Hey, you awesome nerds. Thanks for being patient with me as these chapters keep getting longer. I appreciate the reviews.

As always, I don't own FT or the Pradesh family.

It was late morning and Kaleb was staring blankly into his closet wearing nothing but a thong. While Lucy had no problems with the view, she thought, They're on the chair.

"Huh?" he said, jumping slightly.

"The clothes you laid out for the opening ceremony. They're on the chair," she said, nodding her head to the chair that Kaleb sat in to watch rainy mornings.

"Right. Thank you. Who's your team again?"

"Bix and Erik with Laxus as my alternate. Beck got back yesterday. Kaleb, what's wrong? You're never this scatterbrained."

"It's just that with everything going on, I feel like this isn't the right time for all of this," he said as he pulled on the white pants.

Since they'd be sparring, they were wearing white but not their formal guild leader clothing. Lucy was wearing an outfit that Emzadi had designed when they'd gone to Elluris exactly for events like this. When she'd moved all her stuff up to the guildmaster suite, Kaleb had complained about her letting Emzadi take her out shopping too much.

"No, it's the perfect time for this," Lucy said, forcing Kaleb to look at her. "Everyone is worried. With the modified protections, none of the children will be at the opening today. It'll be filled with a bunch of adults who for one hour are looking to pretend that we're not preparing for war. Which is the other reason I asked the bar to have a stand to serve drinks at the opening.

"So, Guildmaster Pradesh, are you going to say that they should be panicking instead of scraping small bits of normalcy out of mayhem?"

"Have I asked you to marry me?" he asked with a smile.

"Yup. Twice."

"Good."

"And here, I'll give you a little more incentive to pay more attention to the match. I win, we go out and dance. I don't care if it's at a restaurant or down in the guildhall. And Sinish food for dinner. If you win…"

"I get to do whatever I want to do with you in bed."

"That doesn't like a punishment."

"With blindfolds and honey."

"Now, it sounds like a punishment."

"You get Sinish food. I get honey."

"Deal," she said, sealing it with a kiss. "I've gotta get going."

"Are you jumping?"

"Want me to ask Laxus?"

"Please."

Normally, she'd give him grief for not thinking that she could get to the Pradesh Manor on her own, but her aim over long distances still required work. He was already stressing out about taking the time to have the opening.

She pulled him down into a kiss. "Breathe. Calm down or I'm gonna ask Cris or Erik to come drug your ass."

"Fine. Fine, mia strella."

"That's original," she teased with a small smile.

"Just trying it out."

"S'agapo, ángelós mou."

"Celestial?"

She nodded. "I love you, my angel. I know a little."

"And you asked one of your spirits?"

She kissed him without answering and left. They weren't talking about it because he wasn't pleased that she'd agreed, but she was set to fly out with the rest of Fairy Tail. Farron asked her to go talk to Hisui since he was needed in Stella.

The Stellan government knew that they were in a difficult position. The first king had originally been Boscan and according to the myth, he'd left Bosco to follow a shooting star. The two countries still shared very similar languages and had some of the closest diplomatic relationships on the continent.

However, with the new belief that had been shared with them that Joya and Pergrande were siding with Alvarez, the Stellan government was in a damned near panic. They shared a border with Joya and so far, Iceburg was staying neutral but everyone knew that if push came to shove, they'd side with Pergrande and therefore Alvarez. Of the countries in Ishgar, Iceburg imported over 70 percent of their food from Pergrande. And nobody's agriculture could support adding Iceburg considering the removal of imports from Pergrande. Farron and Freed had spent two days with Stellan diplomats looking for some way to at least keep Iceburg neutral without much luck.

"Lucy!"

Lucy turned to see Mira running up to her, the lapel bouncing against her chest and attracting a lot of attention from both men and women. It had been Meredy's idea to give the Fairy Tail members lapels that would grant them limited access to the guild's facilities.

"Hi, Mira," she said, kissing her cheek without thought.

"You've gone native," Mira giggled. "I heard you were flying back with us."

"Only as far as Crocus. Farron, Kaleb's older brother, is the primary ambassador to Fiore but he's going to Stella with a bunch of mages to help get them ready."

The grin slipped off Mira's face as Lucy reminded her that they were preparing for war. It made Lucy remember the continually growing list of casualties on her wall in her office.

Rhiannon had been in her office adding the two attacks that had happened overnight when Lucy arrived to do that as well.

"I hate this," Lucy said, throwing a pen at the wall. "We're playing catch up. I hate being on defense when people are dying."

"Then get Zen on board an' go on the offense," Rhiannon said. "These ones though, the accounts show no sign o' Acnologia or Emery."

"What do you think that means?"

"Normally, I'd say it meant that he cared about her opinion but that donae seem right to me. In any case, I dinae think she knows."

"Sorry," Lucy said, looking at Mira's expression.

Mira sighed and gave a half-hearted smile. "It's not your fault. You're queen of a bunch of dragon slayers and mistress of the largest guild in Ishgar. You've got a lot on your plate right now. We're not mad that not all of us have gotten to see you. Cana may be planning on stealing the lapel, so she can come back any time she wants though."

"Where's Lisanna and Elfman?"

"Sightseeing with your team and Meredy."

"How are they?"

"Elfman is happier since Ever is coming back with us."

That had surprised Laxus but no one else. Bickslow and Erik's abilities allowed them to know that while she'd grown during her time in Bosco, she also felt a bit stifled. Her soul was still yearning for something she hadn't quite found yet. Freed recognized Beck's preference towards men and knew Evergreen would search for something familiar once their almost relationship ended which was how she'd found herself flirting with Beck in the first place. Emzadi and Lucy both knew the relationship was doomed to fail, but it was Emzadi that had guessed she'd return to Fiore.

"And Lisanna?"

"Honestly, I don't know. She had a crush on Bix, but he's mated now. I think she thought that Natsu seeing you with your mate- who's beautiful by the way- would drive him to her. She's been joining Cana in the bathhouses a lot lately."

She'd known that Lisanna had a crush on Natsu. However, when the two of them ended up in bed together, she hadn't cared. It had been a poorly kept secret, but not something either of them had gone around announcing. Relationships were two-way streets. If Natsu had wanted Lisanna, it would've been her bed that he ended up in.

"There's a reason I wanted to talk to you. I wouldn't have thought his nose was as good as Natsu's but since he's been avoiding me…" Mira trailed off with a sigh.

"You haven't spoken to Laxus since you've been here?" Lucy growled when Mira shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'd have sent him straight to you, but I was looking for him too. But I'll definitely make sure he talks to you before we leave."

She smiled. "Thank you."

Lucy paused for a moment to confirm that he wasn't in the guildhall, before turning and going up to his apartment and knocking on the door. When he opened the door, she punched him.

"What was that for?"

"I told you to talk to Mira."

"Oh… Um…right."

"Finish getting dressed. I need you to take me to the Pradesh Manor."

"Why?" he asked, letting her in while he walked back inside to get his shirt on.

"My aim still sucks, and Kaleb is worried I'll be late. You're still my alternate so you should be in black."

He turned around and changed into boots and a black, fitted Elluris shirt.

"Damn. We did good."

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "How would your mate feel about you ogling me?" he teased before grabbing her and jumping them to the Pradesh Manor.

She huffed and fussed with her hair as she walked up to the door. "Probably wouldn't care since he's still the only one I want to see naked."

"Thanks for that graphic way of saying that I'm not as pretty as him."

Zen opened the door before Lucy could knock wearing the silk robe that she recognized as meaning that he'd been in the middle of a session with Adrienne.

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Zen said, letting them in. "We were just talking."

Adrienne had followed Zen into the living room. Like him, she was wearing a silk robe. "I can wait in the bedroom," she said.

"No. It's fine. She's here to talk about Emery," Zen said.

"You told her?" Lucy asked.

"I don't have many friends outside of family yet."

Lucy looked at Adrienne. "Was it your advice to talk to her?"

"No. I said to listen to you and his family since you have more real world experience with people."

"Nice to know you're ignoring all of us." Lucy sighed and gestured for all of them to sit. "When you meet her tomorrow, we want to try to capture her. Maybe if we can flip her-"

"How? She's Acnologia's mate. Would you betray Kaleb?"

Lucy's brow furrowed and when she turned to look at Laxus, her confusion was mirrored in his face. "That's not possible," she said.

"What?"

"According to Draco, the first slayers didn't have the impulse to mate. It was something that the dragons added into the magic when it came time to train Natsu and the other Eclipse slayers as a way to keep the slayers attached to their humanity. Acnologia doesn't have a mate."

"Then why convince her that she's his mate?"

"It's a good abuse technique," Adrienne commented almost absently. "Sorry," she added when she noticed that they were staring at her.

"No. What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"As you know, I work with abuse and rape survivors. It's a good hook to use on a target. A person will excuse a lot of abuse from a person if they believe that the person is their soulmate. They'll think the abuse is a reflection of their soul."

"See? We should save her."

"Then do you agree to help us catch her tomorrow?"

"Are you going to try to save her?"

"Yes."

Zen disappeared for a moment then returned with a map. "This is where we meet," he said pointing to where he circled on the map. "What's the plan?"

"I'm not telling you," Lucy said, taking the map.

"What? Why not?"

"Because I taught you poker." Lucy stood and Laxus followed. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, kissing his cheek. "Just warn us when you leave."

"He can't lie?" Laxus asked once they were outside.

"Nope."

*.*.*

Laxus was not looking forward to this conversation but his fear of Lucy, and the threat of her telling Emzadi, had him hunting down Mira in the guildhall. He found her talking to Rhiannon.

"Does Van know you're flirting?" he asked as he joined them.

Rhiannon glared at him. "I was just talkin'. We 'ave an agreement."

"Which is?"

"Both or nothing." She turned back to Mira. "I'm sure ye'd enjoy it."

"Lucy's in her office."

Rhiannon rolled her eyes at him but winked at Mira before leaving.

"She's trouble."

"People said that about you too," Mira said, looking up at him with big eyes.

"Look, I'm just going to say it, I'm mated."

"What?"

He showed her the band on his left hand and moved his arm so that the distinctive red-orange luster of his mate mark was noticeable.

"I just thought- Okay." Her eyes were watery, and her smile looked badly pasted on. "I should go finish packing. We've bought a lot of clothes."

She didn't run out. Laxus wished she had. Instead, he watched her stiff shoulders walk to the door before disappearing outside. Once he'd lost sight of her, he dropped his head onto the table.

When they'd first gotten together, they were sixteen. He hadn't understood what his dragon was trying to tell him. After Lisanna 'died', Mira had wanted to get rid of everything that reminded her of who she'd been, including him. After his first heat, his dragon wanted Mira but was mildly intrigued by Lucy when she arrived.

Between his own anger and his irate dragon, he found himself succumbing to that anger until Fantasia happened. It had been Bickslow's idea for him to go to Bosco. To spend time with Cristoff who'd had a dragon. When he met Emzadi, his dragon had reacted, but it had been cautious. For years, he thought that it had been because the dragon was hung up on Mira. Now, with what they knew about the dragon mating, he knew it was because his dragon hadn't wanted him with another dragon slayer.

After Tenrou, they'd tried to find their way back to one another, but it never quite clicked the way it had. He understood later that his dragon had considered it a rejection and moved on before more damage could be done. Then, the guild disbanded, and he found himself back in Bosco, potentially forever.

Knowing his mate, Laxus guessed that it was Cristoff that kept telling her to wait until he was ready. Emzadi had already lost two lovers that had tried to claim her. Even though neither of their dragons found the other ideal, it was the closest she'd come.

"Hey," Bickslow said, sitting across from Laxus. Like him, he was dressed for the competition. "I saw Lucy. Wanna talk about it?"

"I'd rather have a beer."

"Good. 'Cause I've got those," Cristoff said, sitting down next to his brother with three steins.

"Thanks," he said, chuckling.

*.*.*

Lucy summoned Draco when she returned to her office. She arched an eyebrow at the fact that he'd chosen to appear in his dragon form, albeit the size of a cat. "How many dragon lacrimas were there originally?"

"Eight, not including Weislogia or Skiadrum's. Four are in your friends. I no longer sense two of them. One is in Alvarez. That one has been corrupted."

"And the eighth?"

She realized why he'd chosen his mini-dragon form instead of his human. His tells weren't as obvious, but she saw how his tail curled when he was trying to be evasive.

"What do you know?" She watched how the dragon's wings fluttered nervously.

He sighed when someone knocked on the door then visibly tensed when he saw that it was Rhiannon.

"Hi, Draco," Rhiannon said. "He's kinda cute this size."

"Right now, he's being evasive. Draco."

"Dalviama's lacrima is the one likely in use by Emery. It was never meant to be used. Igneel only told me its location as a final precaution."

"Why? What's so dangerous about this lacrima?"

"I ken that name. She was the mate of Acnologia's dragon."

"Dalviama was the death dragon. She predicted a dragon's death and would guide them to the afterlife."

"She was Davy Jones," Lucy said.

"I don't know what that means. Rhiannon is right. She was the mate of Zodrodal, Acnologia's dragon parent. Neither would go up against Acnologia. He was their son. Dalviama still guided both sides and no one fought her because they feared that they might not be able to find their way to the afterlife without her and none of her children ever took after her."

"She never had a slayer?" Lucy asked.

"No. Her magic was potentially too catastrophic in the hands of a mortal. But after the death of her mate, she lost the will to live and came to Igneel. She asked him to kill her and turn her magic into a lacrima. Igneel only agreed because her magic might be the only sure way to kill Acnologia. But he hid it and told only Nurem and myself, because he knew that we might be the only dragons to speak to you in the future. Present. You know what I mean.

"When Lucy mentioned that the dragonoids reminded her of another dragon, I knew it had to be that lacrima. We all knew that necromancy was part of her magic, but she always thought that was an abomination." Draco sighed. "He must've known the cost of that lacrima."

"What cost?" Rhiannon asked.

"That lacrima, her power, was never meant to be a human's. She, Emery, is dying."

"She was- is- already dead. She died during the surgery to implant the lacrima."

"Not necessarily. She coulda been revived," Rhiannon said. "There's a few minutes after the heart stops where the brain is still functioning. Her lacrima might be what's keeping her between life an' death."

Lucy looked at the map that she'd pinned to the wall. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't."

*.*.*

Kaleb looked around the obstacle course in awe. When Lucy was training with the slayers, she'd turned off the boulders, so he hadn't seen it in its full glory. Other than the original design specs, he hadn't taken much interest in the smoothly progressing project. While he'd enjoyed listening to his brother's and Lucy's thoughts as they trained, he'd let her take over the final phases of the project.

The game was capture-the-flag. There were three at equal distances and the main goal was to capture the tiebreaker in the middle.

Before heading to the opposite side, Lucy glanced over his team then gave him her cheeky, wicked smirk which was normally sexy but kind of made him nervous in that moment. He looked over his team and noticed what she had at the same time Rowan did.

"We're screwed," Rowan commented, studying Erik and Bickslow.

As much as he wanted to refute that, Kaleb couldn't. Not only had Lucy and her team been running it for months, her team was more lithe and agile than the large men on Kaleb's.

"I hate Sinish food."

*.*.*

"We are the champions!" Lucy, Bickslow, and Erik half-screamed and half-sang as they entered the guildhall with Kaleb's team sulkily following behind. They were the most elite team in the guild and they were pretty thoroughly beat. To add salt to the wound, Kaleb's team knew that they'd deliberately dragged it out.

There were several astounded faces around the guildhall.

"Pay up," Emzadi and Vander yelled.

"You bet against me?" Kaleb asked.

"Of course. I've actually seen her in that course," Emzadi said.

"Terrifying, isn't she?" Vander asked.

Instead of taking the middle flag back to base, Lucy and Bickslow taunted Kaleb and Rowan with it. It took Kaleb a couple of minutes to remember Lucy's statement about putting on a show and decided to tell his team to play along. He guessed that only his siblings had recognized that. It didn't mean they hadn't lost. They accepted as soon as the flag had been taken, that they'd lost.

I feel bad, so I'll agree to the blindfold. Deal?

Deal. This was fun. Embarrassing, but fun.

I'm glad.

"Blindfold?" Erik asked with a teasing poke to her side.

"Stop eavesdropping. I like to look at him and he likes to tease."

"Kinky," Bickslow added.

Lucy squeaked when Kaleb came up behind her and pulled her away.

"Sorry, but I owe my mate a dance."

.~*~.

I'm not a fan of this, Kaleb said.

I know.

Lucy had decided not to allow any non-dragon slayers but Vander and Zen to participate in trying to capture Emery. Zen, she'd had to let participate and Vander could Void jump. The only dragon slayers were Lucy, Laxus, Emzadi, and Cristoff because they could jump at a second's notice. Rhiannon was watching from a distance.

If not for their mating bond, Rhiannon would've fled at the mere mention of going up against Acnologia. It was a little terrifying and a bit impressive that she'd nearly pulled it off. She'd played it cool until she managed to get outside and shifted away. Vander spent half the afternoon trying to catch her.

She was sitting with her skirt fanning out around her and her fingers in the ground. Sitting on her skirt with his back to hers was Vander. The touch was keeping her grounded and him physically sitting on her dress kept her from fleeing.

"She's arrived," Rhiannon said quietly.

Cristoff sent a quick text to Zen. A few minutes later, Rhiannon said that Zen had arrived as well.

"Should we go?" Vander asked.

"No. He asked me to let them talk for a bit. Rhia, tell me when it sounds like he's either got her or has been rejected."

*.*.*

Emery smiled at him when he landed. "I wasn't sure-"

"What happened?" Zen asked, seeing the bruising along her jaw. In theory, he knew that he could heal but reaching towards the bruises, he'd never felt magic surge into his hands like it did when he reached for her. It was like a faint light moving from his hand and into her skin. That didn't stop him from recognizing that the bruises along her jaw were the shape of handprints. And a man's hand at that.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"It's the first time that I have. Acnologia did that, didn't he?"

"You don't understand," she said, walking away from him. "He doesn't always know his own strength. It was an accident."

"That's not love."

"And what would you know?" she demanded, whipping around. "You were a slave most of your life and the woman you loved chose your brother."

"Come with me and I'll show you," he said, holding out his hand.

She glanced at it then Zen's face. There had never been a time when Acnologia looked that earnestly at her. Like he craved a simple touch like her hand in his. Not once in three years.

She remembered the first time she met Acnologia. He'd shown up in the café where she worked while her mother was away on a job. He was one of the most handsome men she'd ever seen. The fact that he took an immediate interest in her didn't go unnoticed by her coworkers who teased her.

It took a few weeks of flirting and no warning signs to agree to a date. He let her set the pace. At around the two-month mark, he told her that he was a dragon slayer and that she was his mate. There were enough stories about dragon slayers that she understood what he was telling her.

Then her mother was killed. He held her while she cried then helped her get stronger. He got her the lacrima to help her get her revenge.

She loved Acnologia.

"No," she said, pulling away the hand that had been reaching toward him. She frowned when she felt the new mages that jumped into the clearing. "You pulled a double cross? I'm almost impressed."

"We are trying to save you."

"I told you before, I don't need you to save me."

"Are you sure about that?" Lucy said, walking up to Emery with her hands up.

"You're Heartfilia, aren't you?" she asked, her eyes glancing to Lucy's abdomen.

"Yes."

"You're not my queen."

"I know. Have you ever listened to her?"

"Who?" Emery asked.

"Dalviama. The dragon soul of that lacrima inside of you. All of your dragon souls communicate with us. Mine-" she touched the dragon tattoo that had moved to wrap around her arm- "moves in specific ways to communicate. Emzadi, Laxus, they have lacrimas too. They get restless. They hear their dragon cry out for their mates. Does yours cry out for Acnologia? It doesn't, does it?"

"You- You don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure, I do. I rejected my mate. I postponed claiming him. Ended up with a royally irate dragon soul. What about you Laxus?" Lucy asked without ever looking away from Emery.

"I drove myself insane. Nearly killed a lot of people. Actually hurt a lot of people. Emi wasn't my original mate, but I love her."

"See? Listen to that voice. You know which one I'm talking about. It's the one that was new after the lacrima was implanted."

Listen to her. Listen to me. The voice kept repeating. The dragon hated Acnologia. It's why she'd stopped listening to it.

He killed my mate. He killed Zodrodal. We loved him, and he broke us.

"This changes nothing," Emery said.

Lucy gestured for Vander to come forward. He carried a folder of papers that Erza had Jellal send her.

"These are the dark guilds that the Oración Seis helped destroy. They have changed. I know it doesn't change the fact that your mother died, but they have changed."

"I don't care."

Emery opened her mouth and made a high-pitched keening cry. While it hurt Vander and Zen, it brought the dragon slayers to their knees. Lucy struggled to move under the weight that sound seemed to create, but she managed to summon Aries. The spirit didn't need a command to cocoon Emery.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lucy," Aries said.

"No. You did good," Lucy screamed as she touched the blood trickling from her ear. A moment later, Monoceros appeared to heal her. "Thank you. Please-"

"I know, Miss Lucy," Monoceros said, already moving to heal the other dragon slayers. Zen watched the unicorn in awe.

A weird sound had Lucy looking up with the others quickly following suit. Rhiannon had thought that Acnologia was at home or in a town with Motherglare causing destruction. He was neither. Instead, he'd been flying high enough in the sky to escape detection.

"Go back!" she screamed at her spirits who popped away as Lucy grabbed ahold of Zen. They jumped out of the clearing as Acnologia used his laser like breath attack.

Lucy landed just outside the clearing in time to see Acnologia scoop up Emery.

"I guess you were right," Zen said.

"Nope." Lucy smiled at him. "She took the papers. All right. Let's go after them."

"Are you insane?"

"Probably. C'mon."

Zen scooped her up and flew after the dragon. Acnologia was flying low and randomly blasting places though Lucy could faintly hear Emery admonishing him.

"Go above them and then throw me up."

"What?" His face told her that he was incredulous not hard of hearing.

"The spell has too long an incantation and the blowback will hurt you if you're still holding onto me."

"This is a bad idea," he said as he climbed.

"Yeah, yeah."

Zen was careful not to go higher than he knew they could breath. He threw her up then let himself drop.

"Survey the Heavens. All the stars, far and wide. Show me thy appearance with such shine.

"Oh Tetrabiblos. I am the ruler of the stars. Aspect become complete. Open thy malevolent gate.

"Oh 88 Stars of the heaven. Shine!

"Urano Metria!" She poured a dragon's roar into the final line of the incantation. For a moment, she seemed hang in the air before dropping.

Angered by the attack that might leave a bruise, Acnologia turned to aim his own dragon's roar at her only to stop when Emery demanded that he did.

Zen didn't try to keep up with them a second time. "That was amazing and we're probably going to get an earful about it."

Lucy tapped her temple. "Already am."

*.*.*

While Emery was cooking dinner, Acnologia took her comm and stepped onto the back porch to call Zeref.

"This is unexpected," Zeref said once he realized that it was Acnologia.

He watched Emery move around the kitchen as he said, "Your turn. Call in the Joyans."