On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

"Emperor Spriggan," Sydelle said into the lacrima while staring at her shelf. On the shelf in her office were five of her generals. These were women that she very nearly loved as family. After finding out that they'd missed Lucy Heartfilia and Kaleb Pradesh mating, Spriggan sent one of his Shield, Brandish, to punish her. She shrunk her generals and stuck them in glass jars like a child who caught a lizard. Accompanying this punishment, the jars were warded to only open for ten minutes at 8 AM, 12 PM, and 8 PM. They only opened for her forcing her to rotate who was fed for each meal.

"Do you have news for me?"

"As of yet, the mage that we have from White Sea is still resisting us. However, it is other news that I'm calling you about. Lucy Heartfilia is in Fiore without her mate and largely separated from her dragons. If you wish for us to take her, now is the time to do it."

"I agree. I have another team preparing to take the other archangel, Zen Pradesh. I will have them take him at the same time. You will need to prepare a trap since that will lure Kaleb Pradesh to you."

"Yes, Emperor Spriggan."

"You'll also need to retrieve the fire dragon slayer. I suggest keeping him sedated. I will come by in three hours to check your progress."

"Yes, Emperor."

Her gaze never left her generals as she stood to prepare the rooms. If she didn't do this properly, she had no doubt that at least one of them would end up under Emperor Spriggan's boot.

"Where is Heartfilia?" Sydelle asked when Minerva arrived.

"In a pocket dimension. It is best to keep her there until you're ready to lure in her dragons. In that dimension, as far as anyone can tell, she's still in Crocus. We release her here, and they'll immediately know."

"They'll know soon enough. Emperor Spriggan of the Alvarez Empire is having a team capture her brother-in-law, the other archangel.

"Can she communicate? Her mate is a telepath."

"I feel confidant that even he can't reach her. And even if he could, I know that she can't break out of her prison."

"Good." Sydelle gestured for her to follow. "This is where she'll go when it's time. Would you be able to warp the reality around the room so that we could work on her without alerting the dragons or her mate until we're ready?"

"I don't know. Even if I could, it wouldn't be for long."

"Okay. We'll hold off on that for now."

Minerva followed Sydelle into the throne room where Emperor Spriggan and another man were waiting. The two women immediately dropped to a bow.

"We don't have time for that," Zeref said. "Where's Lucy Heartfilia?"

"In a pocket dimension where she can't be sensed," Minerva said.

"Good. Good way to keep the dragons from noticing just yet. I would have had Jacob come but…" Zeref eyed the revealing clothing that Sydelle and Minerva wore. Behind him, the second man giggled. The second man had purple hair that was pulled into a ponytail, a long, narrow face, and armor that almost looked better suited for Erza except that it wasn't Heart Kreuz. "This is Neinhart. He's good at getting into people's heads."

"Hello."

"And where is Natsu Dragneel?"

"Sedated as you recommended," Sydelle said.

"Good. I'll tell Brandish to release one of your generals when she arrives with the archangel."

"Thank you, Emperor."

"Now, take me to the beast master."

Sydelle bowed her head and took him to the observation room of one of the labs where they improved their slaver spells.

"Who is he?" Neinhart asked, looking at the naked man writhing on the table with unabashed interest.

"Beck Redansa. We've had him as a sleeper for over six months. His handler would whistle a signal and he'd tell her anything she asked. Then she'd release him and he wouldn't remember any of it. It's like hypnosis. Since it wasn't something he was consciously aware of, he couldn't accidently broadcast anything to Guildmaster Pradesh. The handler was also the one that retrieved Natsu Dragneel."

"Good. See that she's rewarded."

"If you've gotten information from him before, what's the problem now?" Neinhart asked.

"Most of the information concerned gossip and movements. Nothing directly damaging. Even drugged, he knows that the information we seek will hurt his guildmaster."

"Is it just loyalty or something more?"

"The mage that first directed us in his direction thought there was something more."

"Hm…I can work with that. I suppose that it was best that you brought me instead of Larcade." Neinhart sauntered off.

"Why can't you just do whatever you do to turn a man into a pleasure slave?" Minerva asked.

"He'd be a tabula rasa. It's knowledge that we need." Sydelle turned to Zeref. "What is he going to do?"

"His primary magic is a type of necromancy. But, he can also create mental illusions of the living. It just bores him."

Neinhart was in Beck's head. The Succubus Venom they'd been trying to ply him with made the memory easy to find. Beck had gone up late to wake Kaleb with word of dragons attacking Crocus. He'd found Kaleb sprawled in his bed naked and couldn't stop himself from taking a second to marvel his naked form.

Instead of how the memory actually went, Kaleb woke up and looked at him. "Come back to bed. It's late."

Beck walked over on autopilot and crawled in next to him. His bi-colored eyes found Neinhart but couldn't move.

"I understand the attraction," Neinhart said, walking over to the other side of the bed and sitting down. He rubbed a hand down Kaleb's chest. "You remember it, don't you? The feeling of him pounding into you. Wouldn't it be nice to hear him whisper that he loved you as he did?"

The memory changed to the one time that he'd managed to share pleasure with Kaleb. This time, he was whispering sweet nothings to him. It felt like lovers and not partners trying to relieve tension. Neinhart let them curl up into post-coital cuddling.

"Isn't this nice? You could have it if that- if he hadn't been mated. If he wasn't claimed."

Kaleb slowly started disappearing and Neinhart released his control of Beck so that the man scrambled to try and catch him. When he couldn't, Beck cried.

"Break the dragon."

"What did he say?" Minerva asked.

"Break the dragon." Neinhart looked in the room to see that the mage was alone. "Where are the others?"

"One of the other Shields just arrived with the archangel."

"Break the dragon. It'll break the bond to protect itself and its mate," Beck said hoarsely, still in the throes of Neinhart's illusion.

Neinhart gave Beck a lascivious once-over. "Why don't you run along and tell them while I finish up here?"

Minerva rolled her eyes and left to find the Emperor and Warqueen. She found them looking into another room. There were three layers of magic dampening runes as well as magic dampening cuffs holding him to the X-frame.

"Is he that powerful?"

"He was a gladiator in Pergrande. The king is interested in getting him back. And he gave the Shield some trouble."

"It's that power that I want off the board. What did Neinhart get the man to reveal?"

"Break the dragon. It'll protect its mate by breaking the bond. I don't understand why we're going through all of this if getting the Heartfilia bitch unmated is the point. Wouldn't killing her mate be easier?"

Sydelle made a noise of indignation.

"Dragons often followed their mates in death. I want her alive and away from Pradesh. She'll be frantic to claim a mate again and Natsu is one of her potentials."

"Why go through all of this?"

"Because he's my brother. I want him to rule at my side and giving him something he wants is a good way to do it." He turned to Sydelle. "I don't want her out until we're certain we can break the bond in the time it takes for them to get here from Bosco. I suggest that you get to work. I want a list of ideas in two hours. They've likely already noticed at least one of them missing."

.~*~.

"We 'ave a problem. We 'ave a problem!" Rhiannon screeched as she shoved people out of her way as she ran up to the guildmaster office. For a moment, Thane almost looked ready to stop her before deciding not to and let her skid into Kaleb's office. "We 'ave a problem," she gasped. "We really should do physical activity that isnae in bed," she said to Vander, knowing that he'd followed her.

"I'm okay with that."

"What's going on?" Kaleb asked.

Spriggan 12 in Ishgar. More importantly in Bosco.

"Fuck. Where?"

"Near Pelerno. I think they 'ave Zen."

"Shit. You're certain?"

"Nae. I cannae differentiate one Spriggan Shield from another. It's only 'cause their sheer power that I was able to figure out who were the Shields so that I could track them. Zen knows my tracking ability. If he knew he was about to be taken, is it that crazy to think that he'd make sure to touch the ground?"

"No. No, you're right."

"That's too many disappearances…" Kaleb muttered.

"Who else is missing?" Vander asked.

"Wendy says she can't find Natsu. And I got a call earlier today asking if I'd heard from Beck since the animal sanctuary was expecting him. Lucy's also been silent but so far our bond isn't registering anything as wrong."

"She's gone silent on you before. Besides, Mercurius Castle and the Embassy have increased their warding, so it could be as simple as nothing getting through."

"We've talked since she's been there. And yes, I'm aware that it could've just been a fluke of the warding shifting or the fact that she was frazzled, and her emotions made the connection stronger. My gut-" Kaleb stopped. He didn't go by his gut like this.

"Okay. What do Zen, Natsu, Beck-" Vander said, accepting what his brother was trying to say.

"Nae," Rhiannon interjected. "Emery's been trying to lure Zen for over a week. This is somethin' different. What does Natsu, Lucy, and Beck have in common?" The two men gave each other unknowing looks before turning Rhiannon. "That wasn' rhetorical."

Vander sat down and pulled Rhiannon into his lap. She moved to nuzzle his neck before noticing her dragon's head above the collar of his shirt.

"Would Beck know how to unmate dragon slayers?" she asked.

"Maybe? If anyone had a good guess, I'd say Beck," Kaleb said, his hand going to Lucy's mark on his chest and the lacrima pulsing slightly. "Is it possible?"

"I dinnae ken. If it was, I'd have given Van that option."

Vander gently turned her head so that she looked him in the eye. "And I'd have said no."

She smiled thinly and kissed him. "Do ye think ye could contact Lucy?" she asked Kaleb.

"If they didn't think to take her promise ring off, yes."

When Kaleb left, Thane's eyes immediately went to his choker then to Vander and Rhiannon who followed. Vander shook his head and Thane went back to work.

Rhiannon stopped. "What is it?" Vander asked when he realized that she wasn't behind him.

"There's something bothering me."

"Just one thing?"

"You go. I have something I need to follow up on at the Fairy Tail house."

"Go," Kaleb said when Vander reached him at the elevator. "Cris and Meredy should be waiting for me."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Vander followed his mate and as Kaleb predicted, Cristoff and Meredy were already waiting outside the guildmaster suite for him.

"You're certain?" Cristoff asked.

"No. She could just as easily be in the castle where the wards are interfering," Kaleb replied.

"Do you believe that?"

"We both know I have limitations. That's why I wanted her to have the lacrima in her promise ring."

The two men sat in the bed, looking at one another, as Cristoff channeled his calming mists around them. Kaleb closed his eyes and focused. He focused less on her mind than the tendrils of his magic that he'd pushed into her ring.

.~*~.

Kaleb was back in the doorway to his bedroom. Curled up into the side of another version of him was Lucy.

"Lucy?" he questioned softly careful to stay out of range in case she woke up swinging.

She blinked owlishly at him then looked at the copy sleeping next to her. "This wasn't one of my impossible thoughts. I'm not knocking it but-" she paused and Kaleb could see the dawning comprehension on her face- "Where am I?"

"Your mind palace," he said as he moved to sit next to her.

"That's not what I meant. Where am I physically?"

"I don't know. That's why I reached out like this."

She closed her eyes for a second. "I don't know." She opened them and looked up into his eyes. "I'm too disconnected."

The door to the ensuite was open but the one to the living room was closed.

"If you leave-"

"If I leave, we don't know what I was hiding from. Why I needed to create a safe space. Leaving could break me."

"You're stronger than that. I have faith in you," he said, standing and gently pulling her along.

"No," she said, yanking her hands away. "You need to promise me something. Promise me that no matter what condition I'm in, you'll save me. If I'm in a coma, you will save me. If I'm brain dead, you will keep me alive."

"That would be cruel. Why would you ask that of me?"

Lucy turned and Kaleb followed her gaze. In the corner, his chair had been replaced by a bassinet. "Because you can still save her."

He almost didn't hear her as he took a step towards the crib.

"She's not in there."

"It's a girl?"

"I don't know. I'm not that far along. I just- When Ceros told me, I pictured a girl."

"How long have you known?"

"I'm not sure. I found out in Crocus. I twisted my ankle going down the stairs in the Embassy. Ceros told me when she healed my ankle."

"That must've been yesterday."

"This was not how I was picturing telling you. I was thinking a World's Greatest Dad mug." Kaleb made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "And don't tell Arman. I want to see his face."

"You'll have to survive this," he said, turning back to her.

"Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst."

He opened the door and she followed him out. The door swung shut and Lucy let out a piercing scream. Her nails dug into her skin as if she was trying to scrape it off.

"Lucy, stop," he said, grabbing ahold of her. "Stop."

"Kaleb? I'm- I'm-" She shoved away from him and started pacing. "Oh, it's on the tip of my tongue. Call… Oh, blarq. You've gotta call- Call Ghostbusters! No, that's not right.

"Sting. Call Sting. 'You'll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley. You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky as we walk in fields of gold,'" she sang. "No. No! Minerva. Call Minerva. Oh, lady wisdom. No. That's not right."

She was crying and pulling at her hair.

"Lucy, stop!" Kaleb said, pulling her to his chest. When she'd calmed down, he let her take a step back.

"I'm sorry, my love," she said.

He didn't know when he hand had gotten claws, but she dug them into his side as if she was trying to pull the mating mark from his body. The scream that tore out of him was nothing like he thought he could produce and knocked him from her mind.

.~*~.

"Have you found Natsu?" Wendy asked when Rhiannon and Vander arrived.

"Not yet. Is Levy here?" Rhiannon asked.

"Yeah, I'll go get her," Chelia said, getting up from the couch.

"The morning sickness has kicked in," Wendy said.

Rhiannon turned to Vander. "We need tae blether about whether we're having bairns or not," she said.

"Do you want them?" Vander asked.

"Not for a long time… If ever."

"Then you'd better hope someone starts poppin' out babies to keep Dad distracted."

Rhiannon cringed when Levy walked down the stairs looking green around the edges with Gajeel hovering behind her. Once everyone was seated, she said, "Lucy's missing too."

"What?" Wendy and Gajeel both erupted.

"Sit. You're not helping," Levy said, yanking Gajeel's arm down. "What do you know?"

"That's just it. There's something I'm not seeing an' I cannae figure it out," Rhiannon said. "They also took Beck, a beast master mage from White Sea. I think they're going to try an' break the mating. Kaleb agrees that Beck would be the most likely to know."

"Makes sense. Without her mate, she's not Queen. Without a Queen, the tatsu would dissolve," Levy said.

"I get that, but why take Natsu?"

"Wha- Excuse me." Levy ran to the first floor bathroom.

"I think the stress is messing her up," Wendy said.

Rhiannon turned to Vander. "Nope. Not a chance in hell. I will neuter ye myself."

"Would Acnologia have a use for Natsu?" Levy asked as she walked back in.

"And I look forward to destroying that smug bastard's little brother."

"Oh…" Rhiannon said. "Is that possible? It could be possible."

"Wanna fill in the rest of the class?" Vander asked.

"Zeref is four hundred years old. The Eclipse slayers are from four hundred years ago. Is it impossible for Natsu tae be Zeref's wee brother?"

"Why would you think that?" Wendy asked.

"I ran intae Acnologia one other time. He dinae try tae kill me this time. But he said that he wanted tae kill 'that smug bastard's little brother.' If he was talking about Zeref, that means he must have a wee brother that I'm guessing Acnologia was warned tae stay away from."

"Natsu would never intentionally hurt Lucy," Wendy said.

"But they were mates. Potentials anyways," Chelia said.

"Oh gods," Levy muttered. "If they successfully break the mating bonds, she'll instinctively go searching for the closest potential."

Vander's comm chimed and answered it.

"Something's wrong," Meredy said from Cristoff's comm. "You need to get back here."

"Okay."

Rhiannon, who heard, nodded.

"Keep us in the loop," Gajeel said when they stood.

"As if you'd let us go after her without you," Vander said before grabbing ahold of Rhiannon and jumping.

Cristoff was struggling to heal the injuries that appeared on Kaleb.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, Meredy said. Her eyes were wide, and she chewed her lip as she watched Cristoff. "Everything was fine then suddenly he screamed and started bleeding."

"Lucy…" Kaleb gasped as Cristoff's healing started to take hold. "Pregnant."

Everything seemed to freeze. Even Cristoff's magic faltered.

"Did he just-"

"I call dibs on telling Dad!" Vander said.

"No!" Kaleb said, bolting up. "You can't tell Dad."

"Lay back down," Cristoff said, shoving him over.

"She said she'd come home if she got to tell Dad. You can't tell him."

"What else did she say?"

"Call Sting. Something about Minerva."

Meredy dialed Sabertooth.

"Hello?" Rogue said.

"I'm looking for Minerva," Meredy said.

"Us too. Why are you looking for her?"

"Lucy's missing. Kaleb was able to reach her and she said something about Minerva."

"Of course… I told Sting redemption isn't for everyone," he muttered. "We'll deal with it."

"I don't think you understand the severity of the situation. She's no longer Lucy of Fairy Tail getting kidnapped again. She's Lucy Heartfilia, Mistress of White Sea."

"We're moving into diplomatic crisis area, aren't we?"

"Potentially…"

Since mating and promising with Cristoff, Meredy had taken to learning the politics between Bosco's neighboring countries. Beyond the already close relationship between Lucy and Cristoff, it had brought the two women closer as Lucy was always willing to her questions. And more than a few times they'd ended up in a three-way debate with Farron.

"Well, shit. Isn't Farron in Stella?"

"Yeah. We'll see what we can do on our side to try to keep things from blowing up." Meredy walked back into the bedroom. "Minerva has been missing from Crocus since yesterday as well."

Kaleb tried to get up but Cristoff forced him back down.

"Whatever she did, my magic is struggling to heal it. You need to rest."

"Just because we know she's missing, doesn't mean we know where she is," Vander said.

"Fine. Find her," Kaleb said through clenched teeth.

Vander turned to Meredy and his mate. "Are you okay separating?"

Cristoff flinched. This would be the furthest they'd been separated but he knew what his brother was thinking. Meredy would have more underworld contacts throughout Ishgar. Possibly more than Vander.

"Yeah, but you should get Erik."

"You should go downstairs to the storeroom and get a set of earbuds. They'll be easier than the comms," Cristoff said, standing up. "Have Thane take you. He can bring the other three up for us."

"Three?" Meredy asked.

"Bix. We're taking his mate as well."

"Oh, just fucking kiss already," Kaleb snarled.

The two couples kissed before leaving Cristoff with an irate Kaleb. Cristoff gave his older brother a look that said in no uncertain terms that he'd physically knock him out if need be.

"Until you have a better way of finding them, this is what needs to be done," Cristoff said, not bothering to look at the way that the lacrima was pulsing. "And if you don't get better control of your emotions, I'm gonna dump you in the woods somewhere. Maybe Rhiannon's island."

Kaleb took a deep breath. "She's pregnant, Cris."

"I know."