Fairy x Adventure

by Magnafeana

In a new era after the Alvarez War, Lucy, Natsu, and the rest of Fairy Tail not only face new challenges but watch as their kids go on new journeys, learn new powers, and battle new enemies and old! Join Luna, Nashi, and the upcoming generation of Mages on Fairy Tail and more on their never-ending adventure!

99. Adventure 099

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.

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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.

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LAST TIME, on Fairy Adventure:

"I was going to attack your sister."

"What?"

"Hello. I'm Luke and this is Gale, my partner. We're both Wizards from Fairy Tail and we came today to ask you a few questions about the unfortunate victims."

"The murderer is probably getting antsy. And if the murderer has a personal vendetta against these kids, they might be a high schooler here. We can't linger too much with interrogations unless we want the murderer to wizen up and escape."

'Time to hunt.'

'Something good came out of being out of control. We've found our prime suspect.'

'Was he trying to get himself out of the public eye to commit it so no one ever saw it coming?'

"You could take that as he mistook their niceness for something else or…you could take that as he was delusional."

"But we both believe that the reason they can't catch the murderer is that a Curse could have been involved."

"Our possible murderer changed for the worst after he did something horrible. But you're trying to change for the better."

"You need to leave. You aren't allowed in here."

"I'm dead. Henry is a Necromancer."

"We hit a dead-end."

"There's been another murder just a few hours ago."

"Who died?"

"Another student of Deutzia Falls. A junior this time. A miss Kasane Randolf has been murdered."

---

The neighborhood has given on particularly house a wide birth and made sure the curtains were shut and the children did not watch. Overnight, a gentle home where a rambunctious dog played in the backyard had turned into a crime scene with tape everywhere and officers stationed to protect the home from a repeat. The residents had listened to the advice the inspectors had given them and had packed their bags to go stay with an in-law nearby and air out their grief there. Investigators and technicians had worked around the clock and had come in this morning to do another sweep. Broad daylight served better to their cause.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Randolf Residence

Deutzia Falls

Fiore, Ishgar

7:00 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luke and Gale walked up the block to the scene of the crime, but Gale made a disgusted noise from the back of his throat when he caught the sight of Amy and Charles who, in turn, saw them and started walking over.

Gale muttered to Luke, "Oh, here we go. Inspector Asshole and Professor Lesbitch are about to tell us to fuck off."

Luke quickly shushed him.

Amy looked disapproving, but Charles could not help his face full of mocking as he taunted, "Wow, kiddos, I didn't expect you guys to be up this early. What, are you guys needing an escort to middle school?"

"I'm pretty sure the inspector exam requires you to be physically fit and your jelly gut isn't helping your image, Inspector," Gale sneered. "Step off. We need to sniff out the place. You can suck on our juice boxes though. You look like you need a lesson in sucking, Inspector."

Before Charles could fire back, Amy cut in snidely, "This has no relevance to the murder of the five victims. We have a suspect in place thanks to the cameras the Randolf's had in place."

"The fuck do you mean it has no relevance—?"

Luke cut Gale off before he started snarling, "I think that conclusion might be an oversight, Inspector. We have reason to believe both murder cases are linked. And considering the proximity in dates, location, and victim profiles, common sense would argue this case does have relevancy to the other murder case."

"Brass from the top says it doesn't," Amy said crisply. Though her frustration threaded towards her superiors instead of Luke. "Not that you need to know, but the tape showed a woman was the one to break in—"

"Did you ID the person who murdered the five other victims then?" Gale pressed. "I'm only asking because it sounds like your brass is gettin' real desperate to stop us from doing our jobs. Wouldn't want me to encourage the parents to lodge a complaint warranting an internal audit of your entire department, would we, Inspector?"

Amy narrowed her eyes.

Charles piped up all haughty, "I know big words are hard for grade-schoolers to understand, so I'll try to break things down for you two." He pointed at them. "You two are not going—"

"Let them through, Legato."

Charles shot Amy an incredulous look. "Diaz—"

"Just do it," Amy hissed. She glanced at Luke and Gale before she whispered huffily at him, "We have parents riding our ass and on the verge of filing a complaint even without his threat. We can't afford an audit right now. Let them in and then they go out."

Charles looked unhappy his time for mocking was over, but he swiveled to both boys and shot them a saccharine smile. "All right, boys. It's your lucky day. Check out the scene, don't touch anything, and then get out."

"Gladly, Inspector." Gale gripped Luke's shoulder to push past both inspectors. He called back, "You can jerk off to Inspector Diaz's ass while you wait for us to finish. But you'll be done long before we are, Inspector."

"Gale," Luke scolded. "Can't you be respectful for once in your life?"

"Yeah, to people who earn my respect," Gale told him. "And c'mon, you could smell the dude's lust for that chick, anyway." He snickered. "And you know he's the type of sick fuck to probably jack off to—"

"I've heard enough," Luke muttered. He stopped them before the porch to take out their scrubs and gloves.

Gale gave a dramatic sigh as he put on his scrubs. "Don't be such a stiff. I know deep down underneath all that virgin monk geek is a freak."

"Remind me why I should support you chasing after my sweet, innocent sister?" Luke griped as he shimmied into his pants. "I don't understand how she could like you."

Gale shrugged as he snapped on his gloves. "I don't understand how my sweet mother married my old man, but here I am. It was a mixture of corruption and wearing her down."

"Yes, well, I'm not letting you 'corrupt' Lu," Luke grumbled. "And we're on a murder scene, for goodness' sakes. Can't you speak with a little more articulacy?"

"Only a Velma could say shit like 'articulacy'," Gale muttered as he finished covering his hair. "I don't understand how you are a Taurus." He raised his hands when Luke gave him a long-suffering look. "What? You literally have aunts and uncles made from constellations and you're going to tell me you don't know astrology?"

Luke heaved a sigh. "Can we focus on the task at hand, please? The situation is dubious enough as is." He trekked inside and ignored whatever Gale muttered under his breath to observe the house. The living room was branded with numerous amounts of books and plants. A photographer was capturing it all when he looked up.

Gale nodded. "DeMarcus." He gestured to Luke. "This is—"

"Luke Dragneel." Howard came over and shook Luke's hands with admiration in his eyes. "It's an honor to meet you! I'm Howard DeMarcus, the crime scene photographer, and a huge fan of you and your guild."

"Thank you," Luke appreciated. "And thank you for supporting Fairy Tail. We all appreciate it."

Howard broadly grinned. "Man, my tech is going to be so jealous I met you. He's always dying to go to the GMG meet-and-greets to get autographs and photo-ops, but we never get lucky enough to score tickets for them." He released Luke's hands to gaze all around him. "But now's not the time for fanboying."

"What do we have here?" Gale asked.

Howard sighed. "A classic break-in and murder." He waved to them. "Come in. The crime scene is this way." He led them down the hall and bypassed the investigators and techs to head to a room in the back of the house. "Here we are."

Luke and Gale entered with their noses on alert, but a slow grin came onto Gale's face and he mouthed wow while Luke looked ready to faint. The room was a typical teenaged girl's bedroom with posters tacked up and books and fan paraphernalia shelved, but what struck both Wizards was when they saw one of the Fairy Tail promotional posters Luke had been forced to do last year where he looked focused with his hands in a mudra as he whipped up a spell.

"I should've asked Blondie to put a poster of me in her room." Gale nudged an embarrassed Luke. "You have a fangirl. Well, had a fangirl, but that's just some syntax."

"Gale, please, have some tact," Luke begged of him. "A girl died in here."

"But your poster is right above her bed. You might've been her last thought before her final breath." Gale tapped his temple. "Think about that." He wandered further in as he took a deep sniff of his surroundings.

Luke glanced at the poster before his stare skittered away in avoidance, and he started his investigation as well. The scent doesn't carry Henry's scent. I can smell fresh soap, but…there was still dirt. He stilled. Dirt. He opened his mouth to taste the air. An earthy smell. It's subtle and hidden under the soap, but it's unmistakable. The scent of death and decay was covered up—or attempted to. But that earthy scent.

He met Gale's eyes. So he knows too. This was Elizabeth's scent. He looked at the broken window. She was the murderer. Henry must've sent her to tie up this loose end while he burned down the trailer. He approached the broken window to sniff it. No blood or hair follicles or leftover skin. He must've made sure she was careful. Her body was in such a state of decay that it would've been easy to leave behind skin cells. Same with hair.

Gale came to the window to murmur to him, "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

"I'm pretty sure," Luke murmured back in reply. "He did a better job to cover up his tracks with less of an overpowering scent."

"He must've known if he tried the spray, it'd tip us off." Gale crossed his arms. "He chose a nice coconut and lavender body-wash for his dear mother. But I'm sure he didn't wash under her nails or brush her teeth. Dirt was still there." He subtly glanced to check the investigators and technicians. "Verdict?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Henry sent her to wrap up a loose end. He knew his only other friend would talk under my influence and couldn't take the chance she already did. But he's nervous about being caught."

"Exactly. He's nervous about getting caught."

Luke looked over at Gale in puzzlement. "That's what I just said…"

"Yeah, but I have an additional point to make," Gale said. "Anxiety in a killer makes them sloppy. They don't thoroughly check their work as they should. Which means, somewhere down the line, our killer is about to unleash some major screw-ups he won't see until it's too late. And we have to catch them."

Luke agreed with that. "Do you think he'll try to perform Necromancy on Kasane?"

"It's too big of a risk with the CID at large," Gale reasoned. "He doesn't have the time he did with the other five. He's in a hurry to tie up loose ends and duck out of town."

Luke hummed. "You know how you were going to attack my sister?"

Gale nearly fell over and hissed, "Dude, watch that shit in front of the authorities! And stop bringing it up!"

"Sorry," Luke murmured. "I'm just thinking about something."

Gale huffed. "Yeah, well, try to think of something else, okay?"

Luke ignored him in favor of his thoughts. He's tying up loose ends so he can skip town. That much is obvious. But if he has a Curse inside him, that madness will start feeding on his anxiety and his delusions. It would be smart of him to immediately leave town, but Gale said he might pull a major screwup. But what would he do?

His eyes narrowed in thought until they widened. "I know what he's going to do."

"What do you—?" Gale growled when Luke hurried away. "Dammit. Why the Hell is he so fast?" He offered a fast farewell to Howard and thanks before he dashed after Luke, who was already off the property and taking off up the street. He sprinted to yank Luke to a stop and growled, "Want to fill me in before you run away from me, Cinderella?"

Luke ignored the name. "I think I know the screw-up he's going to pull. But we need to go to the trailer. I want to confirm something first. And then we need to visit that other address." He pulled away from Gale to keep speed-walking down the sidewalk to go back to the SUV.

Gale matched his steps. "While I know we need to visit the other address, do you think that we can solve this in time?"

"I do," Luke believed. "Because we have something that will stop him in his tracks."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Honeyed ambers tinged red. "Me."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

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

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

More tape had been put up as neighbors came out of their homes to scurry their children to the busses, but everyone glanced over at the burned-down trailer. It had been reduced to scorch marks and ash with very little left. The neighboring trailers had taken none of the heat and looked fine. It was almost comical to see two bright white trailers have a scorched mess between them.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Deutzia Falls Mobile Home Park

Deutzia Falls

Fiore, Ishgar

8:00 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Gale and Luke came to inspect the fire scene and ducked underneath the tape. Everyone was too in shock and awe to stop them and one look at their official Fairy Tail jackets would make anyone hesitate to see two Wizards investigate a crime. Gale stuffed his hands in his pockets while Luke crouch down to inspect the ash and dead embers.

"What are you looking for?" Gale asked him.

Luke pinched ash into his hands and took a sniff. "I'm confirming that this was Cursed Fire." He flicked the ash away and dusted off his hands. He took a long scan of the demolished property. "If there's one thing I know about Cursed Fire, it's that it takes an impossibly strong person to wield. My dad told me Fire Magic is finicky for less experienced people. It's alive. It has its own intentions, and it wants to burn things. You have to be able to synch yourself with your needs."

Gale agreed with that. "It's like any Elemental Magic. It all comes with risks. Snow and Ice Magic could freeze you to death if you're not careful. Earth Magic could turn you to stone. Green Magic might blend you into nature. Hell, Air Magic could have you drift away."

"Exactly." Luke remembered seeing a sea of fire wash through Magnolia Town. But hazier memories came forth like he was rewatching an old film. He could see a young boy burning in a torrid of flames.

Igneel lived with demonic fire—Cursed Fire. During the first memory I have and the second of it, he controlled it because his anger matched the Cursed Fire's need to burn everything to the ground. Like a raging Phoenix. His eyes narrowed on the scene. So how could a Necromancer have such a good level of control of Cursed Fire that it stayed in one place? Because he's a Warlock, he shouldn't have more than one Curse. And the fact he used controlled Cursed Fire proves my theory right.

Gale crouched down beside him. "Want to fill me in, brainiac?"

"A Warlock can't have more than one Curse in its body," Luke told him, tone low. "It would rip them apart. Demons are different. Our bodies were made to have massive amounts of darkness. It's how we live. The more powerful a Demon and the more Curses it can absorb and use. A teenaged Necromancer shouldn't be able to cast Cursed Fire and especially not this controlled. Igneel never had this level of control. My dad does, but—"

"He's also the Demon King," Gale completed. "You think the Demon contracted to the kid is doing this?"

"I think Henry is digging himself a bigger grave and pleaded for his Demon to help him," Luke said. "His mental state is unhinged, which means his Curse is getting out of control and would make it easier for a Demon to possess him. But Curses leave things behind."

"Like a scar?"

"Not exactly," Luke said. "Even if the Demon facilitated its power through Henry's body to cast Cursed Fire, it would mean the Demon was powerful and means that it left behind sort of like a sickness, I guess. It's like how a spell can leave behind traces of Magic until it cycles out."

Gale caught on. "So Henry is about to get even crazier."

"Right. He can't withstand that much madness. No one can."

Gale nudged him. "Unless they were, say, a Demon Prince?"

"I don't think I could either. My dad, sure, but not me." Luke shook his head. "Anyway, I'm sure his madness is going to feed into his delusions. He'll be out of control and sloppy like you said. But we have to be even more careful. If he furthered his deal with this Demon, this could mean he's closer to his Demon possessing his body and eventually emerging onto Earth Land."

Gale sighed. "It's times like this I wish I smoked weed," he muttered. "So now we have a potential Demon to worry about. Fucking fantastic."

"Not necessarily," Luke corrected. "But we have to work relatively fast. I can't say I know all that much about Demon possession, but I can say Demons feed off sin. And Henry is a sinner. The more crimes he commits and the worse his mental state is, the easier it'll be for the Demon to manipulate him to come into his body and grow strong enough to emerge on his own." He looked at Gale. "But we can stop him before he gets there."

"Are you sure?" Gale checked. "If he's that far gone, what will happen to you if we're close to him? Can you handle it? And if the Demon takes over his body, how are we supposed to handle that? I've got my ass handed to me by three Demons."

"We'll have to figure it out," Luke supposed, paraphrasing Gale's words. "We can't afford a Demon touching down and we can't afford an insane Warlock on the loose. The reason the other Warlocks have been fine is because they crave that sort of darkness. But I'm sure Henry didn't imagine things going this far. He's terrified."

"And a murderer." Gale stood up. "So I don't have any sympathy for the dude."

Luke rose as well. "I don't either," he clarified. "But put yourself in his shoes, Gale. I know you never would, but say you were desperate for Luna. You wanted her that badly that you'd do anything for her to love you. What would you have done?"

Gale fed him a stink eye. "You really want to just shoot myself, don't you? Give me a gun and I'll do it."

"Gale," Luke pleaded.

Gale rolled his eyes. "Shit, Luke, I don't know." He rubbed his mouth as he thought and thought. "If I had been that desperate enough to contract a Demon to help me win her over?" He blew out a breath. "Well, let me see…" He closed his eyes as he considered all the options. He considered…and considered…

It struck him.

Gale opened his eyes to turn to a knowing Luke. "That would be a major screw-up."

"Precisely."

Gale cracked his knuckles. "All right. So we have some time. Let's check out the other address and start connecting more dots."

"Agreed." Luke looked down at the burned remains. "And then we have a wake and funeral to go to."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure 099

•

A Web of Deceit

•

欺瞞の網。私たちは今終盤にいます

•

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

This was the type of city that had all sorts of parades with a large shopping center most people from nearby cities visited and the taxes were low. Not too many had complaints about the city since it had so much to offer its people. Even with it being relatively early with school in session, many people were out to take advantage of the morning and get their errands out of the way. Already, a line had formed at a local garage for oil changes and brake checks. Two college students stuck on inventory at Bullseye were complaining about finding a new place to live since their apartment building had crazy neighbors. A grocery store check-out cashier listened boredly as the guest ranted and raved about how she deserved a price adjustment for a sale (even though she did not meet the requirements for said sale).

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Narcissus City

Fiore, Ishgar

9:30 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Gale and Luke got out of the car to a house that was built upon a ledge with a white picket fence, a two-car garage, and all the average pickings everyone fantasized about. They stepped up onto the porch and Luke rang the doorbell, but it was not a second later when a woman answered the door with a white shirt underneath her loose flannel with an infant on her hip and her eyes sixty percent green and forty percent brown.

She looked between them until she settled on Luke. "You're the one who called, right?"

⌜NARCISSUS CITY

Name: Callista Detroit

Age: 38

Occupation: App Developer

Likes: wine nights Dislikes: Poko

Special Note: Callista is currently designing an app to help asthmatic patients with their symptoms, remembering doses and fills, and monitoring their sleep patterns!⌟

Luke nodded with a polite smile. "Yes, Misses Detroit. I'm Luke and this is my partner, Gale." Gale saluted as Luke continued: "We spoke over the Com that you'd be willing to answer a few questions for us."

"Right. Come on in. Take off your shoes, though."

Both boys did so, but the infant on Callista's hip started moving with a toothy smile, and Luke, bent to straighten his shoes, had his eye twitch when the infant had gripped his hair.

"Sorry for Shelley," Callista apologized. "She really likes pink." She gently took her child's hand away. "I'm surprised you colored it pink. Aren't boys on the whole 'pink is for girls'?"

Luke tried to defend himself, but of course, Gale said in good humor, "He's trying to impress a girl, so he colored his hair."

"No, I didn't." Luke explained to Callista, "I was born with pink hair, Misses Detroit. It's natural."

Callista did not look like she believed him. "Really? On a boy?" She shrugged and smiled at Shelly. "Well, I guess he got it from mommy, huh, Shelly?"

"Well, no, I…" Luke sighed again. "Right. From my mom. Of course."

Gale whispered to Luke, "I told you, it's all your feminine side—Gah!" His eyes were wide with pain at the punch Luke gave his stomach. "Jesus, where's your sense of humor?" He petulantly rubbed his stomach. "PMS much?" He protected himself when Luke looked ready to murder him.

"Behave yourself, please," Luke gritted. "We're on a murder case and I'm this close"—he held up his thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart—"to finding Igneel myself and letting him burn you to death and I bet it will be horrifying to watch, but I'll force myself to watch anyway." He stalked away.

Gale followed him with a mutter under his breath, "Drama queen."

The house was lived in with toys and pictures of the six-person family. An old golden retriever served as the family dog and her tail wagged, pleased to see new people. Luke took to her well, but he raised an eyebrow when Gale tried to skillfully avoid the dog from coming close to him. "It's a dog, Gale."

"It's four-legged and furry. No." Gale did not care how crazy he looked. "Those things get hair everywhere."

Luke rolled his eyes and muttered, "Who's the drama queen now?" He did not know where to be amused or annoyed to see Gale keep trying to dodge a friendly golden retriever trying to introduce herself. "Behave, Gale."

"I will if that thing does," Gale hissed in a whisper.

Luke had enough and went into the dining room, burgundy walls with a lengthy wooden table with its fair share of scratches and dents. Callista put down Shelly to play with the toys that littered the room so she could sit where her PAL was with a pitcher of water and glasses.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today, Misses Detroit," Luke appreciated as he sat down. Gale sat beside him with a wary look at the happy old golden retriever, who sat near him in anticipation she would receive some pets. "We're sorry to bother you while you're working." He took out the Lacrima Recorder.

Callista dismissed the apology. "It's not a problem. I was hoping you might have some answers for me."

Luke frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"When you called, you let me know that this was about Lizzie," Callista said. "I wanted to ask how she was doing? She hasn't been answering my calls and when I text her, she barely replies." Her eyes turned sad. "I went to visit her once to see how she was doing, but she told me to get out. I don't want to try and push my luck."

Luke pressed ⟪ Record ⟫ as he asked, "How did you know Misses Marvelo?"

"I knew her when she was a 'Givney'," Callista said. "We were friends in college and then we decided to be roommates when we moved out of the dorms. Even after I got married, we were still best friends."

"What changed?"

Callista sighed. "Well, she met Eric." She further elaborated, "Eric was Lizzie's husband." A snort. "God, I hated him. He was such a snake. But Lizzie loved him enough, so I had to put up with it. I was her matron of honor and everything. But I'm not at that upset Eric ran off."

"He's not in the picture?" Luke asked.

Callista shook her head and when the golden retriever came to slide her muzzle in her lap, she offered the dog comforting strokes. "Not that I know of." She gave her dog a look and sigh. "Honestly, Lizzie was pretty numb to the whole thing. She told me Eric had tried to attack her and her son, Henry. I guess they went to the ED, but she came straight to me. I kept telling her she should go to the Guard, but she was adamant she didn't want to go."

"While you knew Eric, was he abusive towards Elizabeth?" Gale questioned.

Callista hesitated, and her eyes darted to the recorder.

Luke put in, "While we are recording this, your testimony won't be shared, Misses Detroit. We aren't working with the Guard or the CID."

"Well, then…" Callista took a deep breath. "When Eric and Lizzie started dating, Lizzie…changed. She used to hang out with our friends, but Eric always seemed to want her to himself. I was the last friend Lizzie had. Her wedding was more filled with Eric's friends and family. I don't even think Lizzie's family was there. I know her parents weren't, but she told me it was because they couldn't make the trip."

Gale sat forward. "Did you notice Elizabeth wearing more conservative clothes?" He caught her pause and said, "Misses Detroit, we need you to be honest."

Callista looked between them. "What exactly are you both here for?"

"We've come to question you because there was a murder in Deutzia Falls," Luke explained.

Callista's eyes went wide. "A 'murder'?" Panic came next. "Is Lizzie dead? Is that why she hasn't been responding to me?"

"No, ma'am. She's not one of the victims on this case," Luke said carefully. A half-lie and a half-truth. "However, we have reason to believe that she was an unwitting accomplice in the murder and we're here to garner all the facts before we condemn the murderer for his or her crimes."

Callista tried to process all of this. She got up and said, "I'll be right back." She picked up Shelly, shut down her PAL, and bustled away.

Luke sat back in his chair, nervous, and whispered, "Should I have said that? Are you sure it was wise to tell her about this in person instead of over the Com?"

"Yeah. It was better this way," Gale assured. "You're doing fine."

Luke let out a breath. "Thanks. Sensei taught me a little when it came to interrogation, but I was sure you were going to take over."

"Nah." Gale scratched his stomach. "You're a lot more articulate than me when it comes to handling this." He grinned when Luke looked flat-faced. "And besides, I think people will easier trust you than me." He ruffled Luke's hair. "Must be all that pink."

Luke smacked his hand away. "Stop it!" He pouted with his hair in disarray, all spiked nonsense. "Great." He feverishly tried to smoothen his locks down. "Now I like horrible."

Callista returned alone and with a photo album in hand. She sat down to find a page and displayed it to Luke and Gale. "This was Lizzie and Eric when they first got married."

The photo showed a happier, alive version of Elizabeth as she smiled in her modest wedding dress. Her husband was not that much of a looker, to be honest, and it had nothing to deal with his weight and everything to do with his face. He did not look as happy as his newfound wife, even though he was smiling. He still, somehow, looked displeased in his black suit.

"I wanted them to be happy," Callista said, quiet. "I really did. But I couldn't stand Eric and how small he made Lizzie. But every time I wanted her to leave, she'd tell me she couldn't and she'd beg me not to leave her too. I couldn't do that to her." Her chest heaved. "So, I stayed. She didn't dress too conservatively. I never saw any marks when we went to the beach." Disgust dripped in her tone as she added, "But Eric liked it when she showed skin. I'm sure he made sure that she never had to worry about any marks on her skin."

"Regarding their son, Henry, was he wanted by both of them?" Luke asked.

"Lizzie said so, but I never saw Henry with Eric," Callista confided. "Anytime Lizzie would come over, it was just Henry. If we went out with the kids, it was just her and Henry. I saw Eric less and less until he disappeared."

Gale questioned, "Did she go to court to get child support?"

"No." Callista shook her head. "I even told her my husband and I would pay for the attorney, but she refused and said she could provide for Henry. But she was working so much that Henry spent most of his time here."

"Your address is listed as his primary address," Luke remarked. "Are you aware of that?"

Callista nodded. "Yes. Lizzie was getting so busy and overwhelmed that I had talked to her about Henry coming to live here while she gets on her feet. We were more than happy to have him. But Henry kept running away back to his mother." She sighed. "My sons kept making fun of Henry's sweating, even after we tried so hard to stop it. I know Henry wasn't happy here, but Lizzie was just so overwhelmed…"

Gale spoke up when Callista trailed off, "Why didn't he transfer schools?"

"He didn't want to," Callista said. "When Lizzie brought it up, she told me he had a meltdown about it. We had to speak to the school about the arrangement and get some documents signed, but I was named Henry's legal guardian and we had shared custody of Henry. We arranged it so he could still go to school at Deutzia Falls, but he would come here on weekends and breaks, so Lizzie could work long hours without worrying about him."

"So you would say Henry loved his mother very much," Gale presumed.

Callista said, "Oh, for sure. He clung to her all the time. I've never seen a child so reliant on their parents. My kids think hanging out with me is uncool, but Henry was always willing to help out Lizzie wherever he could." She looked at both boys. "Is he okay? He left here a month ago when Lizzie had told me she had enough money to take care of him and we talk on the phone, but he says he's busy whenever we speak."

"You said he left here a month ago?" Luke asked. "When exactly did he start living full time with Misses Marvelo again?"

"Lizzie told me that Henry would be coming to live with her after spring half-term."

Luke and Gale shared a meaningful look. That was when he took the victims to the cabin.

Luke sat forward and shifted. "Misses Detroit, you said that Misses Marvelo had been short with you. When did that begin?"

"She started acting strange around last year," Callista replied. "I was worried that Eric had come back, and that's why she was acting so strange, but after she screamed at me, I kept our relationship to virtual. I thought it was best for her, me, and Henry." She shook her head in sympathy. "He's always had it tough, but he was always so happy. I was already so worried about him, though. Lizzie would tell me he barely had anyone else with all his sweating. Even under NHS, it was difficult for her to even attempt appointments while she was working and Henry didn't trust me enough for it."

"You said Henry often ran away to be with his mom whenever he was here," Gale started. "But Henry was a happy kid, right? Anything else about him strike you when he was a child?"

Callista shook her head. "Not really. He was a sweet kid who told me he'd always take care of Lizzie even without his dad around. He wasn't too broken up about Eric leaving. I'm guessing it's since Eric didn't spend any time with him."

"Would you know where Mister Marvelo is now?"

"Dead in a ditch somewhere," Callista snorted. "No, I don't and it's better this way. I'd beat him with a bat for leaving Lizzie to struggle like this." She placed her fist on her cheek and shook her head. "I feel like I should've done something more for Lizzie and Henry."

Luke softened. "You did everything you could for Misses Marvelo and Henry. You provided Henry with a home and you gave Misses Marvelo support through harsh times. More than you know, your support and stability had acted in significant ways towards them both."

"I just…" Callista sniffed and wiped away a tear. "I miss my best friend," she got out in a watery tone. "I miss seeing her so…alive and energetic. And two months into Eric, I could tell her smiles weren't real. And no matter how much I begged her, she just…" She had to take a breath and wipe away a few more tears. "I'm sorry."

"No." Luke brought out a small packet of tissues and offered them to her. "We understand. Feeling helpless towards those we love is never easy."

Callista plucked a few tissues and mouthed thank you before she blotted under her eyes. "I know her parents would've helped her, but they haven't spoken since Eric asked her to be his girlfriend. I don't even know if they're aware of Henry. I would've told them, but Lizzie begged for me not to. I just hoped…" She sniffled again. "I'm sorry. I'm sure this isn't helpful towards your case."

"No, Misses Detroit." Honeyed ambers darkened. "You're being more of value to us than you'll ever know."

°•°•°•°

Gale and Luke departed down the porch steps. Gale's jaw set.

"The murder case you're investigating… Is Lizzie in trouble? Will Henry be okay?"

Luke pushed up his glasses.

"We can assure you, Misses Detroit, that Elizabeth and Henry are in the proper hands and are being closely monitored."

Luke paused while Gale continued to walk down the drive.

"Thank you so much. If you see Lizzie again, can you tell her something for me?"

"Of course, Misses Detroit. What would you like us to say?"

Luke looked back at the house as a wild breeze threaded his hair.

"That no matter what she's going through, I still love her like she's my sister. And I want her to be happy and to live."

Gale stopped at the SUV to see Luke had stopped long ago. He walked back up to stand next to him. "What are you thinking? You think Henry will hit this house too? She is another loose end."

"She has an advantage, though. Kasane proved a vital source because she knew Henry as his only friend. Misses Detroit is an oblivious support system," Luke said. "She's just as blind as everyone else. He'll leave her alone. But I'm going to put up some protective enchantments with my signature."

Gale quirked an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah." Luke knelt into the grass and put his hand to the ground. "He'll know that this property is under my protection. Sensei taught me how to do it with my Zen Magic. It shouldn't be much different." He rooted down into his chest to feel out that darkness. His eyes flashed red as black energy spiraled down his arm and dug into the ground. He shoved back the darkness before it got too confident and stood back up, a tad woozy. "Even Warlocks know they don't stand a chance against a Demon."

"Ain't that the truth." Gale turned away and clapped Luke's shoulder. "Come on. Let's see if we can track down Elizabeth's old coworkers and get some confirmation about her torrid relationship with financials. Her bank records indicated she was always barely in the black, but interviews can't hurt."

"Yeah." Luke shot the house one more look. I won't allow another person to die. Kasane shouldn't have died. I should've known better. But I can at least protect them. He turned away to the car. Don't worry, Misses Detroit. I'll make sure Misses Marvelo can finally rest to your words. His glasses glinted to show honeyed amber with flecks of red. I swear to it.

As Gale buckled in, he caught his Compact lit up and he saw Howard's name. He answered it. "DeMarcus, what do you got for me?"

"A body. Kasane Randolf's body to be exact."

Gale tapped Luke's arm, shocked. "Are you shitting me?"

"No, I'm not."

°•°•°•°

All hands were on deck for a dual murder case, which meant technicians and investigators and analysts who had their normal time off were called in for a broad scope over every piece of evidence. Calls were being made, and the inspectors were in a meeting with the sergeant as he broke down their next plans of action.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Criminal Investigation Department

Guard Division 17 Station

North Bluemink

Fiore, Ishgar

10:20 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Howard turned away from all the noise as he leaned against a wall. "I'll be straight with you. Things aren't looking good at HQ. I can already tell that the inspectors think they have a cold case on their hands. But you and your friend are the best chance these victims have at resting peacefully." He closed his eyes and could not believe he was doing this. "I pulled some strings so you and your partner can see Miss Randolf's body, but you have to be fast."

SQUEAK!

Howard jumped a little and peeked to see the meeting had been adjourned and the inspectors and sergeant were flooding out. He hurriedly whispered, "Meet me at the side entrance as soon as you can. We can only give you thirty minutes with the body. But you need to be fast." He looked away when Amy had looked over at him. "Can you make it?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be there in twenty. Thanks a lot, DeMarcus."

"Get my tech and I some meet-and-greet passes and it's even." Howard turned away when he saw Amy was approaching him and loudly proclaimed, "I'll see you at lunch. You're the best. Bye." He quickly ended the call—

"You've got a hot lunch date, DeMarcus?"

Howard swallowed and turned to face the cool-faced Amy Diaz. He offered an awkward smile. "Well, we can't all be like you, Inspector, and like eating at our desks. I need some fresh air too, y'know?" He froze when Amy went toe to toe with him. "Anything else, Inspector?"

Amy stared at him. "You should remember your place, DeMarcus. You're a photographer, not an inspector. You work for the CID. Try to act like it and show a little loyalty."

"I might love my job, but my loyalty is to make sure those victims can sleep peacefully, Inspector," Howard told her. "Same as yours. We shouldn't care about what makes the CID look good or bad when lives are on the line, right?"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Make sure you get those photos to me before your lunch date, DeMarcus." She whipped around and stalked away.

Howard let out the breath he was holding and sagged against the wall. That was close. I thought she was going to murder me with those claws of hers. He looked down at his Compact, conflicted. I really hope I'm doing the right thing. If Serg finds out I went behind his back, I'm getting pink slips.

He resolved himself. But those victims deserve justice for their deaths. His eyes caught the sergeant, a militant private man with a bald head and a hard face. And I'm not so sure the CID can give them that anymore.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

And so…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The black SUV surged through the full parking lot to try and wrap around to the side of the building. People dressed in professional attire were coming in and out with urgency in their steps and cases in their hands.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Criminal Investigation Department

Guard Division 17 Station

North Bluemink

Fiore, Ishgar

10:45 AM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The side entrance looked misused and smelled passionately of smoke and bad sandwiches. But Luke and Gale sucked it up as they got out. Gale told Mister Hollifield, "If you can find a place to park, I'd stay here. We'll be in and out." He was about to walk away when he added, "And keep an ear out for anything about the Cacao Chimeras. I'm in twenty-thousand jewel."

"I've got you covered, sir," Mister Hollifield promised.

"Gale!" Luke beckoned him over as a nervous Howard had come out to the door.

Once Gale had rushed over, Howard told both boys, "We're going to have to walk down to the basement where the coroner's office is." He swiped in his badge to let them into the building and past the second set of doors. "She's really pissed. I mean, she's really pissed she's having Wizards in her department." He grimaced and shot Luke a look. "But she agreed on a certain condition…"

Luke blinked. "Why are you looking at me?"

Howard quickly shoved everyone into the stairwell. It was only two flights down until Howard was opening another door for them and usher them in. The department in the basement had all the niceties of upstairs, but it looked like a luxurious warehouse to an extent, modernized and contemporary. The floor plan was an open office space with bookcases and filing cabinets full of death records and other legal jargon. Most of the desks were covered in little fun trinkets and action figures. The two attorneys and specialized scientists (the department had a toxicologist with her assistant and technicians, a serologist with his two assistants, and two DNA analysts) worked from the rooms that were at the edges of the office with their own spaces.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

« This is the Aronia County Coroner Department which handles all medical examinations within the county. Though, it is stated a lot of weird personalities work here. »

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Howard brought both boys through the department to go to the biggest office. He knocked on the door before he peeked inside. "I brought them down here."

Black stocking-clad legs crossed. "I see." A mouth with a heavy upper lip crunched on a stick of pocky. "Bring them in here."

Howard sighed. "She's ready for you. I need to head back upstairs before the inspectors try to gun for me." He patted Luke's shoulder and offered somber condolences, "It was an honor meeting you."

Why do you make it sound like I'm going to die? Luke cried.

When Howard left, Gale pushed his way inside with a respectful nod. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Gale." He shuffled over for Luke to come inside. "And this is my partner, Luke. Thank you for allowing us to see Miss Randolf's body. You have no idea how helpful this will be to our case."

"I couldn't care less about that." A pocky stick was crunched. "Death is death around here. It's nothing new. I'm more interested in what DeMarcus promised me." A prominent woman sat behind a desk, well-endowed and proud of it. Glasses hung down her nose, small and rectangular, with her eyes a smoky green and her hair a burnt pink in a kind bob. She shifted her thighs. "And he did make sure I'd receive it."

⌜CID CORONER DEPARTMENT – NORTH BLUEMINK GUARD DIVISION 17

Name: Minna Andrews, D.O.

Age: 30

Occupation: Coroner

Likes: bird-watching Dislikes: her cheating ex

Special Note: Minna might still be on a rampage because of her cheating ex, but she's got a new obsession to fuel her passion!⌟

Luke politely said, "Well, whatever it was, we'll have to thank him. And thank you for this opportunity, Doctor Andrews." He shuffled back when Minna stood to her full fight. "Um… We're ready to see the body whenever you are—"

"You'll see the body soon." Minna's glasses gleamed. "But first thing comes first. I want to cash in on DeMarcus' promise."

Luke swallowed. "Wh-Wh-What would that be?" He absently reached for Gale only to internally gawk Gale had subtly slipped outside the office and closed him in. He could see that Cullen had taken to blending in with the office shadows. Why did you two leave me alone!

"You're Luke Dragneel, right?"

Luke swallowed back his panicked yelp and pressed against the door with Minna looming over him. He shakily adjusted his glasses. "Y-Yes, th-that's me." He shrunk a little. "C-C-Can we see the body—?"

"Oh, you will." Steam puffed from Minna's nose and those smoky greens of her gleamed. "But DeMarcus made me a promise. And I always collect before I give my services."

"O-Oh, u-um…" Luke shrunk when his glasses partially fogged and he was swallowed in Minna's shadow. "Th-That's…n-nice?"

°•°•°•°

Gale perked up when the office door opened and a refreshed Minna exited. "Can we see the body now?"

"Certainly." Minna pushed up her glasses with two fingers. "You boys have paid for it in full and then some. Follow me."

Gale glanced back, and he did whatever it took not to laugh when he saw Luke. If you had ever seen a disturbed cat that had the thousand-yard-stare with its fur all frazzled, that was what Luke looked like. "Come on, buddy." Gale prodded Luke into moving. "Let's go see a dead body."

"You abandoned me," Luke whispered, traumatized. "You left me there. Alone."

Gale patted Luke's back. "It takes great sacrifice to do what we do." He arched his eyebrow when Luke shivered. "What exactly did she do to you, anyway?"

Luke's eye twitched, and he rasped, stupefied, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough." Gale offered him a side-eye. You'd never think a nerd like him would get women with how shy and introverted he is, but the dude's racking up points. Igneel was always the wild child, but Luke is like some soft shy lamb. His brow furrowed. That reminds me of someone else…

He could see Gary with his puppy aura around him as he clung to a wildly embarrassed Nashi and Ena all regal while Silver eagerly waited at her beck and call. Is that what women are into now? Maybe I should change some things for Blondie's sake…

Minna led them to the mortuary. Before they could enter, scrubs had been given and masks with thorough sanitation. Working with corpses, even with delayed decomposition, was no small matter, and every precaution had to be taken. Technicians had prepped Kasane's body onto the table, but Minna was the one to draw back the cover for both boys to see her face.

"Boys, meet Kasane," Minna introduced.

Luke and Gale inspected the peaceful face of Kasane as a level of somberness thickened the room.

"Cause of death?" Gale asked.

Minna sighed. "At first look at the reports, you'd think she would have killed herself via overdose. But the inspectors told me it was murder through and through. Thing is, there's not a mark on her body. This girl might've been dead prior to her attempted murder."

Gale looked up at Minna. "Why do you say overdose?"

"Well, the official toxicology report won't come back for another several weeks," Minna said as she studied the late Kasane. "But we were able to collect a last-ditch urine sample. From the speed round, looks like this girl had an absurd amount of opioids in her system. The inspectors let us know that the mother takes methadone for pain, but her bottle mysteriously went missing."

"If it looks like she committed suicide, why hasn't it been announced she committed suicide?" Luke asked.

Minna sighed and crossed her arms beneath her ample chest. "Inspectors said they want me to do a thorough autopsy." She shook her head. "It's just like with those five other kids I had in here. I told them the drugs in those kids' bodies would've killed those kids over those stab wounds, but they didn't listen." She looked at her watch. "Damn. I have a consultation with the inspectors soon enough and then grief counseling."

"Would we be able to stay with the body for a little longer?" Gale requested.

Minna considered it. Then she smiled. "All right. Sure. It's not like she's going anywhere. Just let one of the techs know when you're finished so they can store her away." She slow-walked until she was beside Luke. "And you. Feel free to stop by my office anytime, cutie."

Gale raised his eyebrows when Luke went through a full-body flush that matched his hair as Minna strode away and out to the mortuary. "Dude. What did she do?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Luke shakily murmured.

Gale eyed Luke. "All right…" He examined the body of Kasane Randolf. "Talk to me about what you think about the body."

Luke calmed down as a serious air wafted between them. "You and I both know that Elizabeth was the one to come into the room." He closed his eyes as he let his hand hovered over Kasane's body. It took him a few moments until he retracted his hand and opened his eyes. "Her body has the faint traces of a rebounded Curse. It's why I didn't freak out."

"It's safe to say Elizabeth was used as a conduit," Gale said. "She forced Kasane to consume all those opioids as a safety net before she poisoned her with the Curse. Combined, she was murdered. And I'm sure Elizabeth got into the house fine and got out, but she had to make a scene to keep the CID off Henry's tail just like he rehearsed."

Luke frowned. "Problem is, we can't prove their connection unless we can convict Henry. And even then, we're running off theories. Kasane is the best witness we have for her own murder."

That gave Gale a crazy idea. "You were able to control Elizabeth's body, right? Which means you have the power for Necromancy, right?"

"I mean, yes, technically." Luke looked at his hands. "I'm not really sure how deep my powers go—" He stopped and his wide eyes turned on Gale. "I can't do that."

"Luke—"

Luke vehemently shook his head. "Gale, that's insane. I don't even know if I could control her. And if she wanted to die, then—!" He gave Kasane a pitying look. "Then we should let her rest in peace," he murmured. "She…deserves that much."

Gale rubbed the back of his neck. "She can rest in peace, but what good is that rest if her murderer is at large?" he asked. "I know it isn't fair, but I also know that you are a good person. And I know that you would make sure she knows she'll be avenged."

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

Gale clenched his hand into a fist. "Everyone, alive or dead, deserves justice for anything wrong that's happened to them. And I know that there are a lot of people out there close to us who might never see justice for something awful that happened to them. But Kasane… She has a chance they don't have." He looked at Luke and said, "You have to do this. Do this for those who don't ever get that shot at justice. Do it so that Kasane can know she'll get her own."

Luke took a shuddered breath. "Whatever it takes?"

Gale nodded. "Whatever it takes."

Luke closed his eyes. The stagnant, cool air withered as darkness seeped out, heavy with madness and despair. Black seeped into pink roots, but it did not overwhelm. His lips curled to show gritted fang. His hand came up as darkness spiraled around his hand for a moment before sinking into his skin. His eyes opened in swirls of amber and red and he hissed in that bewitched tongue, "Rise."

Kasane's eyes opened.

Gale watched in fascination as Kasane blinked. For a moment, it was like she was a puppet and responded only to someone else's strings. But it was clear when the lively panic came back into her eyes that she was her own person. She shot up, mouth open, but Gale put his hand over it to quiet her.

"Kasane Randolf," Gale named. "I need you to listen to every word I say right now. The person who attacked you isn't in the vicinity. She's gone and you're safe. But you can't scream." His lips curled when the fear bothered his nose.

"Let me calm her," Luke gritted. He used his other hand as the gold of his Zen Magic facilitated in a spiral. He grunted as he conducted his Magic in fluid moments.

Kasane's fear and panic shrunk from her eyes and did not stink up the room. Her body stopped trembling enough for Gale to take his hand from his mouth. She blinked around, calmer but nervous, and took in everything. "What's happened to me?"

With Luke too preoccupied, Gale was the one to break the news. But he would ease into it. "What do you last remember?"

"Um…" Kasane blinked rapidly. "I… I remember a shadow. A woman. She was…in my room. She started forcing pills into my mouth. I tried to throw them up, but before I could, she…" She touched her mouth. "She put her hand in my mouth. After that… I can't remember." She took a look around again before her stare rested on Luke. "Am I dead?"

Luke gave her a strained nod.

"I… I see…" Kasane clutched the blanket that covered her body. "I'm…I'm dead. I really did die… I thought…I was dreaming…"

Gale questioned, "Kasane, did the woman who came to your room tell you anything?"

"N-No, um…" Kasane tried hard to remember. "Wait. I think she did. I couldn't see her face that much since she had on a hoodie, but… I think she was in pain or crying. I couldn't see any tears, but that's what it looked and sounded like. And then she said the words 'I'm sorry'. And then I blacked out. No." Her eyes fell. "Then I died."

Gale mulled over that. Crying and an apology. It looks like Elizabeth is aware Henry is controlling her, which means Henry's losing control of her. I'm sure she didn't want to murder Kasane, but Henry's strong is enough to control her body instead of body and mind.

"I'm dead. I'm really dead."

Gale looked up as Kasane looked at her lap with despaired eyes.

"I… I can't even cry…even though I really want to. I'm dead." Kasane rubbed her cheek.

Gale's heart went out to her. "I know this isn't ideal, and we're sorry we had to wake you from your dream, Kasane. But we're doing everything to catch your killer and the killer of those five other students."

"Do you know who did it?" Kasane asked. "Can you at least tell me…who you think did it?"

Gale tried to find a way to word this. "Kasane—"

"Henry." Luke said this as he stared at Kasane with one eye red and the other honeyed amber. "Your friend Henry Marvelo is a primary suspect in the murder of those five students…and in yours."

"Henry?" Kasane did not understand. "But… How could he…?" She slowly shook his head. "No… You're wrong… Henry… He wouldn't hurt anyone."

Gale cut in, "You told Luke that Henry said all these things about the victims. And that he liked student Sandrine Roster. Am I right to say that?"

"Y-Y-Yeah, but…" Kasane could not wrap her head around it. "I mean… He wouldn't kill them. He had a crush on Sandy, b-b-but she was just nice. He wouldn't…"

"Did Henry ever tell you anything about Sandy that felt off to you?" Gale questioned. "Did he talk about his fantasies to you about her? Did he tell you that he sent her gifts or anything like that?"

Kasane closed her eyes, confused. "W-W-Wait, hold on, he never…" Her eyes opened in stark realization. "Yes," she breathed. "He did." She looked at Gale. "He would tell me he bought things for someone. I-I-I had thought he meant his mom, but… They might've been for Sandy…"

"Was one of those presents flowers?"

"A few times, yes."

Sandrine must've hidden the gifts from her mom and maybe the others to not arise alarm, Gale figured.

"He really killed them," Kasane whispered. "He'd talk about Sandy, but… I thought he was just daydreaming or something. But he did it. He killed them. And…" She looked at Luke. "Did the woman who killed me…?"

Luke tipped his chin down. "That woman was Henry's mother, Elizabeth Marvelo. She killed you on his command because you spoke to me." Anguish crossed Luke's face. "Kasane, I'm so sorry. I should've never spoken to you. You might've been safe…alive. And…because of me…" He looked away, ashamed. "I'm so sorry. I hurt everyone around me. And I got you killed."

"No. I'm glad you talked to me." Kasane offered him a smile with her cheeks tinted. "I never thought I'd get to meet you in person. Henry and I talked about going to the Grand Magic Games one day, but I know my parents would've never let me." Her smile turned a little sad. "My parents… They always sheltered me away from Magic. It's not like they were magists, but my aunt tried that Enhancer drug to become a Mage and she died when I was young. But I'd watch all your competitions and interviews." Her eyes sparkled. "I really wanted to meet you. It felt nice that even a Wizard could be like me."

Her eyes met his. "And now I got to meet you." Her smile widened. "And it makes me really happy."

Luke was taken back with astonishment and sadness. "Kasane…"

"Can you do me a favor? Can you tell my parents…that I loved them? And I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused them?" Kasane requested. "And can you tell them I found a place where I could read all I wanted?"

"I…" Luke clenched his jaw. "Yes. We'll tell them."

Kasane closed her eyes. "Thank you. I think…I'm ready to go back to sleep now. I'm really tired."

"We'll let you rest," Gale murmured. "Thank you, Kasane, for everything. We'll make sure you're avenged."

Kasane nodded. "One last thing before I go. Tell Henry"—she clutched the blanket—"that he can come find me when it's time for him to sleep. And I'll meet him at the train station just like we promised."

"We'll tell him." A tear dripped down Luke's jaw. "Good night, Kasane." He flexed his hands as black and gold spiraled. His arms moved in such a fluid way that it looked like a dance almost. Darkness and light no longer battled in his body for dominance. He was wielding life and death together.

Kasane laid down and stilled. There was no last breath. There was no dramatic shutter of her body. A corpse did not have the luxury to draw out a fate they had already met. She simply stilled. And she was gone, asleep—dead.

Pink was back in Luke's hair as his power faded back. With delicate hands, he drew the blanket up to cover Kasane's face before he retreated. "Are we done here?" Tone forcibly light.

"Yeah," Gale rumbled. "We're done."

"Okay then." Luke moved past him. "I'll meet you outside."

Gale watched as Luke left the mortuary and could smell that burdening grief and despair follow the breeze Luke left behind. Geez. He scrubbed his jaw. I don't envy him or his abilities. Rubies darted down to Kasane's covered body. Thank you, Kasane. He turned and left the mortuary. We won't let your sacrifice go in vain.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Fairy Adventure

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Multitudes of cars had come to the funeral home to the point others had to park at the nearby church parking and convenience store parking lot. A normal wake had one corpse, but this wake was for five victims, their friends, and their families. It was unorthodox, maybe even unheard of, but the families of the victims had wanted it this way, and the funeral home had accommodated when they were told jewel was no option.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Yurippi Funeral Home

North Bluemink

Fiore, Ishgar

2:50 PM FST

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The five open caskets were around the room with the stage in the front. The lobby had pictures of each of the victims as they smelled and all had books people could sign that would be buried in the caskets so the victims could know they were loved and would be missed. From babies to the elderly, people had come in droves dressed in blouses, slacks, ties, and gowns. Black was the signature color, but it was not uncommon to see some with bright accents. Death was not a mournful event in its entirety; death could signify the start of a new chapter.

Gale and Luke stood in the back. They had worn black—a murder case had warranted they would need to bring black. Luke had decided on a black button-down, blazer, pants, and slip-ons while Gale settled for his black hooded bomber jacket, cargo joggers, and sneakers. His black bandana headband kept his bangs from his face. They watched in relegated silence as mourners came up to the caskets with their roses and tears as they whispered their prayers and goodbyes. Not all would come to the funeral, so it was best for everyone to say their farewells.

Luke watched with sorrowful eyes when an older woman helped her grandchildren to Sandrine's casket to place their roses. I can feel their grief. Dad warned me once I started actively using my powers, it'd be easier for me to sense negative emotions. And their mourning… He looked away. It feels so wrong. I hate that we can't give them closure before a burial. A hand on his shoulder made him look up.

Gale whispered to him, "We're gonna catch this guy."

"I know." Luke looked on as he saw Molly and her husband get hugged by a presumed grandmother and the quiet cries started. "But we still haven't figured out how. All we know is that he'll screw up."

"I've been thinking about that." Gale pulled his hand back to cross his arms with a heaved sigh to suppress a burp. "It's not going to be enough to just catch him. We have to incriminate him and we have a limited time. If we don't get him to confess now, I have a feeling we'll miss our chance and the guy will be a Demon."

"Right," Luke agreed. "Our contract had a lot more protections than I thought should happen for a regular investigation contract."

Gale nodded. "Yeah, it did." It had way more than I remember. Our report will be going straight to the top of the chain. Sure, the Council is corrupt, but is trust so fragile in Fiore that they can't even handle a Necromancer being the culprit? He knocked on Luke's chest. "I'll be back. I gotta take a leak."

"You really need to watch your language," Luke muttered, disapproving.

Gale quirked an eyebrow. "Deepest apologies, My Liege, allow me to rephrase my vulgar vernacular. I have to urinate." He rolled his eyes against Luke's miffed look. "I'll be back." He ignored Luke's mumble of you didn't have to be so sarcastic and headed out of the room. The lobby was overwhelmed with mourners, but he avoided them for the bathrooms. To his relief, not too many men were inside.

He found a urinal far enough from away from the others, stuffed his gloves in his pockets, and did his business. How the Hell are we supposed to milk a confession? Sure, we can catch him in the act of a slip-up, but that means nothing without viable proof he did it. I don't feel confident turning him into the MBI with all these loose ends being murdered and burned down. We need to catch him now, but how? He finished doing his business, flushed the urinal, and went to watch his hands.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…

Gale scrubbed between his fingers. Think, Redfox, think. You were on a murder case before with two inhuman psychos. What happened before? He closed his eyes as he tried to remember. I stayed and protected Vanderbilt, but… What did the Old Man have everyone else do? They did reconnaissance and kept to the area, but… The memories came back. He had…one of them act as a lure, right? They were bait.

He opened his eyes to rinse off the soap. But how are we supposed to do that? Sure, bait would help, but all the bait is dead—

Rubies widened. That's it. They're dead.

Gale hurried to dry his hands and threw out the towels. His rush out of the bathroom caused him to crash into someone. Overwhelming spray plugged his nose, but he had no time to recoil when his mind was whirling. He zipped back to the room, and Luke was alarmed when he was grabbed.

"What?" Luke whispered, annoyed. "The eulogies are about to start—"

"Necromancy," Gale panted. "Could you do what you did to Kasane again if I asked you?"

"What? I-I-I—!" Luke blinked rapidly as he tried to process what was being asked of him and the sad memory of Kasane's body. "I-I—! I don't know, I…! Maybe? But I can't promise about my control—"

"Never mind that," Gale was quick to dismiss. "Could you revive, say, five bodies?"

Luke gaped. "'Five bodies'? What the—? No! N-No, I'm surprised I could control one, but five? Why would you even ask me that? Why would you want me to revive five—?" His sentence choked to an abrupt cut-off. "No."

Gale nodded when he saw Luke caught on. "Yes." He held Luke in place when he tried to jerk away. "Luke, Luke, think about it, okay? Just think about it! Look, I know this is crazy, okay? And I know you're freaked you could turn it around, but this is our chance. This, right here—this batshit crazy idea I'm storming—is our only chance, but it can only work if you're willing to work with me."

The five sets of parents came upon the stage. Diane led the charge as she cleared her throat into the microphone. "If everyone wouldn't mind taking their seats, we would like to begin today's procession."

Luke took off his glasses, cleaned them, and put them back on. "Gale…"

"Whatever it takes," Gale pressed. "Those victims deserve justice, Luke. Whatever it takes."

Luke looked up at the ceiling, torn and helpless. "What if I lose control?"

"You didn't lose control with Kasane," Gale hurried to point out.

"But that's…!" Luke sighed as he knew he was being cornered. "That was…different, Gale; it just felt…different." He looked at his hands. "I wasn't using my powers normally—not really. I was using half my blood-right and half my Zen." His hands went to fists. "But I don't know if I could do it again. I was just…following my emotions."

"Then follow your emotions again," Gale insisted. "Look, I know it's insane, but Luke, we said we would give these victims justice whatever it takes. It takes this. It takes you and me doing something pretty fucking ballsy that no one in the CID or the MBI would dare to do." He let go of a conflicted Luke and murmured, "Be brave, Luke. Do what you did for Kasane. Otherwise, we're dishonoring these victims and letting them die in unrest. Otherwise, we're disgracing their memory."

Luke closed his eyes and took three steady breaths. "I can't afford to lose control." He opened his eyes as he looked at the stage as Diane carried on her space. "You'll have to stop me if I get to that point, okay? Whatever it takes?"

"Right." Gale looked at the stage. "Whatever it takes." He settled against the wall. My half-baked plan is coming together, but we still have some time to figure things out. It's about time I look through the tech Genius offered us and read that contract down to the detail. He sighed. But for now, better settle in. This is about to be a long ass funeral.

The tributes and eulogies came in surplus. Friends were the first to give their speeches as it rotated between the five. These friends had come from clubs and teams and fellow classmates and some from religious organizations and volunteer centers. Some gave profound speeches and could get through every word. Some gave perfunctory, short words. And others could not get through what they had written down and had broken into cries. Jokes were shared with warm memories passed around. Because that was the point of this viewing. Not only did you share in the grief of a loved one's passing, but you shared in the life that loved one shared with the world.

Gale barely listened. It was not that he did not have sympathy or lacked respect. But his head was wrapped into other things.

"I need better results than that to report to Invel before I can return to Her Highness."

That voice. I'm sure that was the voice from Blondie's memory. He ever said 'Her Highness'. That was the man who raped her. But he was also with Luke too. His memory isn't as clear as Blondie's, but I could tell there were a lot of people around. And he addressed Luke as 'Etherious'. This must've been when Luke's scent changed permanently and Uncle Natsu told me Luke was a full Demon.

Gale shifted his weight. The name 'Invel'. I don't think I've heard of that name. I'm sure I could trust Luke with my secret that I can see into the past, but would he even remember? It's a long shot, but I'll have to chance it if I want to catch Blondie's rapist. I have his scent. But if Luke has a name, I can track him down. His eyes darkened with anguish. How could this happen to her? And I wasn't there to protect her.

His jaw locked. I know I still have a long way to go until I can do things the right way, but I can still remember how vulnerable she was. How unsafe she felt. Her panic attack. I just want her to feel safe again. But I don't want to fuck things up. He exhaled through his nose. Those kisses were a mistake. I don't want to risk something like that again. But I need to be there for her one way or another. I don't want her to go through this alone. Fuck.

He looked up at the ceiling. Dammit, Igneel. Where the Hell are you when I need you? When she needs you?

Luke watched as a close friend of Cassie had come up with a finished piece of art he dedicated to his good friend. I never thought a murder case would take us to this point. A teenage Necromancer who has been playing puppet master with his victims to keep up his charade. I don't know if it's a good thing that I'm becoming numb to all this or a bad thing. A heaved breath as he leaned his head on the wall.

Sensei would've handled this right. He wouldn't be afraid. He'd have control. Another sigh. I wish he'd respond. It's been past three months since he left Magnolia and he hasn't said a word. I hope he's okay. He promised we'd do specialized training before the Inter-Guild Training Camp, but I guess we don't be able to now. I wonder what he'd think of me now after Alvarez. I'm a Demon now. Would he…still want to train me?

"What race you are, the family you come from, the side you're one—none of that concerns me or Fairy Tail." Strong words with strong eyes. "Don't think for a moment what you are defines you. It's what you do that defines you. If you don't think you can understand that or understand why I train you, then you have no business being my student furthermore and you're dismissed from training tonight."

Luke thought, I know a lot of people think he's harsh and cold-hearted. He might not be the nicest and he has high expectations. But he's always believed in me. He shows his kindness in a different way that I can understand. I thought I could never amount to much. Igneel was the talented one between us. He had all this personality and…

His eyes went downcast. I was always afraid if I got stronger….Igneel might do something worse than burn my books. I didn't want to be a threat. I know it's different now, but… I was so afraid. And Sensei helped me get through it. I wish he was here now.

He closed his eyes. But he's not here. And I'm still his student. Which means I still have to honor his name. Human, Demon—whatever I am—none of that matters. I am the student of Mystogan Fernandes. And I didn't come here to disgrace his name.

He opened his eyes, a resolved honeyed ambers. We've come to this town to bring these victims justice. I can't let my fears stop me. I've been working nonstop with Dad to try and get a handle on all this. I don't have it figured out, but it doesn't matter. I can do enough to solve this case and give those victims the same peace Sensei gave me. Whatever it takes.

Family gave their speeches next, heartfelt and personal. Some doled apologies as they descended into tears while others kept on a smile as they talked about good times. It was the parents who finished the wake, each with their prepared speeches. Religion would partake in the ceremony later when everyone rejoined at the cemetery. The wake was drawn into the close and final goodbyes to the open caskets were made until they were closed.

It was time for the burial.

As everyone dispersed, Luke and Gale tunneled through the crowd to get to the five sets of parents who had huddled together to harness their grief and get through this day. But they perked in hope and tears when they saw both boys.

"Have you found the killer?" Diane hoped.

"Not yet," Gale said regrettably. "But we do have an idea about how to lure out the killer." He cast the parents all a serious look. "But the idea requires something that's unethical and unorthodox. Having said that, we can promise you your children will know peace by the end of tonight."

The parents glanced at each other.

Luke came forward, somber. "I know right now is a horrible time. Right now, you've lost pieces of yourself when your children died. You're staving off your grief to be strong until you get home tonight to fall apart." Honeyed ambers darkened. "That pain… It's unbearable. I can't imagine being a parent who lost a child. That pain will be your burden to bear until you get your chance at a final rest."

"Can you do me a favor? Can you tell my parents…that I loved them? And I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused them? And can you tell them I found a place where I could read all I wanted?"

He tensed. "But your children deserve a final rest. Their souls deserve to be at peace their killer was caught. And we were hired so not only the dead could know that peace, but so the living could as well. That's why"—he looked at the parents with a steep determination and a hand on his chest—"put your faith in us that we'll make sure you and your children can rest at ease. We're willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that, but we need your help. Please. Let us do our job for your sake and for theirs. Let us help them find a place they can properly say goodbye and find their paradise."

Gale was in shock and awe at Luke's declaration, but he added nothing to it when he saw how moved the parents had become. I was wrong. He's no nerd. He crossed his arms, impressed. Newfound respect filled him. He really is a prince.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

And then…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The funeral parade was a long affair. Mister Hollifield had gotten a flag for the car. The Guard offered its escort services as traffic stopped for the lengthy parade. There was no stopping. The dead deserve to be put into the ground immediately.

The cemetery they rolled to was large and expanding. Not because the cemetery was full, but this was all in preparation for more bodies to come. A morbid thought, but death was a part of this cruel fate called life. Five graves had been dug with their tombstones ready. Five graves that would lay side-by-side. Five friends would lay together in the afterlife. Spiritless did things the normal way, as opposed to Wizards. Wizards would hire a Telekinetic Wizard to lower a grave into the ground and the burial would be done by an Earth Mage. But Spiritless reveled in the tradition of it all.

Luke and Gale decided to stand under a tree nearby. They did not need to be close to hear the prayers, after all. Gale sat against the tree with his eyes closed, but he was plotting, not dozing. Luke leaned against the tree, but he decided to stand and focus on the prayers.

"Miaow…"

Luke looked down when Lord Black the Shadow Cat had made his arrival and purred, butting his head against Luke's leg. "You really get around for an outdoor cat." He smiled when the Shadow Cat raised his paws. "And you're needy." He scooped up Lord Black and chuckled when the cat offered loving rubs and bunting. "Thank you. You'd make a nice therapy cat."

Lord Black purred louder and offered a loving nip.

Luke thumbed the Shadow Cat's stomach as he listened to the funeral procession. This could take a while. He turned his head and was stunned at who he saw smoking a distance away. That's the old man from before. He looked down at the Shadow Cat. "Is that why you came down? You felt him?"

The Shadow Cat blinked at him.

Luke looked back at the old man with his cigarette. He was close enough to look part of the ceremony, but he was far enough away to discourage people from questioning him. Is that Henry Marvelo in disguise? It's a baseless theory. Just because someone looks creepy doesn't make them a murderer. But something about him isn't right. He whispered, "Cullen? Check out that man for me."

Cullen faded out of Luke's shadow and slipped into the shadows of the cemetery.

Gale felt his Compact vibrate and pulled himself out of his thoughts to open his eyes and check it. An email had dropped from Genius and he expanded it to read the report given to him. His eyebrows slammed together. No shit… "Luke, look at this."

Luke turned his head as Gale stood up and showed his Compact. "What's this?"

"It's the report we had Genius get about the Marvelo family," Gale said. "Take a look at Mister Eric Marvelo."

Luke looked at the profile as he stroked the Shadow Cat. "It looks like Eric Marvelo was a machine operator. But he lost his job around a decade ago. As of now—" His eyes widened. "Is this real?"

"Yeah." Gale looked at the funeral procession. "We've got a half-baked plan that's getting more and more thought out by the minute. But this is about to get messy." He smirked. "Still got those balls you had at the funeral home?"

"Yeah." Luke, too, looked at the funeral. "I'm ready."

"Good." Gale looked down at his Compact at the profile of Eric Marvelo. "Because it's time we teach this guy how he can't get away with murder." He looked at Eric's missing person's status.

And he shut down his Compact.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

And that night…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

KAA… KAA… KAA…

Cemeteries at night were not as terrifying as you would think. There were no ghosts or wandering souls. The crows who came to visit also had other birds who came for a late feed or somewhere to rest. No owls hooted nor did a wind blow or a gate creaked. The moon was all set up in the sky with her stars for a clear night. She had no intentions of fogging up this night with clouds.

The streets were quiet. The cemetery did not lie on a busy street, but that did not mean it was the only thing on the street. Across the street were darkened houses and further up the street was a small center with a five-hundred-jewel pizza shop, a barbershop, and a tax office. All in all, it was normal.

KAA… KAA… KAA…

They came from the woods. The woods safeguarded the cemetery with a few acres prior to hitting a few bigger houses, but they were a safe place to hide. It would have been enough to wear a hoodie and pants, but they had wizened up with a black face mask as well. They triple-checked that the houses were dark and no cars would pedal down the street before they crept into the lone cemetery. Their steps crunched the grass, but they avoided the melting snow.

KAA… KAA… KAA…

The graves had been freshly buried. A Wizard's burial would have included a Wiccan to have grown the grass or a tree, but Spiritless were all for tradition. The dirt had been patted down and the grass would go with love and care. The flowers had been collected, and the tombstones had been power washed. All had been done in the proper order to cast away five friends who died untimely deaths.

KAA… KAA… KAA…

A shadow pasted upon the generous gravestone of Sandrine Roster.

KAA… KAA… KAA…

Crows shuffled away, but the moon kept her skies clear.

They knelt before the grave with gloved fingers closing over the inscription of the stone to trace each letter of her name. "Sandy… You won't deserve to be in there. You're perfect. Everyone should see how perfect you are." They got to their feet and dug into their pocket to pull out a silver pocket watch and checked the time. "We don't have a lot of time. We have to go to our new home. We can be together without all those other people judging us. Just you and me."

They put away their pocket watch. "It'll be you and me forever. Just like we always wanted." They hovered their hand over the grave as that darkness spiraled around his hand. "It's time to go—"

"Where are we going?"

They froze.

A tepid wind trekked across the cemetery.

They slowly turned around. "S-S-Sandy?"

Sandrine Roster was every bit as beautiful as stories had said. She had been well-dressed in a nice cream gown with her hair straightened to come past down her shoulders. Those big dark brown eyes looked at them in innocent curiosity. "Hi."

"I…" They stepped towards her like a man possessed. "You… You came for me?"

She smiled prettily for him. "Of course I did. You promised me we were going to be together forever." Her smile fell for uncertain and she looked away. "But…if you were lying…"

"No, no, I'm not!" They rushed to her and enveloped her in a fierce hug. "I'm so sorry I got here so late," they whispered. "I had to finish up some things, but we can leave now. We can be together." They pulled away to land a hand on her cheek with such familial delicacy. "We'll go somewhere where no one will find us, Sandy. Where we can love each other and no one will judge us."

Sandy offered him a relieved smile. "Really? We can?"

"Yes. I told you I'd do anything for us, remember?" They pressed a kiss on her lips. "No one will get in the way anymore," they whispered onto her lips. "You'll be all mine like it was always meant to be." They fervently kissed her again.

It felt like an eternity when they pulled back, drunk off their contentment. Sandy stared into their eyes with those charming browns of hers and she murmured, "Thank you for coming back for me. I was so afraid you wouldn't. But now that you have…everything will turn out perfect."

They wanted to shower her in assurances and love—

"Why are you touching my girlfriend?"

They stiffened. An old anger infested them because they recognized the voice. "You." They turned their head to meet the deceased and angry Xiao Nai. Handsome with dark brunette hair and dressed in a gray suit, he looked like every bit of the lacrosse captain as he should be. "You were always getting in the way."

Nai sneered at them. "I wasn't getting in the way. Get away from my girlfriend!"

"She isn't yours!" they snapped back. "You were the one getting in the way! You were just using her and manipulating her! I'm the one who can actually love her!" That darkness spiraled in their hand. "And you won't stop us anymore!" He speared the darkness towards Xiao Nai's chest—

Nothing happened.

Xiao Nai still glared at him as he walked the earth, angry as all get out.

"What?" They tried again, but Nai was storming over. "No… No, this should be working. Wh-Wh-Why isn't this working—? Nnnngh!" The words stopped when a punch was dished onto their jaw and they crumbled to the ground.

Nai stood above him with murder in his eyes. "Get up," he snarled. "I'm not done beating the shit out of you for everything you put her through, you son of a bitch."

"No… No, you're dead." They scrambled back with their breathing erratic. "I-I-I killed you. He told me I could control you—!" The words were choked out when Nai dragged him up by his collar, only to blow him back with two punches to the gut.

"You sick asshole!" Nai hissed. "What the Hell is wrong with you? You killed us and for an entire year, you forced me to watch every night when you raped her in front of me! Her fucking dead body!" He kicked him in the gut before dragging them up for another punch in the face. "You don't deserve to live! You deserve to be in the ground instead of us!"

Their breathing had spiraled into fearful wheezes as they scrambled to get away. "You're dead!" they cried. "You're supposed to listen to me!" Panicked, they brought out their pocket watch and pleaded, "Make him stop! You said I could control them—Ah!"

Nai had dragged them up again with a fist pulled back. "You might've killed me, but I'm going to make sure you're six feet under, you bitch!"

They flailed and could feel that they had soiled themselves. Sweat clumped under their arms, but they had no shame. "Wait!" he cried as tears pooled into his eyes. "N-N-No! Don't!"

"Nai, wait!"

Deceased and living stilled when Sandrine had drifted over with an unreadable look in her eye. She laid a hand on Nai's arm as she stared at them. "Don't do this," she told Nai. "Don't kill him."

At her order, Nai dropped him.

They heaved huge breaths as they hurried back. They glanced back at the woods before they shot a desperate look at Sandrine. "Sandy, come now. We have to go." But when she did not move, the noose of panic around his heart tightened. "Why aren't you listening to me? We have to go—!"

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

They froze in disbelief when a cold expression had come onto Sandrine's normally warm face. "S-S-Sandy?"

Sandrine lifted her chin. "You killed me. You killed all of us." The words spilled out as empty fact. "You murdered us. And you forced us to stay alive for an entire year."

"I-I-I…!" They did not understand what was happening. Dizziness swelled in his head, and their breathing tasted like blood. "I-I didn't mean to kill you." He pointed at Nai. "He's the one who made me do it! He was attacking you! I couldn't let him do it—!"

"He wasn't attacking me," Sandrine cut in with a growl. "You crept in on us when we were having sex. I wanted him with me. And you killed us."

"You're lying," they claimed, but their voice did not come out as strong and convicted. "H-H-He was forcing himself on you—"

"He was fucking me and I wanted it!" Sandrine thundered. "And you killed him for it! And you killed me because I didn't want you, didn't you?" Her eyes turned frosty when they said nothing and could only heavily breathe. "You killed me because—!"

"I didn't mean to kill you!" they sobbed. "B-B-But you wouldn't listen to me! We were so happy together this year—"

"You controlled my body," Sandrine scathingly interjected as that cold mask broke for crazed despair. "You used me like your own toy. You killed all of us and you controlled all of us—!"

"I-I thought I'd make you happy if I brought back your friends!"

Sandrine looked like she did not know if she needed to laugh hysterically or sob horrendously. "I was never happy being your toy! You killed my boyfriend! You killed my friends! You killed me! You killed me!" Nai comforted her when she hiccupped, eyes wide. "I can't even cry. I'm dead. I'm actually dead." Those browns showed such madness. "You killed me."

"You killed me," Nai echoed.

"You killed me… You killed me…"

They were brought into the shock of their life when the dressed bodies of Daniel, Duke, and Cassie had come from the shadows as they repeated their mantra. Eyes deadened, they moved like drifters as their mouths moved. Such words repeated in that done set off something inside them. Their heart beat so hard that they could hear it in their ears. The panic and fear that tormented them clogged every thought and chained their body. It was that sort of fear and panic that made your knees numbingly tingle and your calves weak.

"You killed me… You killed me…"

"No," they whispered. "You're supposed to be under my control. You're supposed to listen to what I say." They stepped back when all five came closer. "Don't come near me!" they cried in warning. "Stay away from me!" But when the five ignored the command, they turned tail and ran—

"How come you dropped out of school?"

They stumbled back when Kasane was before them with her large glasses and Poko sweater. She looked at him with such a cold expression and asked, "I was worried about you. How come you left?"

"You're dead," they whispered, shaken. "No… I never brought you back." They needed to flee. None of this was supposed to be happening. In a burst of nervous desperation, their heels pivoted, and they rushed through the cemetery with nothing more than soiled pants and a heart too heavy. Why isn't it working? He said I controlled them! He promised it!

"Why did you tell me your secret?"

They skidded to a stop when Elizabeth Marvelo came out from the shadows with her head cocked like a doll and flies around her head. "No…"

Elizabeth reached for him and whispered, "Do you have another secret?"

They screeched like a Banshee as they backed away. "Get away from me!" But they jumped when they bumped into something large and whirled around only to pale. "N-N-Not you…"

A man of average size was behind him, but it was the anger on his face that was most recognizable, and those beady eyes that always carried a burning hatred. "You killed me," he snarled. "You killed me, you stupid little shit!"

Have you ever had that sort of overwhelming anxiety and panic that your mind and body dissociated from each other? A madness stormed your head with a thousand thoughts that should have paralyzed you, but your body reacted in ways you would not understand until your mind caught up with it. That madness raged around them as they hyperventilated. But they flinched back when they heard the ground rip.

A sickening terror fed into their overbearing madness when graves, undisturbed, had their bodies dig out from the dirt, decomposed. Some were skeletons with their clothes almost taken by casket dwellers. Others were half-decomposed carcasses with hair missing, an eye gone, and they dragged a nauseating liquid with each crooked step they took, unused to walking after being dead.

"You killed us…" they chanted, deranged. "You killed us… You killed us…"

They could not speak. Their pathetic tears and sniveling were all they had left.

Elizabeth slowly tipped her head to the other side. "Are we all your secrets now?"

"Did you think we'd forget who murdered us?" Kasane asked.

Sandrine approached with Nai close beside her. "Did you think we'd watch you live while we all died?"

"You killed us…" The murmurs blended together in a haunting melody. "You killed us…"

Their eyes darted around, but an escape was impossible when dozens of the deceased had dragged themselves to them with their reminder of their murderer. Their shaking hands and pounding heart jerked them and they roared, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

MERA-MERA!

Cursed Fire sprung around him in a messy shield. Flames the same crimson as blood with streaks of black billowed to keep the revived deceased at bay, who were not afraid. They cowered in the protective circle of the accursed flames only to stagger down to their knees, wide-eyed and frantic. They wretched out their pocket watch and yanked up their sleeve to show the demonic tattoo that would stay with them for a lifetime.

"Help me!" they beseeched in a sob. "They won't listen to me! Help me! You said you'd help me! Please!"

A cold frown. "You were given unfathomable power and you have the audacity to think you're the one who wields it?"

They looked up when the shadow of a person imprinted on the flames. The Cursed Flames that were supposed to protect him caved to this new person and parted almost obediently. They scrambled back with their pocket watch clutched like pearls when this figure of glowing red eyes entered with a shadowed beast from Hell. They whipped out their hand, frantic. "Get away from me!" The darkness spiraled from their hand to pierce the shadow.

The shadowed feline beast from Hell protected him and absorbed the darkness with a lick of its lips.

They could not believe it. Nothing made sense. "Why isn't it working? He said he'd give me power! He said he'd help me so no one got in my way anymore!"

Those reds narrowed in contempt. "Your Demon told you the truth. Demons can't tell flat-out lies to contract their Warlocks. But you see…"—they stepped forward and those accursed flames emphasized Luke's frigid expression with those piercing reds and his hair a mixture of black and pink—"the devil is in the details, Henry Marvelo."

Henry scrambled against the dirt. He could not do this. He had to run. He had to get out of here. He went to part the Cursed Fire, but the fire snapped back at him with the intention to burn him to the ground. He could feel its writhing rage as it climbed new heights. The Cursed Fire was not protecting him as he had cast. It was caging him.

Sweat clung to his brow as the toxic fumes helped none with the dizziness of his head. In a pathetic murmur, he pleaded, "Stop it! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"And what exactly did you do?" Luke's words were as bloodthirsty as the surrounding flames. The Shadow Cat crouched low as it circled Henry while Luke went counterclockwise, both their red eyes always on their prey. "Because I know what you did, Henry. I know your secret."

Henry whimpered. "Stop it! I'm sorry!" He lurched to try his hand at escape, but something had tackled him and restrained him. Vines and earth had shot up to force Henry down to his knees and chains his hands and arms to the ground. Henry sniveled and sobbed. "I'm sorry!"

"And what are you sorry about?" Luke questioned without an ounce of sympathy. He had no sympathy for murderers. "Are you sorry that you murdered innocent people or are you sorry that you got caught?"

"I didn't mean to!" Henry wept, but that weeping turned into choking when the Cursed Fire flared higher.

Luke shook his head in mocking disappointment. "Don't you know that the power you desperately wanted feeds off of sins? Like death…or lies?" Those reds gleamed. "Each lie you tell will add literal fuel to the fire, Henry. So I suggest you tell me the truth, otherwise I don't think I can control what these flames want. And we both know what these flames want to do to you, Henry."

Henry sniveled and croaked, "Please… I'm sorry… He made me do it—!" His eyes widened when the flames went higher and wailed, "I-I-I-I'm not lying! I didn't mean to kill anyone—!" And the flames grew higher, but the circle they had made started to shrink. They were closing in on their victim to burn.

"Oh, Henry." Luke stopped before Henry like an executioner before the convicted. "We all know that's a lie."

The Shadow Cat paced behind with calculating steps as though daring Henry to try to escape again, but the earth would not allow Henry to escape.

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" Luke took deliberate steps to circle him with his hands clasped behind his back. "I know your mother was a kind woman. Misses Detroit and all your mother's coworkers said she was such a kind person who had such bad things happen to her. But you knew that, didn't you, Henry? You knew your mother was suffering. As a child, you watched day in and day out as she suffered under that man."

Henry sobbed.

"But you loved your mother so much," Luke continued, unaffected. "She was the one who cleaned the sweat off you and read to you and loved you. And every night, you both would have a cute routine of exchanging little secrets which was a code for your nightly 'I love you's. You'd do anything to make your mother happy the way she made you happy. Anything." He added in a drawl, "Unless…you couldn't. You were just a child. How could you do anything to help your mother? You were a sweaty, disgusting, defenseless child with no power. You couldn't do anything to help the only person who loved you. You were useless. You were weak."

"I'm not useless," Henry got out. "Y-You don't understand!"

"I don't understand that your father would beat your mother. Is that it?"

Henry froze.

Luke went on: "I don't understand that you had to listen in the walls when your father would come home drunk to 'claim his woman'? I don't understand how you heard your mother cry in her room and you saw how exhausted and afraid she was? I don't understand that?"

"He's a monster," Henry whispered. "He hurt her so much. How could he hurt her?"

Luke cocked his head. "You're right. He was a monster," he agreed. "But then again… You hurt her too. Didn't you, Henry? You hurt her with your secret."

"No," Henry tried to refute, but it was weak and terrified. "I'm not the monster. He's the monster! He would've killed her! He would've killed my mom! You don't understand! You don't understand how he'd make her bleed! I couldn't let her get hurt anymore! I had to do it! I had to get him away!" Those fumes from the flames thickened his throat and he rasped, "I had to kill him. He was a monster. He deserved to die."

Luke lifted a finger. "And that was your first secret, wasn't it, Henry? That was the secret you and your mother kept together. Because she knew you killed him because you told her with that big smile on your face that you had a secret that would make her happy. And you showed her the body. Only…she wasn't happy like you thought, was she?"

"She was… She was just shocked," Henry blindly reasoned. "But she was happy again. She promised me we'd keep it a secret. She promised me. She told me it would stay our secret the monster was gone."

"You slew the monster. Good for you." Luke's tone dripped with contempt. "You felt like a hero. Your mother was happy and you two could be a family again. You didn't care that you didn't have very many friends. You had your mother. Kasane was nice, but no one could be as nice to you as your mother. That's when you met Sandrine."

Henry's eyes flared with emotion. "Stop."

"She was so nice to you," Luke continued. "And she was beautiful too. You'd never seen someone so beautiful like her be kind to you outside your own mother."

Henry shut his eyes, erratic. "Stop it."

"You could treat her the way your father should've treated your mother," Luke went on. "Her smile was just like your mother's. And you knew it from all the times she showed you care. You fell in love with her. And you thought she loved you too."

"Because she did!" Henry blurted. "She did love me!"

"Then why was she dating another man?"

Henry's eyes shifted back and forth. "Other people got in the way. He got in the way. He was forcing himself on her. Sandrine wouldn't let someone that disgusting ruin her body like that! No, she's… She's perfect. And she's so nice."

"Yes…" The hiss left Luke's mouth like a snake. "She is perfect. The way she laughed at your jokes was perfect and how she'd ask about your life and offer to get you lunch when your mother couldn't scrape lunch money… She was perfect. She was all yours. You bought her gifts, and you dreamed in that trailer when you two could be together. Everything was in place. But there were too many people in the way. You saw others were trying to stop you."

"They didn't understand." A crazed glint entered Henry's eyes. "We were made for each other. She understood me. No one else understood me. All she had to do was be with me and we could be happy. But everyone else was in the way."

"That's right. Everyone else was in the way." Luke's voice had taken a turn, like the serpent who lured Eve in biblical times with the forbidden fruit. "But you decided it was time for you and her to be alone. That's when you told her about the cabin, isn't it?"

"It was supposed to be just us," Henry said like it was justified.

"But it wasn't. You told her about the cabin, but others got in the way, didn't they, Henry?"

The words spilled out like Henry had no choice. "We were supposed to be together. But those other people were in the way. I saw Nai. I saw him raping her. He was ruining her. I couldn't let him do that to her. She was mine. We were going to be together. So I killed him."

"And then you and Sandrine had no one else between you," Luke whispered. "But…just like your mother, she wasn't happy with your little secret, was she?"

"She was shocked. I didn't mean to kill her," Henry said in excuse. "She wouldn't stop screaming. And other people got in the way. We didn't need anyone else standing in our way. I thought if I killed them, she could be with me. But she wouldn't stop. I-It was an accident. I-I-I…" He looked up at Luke as though pleading for his mercy. "It was an accident. Please. I didn't mean to kill her. I love her."

Luke tilted his head. "I know you love her. That's why you revived her." He lifted his chin. "Your search history was hard to track down, but everyone has a file somewhere. And your search history from last year spoke you looked up every way on how to revive a person until you came across an old forum. And that forum explained to you about one way you and Sandrine could be together again." His hand radiated darkness and the pocket watch from Henry had come into Luke's hand. "Necromancy."

"Give it back—!" Henry was stopped when those vines caught him and the earth sucked him down. "That's mine! He said he would help me! He said he would give her back to me and she'd love me!"

"He said a lot of things, didn't he?" Luke dangled the pocket watch. "He was right. He did give her back to you. He gave you Necromancy to revive Sandrine. You could control her. She'd love you. She'd have sex with you. She was perfect. But the Demon didn't explain everything to you about Necromancy. He wouldn't dare. Because if he had, you'd know that a dead person with no will to live would want to die."

"I brought back her friends," Henry whispered. "I thought it'd make her happy. We were happy."

"I'm sure you were happy, Henry," Luke mocked. "The Demon kept his promise. I'm sure the Demon even helped you with a plan so you wouldn't get caught. You'd have to pretend everything was fine during the day, but at night, it could be you and Sandrine and no one else. But you messed up, Henry," he chided. "Why did you tell your mother your secret?"

"I thought she would understand," Henry said. "We told each other everything. I thought she'd be happy for me. She always kept my secrets—" He shook his head and whimpered pitifully, "I didn't mean to kill her. It was an accident."

"Because everything is an accident with you, isn't it? The Demon made you do it." Luke clicked his tongue in disapproval. "I'll offer a counter, Henry." He tossed the pocket watch between his hands, darkly amused at how worried Henry looked about it.

"You told your mother your secret late at night. You felt proud of yourself that you worked everything out. But your mother wasn't as happy for you as you thought. She was devastated her sweet Henry had murdered five people. But you told her that you fixed it. You showed her. You introduced her to Sandrine and how you two would be together now. But your mother couldn't take it. She panicked. She looked at you in the same way she looked at your father." He caught the pocket watch. "She looked at you like you were a monster."

"He was the monster!" Henry shouted. "He hurt her! I'd never hurt Sandrine—!"

"But you killed her," Luke snarled. "You killed her and tormented her corpse for a year—!"

"She loved me!" Henry cried. "I know she did! Everyone else was getting in the way! Mom wouldn't listen to me! She wouldn't listen to me when I told her I was happy and she wouldn't keep my secret! So I—!"

"So you murdered her to tie up a loose end."

Henry sniveled and begged, "It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it. She just wouldn't understand. He told me—"

"Henry." Luke crouched down to burn him with those red eyes. "I'm going to tell you a secret now. A secret others have always guessed, but it's a secret I know." He leaned forward to whisper in Henry's ear, "A Demon can't tell you to do anything unless you thought of it first. Unless that Demon possessed you, deep down, you wanted to kill your mother when she turned against you."

"That's…" Henry worked his mouth in dazed confusion and shock. "That's… That's not true. You're lying. He made me. H-H-He made me kill her. He made me kill all of them. I didn't do it. It was an accident."

Luke pulled back, tutting. "That's the thing about you humans. You always place the blame for the blood on your hands onto someone else to clear your conscience. But Demons own how they stained their hands. We don't lie about it." He leaned forward and he could see his reflection in those scared eyes. "We don't keep it as a secret." He got up to pace before Henry at such a frazzling speed that it dizzied him.

"Th-This was an accident. Please. I'm sorry," Henry beseeched.

"But you admit that you killed all those people." Luke circled him, but something about his circling had knocked Henry into a buzzed confusion when he saw a shadow glitch after Luke like it was an after-image.

"N-No!" Henry tried to plead. "It was an accident!"

"If it weren't for you, then all eight of your victims would be alive," Luke accused, words rapid-fire. "If it weren't for you, your mother and Sandrine would still be alive right now. If you hadn't contracted that Demon to give you what you wanted, none of this would have happened. Do you deny it?"

"N-N-No, I—!"

Luke snarled, "Then – you're – guilty."

"No, I'm not! I'm not!" Henry cried. "I'm not a murderer!" He yanked and tried his hand as conjuring the darkness—

"Oh, Henry, you're in trouble again." Darkness balled into one of Luke's hands as he looked down upon Henry with the Shadow Cat behind him in its Hellcat Form, tail whipping back and forth, and the flames of death towered high and cackling for bloodshed and to burn. He showed the pocket watch. "But your Demon isn't here to save you."

Henry gaped when Luke single-handedly crushed the pocket watch. "No…" His chest lurched when claws had gunned from his neck. His pants were ruined and vomit would come up any time now.

"Oh… This looks familiar," Luke purred. "I'm sure this was the look of your victims before they died."

Henry tried one last desperate appeal. "Please. I know what you are. He told me what you were. H-H-He told me you're a Demon and I had to hide. Please help me! I can't get him away from me! He won't stop talking to me!"

"And how did you hide from me?" Luke questioned.

"He made me buy something. Anti-Ether! H-H-H-He said it was called Anti-Ether!" Henry remembered, eager to please, eager to submit. "H-H-He told me if I sprayed some on my clothes, you wouldn't be able to find me!" Hope and relief coddled him when those claws caressed his chin. "Help me get away from him, please. I know he's scared of you. He told me you're a powerful Demon. I could help you find him and no one would get hurt again—Nnngh!"

A hand had grabbed his throat and pressed down to choke him.

Luke watched as Henry struggled and gagged for air against the hold. "Oh, Henry… You have no idea, do you?" Darkness pulled around him until the whites of his eyes had transitioned into black with gleaming sanguine irises. "Your Demon was right to fear me. But for you to beg for my mercy as an insignificant human is offensive."

He pressed down harder and watched a vein pulsed as warm tears streamed down Henry's face. "It's time for me to tell you my little secret." He leaned down with a cold whisper, "I am the Demon Prince."

Henry could not process when his body ripped away from the earth. He clawed at Luke's hand with his feet dangling off the ground, but nothing would work. He had no air. His body numbed as blood and vomit fizzled up his throat, but they had nowhere to go. His struggles were futile, even his mind told his body to keep trying.

But Luke watched as his prey squirmed with those demonic eyes that begged to see Death. "You were right, Henry." His lips curled into a smirk with fang. "It's about time we tied up loose ends." His thumb shifted to sink his claw slowly into flesh. "Kasane says she's waiting for you. I'll make sure you don't keep her long." His eyes gleamed. "This is goodbye, Warlock." His claw pushed into skin—

The Cursed Fire scattered so abruptly that Luke was distracted. The crimson flames ready to burn the world to the ground had abandoned their duty to ball together in torrid eternal flames as they reeked of blood and death. But they took a new shape. Wings expanded as the Cursed Fire morphed into the flaming body of a creature. No, it was not just a creature.

Glowing emerald.

Luke stilled. The madness that cackled in his head and moved through his body was silence. His eyes widened in such disbelief when he saw a phoenix had been made of such accursed flames. A phoenix that flapped its wings before him with glowing emerald eyes that would not leave his gaze.

Luke could not help it. "Igneel?"

Henry was dropped to the ground in a heap.

Luke stared at the phoenix in a mixture of disbelief and awe. "Igneel…" He stepped towards the flames. "Is that…? Is that you…?" But his next step was with a weak knee as his eyes fluttered as he went down. Cullen caught him in time as black abandoned his hair for pink, and the Shadow Cat pounced on Henry to make sure he stayed down. The phoenix dispersed into flames and that smoked themselves out with not even embers or ashes remaining.

"Luke!"

Luke groaned in Cullen's arm. A throb and ache covered his body with his eyes closed. Gale sprinted over and got to his knees to check Luke over for injuries before he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I… I think so." Luke opened his eyes for honeyed ambers to collide with rubies. "How do I look?"

Gale slanted a grin at him. "Exceptionally ordinary and pink."

Luke did not even have it in him to be annoyed. He chuckled against the odds. "I'll take it that's a good thing."

"A very good thing. Come on. Up we go." Gale threw Luke's arm over his shoulder, and with Cullen's help, Luke was back to his feet in no time. Gale looked down at the unconscious Henry. "And we caught our murderer." He left Luke to Cullen's care to kneel beside Henry. He bound his wrists and ankles with quartz cuffs. "It's nice to meet you, Henry Marvelo. Or should I say"—he yanked off the hood and the face mask to reveal a skinny face of the "tech" Luke had met—"Eric Givney."

Gale shook his head in unmuted disgust as Cullen helped Luke over. "Fucking delusional parasite," he grunted. "How cliché. Dude sheds all that extra weight, uses his father's name and his mother's maiden name as a fake ID, and manages to pull one over the CID. Stupid ass faked being DeMarcus' 'tech' to go back to the scene of the crime and try to skew evidence and even had the balls to come to the funeral to cry and figure out his plan from that stupid body spray I smelled."

He got back to his feet to dust his hands off and looked around to see all the frozen dead bodies. "Right. I thought I forgot something." He pulled out a cube and clicked it for the cemetery to go back to normal.

"Handy." Gale observed the cube. "An Illusion L-Cube with this powerful of a spell should be illegal. Thank god we have our Genius." He shrugged and pocketed the device. "Well. Looks like all we have to do is call it in. You ready?" He looked at Luke and saw he was looking elsewhere.

Gale followed Luke's gaze and softened. Right. We still have that. He clapped Luke's shoulder. "Why don't you say what you need to say? I'm going to call this in and then I'll be there to help clean up." And he strode away with his Compact pulled out.

Luke looked over the cemetery with his gaze focused on the only other two remaining. Sandrine and Nai sat together on one of the stone benches of the cemetery by their gravestones under the moonlight, leaning on each other for support. Luke pulled away from Cullen, gathered his courage, and ignored his pain to walk over to them. Neither looked up when he approached them and stood to the side.

"Thank you." Sandrine looked over to Luke with clear gratitude in her stare. "Thank you for helping us. Thank you for helping all of us."

Luke gently shook his head. "It's no problem." He looked up at the night sky. "I was surprised I could do it. At first, I had meant to revive all five of you, but I couldn't. I could only revive you one at a time to take your testimonies. But you two were the ones Henry had the strongest feelings for, just on the opposite spectrum. We needed him to believe that you had come back from the dead. And he was easy enough to fool with his delusional disorder and the darkness inside him."

"He tormented us for a year," Nai whispered as he held Sandrine. "We couldn't do anything for the longest time until we started getting some control back. We tried so hard to die again, but…" He trailed off in his anguish.

"His control on you was never meant to be absolute from the start," Luke murmured. "A Necromancer under proper training would reclaim souls with the drive to live. But Henry was too inexperienced and desperate. He revived you against your will. Not only that, but he controlled you to his own will. He did horrible things to you both."

Sandrine sniffled, but she could not cry. "What will happen to him?"

"Our contract states the criminal will be taken into the MBI. Since he is an Ether user and over the age of ten, he's an adult in the eyes of Magic Law," Luke explained. "Which means he'll be sentenced more than likely for life for his crimes against you once we present the evidence."

"Can they even use what we said? I mean… We're dead," Nai despaired. "How are they going to believe us?"

"We'll make them believe you." Luke clenched a hand. "The dead have a right to say their piece just as much as the living. I'm not a law student, but there hasn't been a case like this in a while in Magic Court, which means rules can be added and changed. We'll make them listen to you and make sure Henry is punished. I promise you."

"We know you will," Sandrine murmured. She tucked into Nai's side. "Can we see our parents before we go?"

Luke felt awful when he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you can't. No one is supposed to know I'm a Demon. We can't afford their questions. I'm sure they wouldn't tell anyone, but this is something that no one can know."

"But we can because it'll die with us," Nai filled in the blanks. "Thank you for listening to us." He paused as his bottom lip trembled. "Can you tell my parents that I'll be okay? Can you tell them…to not cry over me? That I don't want that for them?"

Luke swallowed and nodded.

"And can you tell my mom I'm so thankful to her?" Sandrine requested. "I know she was always worried since my dad was never around. But she was amazing to me every single day. And that I'm sorry if I ever made her feel like she wasn't."

"I'll tell them," Luke rasped. "I promise. I'll tell them."

Gale quietly crept up to Luke's side and whispered, "It's all set."

Sandrine looked up at them. "Is it time to go?"

Gale nodded. "It is. We want to make sure you're resting before they come." He added, "But we do have a little while until that happens if you…"

"No." Nai shook his head. "There's only one last thing I want to say." He turned to Sandrine with love in his eyes, love beyond his years, and a deep pain. "I'm sorry I couldn't get that monster off you."

"It wasn't your fault," Sandrine whispered. "And I know it's too late to say this, but… Happy anniversary."

They shared a sad laugh.

Nai thumbed her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sandrine tipped her head up to meet Nai in a kiss meant to cherish their time in life and their mourn of death.

Luke and Gale looked away.

Sandrine and Nai pulled away with understanding passed between them. Nai stood up and held out his hand. Sandrine took it to rise, and she gave both boys a sad smile. "We're ready to go. And thank you both for everything."

"You're welcome," Luke murmured. "I hope you both only know peace where you're going. You can rest now knowing that you won't be forgotten."

Gale went to the graves. He closed his eyes as his powers flared within him. His hands moved, and the earth was his to command. But it was not the same as when an Earth Mage buried a Wizard nor dug up their grave. His powers of nature and earth allowed him to convince the land to part for him. The caskets buried below were untouched, unused, and they were ready to be opened.

Sandrine and Nai walked to the graves. Nai offered Sandrine a last smile. "I'll see you soon."

Sandrine smiled back. "Yeah. See you soon." She looked down at her casket—her final death bed—and she took the plunge the same time Nai did. Their caskets had been filled with flowers and their own books filled with messages to bring with them beyond the crave, but they laid down inside, took one final look at the moonlight, and shut the door on a life that had not been their own.

Gale exhaled as he convinced the earth to close once more. The seeds that had been sprinkled and water over the earth no longer needed two weeks to yield grass. Greens sprouted up to cover all five graves and blend them in with the others who had fallen before them. But he did not stop there. Gladioluses had sprouted in combination with zinnias to rest upon the five graves of those victims to remember their strength and friendship. He stepped back to make sure his work had gone perfectly, but his eyes softened as he read the graves. I hope you all can rest now.

PYUUUUUU…

To Gale's surprise, wafts of energy had sprawled up from the ground of a tinkling gold to spew into the night sky. What…? He turned around to catch Luke in mid-spell as his arms danced like the wind while he mouthed silent words in a language Gale picked up that had come from monks. He watched as that energy dispersed into harmless nothingness.

Luke finished the spell with a deep breath and lowered his hands. He turned his back on the graves. "Their corpses still had traces of Curses inside them. It would have prevented them from moving on until the Curses had cycled out. I hastened the process so they could sleep."

"I see." Gale recognized the depths of Luke's decision.

"Are we done here?" Luke gritted his teeth. "Can we go now?"

Gale strode over to stand at Luke's side. "We've got some time until the MBI comes to collect Henry over there," he murmured. "Even though we're MPIs, they'll want our credentials and try to shake us down. And we still have to tell the parents tomorrow. But"—he looked up at the starry night—"you did a good job tonight. You gave these people the rest they should've gotten a year ago. So if you're going to cry…don't have those tears mean sadness."

"Miaow…"

The innocent Lord Black the Shadow Cat had come to wind around Luke's legs before begging to be picked up. Luke scooped him up as Cullen flashed to stand by his side. He thumbed the purring Shadow Cat with his jaw clenched.

DRIP…

DROP…

"What are you talking about? My tears aren't because I'm sad…" Luke looked up at the moon with his cheeks wet and eyes clouded. "I'm not going to be sad because they died. I…" He sniffled and quickly rubbed his nose. "I-I…"

"I never want to see you cry again. Because I know they were pain behind those tears. And I know I did that." Sad onyx. "The only years I want you to cry…are tears of joy…with a big grin on your face, okay? I know I don't deserve it. But that's all I want for you. Because you're my brother, Luke. And I love you."

Those quivering lips threatening to wail turned it around. "These are tears of joy that these victims can know rest. So I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm crying"—Luke smiled up at the moon through his tears—"because we kept our promise to them. And the dead and the living can know peace now."

Gale smirked. "Heh." He ruffled Luke's hair and teased, "Geez, lookin' all creepy smiling like that, y'know." He sighed as an August breeze crossed through the winter air. He knew that smokey scent tinged with spice.

Igneel… Thank you. I know it was a gamble to bet on you, but… You came back for me when I lost myself. And I knew you'd come back for him too. Now please, when you're ready, come back for Blondie's and Janie's sake too. I know they feel so lost without you. And I don't know how much I can do on my own. He felt that August breeze swirl around him and Luke before the cold set him and he could see his breath.

"Goodbye," Gale breathed. "And thank you."

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Sakura ga saku yo

Mirareta itsumo no sakamichi ni…

Aa, wakare wo

Yeah…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The MBI was less flashy than the Guard. An armored vehicle had been brought with them as a few helped an unconscious Henry Marvelo in the back. The street had been closed down and those who lived across the street had been relocated to a five-star hotel for their inconvenience, but the MBI assured Gale and Luke everything would be reset.

As Gale spoke to the investigator about the case in as much detail as he wanted, Luke glanced over. For a long moment, he thought he saw the smiling ghost of Elizabeth Marvelo. With no dirt and no pain, she looked happier and more alive than she had been dead. But when he blinked, she was gone.

Luke froze. But he offered a sad smile instead. Go in peace.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Naite waratta

Ano hibi nandaka kinou no koto no you

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Amy Diaz was in her office when it happened. She came outside to see professionals from the MBI had stormed into it with a warrant, and the looks on their faces told her that she could not bully them away. The sergeant, who had been speaking with an investigator, had paled upon seeing their unexpected presence, but he had no time to run when he was grabbed and cuffed. She sighed as she watched the arrest, but she caught Howard looking on. He accidentally caught her gaze, fearful, but she offered him a placating nod before retreating into her office…and finishing her resignation letter.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Kono michi wa sou mirai he tsudzukumichi

Sonna kigashitano

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The parents took the news better than expected.

The disbelief was first, and then the tears, and then the celebration. Luke and Gale were bombarded in a swell of emotions as the parents tearfully hugged them and thanked them, even after both boys insisted they did not do much. But Luke was the one to break the news about the wishes the children had for their parents. And a new wave of grief and happiness spilled over as more hugs were doled out and Diane whispered over and over again her thanks.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Reinen yori hayai kaikayasou

Kimi wa ureshigatteta

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

The ride in the SUV was melancholic but rewarding. Mister Hollifield was listening to the sports channel as they spoke about the teams, and both Gale and Mister Hollifield spoke about their thoughts and feelings on the teams who made it to the preliminaries with great gusto. Gale, at one point, glanced over to see that Luke had rested his head against the window, dozed off, and allowed himself a moment of quiet relief before he dove back into conversation with Mister Hollifield.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Watashi wa waratte

[Soudane] tte itta

Ato sukoshi shitara mou

Koko ni wa modorenai no ni…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

POOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!

KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK! KA-CLACK!

CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA!

Luke and Gale had gotten their own private cabin within the train car with the glass door shut. No table was between them, but they sat on opposite sides as Gale read his Compact while Luke read his book. Gale had to grin and share, "Yo, check it out. The CID of Marsilea County had their sergeant arrested for committing fraud on several cases."

Luke stopped reading in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Hell yeah. It looked like this wasn't the only time the sergeant had tried to claim Ether wasn't the cause of death and did unofficial EMRs that were never logged, even when the results were positive," Gale revealed. "My guess is he's been working with a Warlock to make sure shit doesn't hit the fan. It's scary how many authority figures are on someone else's payroll."

Luke was inclined to agree. "Is the entire department getting an audit?"

"Correct. On an interesting note, DeMarcus let me know that Inspector Diaz sent in her resignation. Looks like she smartened up to bail before she was dragged into the mess." Gale shook his head in amusement over the message. "Disgusting. That sergeant is about to understand the fun of Magic Law pertaining to Spiritless. The MBI will fuck him up. Thank god."

Luke hummed. "But it's still horrible that he was doing that. How many more victims out there will know no peace because of him?"

"Nah, once the audit comes back, the MBI will match the unofficial EMRs to any cold cases and reopen investigations," Gale assured. "Those victims will know justice."

"But will they?" Luke challenged. "Look at our case and how our report is getting sent straight to the Lord Magic Speaker himself. I'm sure the MBI will do everything they can, but I'm not sure how much they know about Demons and Warlocks. Curses are considered so rare and taboo that I'm not even sure the processes in place are up-to-date."

Gale considered those statements. "Right now, it's not up to us. But hopefully, with our report on this case, we can make sure that those victims can have a voice. The dead and the living deserve justice." Rubies darkened. "We're gonna make sure those bastards wish they were six feet in the ground." And I'm going to hunt down Blondie's rapist to make sure she can live freely again. He lifted an eyebrow when he saw Luke open his book again. "Hey. What are you reading anyway?"

"Oh." Luke showed his book. "I'm trying to go through this entire series of Lost in Time: Creatures of the Dark Ages," he explained. "Sensei has some volumes I don't think I've seen. It talks a lot about lost species like Dragons, but it also talks about other lost races like Vampires. Right now, I'm reading about the elven race."

"Huh." Gale relaxed in his booth. "Cool."

"It really is fascinating," Luke agreed as he looked at the page. "Elves were such a creative and highly efficient race, according to this publishing. I know the media portrays them all as this Magic Race, but it's not true. Elves could be born Spiritless or with Magic. Their entire culture and their traditions are astounding."

Gale picked his ear. "Sounds like a bunch of nerdy D-and-C stuff to me."

"D-and-C is for everyone," Luke sniffed. "And it's not just for nerds. It's a game filled with triumph and emotion."

Gale rolled his eyes as he took out his headphones. "Sounds poggers." He grinned when Luke gave him a sour look. "Kick me if you need anything. Livy wanted me to check out a new band." He plugged in his headphones.

Luke huffed and mumbled, "This isn't nerdy stuff." He looked back at his book in wonder. Lisandrus was an Elf. Even more than that, he was an Elf Prince. It's neat to learn about the life he came from, but the monarchy feels really constricting and racist. I know Elves disappeared, but… He sighed. I wonder…if they were here in modern times…what would they be like now?

Dark hair with silver streaks passed by the glass door.

A sweet scent. "Minn hjerta."

Luke lurched, struck, but that erratic feeling tempered down and he rubbed his chest. What was that? He shook it off. I think I'm feeling delayed emotions from the case. I just need to keep myself calm. And he went back to his book.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Hajimete mita mankai no sakura

Arekara dorekurai

Kawaretandarou?

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luke and Gale left the Fairy Tail Guild with their oral report complete, and a sense of duty lifted off their shoulders. Time had tainted the blue sky that had seen coming into the guild in golds and oranges as the day winded down into evening.

Gale tapped his Compact onto his glove as he told Luke, "We should have the written report ready to be looked at in, like, what? Two days, probably?"

"Yeah." Luke whooshed out a breath. "This is going to be a doozy to type up. But I can finish it all in one day—Ah!" He stumbled when Gale swung an arm around his neck. "H-Hey!"

"Aw…! Come on, buddy, here I thought we were gettin' to be friends?" Gale cajoled. "They always say murder brings unlikely people together, right?"

Luke grumbled, adjusting his glasses, "They say that grief brings people together."

"That's what I said." Gale squeezed Luke with a grin and ignored his choking. "Tell ya what. Normally, I'd have a nerd like you do all the work since I don't do 'group projects', but since I'm a kind and generous person just as smart as you, how about we pull an all-nighter and work on it together? This is the deal of a lifetime, y'know. What do you say?"

Luke tried and failed to shrug Gale off. "No thank you," he sniffed. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back home and decompress and—Ah! Hey! Hey! Let go of me!"

Gale guffawed as he steered Luke down the street against his will and crowed, "Don't be such a stiff, Luke! The night's still young and we still have some Fairy Tail-worthy celebrating on a job well done!"

Luke sighed, longing for the sanctity of his game system, but he knew he would not get it. "Where are we going?"

"That's the spirit," Gale ribbed. "We're doing a bar crawl in your honor on me. You're welcome. I know. I'm so thoughtful."

"What!" Luke balked. "I can't do a bar crawl! I barely even drink!"

"Aw, come on, it's not like we can get drunk anyway, short of clearing out a bar, right?" Gale reminded in good fun. "You'll be fine. And since you don't have your friggen 'Sensei' to sip on your fancy champagne with, I'm going to make sure you properly celebrate a mission done well."

Luke shot him a withering look that turned into resignation. "Maybe…one drink. And then we do the report and I go home, Gale. No tricks." He added fiercely, "And no girls."

"I am offended you would even think I would do such a thing! I'm loyal to your sister!" Gale nudged him. "But you did show you're a lady killer—in both sense of the words." He snickered when Luke groaned. "Live a little, nerd!" He grabbed both of Luke's shoulders and gunned them down the street. "Come on! Time to introduce you to some women!"

Luke panicked. "Wait, wait, stop! I didn't agree to this! I said no girls!" He tried to duck away, but he gawked when Gale hauled him over his shoulder. "No! No, wait! I don't want to meet girls! I just want to go home!"

"Come on, Luke, this is some good bonding experience!" Gale crooned. "We'll have some drinks, you can learn how to handle real-life girls, and I can have someone to defend me when Igneel comes back and busts my ass! Everyone wins!"

"Wait, what? Put me down! I want to go home! Gale! Gale!"

And Luke's desperate pleas and Gale's booming laugher echoed down the street.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Hitome mitatoki ni omottanda

[Kono hito no koto suki ni narisou] tte

Nande kana?

Wakannai yo

Sorekara no mainichi wa totemo tanoshikutte

Dakedo onajikurai ni

Tsurakattanda

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Erza was working over some paperwork in her office when a knock came and Number Five entered with fresh tea. She put the cup and saucer on the desk while Erza looked up with a kind smile, "Thank you, Miss Five."

Number Five nodded and took back the tray. "Are you sure it was wise to let Gale and Luke take such a mission, Master?" Number Five questioned in that emotionless tone. "Based upon their oral reports, they witnessed more death than children should."

Erza hummed. "Yes. I'm aware of that." Dark mochas tinted. "In my day, my old master tried hard to shield us from the pain and death that we had already witnessed. But even so, we were still forced to look Death in the eye. And when I became Master of this guild, I made a promise to try and shield those too young to know true suffering from knowing what it felt like to stand before Death. At first, it was my honest intention to give this mission to Gajeel and Natsu."

"But you didn't," Number Five said.

Erza chuckled. "No, I didn't. We had a long discussion. I wouldn't have assigned Gale and Luke to this case without their parents' permission. They might be adults in the eyes of wizarding law, but they're still children and my precious fairies." She clasped her hands. "But Gajeel and Natsu assured me their sons needed to face Death in the eye. For Gale, he needed this time to reflect and enhance what he learned in therapy about himself. For Luke, he needed to understand his power is more than just darkness. It can bring peace. And that's what they did."

Erza took up her teacup. "I know it was a risk, but in the end, I wouldn't change a thing. I made the right choice. I could see it in their eyes. I could see they understood things they didn't before." She sipped her tea. They're turning into the fairies I always knew they would. Oh, Jellal… Those dark mochas flashed to her wedding ring. How I wish you could see them now.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

[Gomenne]

Nanka umaku ienai yo

Dakara watashi kimi to

Nanteiuka…

Ima no mama

~Sayonarashitakunai yo~

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Crows being in a cemetery might not be that abnormal to see, but they did bring an air of omininity with them. They perched on gravestones and the blooming trees in their murder. Once one crow cawed, the others started to flap their wings and took to the moon-laden sky to soar to their next location. No one else occupied the cemetery. The town was too small and under-funded for a night watchman.

POOOOOOOOO…

A stream of smoke billowed into the air. "A nice night tonight."

He stood underneath a tree with his lab coat and his cigarette. It was a nasty habit to break, but he was in no hurry to break it. The moonlight glinted down on him to show those locks of scarlet and circled around his masquerade mask that had taken his right eye and part of the right of his face. But his mouth was uncovered which meant he could smoke. An important detail if you asked him.

HRMMMMMMMMMM…

Gleaming reds burned in the darkness. Lord Black the Shadow Cat hung low as he offered a warning growl to the intruder and venomously hissed. He made a show of unsheathing his claws and baring teeth too sharp for a normal cat.

The Scarlet Warlock chuckled. "Good kitty. Good judge of character." Another hit of his cigarette. "Don't worry, cat. I'll be on my way soon enough once I get rid of all the remnants of the Curse in this area." He shot the growling Shadow Cat a side smirk. "You wouldn't want more bodies coming back alive, would you?"

The Shadow Cat hissed, but he turned tail and slipped into the shadows.

"Good kitty." Another long drag of his cigarette dictated he was done with this one. He puffed the smoke up at the moon. So. That pink-haired kid was Natsu's. Figured a kid of that man would've been more energetic. Must've taken after Lucy with all that calmness and book smarts. He threw down his cigarette butt and squashed it. And that black-haired kid with the foul mouth—that was definitely Gajeel's. No doubt about that. He'll be a big one.

The winds picked up and tossed through his scarlet hair. Better keep an eye on those two before they mess up what they don't understand. He reached into his lab coat for another cigarette. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Things have changed. He took out his lighter and flicked it to light up his cigarette for his first drag. His smoke puffed into the wind. Those two weren't too bad. He looked down at his lighter. Not for a couple of Erza's fairies.

And as he rolled the lighter beneath his thumb in the moonlight, the bearded skeletal head of a Wizard transitioned into the mark of Fairy Tail.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Tomodachi no manma ja

[Mou iya nano]

Iou to omotteta…

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luna had holed herself up in her room like most nights, but she had allowed the window to be cracked open for some fresh air. Icarus in his Dog Form had curled at the foot of her bed like he was her protector, and she could not be more grateful to his support. She curled with her Poko and dragon plushies as she leafed through her Compact and periodically replied back to text messages.

A text from Ena had dropped in.

⌜MESSAGES

Queen of Fashion and Goddess Among All

Are you sure you don't want to come with Silver and me to Savant Hall? You could meet a cute knight and take your mind off he-who-will-not-be-named⌟

Luna smiled as she opened her ⟪ Messages ⟫ and texted back:

« Lmao Stop itttt I'm fine but thanks. You and Silver totally have fun and take a bunch of pictures for me »

She impishly added:

« And lockdown that cute lord who wants to duel with you. You know what they say. First comes dueling, then comes marriage…😂 😂 »

She grinned when Ena sent her a sticker with a huffy bunny holding up an X sign. She was about to exit out when Gale had sent her a picture. Curious, she tapped it and had to hold in her laughter. Gale had taken a selfie at a crowded bar with several large empty glasses before him and Luke was in the background with his head down on the counter and his face flushed red.

« Sorry but your bro is a total lightweight. Typical nerd behavior »

Luna replied:

« Forgive him. He takes after my mama. She's a total lightweight even if she thinks she's not »

She added, confused:

« Hold on. Are you guys back from your special assignment? »

Gale replied:

« Yeah, we got back today, but I took him out to celebrate. Fucking lightweight. Guess that means I'll drag his ass to my house and we'll finish the report tomorrow. Wouldn't want your parents to find him like this »

« Thank you ever so kindly for being neighborly. Did the mission go okay? »

« Yeah it was fine. We caught the bad guys. Turned into heroes. Typical Fairy Tail stuff »

Luna frowned when the typing bubble came up and vanished, then came up and vanished, then came up again.

« I'm sorry about our kiss. I'm sorry about a lot of things, but I'm sorry about that. I know you were feeling vulnerable. I'm sorry I took advantage of that »

A wave of embarrassment and guilt washed over Luna when she remembered their impulsive kisses in the treehouse and her breakdown afterward. She fumbled to type out her apology, but then Gale sent her another message.

« But I'm not sorry that I was there for you. And I promise I'll keep being there for you as a friend until we both get better. »

« I'm going to make you feel safe again, princess. Trust and believe that »

Tears sprang up in Luna's eyes. Gale….

« I've always believed you. And I've always trusted you »

« Good. Get some rest, principessa. Sweet dreams »

Another bubble came up and down again until a gif came through of Aaron Gray in his tanned glory ripping off his shirt with the words saying: I love you so much, this shirt can't handle it.

Luna laughed and sent a gif of Young Nation sending finger hearts. But her laughter died as she re-read the short thread between them. He's going to make me feel safe again. She rubbed her eyes free of tears, but they kept coming. How does he always know how to say the right things?

PYUUUUUUUUUUU…

Luna stilled when an August breeze contradicted the winter season and blustered into her room to curl around her and soothe her. But the air smelled different from the normal woodsy scent. She could smell embers and flames and spice and warmth…and love. She sat up, shocked, and whispered. "Igneel?"

Another August breeze coddled her, and it was like she could feel fingers dry her tear-stained cheeks, a kiss press onto her forehead before it blew back outside.

Luna climbed to the other side of her bed to chase after the breeze, astonished. But it fell for soft affection. "I missed you too," she whispered. "Mary Jane misses you a lot, Igneel. She needs you. We both do, but… I'm sure you're needed somewhere else." She closed her eyes when the August breeze came back to ruffle her hair. "Just be safe," she wished. "Come home soon."

The August breeze danced around her before it took itself back into the air.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Watashi…

Kimi no…

Kimi no koto zutto…

Zutto…

Maekara

[SUKIDESHITA]

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

Luna sighed and pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. The stars were bright tonight, and the snow had not melted all the way. But for a moment, it really had felt like August. Warm and nice and settled. Those dark chocolates glistened with starlight. We're all waiting for you. She smiled when Icarus joined her to watch the stars. We love you, Igneel.

And the stars twinkled as an August breeze threaded into winter.

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

— • — • — • —

Aa yatto ieta

— • — • — • —

• — • — • — • — • — • — • — • — •

---

Voices of Characters in Order of Appearance

— • — • — • —

Gale Redfox – Greg Cipes

Charles Legato –

Amy Diaz –

Luke Dragneel – Alan Lee

Howard DeMarcus –

Callista Detroit –

Minna Andrews –

Kasane Randolf –

Diane Roster –

Mystogan Fernandes – J. Michael Tatum

Henry Marvelo –

Sandrine "Sandy" Roster –

Xiao Nai –

Igneel Dragneel – Bryce Papenbrook

Erza Fernandes – Colleen Clinkenbeard

Number Five – Melissa Fahn

Scarlet Warlock – Robert McCullum

Luna Dragneel – Brynn Apprill

• — • — •

Additional Voices

Opening Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Description Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Closing Narrator – Melissa Fahn

— • — • — • —

Additional Voices

Opening Narrator – Mary McGlynn

Description Narrator – Mary McGlynn

— • — • — • —

⌜OPENING SONG

⟪ HANDS ⟫

BLUE ENCOUNT

Lyrics by

Junichi Tanabe ⌟

•

⌜ENDING SONG

⟪ Sayonara Memories ⟫

supercell

Lyrics by

Ryo⌟

---

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•

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— • — • — • —

Next time, on Fairy Adventure

•

Episode 100

•

SPECIAL PREMIERE OF A 100TH EPISODE ANNIVERSARY

ASSASSINATION FAIRIES

— • — • — • —

•

•

•

•

CASE CLOSED. SEE YOU AROUND, INSPECTOR…