Hello, my pretties.

We're finally seeing Rhiannon as I meant for her to appear. The first time I wrote her, I forgot to write her accent. From here on, it will be there.

I don't own FT, the Pradeshes, and especially 'We are the Champions" by Queen.

"Welcome to the obstacle course," Lucy said throwing open the doors to the training facility.

Cristoff hadn't had much use for the space so other than a few times when it had first opened, he hadn't been in it. He distinctly remembered it not having mountains though.

"What is this?" Emzadi said, looking around in awe.

"So, officially this doesn't open to the guild for another couple of weeks. We're going to be testing the space. We're beta testers," she said. "Bix, Erik, and I have been helping out the R and D team, so I got them to agree to let us in under the condition that they can record our games."

"This is amazing," Vander said, walking over to the closest pillar of rocks and touching them. "Are they real or an illusion?"

"Somewhere in the middle." By the door was a screen and a keyboard. Lucy walked over and typed a few things. Suddenly, the space changed into a jungle before she changed it back.

"This where the three of you have been disappearing?" Laxus asked.

"Yup. Cool, huh?" Bickslow said. "What were you thinking?"

"They're still having some glitches with the showdown mode, so I was thinking teams of two in showdown mode."

"What does that mean?" Meredy asked.

"Let's see: Meredy and Cris, Laxus and Emi, Bix and Erik- Ever, who do you wanna team up with?"

"I call Lucy," Zen said before she could answer.

Lucy looked at him in surprise. "Okay. Ever, that puts you with Van."

She typed in a few things and a drawer opened with wristbands. Each wristband had pulsing lacrimas of various colors. She matched the colors up and passed them out.

"There's some magic in these," Cristoff said with a frown.

"Yup. The way that the wristbands work is to one, register a tag. You have to physically touch a person. Like this." She punched Vander's arm.

"Why do you bully me?"

"You were closest," she replied with a shrug. "So Laxus can't just target everyone with electricity. Or Vander with his shadows. Once a tag is registered, the field will open up with the two teams in the middle while everyone else is on the sides. That's one of the areas that the system is glitching on with bigger groups. The showdown will last ten minutes, then everyone is dropped into various locations.

"Dragon slayers, we won't be able to teleport. Zen, I don't think you'll be to use your wings but I'm not sure. Van, you won't be able to Void jump or hide in the shadows."

"The game's a mix of tag and hide-and-go-seek," Emzadi said.

"Pretty much," Bickslow replied when Lucy shrugged.

"I've never played either of those games," Zen said.

"Yeah, me neither."

"Zen, I get. But you? That's just sad," Vander said.

"As if my father would risk me getting injured."

"Didn't your father hire Phantom to kidnap you?" Laxus said.

"Yeah… He never did explain why he'd risk that."

The group fastened their wristbands on, all of them cringing at the awkward feeling of their magic being half-suppressed, before the women and Bickslow took off into the stones.

The stones were just solid enough to be climbed on or hidden behind but if they were knocked over, they held no actual weight to them. Bickslow had just hidden in a spot when his sister found him.

"How did you-" She tapped her nose. "Right. Why are you here?"

"How's Lucy?"

"Doing better. Back before she'd acknowledged Kaleb as her mate, her celestial seemed like it created a buffer around the dragon soul. Her dragon soul is much more powerful now. Almost to the point of you and Cris, though I think hers is weaker by design. Unlike you, she can turn off her dragon slayer magic."

Bickslow glanced down and saw the lacrima fully light up, signifying that everyone was now in the playing field.

"Tag," he said, tapping her shoulder.

"Fuck you," she said as the arena shifted and the two couples ended up the arena.

The game continued for a few hours before everyone was too exhausted to keep going. As it turned out, without his shadows, Vander was abysmal at hiding. By the end, Laxus ended up carrying Evergreen up to her apartment in the guild as she dozed on his back.

"We are the champions!" Lucy and Zen were half screaming and half singing. They were the only ones to have won every round. Mostly because they managed to avoid Cristoff, Emzadi, and Laxus.

They found Kaleb and his team in the corner of the second floor of the guild that was often considered the Guildmaster's Lounge. It was visible from virtually any spot on the first floor while still being separate enough to give some privacy. Kaleb didn't sit there often unless going over mission plans or if all his siblings were going to be at the guild.

"Who won?" Kaleb asked, already knowing the answer. The others grumbled and pointed at the laughing Lucy.

"We are the champions! No time for losers, 'cause we are the champions of the world!" Lucy sang, not caring that she was horribly off-key. She held onto Cristoff's shirt as she bounced and sang. Zen was also singing. His voice was melodious but since he only had Lucy to go off of, he too was off-key.

"Hello, love," she said, skipping up to Kaleb.

He chuckled at her pleased mood. "How'd you manage to beat them?"

"A tried and true tactic: avoidance. Anytime they got close, we'd run."

"More than that. She's sneaky. She'd bait one of them then steer them into one of us. I'd be impressed if it wasn't my ass that got handed to me ten times today," Vander said.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and shower and change."

"Want company?" Kaleb asked.

"Always. I should summon Aquarius."

Kaleb tickled a particularly sensitive spot on her side making her squeal. It was the most forward he'd been in the guild. Something didn't go unnoticed by his siblings.

"C'mon," Emzadi said, nudging Zen's shoulder. "I know Cris keeps some clothes in Kaleb's suite."

A couple hours later, everyone had cleaned up and were back downstairs. Freed and Farron were sitting in the Guildmaster Lounge, acting as if they weren't essentially living together. Xally was sitting in Presca's lap. She glanced up when she felt the temperature in the room shoot up and stuck her tongue out at Emzadi.

"You're mated," Lucy reminded her. "Laxus, go dance."

"I don't dance." Lucy gave him an unamused look. "Emi, let's go dance."

Vander grabbed ahold of Lucy and Void jumped with her to the dancefloor.

"You've really gotta stop doing that," she laughed as he pulled her into dancing with him.

"Whatever. At least you don't dry heave anymore. That was unattractive."

She hit him but danced anyways. Throughout the night, she found herself dancing with everyone. Even Kaleb swooped in a few times. Particularly to rescue her from Emzadi.

Zen allowed himself to be dragged into the fray. Watching Lucy and Emzadi fight, he knew he had no option in the matter when they both grabbed an arm. Could he take them? Yes. But he wasn't willing to hurt Lucy or his sister.

Lucy looked up at him with an inquisitive expression when he'd stilled. It was the first, Zen realized, that he'd considered any of them but Farron as his siblings. He shook his head, smiling at her when he expression turned worried, and continued to let Lucy and Emzadi show him how to dance.

*.*.*

Hestor liked Saturdays at the guild, but he hadn't planned on going there that day. He'd been in Cellis but his Monday lecture was canceled so he decided to head back to White Sea for the unexpected long weekend.

He'd barely stepped into the guild when he felt the archangel magic. The stories about his reaction to Lucy on the Saberfox beat them back to White Sea. By the day of the memorial, Hestor had known that the lost Pradesh was an archangel. Had known about the subservience to celestial mages, the power boost, and immortality if they were claimed. Had known that they could sense keys and heal. The fact that when he saw the attractive former gladiator he was already imagining fucking him was just icing on the cake.

At first, he'd tried being subtle. He walked by the table a few times. Despite the fact that he knew that archangels were instinctively drawn to celestial mages, Zen never once turned in his direction. That was when he realized that Lucy was sitting next to him. Whether it was her immense power or the fact they'd known each other longer, she seemed to create a bubble around Zen that shielded him.

When she finally did leave, Cristoff took to hanging out with Zen. Some of his other siblings might not have noticed him, but Hestor knew that Cristoff was aware what magic her used. Even when his mate joined them, his attention never strayed from Zen long enough for Hestor to risk luring Zen away. He bitched to his team but accepted it.

Now though…

Lewis and Marmy were both at the guild. He found them, as he expected he would, the last privacy booth. Marmy, a beautiful, purple haired woman, looked ready to yell until she saw that it was Hestor.

"Are you joining or watching?" she asked.

"Neither. I want the archangel."

She arched an eyebrow. "Unless you're planning on sharing, I don't want any part of this plan."

"Of course, I'll share. I don't think I could handle him on my own."

"Then what do you have in mind?" Lewis asked, not pulling out of Marmy.

"Waiting and watching."

"Why?" Marmy asked.

"Because Lucy hasn't been around much and it's only a matter of time before she and Master Kaleb disappear for a while." Hestor glanced back at his teammates. "You can continue. This booth just has the best view of the dancefloor."

As he'd predicted, Lucy and Kaleb left. Before her and the guildmaster started sleeping together, he'd noticed that she only shared pleasure with bath attendants. He was glad that he was right that she wasn't willing to be so public about sharing pleasure.

Vander was on stage with Cristoff, Bickslow had disappeared at some point with his mate, Farron and Xally were both back upstairs with their men, and Emzadi had gone back to trying to dance with her mate. As Lucy got further away, Zen started looking around.

Hestor stood and walked over to the man. "Hi. Would you like to share pleasure?"

His eyes were glazed over as he answered, "Yes."

The archangel followed the celestial mage into the booth. His partners smiled. Once in the privacy of the booth, Hestor allowed himself his own predatory grin.

*.*.*

"Where's Zen?" Lucy asked when they returned to their family. They hadn't even made it to her apartment. Instead, they'd gone to his office.

While he'd gotten comfortable enough to go to the bathhouse in Pelerno with Vander, she didn't think he was up to going to the guild's on his own yet. However, she couldn't feel his magic. She dropped her dragon so that his magic would react to her more. When she felt it coming from the direction of one of the privacy booths, she frowned. She followed his magic to the booth.

"I can't tell if he likes it," one male voice said.

"Does it matter?" another replied. That voice she recognized and she recognized the strain of sex in it.

Throwing open the curtain, the four people in the booth froze. Hestor was inside Zen and quickly fumbling to pull himself out. The other man was untangling his hand from Zen's black hair and pushing his mouth off his erection.

Lucy had never summoned the dragon back to her as fast as she did. Nor had she ever cast the star around her fist. She punched Hestor and heard him crash into the wall. She didn't bother to look to see if he was alive. Instead, she pulled Zen to her.

"Cris, get us to my apartment."

Cristoff carried Zen to Lucy's bed where he didn't move.

"Fuckin' hell. I'm gonna-"

"You're not going to do anything. Kaleb and Meredy are both down there. While none of them might be as creative in their torture as you, they'll manage," Cristoff said, directing some of his soothing mists towards Lucy as well.

"Is this what it's going to be like for him? Forever?"

"No. Because not all celestial mages are like Hestor. And they're going to make an example of him."

"It had better be damned good."

"Like I said, they're not as creative as you, but Meredy can be just as terrifying."

"I know."

"Are you good on your own? Zen's gonna sleep for a while. The mists can help his mind."

"Yeah. I'm fine." The mists lingered even after Cristoff jumped back down and Lucy pulled out a key. "Open, gate of the southern cross! Crux!"

Grandpa Crux glanced at the sleeping archangel before turning his gaze to his keyholder. "Hello, Miss Lucy."

"Hi, Grandpa Crux. Anything?"

"As Andromeda said, if it had been caught before he'd come into his powers, maybe. But as of yet, I'm sorry. The best that the Vasilía was able to do was remove the compulsion from future generations."

Lucy slid to the ground next to the bed, her chest feeling tight. "You told me that I could protect him. That he'd be more drawn to my magic than anyone else's. What happens if I claim Kaleb?"

"You know what'll happen."

"I know. I was hoping you'd lie to me."

This week at the Pradesh home, she could've challenged Kaleb and mated with him. His family, her kin, they wouldn't have sent her into a protective rage. The protective field her magic created around him would have disappeared once she did as her magic would no longer be trying to claim the man as her mate. She'd hoped time would give him the strength to resist the pull.

"At least you won't have to deal with this with Kaleb," Grandpa Crux said.

"Excuse me?"

"I've already said too much. Just, Vasilía used the Immaculate Light to create the archangels."

The pieces had been in front of her, but she'd been too dense to see it. She knew that Kaleb's hair was a byproduct of his immersion in the Immaculate Light. She'd seen Monoceros's hesitation to heal him.

"He won't have the compulsion because his came from the source and wasn't treated by Cassi, right?" Grandpa Crux smiled. "How much exposure would it take for him to fully change?"

"At the moment, if you were to claim him, the magic you'd push into him would turn him."

"At least he won't have the compulsion…" she murmured.

She was staring at the wall when Loke summoned himself and told Grandpa Crux to return to their realm. It was still processing but she'd known her decision.

"Lucy?" Loke said softly.

Lucy pressed her face into his chest and cried. Cried for the man who never stood a chance. Cried for the man that held her heart. And cried for herself.

Even if she never claimed Zen, she couldn't leave him defenseless. Not yet. It was impossible to know when he'd be able to be around another celestial mage without falling prey to their magic. And Kaleb could manage without her. Regardless of if he was exposed to enough of her magic, he wouldn't need her protections.

What's happening? Lucy asked after an hour and she'd mostly composed herself.

The Knights are taking them to be tested. Telepaths will decide if their intent was criminal and then put them in front of the Immaculate Light to be judged. It was the best Dad could come up with since there aren't really any laws concerning archangels. Meet me in my suite. Dad and Farron are headed to yours.

Lucy waited for the men to arrive. Arman pulled her into a tight hug a mumbled his thanks for taking care of him before going into the bedroom and his eldest son did the same.

"Here. It's chamomile," Kaleb said when Lucy arrived in the suite. The couple settled into the living room, but Kaleb noticed that she'd chosen the armchair opposite of him on the couch. Her thoughts were such a jumbled mess that he almost considered pushing into her mind palace.

"I'd rather have whiskey." Kaleb stood and pulled out a bottle of Boscan Gold. "That'll do."

"After the tea."

About halfway through the cup, Lucy asked, "Did I kill him?"

"Luckily, Cris isn't my only healer."

"Damn." She added the Boscan Gold to the last mouthfuls of tea. "We have a good thing going right now, right?"

"Between us? It could be better. We haven't had much time to really set up a dynamic here at the guild. Where is this coming from?"

"I was- I was just thinking that I shouldn't take a mate."

Kaleb dropped the glass of Boscan Gold hard enough onto the coffee table that the liquid splashed over the rim. "Excuse me?"

"It's just lately, I've considered not taking one or postponing a while longer."

"Three months isn't long enough? Where is this coming from?"

"I just-"

"You've said that," Kaleb said, standing up. "Do you want to know what I want? I want to wake up to you everyday. If we don't mate, we can't promise much less marry. Without mating, you'll never be a queen. Not really. You can't have children." Kaleb dropped to his knees in front of Lucy. "I want to be your mate," he said softly, taking her hand. "I want to be your husband. The father of your children. I want a future with you."

Her thoughts were a still a tangled mess. They were barely coherent.

"Why? And I want the full answer."

Lucy stood and walked towards the kitchen. She couldn't bear to look at Kaleb when she said, "Zen." Then she let him into her memories of the conversations with Grandpa Crux. Including his potential to become an archangel.

"You should have told us about that forcefield earlier. I could've changed how I healed his mind."

"Don't you get it?" she demanded rounding on him. "You can't skip over healing time like that. It kept him from learning his own coping mechanisms. And now his mind no longer knows how to deal with being raped."

"We had to do something drastic."

"Why?"

"Because we'd have lost you in the process!"

Her mind closed off to him and he heard Debussy's Clare de Lune. Lucy had asked him why he didn't play instruments and Kaleb told her about the music teacher that his father had hired to teach them all. The teacher had not liked him and while she verbally praised him, she'd been mentally cruel. Debussy was her favorite and it left a nasty memory in his mind. That she'd choose that song…

"What?"

"Your soul was trying so hard to heal Zen's that Bix didn't think you'd survive if we let time heal."

"That would've been my decision though."

"You're right and I'm sorry. But between your exhaustion and the effect of your soul tearing itself apart to heal him, you wouldn't have been clear headed enough to make a decision."

"I think we're at an impasse right now," Lucy said softly.

"You're right. I love you. Do you love me?"

"Yes." She took off the necklace with the ring on it, placed it in the palm of his hand, and closed his fingers around. "But I can't claim you while knowing that I was putting Zen's life in danger."

She didn't look back at him as she walked out though she felt the dragon move to do so. She couldn't handle seeing him cry. She was barely keeping the breath-stealing sobs from happening.

Cristoff and Loke were in her apartment but she knew that Arman must've taken Zen home.

Cristoff took in the tears, the faint gasps from trying to stop the sobs, and the missing ring. "Oh no…" He enveloped her in a hug and held her up as her legs gave out. The sobs came out hard.

"Why?" he murmured.

"I had to choose between a life with Kaleb and protecting Zen's life."

"But Kaleb's your mate."

"I know that," Lucy said, hitting the dragon slayer's chest with the sides of her fists. "But what was I supposed to do?" she sobbed. "Tell me. Please! Tell me what I was supposed to do because I don't know."

He didn't stop her from hitting him even though she definitely had some strength to her. "Please, tell me," she said. She'd stopped crying but in the place of tears was one of the most desolate expressions he'd ever seen.

Without him physically holding her up, she crumpled to the ground. Her knight followed her down, wrapped his arms around her so that she was in his lap, and rocked her.

.~*~.

Kaleb wasn't certain how he'd ended up in the R and D lab. There was always a group working on improving the teleportation lacrimas. He grabbed one.

It didn't matter where he went. He'd snapped the link he had with his family shut in way that he wasn't certain it ever had been. There was a note written on the lacrima but he couldn't see it through his tears. It didn't matter where it went.

The lacirma teleported him to one of the mini abandoned islands that dotted the Grass Sea. It was too small to have any market value but it worked for testing new spells and gauging the distance between two locations.

Once his family had realized that they couldn't reach him through the link, they started calling his comm. He turned it off but stopped himself from throwing it into the Sea. The only thing that stopped him was that he wasn't sure the lacrima would have another jump back to the mainland in it.

He'd never been heartbroken like this before. The last time he'd cried was when he was a child. To be fair, if Lucy had died on the Saberfox, he couldn't fathom his reaction.

He'd planned out asking her to promise properly. Had seen her musings on what their children would look like. Now, he was regretting not following his sister's advice on baiting Lucy into claiming him.

"Dornt ye think this has lasted long enough? I let ye ha'e yer greit. Come noo," a voice said, making Kaleb jump.

The woman was only a few inches taller than Lucy. Her flaming red curls were poorly bound back. She wore the browns and greens of a tracker, but her feet were bare. Her eyes were a shade of cerulean blue that he vaguely remembered one person having as well.

"Caelish?" he asked.

"Oh. Aye. Rhiannon McKinnon. Earth dragon slayer. We ha'e work tae do. Come noo," she said, grabbing ahold of him and shifting.