Here. Since y'all are awesome. Have another chapter on me.
As always, I don't own Fairy Tail or the Pradesh family.
Eagle had been a slave most of his life. His first owner raised him, clothed him, fed him, and trained him. When his owner was asked why he bothered, he said that it was an investment. Especially after his wings appeared for the first time when he was around five years old. Time was relative.
He'd started counting winters when he found out that he was thirteen. That was when his owner had auctioned off his virginity. After that, he was moved to Skys Reach to be a gladiator. After his first rape there, he'd realized that his owner had only kept him as a slave at home so that his first time could be sold.
He was lethal in the ring. His owner had made sure that he was trained. His owner's husband was chatty when he was drunk. They'd kept him because he promised to be attractive. That he had good genes. They trained him because pretty will sell for a lot, but pretty and lethal would sell for more.
His owner was careful though. Careful to remind him that he was in Pergrande. That he was treated better than most slaves. The other slaves in the household hated him for the care he got from the owner.
Even after he'd been sent to Skys Reach, every win earned him a decent meal. Though, he learned fast, that acts of rebellion weren't tolerated. His owner left him for two weeks with just bread to eat after participating in a slave revolt. Most of the slaves had been executed in the grounds with animals released to devour them. The first fight after those two weeks, he'd slaughtered the other man in ten seconds, knowing that there'd be a hot meal in his cage.
The guards encouraged this. It kept him docile enough to allow them to rape him. They threatened to take away those meals. They didn't care if he killed the other slaves.
Then, he was sold. Being a gladiator in the pits didn't change. But his meals did. The owner no longer cared about treating him well. Once he realized that, he stopped the guards from raping him. What incentive did they have over him anymore? The chains and magic canceling handcuffs stopped from leaving but there was nothing else they could take from him.
Despite all that, he didn't think that they'd broken him. Or maybe he'd always been broken. It was hard to tell when he honestly didn't remember a life before being a slave. That was until he'd heard the voices.
The first sounds he'd heard was a man grunting. That wasn't unheard of. The sound of a woman taking pleasure from it. That was unheard of.
"Percy, there. Yes!"
"Um…hello?" Eagle asked.
"Bampás, go away," the female said.
"Not sure who bampás is but-"
"Gamó. Percy, stop. Who's there?"
"Um…they call me the Dark Eagle. Well mostly I'm called Eagle."
"You're speaking aloud, aren't you? Try just thinking what you want to say."
Can you hear me?
"Yes, I can. Percy, go get my parents."
Where are you? Where did he go?
"He went back to the celestial realm to get my parents. We're celestial spirits. Are in the gladiator pits?"
Yes.
"Then we're below you. My mother committed a crime. Because our keys only work if a mage is contracted to all four of us, we were all punished to have our keys placed in a cave. Skys Reach was built above it. We can hear it. The noise and the death."
Some of that death came at my hands.
Eagle was silent for a minute, staring at his hands.
"My name's Andromeda, Andy for short. That was Perseus, my husband. I'm the only one that really call him Percy. My mother is Cassiopeia, but nobody calls her Cassi to her face. And my father is Cepheus."
You're telling me that even though I just told you that I've killed people?
"Yes. I have too. My job is to protect whoever holds my key."
You're a slave?
"Under some mages, yes. Others, no. It's complicated."
"What is so important that you insisted that I come to your sex cave? As if I didn't-"
"Mitéra, meet Eagle," Andromeda said, interrupting her mother.
Um…hello?
"That's not possible," Cassiopeia said.
"That's what I was thinking. Only an archangel should be able to communicate with us like this. But there hasn't been one in centuries."
"A few of Galafriel's lines remain. They could've spawned one but-"
"But what?" Andromeda demanded.
"The Pradesh baby. We sensed the possibility at the time."
"Until he died with his mother. Surely, we'd have sensed him before now, right?"
"Not necessarily. The only reason we knew at the time was her keys sensing it in him," Cassiopeia said. "Do you have wings?"
Is she-? Eagle started to ask.
"Yes," Andromeda answered.
Yes, I have wings.
"If he can hear us-" Andromeda slipped into a language that Eagle didn't know. Her mother continued in that language as well. "Eagle," Andromeda said, "we need to head back and find some way to free you. Please, be c- Please survive."
*.*.*
That had been two months ago. Long enough ago that he'd been convinced he made it up. Or actually was going insane.
"Eagle?"
Andy?
"Yes. Hi. I'm sorry. Time moves differently in the celestial realm. How long has it been?"
"Around two months. I don't really keep count."
"I'm sorry. I think I know what your name is, though."
What? What is it?
"We think your Zen Pradesh. Your mother was Ganier, a celestial mage. One of the good ones. Her spirits often cared for her older son and we think that you were conceived while she held that gate open. That reacted with the recessive archangel magic in your father-"
Archangel?
"Yes. It's a lost magic. It's why you can communicate with us like this. You're a bit of a late bloomer though."
What do you mean?
"Most archangels would have come into their full powers by now. You should have heard us years ago."
Oh. What is your mother doing?
"Driving Vasiliá mad. Better him than me, for once. She's trying to secure the Heartfilia mage. She's well-known for being kind and powerful. Mitéra has tried a few times but Vasiliá always turned her down."
What's the catch?
"She's currently training to be Draco's slayer. He says she's not ready and needs to train longer. I must go, but I'll try not to take so long getting back this time."
*.*.*
For three weeks, Zen reveled in knowing his name. He didn't tell anyone. He didn't want anyone to take the keys away. To take away his small bit of relief. To try to take his name from him.
"Zen?"
Andy? I was worried.
"I'm sorry. Mitéra changed tactics and got Aquarius on board. Aquarius has served the Heartfilia family for generations and is keen to get back. She's… Well, she's terrifying. Anyways, she's working on finding us."
But not me?
"Mitéra is worried about the panic it would cause if the spirits found out about you. Especially where you are. Besides, once she's there, your magic and hers will react to each other."
I understand. I think.
"All right. I just wanted to give you this update. I need to get back."
*.*.*
Sporadically over the next few weeks, Andromeda and Perseus would stop by to talk to him. They'd teach him what they could about his family. All they knew, or what anyone would tell them, was Ganier had a husband and two sons. Spirits had strong confidentiality concerning their wizards.
Getting Crux to tell them about Bosco in general was easier. Especially since it looked as if Heartfilia would be staying there. The knowledge that the Acadame Celestine, something that had just been an idea before their banishment, had been built and was thriving worried Andromeda but she didn't say anything to Zen. She taught him about other lost magics. Especially dragon slaying since her future keyholder now wielded that magic as well.
"Zen?"
Yeah.
"She's on her way. This will be the last you hear from me for a while. Once I'm contracted, we won't be able to talk like this. But you'll still probably be around her, so we can talk then. Okay?"
Why can't we talk until then?
"Because we have to minimalize her exposure. If we're active, her magic will instinctively search us out. She'll already be doing that with yours as well."
Okay.
.~*~.
"I'm still not a fan of this plan," Cristoff said darkly.
"Yes. We're aware. Thanks for mentioning," Lucy said.
Lucy and Meredy were dressed in Joyan leathers. Even as Meredy fussed with the tight and revealing clothes, Cristoff was ogling her. It was when he promised how he'd take them off her that she seemed more comfortable in them.
Vander had Void jumped to the ground and stolen the clothing while the intercept briefly hovered. He'd been with Farron to enough diplomatic sessions with the Joyans that he knew what was worn. The fashion was meant to remind anyone, lest they forget, that they were women. It also kept men from impersonating a woman. The skirts were short with tight, stretchy shorts underneath. The leathers were designed to cup breasts like a bra with just enough cleavage that it couldn't be faked.
"Open, gate of the hunting dogs! Canes Venatici!" Lucy giggled as the two dogs nuzzled her. "You have a shadow form, right?"
"Yes."
"Can you please find the keys while we're in the coliseum?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
The two canines disappeared from sight, but she felt their presence as they left the inn they were staying at to walk up to the coliseum. Despite the fact that so much revenue came through Skys Reach, it had obviously seen better days. It was three stories of archways made from crumbling stone.
"Joyans?" one of the guards said when the group approached.
Lucy sneered at the man. "Yes. We're here-"
"Ah. Hello. You must be Ashley," another man said. He was better dressed in black pants and a purple vest with jewelry showing off his wealth.
"Yes."
The man didn't try to shake her hand or touch her. According to Farron, who'd spent their entire flight giving them pointers on Joyan nobility over comms, the women rarely touched a man unless she meant to keep them. The men that worked with them in Pergrande would know that to touch them if they weren't certain they could take them down was a death sentence.
"So you're here to purchase?"
"Yes," Lucy answered.
"May I ask why? You have such fine specimens as it is." The man reached out to grope Cristoff's groin only to find that Meredy had a dagger under his chin.
"Because our queen is interested in our men and we don't want to share," Meredy said.
"We're looking for someone to interest her away from our men," Lucy said, looking uninterested in the fact that there was a fine trickle of blood coming from the man's neck.
"We definitely have some men that would satisfy her interests. We've prepared seats for you to watch the fights from."
Lucy glanced at Meredy who lowered her knife before giving the two dogs a nod when the man turned his back.
Lucy couldn't decide if the box that the man led them to was good or bad. There was already a fight happening so the view was excellent. However, it was close enough that the stench of the slaves unwashed bodies reached them. As well as the excrements the bodies released after death. It was private though.
"Will you be staying with them?" the man asked, looking at Bickslow and Erik with unabashed interest.
"Yes, they will," Lucy said.
"Can't they answer for themselves?"
"We're not paying them to talk. We're paying them to ensure that you don't stab us in the back," Lucy said. "Now, leave."
"You know, Tink, Scary Lucy's kinda hot," Erik said as soon as the man was gone.
"Thanks. But be quiet."
They'd agreed that the men would be mute. Vander and Cristoff were playing the role of Joyan pleasure slaves while Erik and Bickslow were dressed as Pergrandians. Try as they might, neither could maintain the Pergrandian accent with a straight face. Meredy was sitting in Cristoff's lap, encouraging her statement about being possessive while Lucy sat next to Vander, leaning against him. She wasn't paying attention to the fights but felt Vander stiffen.
"What?"
"The Dark Eagle. I've heard about him on some of my other jobs here."
The man that came out was nearly naked. His mahogany hair was pulled back and his eyes were dark. However, Lucy and Cristoff both gasped as their keener senses saw what the others didn't.
Erik stepped from the back and looked at the fight. "Fuck," he muttered.
"He looks like-" Cristoff said.
"Yeah. How is that possible?" Lucy asked, looking at the other slayer.
"I don- Oh gods."
"What?"
"What if he didn't die?"
Kaleb?
Yeah.
Loop me in with everyone.
She heard everyone chime that they heard her.
I think Zen's alive. I think we're looking at him, Cristoff said.