Hello, my pretties. I feel like I haven't expressed how amazing you all are recently.

"I've gotta go," Kaleb said to Lucy. "I need to make the arrangements." They were in Kaleb's room since Zen was in the guest room she usually slept in.

"I know. I'm gonna fly out with Arman. We're going to leave early enough for me to grab my uniform."

Two mages died in Pergrande. There was a memorial at White Sea before the smaller private funeral.

"Will you stay at White Sea or come back?"

"Probably come back," Lucy admitted. "Your dad asked me to stay. He's planning a family meeting concerning the nature of our magic."

"Send me the highlights?"

"Knowing you, you'll eavesdrop the entire time."

Kaleb bent down to kiss her. She hummed into the kiss and pulled herself up to wrap her legs around his waist.

Too long.

Agreed. We should never go that long again. He turned and sat on his bed, slowly pushing her shirt up while she unbuttoned his.

"Hey, Lovebirds. Sorry to interrupt but Thane's here," Vander said, not bothering to knock.

You should go, Lucy thought, kissing him before turning on Vander. "Didn't I tell you the last time that I was going to geld you?"

"Uh…bye."

Lucy chased after him. The two skidded around furniture and people until Laxus lifted her up.

"You nearly die, and this is what you choose to do?"

"This is the second time he interrupted Kaleb and me."

"Ah." Laxus hit Vander with a lightning bolt. "There."

"That's not nearly as satisfying," Lucy said with a pout though she'd giggled at Vander's yelp. "Why are you still here?"

"Big brother doesn't wanna leave little sis yet," Emzadi said, coming up behind Lucy.

"Aw," she said even though Laxus only grunted. She scrambled up the big man to hug him tightly. "I don't mind. Except when you get too overprotective. Like not letting me kick Van's ass myself. I mean, really. He's acting like I'm glass too."

"And Kaleb?"

"We'll see. I was feeling up for sex while we were still on the intercept and he turned me down."

"Can you two not talk about your sex life while you're still holding onto me like a koala bear?" Laxus asked.

"So, Emi, is he proportional?"

Her red lips spread into a devious grin. "Length is pretty good, but he's got a nice girth. Th-"

"Okay. That's enough of this conversation," Laxus said pulling Lucy off and sprinting to join Bickslow's conversation with Erik.

Emzadi and Lucy shared an amused look before erupting into laughter.

She felt the pull of his magic before she saw him. It was softer when her dragon was in place, but it was present. Her magic was weird. The ever-present tingly feeling of her celestial magic was almost painful when he was around. Her dragon was her sanity. Something she'd never thought she'd say. While it found Zen agreeable, it wanted Kaleb. The less said about her loins and her hormones, the better.

She guessed that he was in Cristoff's clothes since they were the closest in size. Even with Cristoff's magic, it would take some time for him to shed the signs of malnutrition. She honestly found him more attractive in the black pants and blue shirt than the loincloth they'd found him in.

"Hi," he said, his tone was almost bashful.

"Hi. How are you?" Lucy asked.

"I'm-" He paused as he struggled to find the right words. "I don't remember a time that I was around this many people that didn't want to kill me."

"We're family so that's debatable," Emzadi said lightly. "I mean, I think about killing Van at least once a month."

"No. I'd rather geld him," Lucy said

"And this is why they all call you scary."

"I'm not scary. Just creative." Lucy caught Zen's gaze out of the corner of her eye and grinned.

"Oh. You two are kidding."

"Yeah. Give it time. You'll understand what we mean about killing Van," Emzadi said.

"I heard my name?" Vander asked, draping himself over Lucy who elbowed him in the gut. "Fuck. What was that for?"

"Just because Laxus fried you doesn't exempt you from my wrath."

"Save me from Scary Lucy," Vander said, using Zen as a shield.

From Vander's angle, he couldn't see Zen's face, but the two women could. Zen had frozen, his face looking like it had been carved from stone.

"C'mon, idiot. Let's go see when Dad's starting this meeting of his," Emzadi said, pulling Vander away by his ear.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked. She reached out and touched his arm. In her mind, she imagined her dragon stomping down on sparks like the pop-up game.

"I- uh. Men behind me make me uncomfortable."

She nodded slightly. While she hadn't been subjected to it while there, Lucy knew what kind of place Pergrande was. That men preferred other men for pleasure regardless of if it was consensual or not.

"Has Ar- your dad brought up taking sessions with a Sudahpah?"

"Yeah. There's one arranged for after the memorial."

"Okay. It'll get easier."

"Lucy?" Arman called.

"Coming," she replied and gestured for Zen to follow.

Everyone situated themselves in the sitting room. Like when Zen first woke up, everyone but Lucy that wasn't a Pradesh left to give them time. In the few hours since he'd woken up, they'd all seen how squirrely he became in too crowded rooms if Lucy wasn't nearby.

"We've all seen the effect your magic has on Zen and I have a feeling vice versa," Arman said, looking at Lucy who nodded.

"Open, gate of the lion! Leo!"

Loke appeared. He winked at Xally, the only safe person to flirt with in the room, only for Lucy to smack him in the back of the head. "Stop it."

"I was just saying hi." His gaze shifted to Zen. "So, you're the archangel…" He turned back to Lucy. "I know that you haven't made the contracts with them yet, but I think that you should summon Cassi and Andy. They'll have more information than me." He dug into his pocket. "Here."

He held out Aquarius's key. It didn't surprise him when she collided with him, hugging the spirit tightly before giving him a chaste kiss. "Thank you."

"I've gotta get you more keys if that the reward I'm gonna get."

Zen bristled though only Emzadi and Arman noticed.

"Both of them?" she asked, ignoring his comment.

"Yeah. Cassi was largely in charge of creating the dynamics of the archangel magic. However, it can be hard to get a straight answer out of her. Andy works like a decoder ring for her mother."

"Not Cepheus?"

"Stars, no. She wears the pants in that relationship." Loke popped back to the celestial realm. The first summoning, and two of them at that, always required the most magic.

She took the two keys off her keyring. "I call upon thee in the realm of the Celestial! I beckon you to my side at once! Pass through the gate! Open, gate of the queen! Cassiopeia! Open, gate of the chained princess! Andromeda."

Cassiopeia wore a blue-green ballgown with either an inordinate amount of petticoats or hoops. Lucy couldn't decide which. The corset pushed her breasts up, so they were on display. Perched on her auburn hair was a large, heavy-looking crown that couldn't be comfortable.

On the other hand, Andromeda reminded Lucy of when Wendy first joined the guild. She looked about thirteen with the beginnings of curves. Her strawberry-blonde hair was plaited, and her dress was similar in style to the Nirvit people. While Wendy had favored a more shapeless dress, Andromeda's was cinched around the waist but still covered her cleavage.

"You're Andy?" Zen asked. Given that he knew she was married, the appearance of the child baffled him.

"She insists on taking that form," Cassiopeia sneered.

"I know I don't have a contract with you yet, but-"

"You have a contract with us. It was made when you retrieved our keys, stupid child."

"Mitéra," Andromeda scolded. "You know why she summoned us so tell her." Cassiopeia folded her arms and hmphed. "Mitéra, either you tell her, or I will. And then you won't have the chance to defend yourself."

"As if you'd let me," Cassiopeia muttered.

"Pósa kilá malákas íse?" Andromeda said. The two women started screaming at each other in a different language.

After a minute of them yelling, Lucy dropped onto the couch. "Why can't there be such thing as normal spirits?" she asked rhetorically.

"Do you know what they're saying?" Farron asked, curious about a language he didn't know.

"I know it's Celestial, but beyond that?" Lucy shrugged. "I've heard more than a few curse words though."

"Loke?" Cristoff asked.

"Loke. Did your mother ever teach you any?"

"Just a few words here and there. What about Draco?"

"A few expletives. Like, I know Andy's called her mother an asshole three or four times now."

Lucy looked back over when she heard the chime of Cassiopeia returning to the Celestial realm. Andromeda's cheeks puffed out and she was red in the face.

"I'm sorry about that. To be honest, Zen is the first archangel I've ever met." She sat in the last seat and tucked her feet underneath her. "Around eight hundred years ago, the first contract with a spirit was made. First were the asteroidic. They are like the demons of our realm. Mostly, they're obnoxious imps. The goal was to make contracts with the constellations. They experimented. Eventually, they found the perfect combination of metals and magic. Vasiliá rewrote the stars so that our contracts with the mages of Earthland were written there. He created the keys for the Zodiac who wanted to come to Earthland but couldn't. It was a good time.

"Then the seith mages started trouble." She glanced at Bickslow who shifted uncomfortably. "They said that we had no souls so why should our contracts be honored. That we weren't human and should be treated like objects. Vasiliá feared war. As the first line of defense, he created the archangels. But he messed up. He put Mitéra in charge of the parameters of their magic.

"Vasiliá wanted them to mate. That their magic be genetic and passed down through the generations. And that they had to mate celestial mages. Mitéra added the bond. That's why you feel compelled to Miss Lucy and her to you. The bond was meant to allow a celestial mage to form multiple connections without claiming a specific archangel as a mate."

"She made them slaves to their magic?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. It would be as if the archangel was another of your keys."

"Why would she do that?"

Andromeda fidgeted with her fingers. "Mitéra doesn't like my husband. By doing this, she put spirits and archangels on a level playing field. She hadn't anticipated dark celestial mages bonding with so many archangels, especially before they came into their full power."

"Is what your telling me that my son could become a slave to any celestial mage because his magic makes it so? That this happened because your mother is a monster-in-law."

"Uh… well… yeah."

"Undo it," Arman said, his voice low and deadly.

"I can't. His magic is too settled. The best we could do was shield him and keep anyone in Skys Reach from realizing it. I'm sorry." Her dark pink eyes met his. "I'm sorry. I should go."

Kaleb, did you hear all of that?

Yes.

"I'm going to step outside. Let you all talk," Lucy said.

Lucy found Laxus and the others in the main living room.

"Good. You're here. Deal with them."

"Huh?" she said as he shoved his l-comm into her hand. On the screen was Wendy and Gajeel.

"You're okay?" Gajeel asked. "What the fuck happened yesterday?"

"I died. It didn't stick though." Lucy squeezed herself between Laxus and Erik, not caring that she was half sitting on both of them.

"What?" both slayers squawked.

"Yeah. I was stabbed but didn't think is was as bad as it was. Then lost a lot of blood. Cris was dealing with his mate being in trouble and didn't get to me before my heart stopped. Laxus used his electricity to keep it pumping with the help of Ceros, one of my new spirits. Cris healed me and now I'm fine."

Both of her friends gawked. Erik chuckled at how blasé she'd sounded. Then again, getting kidnapped or nearly dying weren't that new to her.

"Gajeel says you're a queen now. But that means you're a dragon slayer."

"I told you that, Kid."

"But how?" Wendy asked.

"I met a dragon."

"Does he know where Grandeena is?"

"I can ask, but I don't think so. He didn't know where Igneel was either."

"Oh. Are you mated yet?"

"Well… no. Not yet. We haven't had time."

"So, it's not Natsu?"

Lucy balked. "No. How's Chelia?"

Wendy lit up. "She's good. She's on a job with Lyon."

"Everyone will have to come visit. We'll rent a mansion with enough space or something."

"I'd like that. I haven't seen you in ages."

"And everyone but maybe Natsu will have mates."

"Shouldn't you know who his mate is?"

"In theory, maybe. But I haven't seen him since I became a slayer, so I have no idea."

"I gotta go. Tell your mate that I appreciate the mages," Gajeel said gruffly.

"Kaleb. His name is Kaleb. But I will." He signed off and Wendy's face filled the screen.

"I should go too. I have a training session with Jura today," Wendy said.

"Jura? Am I gonna have to kick his ass?" Laxus said.

"I'm pretty sure that only Kaleb could take him but okay," Lucy muttered, ignoring Laxus's glare.

"His earth magic is resistant to my air. It was Chelia's idea. She said it really helped her when she first joined the guild. Bye, everyone." She waved at the screen.

"Bye, Wen."

After Lucy hung up and handed the comm back to Laxus, Meredy turned to her and asked, "Are they mated?"

"Hm? Yeah."

"I didn't know two females could be," Erik commented.

Lucy shrugged. "Two men are more common, obviously, but I don't see why two women couldn't be. They use the same magic, but Chelia is more powerful so there's plenty that Wendy can learn from her. They compliment each other which is the point of dragon slayers having mates. To keep us grounded. Think about how much easier life would have been if Acnologia had claimed his."

The door opened and Cristoff entered. He kissed Meredy's lips then Lucy's forehead. Like Lucy, he was a touchy-feely person, but it gratified Lucy to see the ease which Meredy accepted his gestures of affection towards Lucy. They all knew that he wouldn't feel the impulse as strongly when Lucy was mated to Kaleb since he was magically stronger.

"What's the verdict?" Lucy asked.

"We're all going to stay here until the memorial tomorrow. Farron and Lucy will come back with Dad and Zen. Freed, you're welcome to as well. The rest of us will cycle in and out to get him used to us."

"Okay."

"Dad wanted to see you in his office."

"That sounds ominous," Lucy said as she stood. She entered the office when he told her to come in. "Hi, Arman."

"You might as well call me Dad," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "I wanted you to know that I don't blame you for the situation we're in with Zen. It's not your fault."

"Thank you."

"The fact that you haven't claimed my son yet though…" His eyes lingered on the ring dangling around her neck.

"I know. We haven't had time and I wanted to ask you about that."

"You don't need to ask me for permission."

"No. I mean- I'm Fiorian and he's a Boscan guildmaster."

"I know. Being a member of White Sea gives you dual citizenship."

"I know that, but I'm a Fiorian noble."

"Oh…" Arman muttered, understanding the issue. And recognizing that it could be an issue. "Why hasn't your father disowned you?" Since Freed's father had disowned him, there had been no legal ramifications towards his and Farron's relationship.

"He legally can't. It was through my mother's titles that he built the konzern upon. Therefore, if he wanted to disown me, he'd have to buy me out of my rights to the company. Financially, he probably could, but I think he'd rather wait to see if I made an advantageous marriage first."

"I'll see what I can do on the legal side."

She smiled. "Thank you."

Arman walked over and engulfed her in a hug. "No. Thank you. You brought my son home," he said softly.

Andy and Cassi are speaking Greek. Given that most constellations are based on Greek myths, it kind of had to be Greek. The literal translation is "How many kilos of an asshole are you?" Essentially, she's asking, "Why are you acting like this?/Why are you being this big of an asshole?"