart, and Claude Kelly ⌟

•

⌜INSERT SONG 2

⟪ Addict (Feat. Michael Kovach and Chi-Chi) ⟫

Silva Hound

Lyrics by

Silva Hound ⌟

•

⌜ENDING SONG

⟪ Long-Distance Train ⟫

Aoi Yamazaki

Lyrics by

Aoi Yamazaki⌟

•

•

•

•

— • — • — • —

Next time, on Fairy Adventure

•

Episode 097

•

THE ODD COUPLE

— • — • — • —

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•

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SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EPISODE, FAIRIES…