-Chapter 9-

Vander sat back in the corner among the shadows looking over his sleeping friends and family. When everyone started getting tired hours earlier a watch was setup and he took the last leg of it figuring it would give him time alone with his thoughts well rested. There was a lot to think about too. The day before they got trapped in this room he and Bickslow talked over what they'd seen in the weird vision experience while they bathed. Bicks wanted to know how he knew it was real since his vision was so different and involved what could only be a glimpse in the future. So he shared his experience with his mother and what she'd said about Apollo and Bickslow agreed the interference of a god could not mean anything good. They then asked Lucy to have Crux find everything he could about the god in hopes of figuring out a motive for this particular random action.

However, Vander kept his mother's warning, needing to be ready for love, to himself which is what had all his focus now. It couldn't be a coincidence that Lucy's mate and the wife in Bickslow's vision were transported here so shortly after his mother said that. If things held constant, the woman, 'or man' he added to himself, he was meant to spend the rest of his life with would appear at any moment. Cristoff came immediately as far as they could tell and Erza as soon as she was outside ERA's new headquarters that was surrounded by a magic cancelling field for extra security. She'd been there meeting with Fiore's new Magic Council as a favor to Laxus so their guild master could personally handle and an urgent help request where his lightning speed would be crucial. That left Vander with three options if his suppositions were correct and they usually were: either this future partner of his was so far away that they hadn't been reached by the magic yet, they were somewhere the magic couldn't reach like Erza had been or, his least favorite option, he didn't have a mate and the spell had stalled. Who knew how long they'd be stuck in this temple if the last option were true. Vander sneered at the idea. He would never admit it to anyone but he really wanted there to be someone out there just for him; it would go a long way to make up for the curse his magic had brought to his life.

When he was little, about a year after Arman had adopted him, he'd actually prayed for a mate after hearing Nurem talking to Cristoff about what they were to a dragon.

"They complete you in a way that cannot be described. Your weaknesses are their strengths - your strengths are their weaknesses. Together you share everything and become even more powerful individually. You realize after you meet them you hadn't really been able to breathe freely until then," Nurem said to her adopted son. "It is important that you protect your heart until you find your mate."

For as long as Vander could remember he'd been haunted by the beings in the void, though it wasn't until much later that he learned what they were and what they wanted. They constantly tried to possess him to use his soul as a gate-way into this world full or everything they liked to consume. It was his only real weakness he couldn't do anything about. His childish mind thought, if he had one, his mate would keep the darkness and nightmares away and he could actually look forward to life. As it was it took until he was 15 before he was strong enough to enforce his will on the shades without help from his father, Kaleb or Cristoff, 'or a mate' he added subconsciously. That was around the same time he let that wish die as nothing more than the pipe dream of a hopeful child - or he thought he had until yesterday. The Steel Council had done their best to break him long ago so he would be nothing but another one of their obedient powerful tools. While they succeeded in playing up his feelings of self-loathing from his childhood, they had not made him an obedient murderer. He had his family to thank for that. They kept him grounded and loved him no matter what – they gave him the strength to subvert the worst missions he was assigned and not get caught doing it.

'Will the spell be completed after whoever shows up next or is there another step that needs to be completed? What if I'm wrong and more people come through and Cristoff and Erza were just a coincidence?' He shook his head; there was nothing really in common between Erza and Cristoff. The closest thing he thought they had in common was that Cristoff was in the military and that Erza acted like she was but that was so common among millions of people. The spell couldn't be randomly pulling people either since Erza was transported the minute she left the anti-magic field. No, it had to be the mate thing. 'Do I even believe in mates outside of dragons? Maybe there was something special about Bicks's magic so he got a mate? Requip mages don't that I know of… Does that mean I'm a dragon slayer's mate or something like that because of their magic? Whoever they are doesn't deserve to have someone fucked up like me," he stopped that thought right there. His Mother was right. He had been just a scared little boy and the void creatures had used his fear to escape their world to kill the man tormenting his family and his mother while they could. He couldn't have known that. The clan had already started attacking them before he actively used his magic for the first time so it was their greed that destroyed his entire clan not his existence. The assassinations, no matter how dubious, he'd carried out by direct orders from his government who he had sworn to obey long ago. He even went so far as to protect the more innocent victims of the Steel Council's plans where he could. Any killings he'd done outside of that were during battle or of people the world was better off without. 'I am not a fucked up monster,' he reminded himself. He'd trained hard his whole life to keep the fucked up monsters in their place.

Sighing internally he looked at how much Lucy had been reveling in Cristoff's presence already. She'd never been all that touchy feely unless it was a cute creature or she was in some sort of distress but Cristoff was always touching or holding her in some way and she looked so happy. Until today she had always held people away with one hand while drawing them in with the other – her actions always conflicting with her desires. Now, she looked peaceful and happy - openly warming at the affection his brother was lavishing on her. And it was all due to the simple knowledge that he was the only person in the world who would never leave her.

While Erza didn't have a clue of why she was here or her connection to Bickslow, she was slowly acting like the beautiful woman she was instead of just another hardened warrior as his brother openly teased and flattered her. The longing sadness Bicks often hid under his jokes and perverseness was not completely gone but there was hope there too. He could imagine Bickslow's fun loving nature pulling Erza out of her awkward stiffness while her discipline reigned in his crazy brother. They made sense in a way that he'd not seen before and Erza was probably the only person outside his family and Lucy that wasn't afraid of his magic. That had been a surprising conversation he'd over-heard before everyone turned in to rest that night.

She found his magic fascinating and asked him to use part of it on her to see what it felt like, "preferably one that doesn't cause pain," was all she'd said. His brother had been nervous but after he'd held her with his figure eyes for a short time she smiled and they talked more about what his magic had initially been created for.

'Am I ready for a mate right now? For a relationship? Do I even know how to be in a relationship? Are they ready for me?' he thought. It had been a long time since those beasts had tried to convince him of letting them out but they still whispered at him and got grabby if he was moving quickly through the void – it's why his clothing was always so tight. Before coming to Magnolia they had been getting more persistent in their attempts to take him over like when he was younger; the nightmares had returned too. It had taken one of the seith mages in White Sea seeing his dimming damaged soul and reporting it to Kaleb for his family to realize just how much danger his life was in because of his job, and by extension everyone around him. The magic in his eyes, the ability to call the void beasts out of the shadows, was terrifying and his bright soul was the only stop gape he had to prevent them from entering this world or controlling him like a puppet. The toll from the Steel Council assignments on him was finally determined as too much and it was enough to get the King's support to override the council so he could retire and as far as he was concerned, good riddance.

The Steel Council was just as bad if not worse than the people he'd been sent to kill sometimes and while he couldn't forget their hypocrisy he would be glad to no longer be one of their pawns. There was no justification Vander could find in killing an entire family and the Steel Council had once ordered that exact thing so they could determine which transportation company got a particular contract. It made him sick and instead to doing that he helped the family with new identities to start a new life far away from their home. It was the only option he or the family had then.

As he was now, he had to cover his eyes when training or sparring just in case his control slipped. Those beasts killed indiscriminately until light banished them back when he wasn't supporting them magically. They were quick though so at least one person would die for each void creature that got out if he slipped in the slightest. If this mate thing were true, he hoped whoever it was had a magic that worked against the bastards and would help his control. That what Nurem had said was true and his mate's strength would support his weakness. It'd be the only way he could relax enough around them to even think about falling in love.

Lost in his thoughts Vander at first didn't notice the lettering on the walls getting brighter but the brilliant flash got his attention. Surprisingly, none of the others woke up from the flash it happened so quickly. He watched silently in the shadows as the newly arrived person stood still right before the "doorway" Lucy had activated ready for anything. Correction, almost anything because he'd not anticipated what actually happened.

"What in the fairing fuck?" the voice said harshly but softly in common - the only real language that was spoken by most in Ishgar - with an accent he'd never heard before and he'd been all over Earthland, even Alvarez across the sea. He had almost fallen out of the shadows with laugher he was so unprepared by their reaction. 'Not an assassin then,' he mused. Someone trained like he was would have immediately armed themselves and dropped into a defensive position silently until they had taken in their new surroundings. The hooded figure muttered furiously in a language Vander wasn't familiar with while they turned to survey the room but went silent when they noticed the bodies on the floor. A slender and lightly tanned hand appeared from under the large dark purple linen cloak with a small mirror. Vander watched as they glided silently toward Lucy - his hand tightened on the hilt of his knife. Mate or not, they were dead if they tried to kill his family. Keeping as much distance from Lucy as possible the figure bent down slowly and held the mirror cautiously under Lucy's nose letting the blonde's breath fog up the glass before they stood back up and moved away. "Sleeping," the figure said to itself once again in common. Vander was having a hard time identifying his potential mate's gender. They were tall, 1 maybe 2 inches shy of his height if he'd had to guess, slender judging by the shoulders, 'So, they aren't overly muscular.' They had skin the color of roasted skinned hazelnuts judging by the hand he saw and were a trained hunter or warrior of some kind judging by the mirror trick and how quietly they moved around. Their voice could be that of a young man or woman it was so androgynous. The floor length cloak they wore completely obscured their figure while the hood covered the head and face completely from view - which incidentally was now looking directly at him.

"Why am I here?" the mysterious figure asked quietly. Vander pointed at himself to be sure they were talking to him. "Yes you. You can come out of the shadows. They will not hid you from me."

Vander melted into the room inwardly grinning. 'Whoever this is can see into shadows, impressive!' he thought as he said keeping his face serious, "I don't know or I should say we don't know."

"Were you transported here like me?" they said looking at the people lying on the floor but obviously keeping Vander in their line of sight.

"My brother, the man with short hair, and friend, the blond, accidentally triggered the spell on that wall," Vander gestured to the wall to the left of the cloaked figure. "It locked us in here then transported my other brother immediately and the red-head, another friend, came a few hours later. Now you're here several hours after that. Although I think the spell has run its course since the walls are no longer glowing," he said feigning a relaxed position leaning against the opposite wall.

"Why should I believe you?"

"Why would they be sleeping here if we had intentionally summoned anyone?"

"Hmmm," they said as they turned to look at the wall angling their body so they could still see everyone in the room.

"I was wondering," Vander continued non-chalantly, "if you were behind some sort of protections until now. It's why the red-head didn't come until much later and makes us think specific people were targeted by the magic."

"I had just stepped outside of my family's protected land," she said partially distracted. "The dragons are awake now. If your story is true I am no threat to you." Cristoff chuckled and moved not so subtly between Lucy and the unknown person.

"Dragon slayer and I'm the only one here. I'm surprised you could tell though," he said calmly.

"Your magic signature is similar to a dragon's but I can sense now the slight difference," they said hand running over the carved words on the wall. "However the woman with the hair the color of a scarlet rose is of a dragon also. She is not a slayer?" they turned toward Erza completely and tipped their head to the side slightly, "but maybe born of one?"

Erza was shocked, she'd since moved to her feet ready to fight at the slightest sign of aggression but kept her distance to not start one unnecessarily. "How did you…" was all she could get out.

The hooded figure nodded. "My people have been charged to guard the remaining dragon eggs since before the one called Arcnologia was turned into a slayer and slaughtered almost all of the dragons in his insanity. I was unaware that another slayer survived the magic. You must be ancient."

"No, the woman carried me in her body for 4 centuries before giving birth. She was just as insane as Arcnologia and just as dead now," Erza said using her senses to scan if the stranger had any magic. She could feel it but it was different somehow. It was like when she'd first met Wendy and knew that she was not a normal mage. This person resonated differently than anyone she'd encountered and not being able to place it was frustrating.

"So the rumors are true?" the cloaked figure responded voice full of hope - the first real emotion since arriving. "That monster is dead? Not your sire, my condolences, but the male."

"Thank you and yes, my guild and the other magic guilds across Fiore united and killed him," Erza answered cautiously. It was strange to her that this person was so far removed from the world that they didn't know what happened.

Cristoff eye'd the person carefully. He hadn't missed her comment about there being dragon eggs still in existence that her family watched over. It meant at one time the dragon's trusted them with their children's lives; something he thought was only extended to members of the same tatsu.

The cloak figure sighed in relief. "Blessed be," they said before closing the space between them and Erza so quickly it took everyone by surprise. They pushed back their hood then took the red-head's face in their hands kissing her suddenly on the mouth.

Ezra froze and gasped at the sudden attack, she didn't know what else to call it, which was a mistake because the stranger's tongue moved into the open space and dominated her mouth. The sudden challenge ignited the fighter in the requip mage breaking her out of shock only to start kissing the stranger back, refusing to submit.

The men were gob-smacked at this sudden turn of events. Bicks blinked his eyes confirming that he was indeed not dreaming, and again trying to make sure that he was in fact seeing a tall beautiful blond making out with the voluptuous red-head just after he'd woken up.

The blond broke the kiss smiling brightly as she pushed Erza's hair away from her face. "Thank you," she said simply kissing Erza's forehead quickly before she took a step away.

"Well, I say she's good people," Bicks called out from his spot on the floor - huge lazy grin plastered on his face. He'd decided there were worse things to wake up to. "I'd say we vote on it but Lucy's still asleep somehow."

"The young woman is not ill is she? She's sleeping quiet soundly," the purple cloaked woman said voice full of concern.

Cristoff knelt down and scooped said blond up in his arms. "She's fine, I'm a healer and she checks out, just a hard sleeper," he said as he kissed her temple before tucking her head under his chin. They all laughed softly as they watched Lucy curl into Cristoff instinctively still asleep. The dragon slayer looked back up to the stranger. "I'm Cristoff, by the way, and that one there," he said taking note of the recognition that flashed briefly in her eyes. 'Just something else to ask her about,' he thought then pointed to the man with the short blue and black hair, "is my brother Bicks. This," he nodded toward his other brother, "is my brother Vander. The woman you kissed is Erza and sleeping beauty here is Lucy," he finished looking at the stranger expectantly.

"Oh, where are my manners?" the other blond in the room said. "I am called Safra Calo. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Well what say we get out of this crazy room before we get locked in again?" Bicks said as he jumped up on his feet.

"May I ask a question before you leave?" Safra asked

Vander walked nearer to her and said, "Ask away," to pull Safra's attention to him. He did not like at all that once Cristoff had woken all of this woman's attention had been diverted away from him. He'd never been a jealous type but had did want some time alone with the woman to see if something might be there.

"Who was it that activated this spell?" she said running her fingers along the words again finally turning to it with her full attention.

"That would be Lucy," Bicks said quickly before anyone else drawing the stranger's attention to him just to annoy his younger brother.

"What kind of magic does she use?" Safra asked offhandedly studying the wall again.

"She's a celestial spirit mage," Bicks cut Vander off again as he laughed internally at the glare his brother sent him quickly in annoyance. Oh he'd figured out the spell likely summoned their mates here, or the closest thing humans could have to a mate, after Erza showed up. The fact this blond was likely Vander's and had managed to kiss Erza minutes after meeting her without getting knocked out for her trouble earned a bit of respect from him. Internally he rolled his eyes, 'Vander would be mated to someone who kissed first asked questions later.'

"Interesting," she said when suddenly there was a chiming coming from her and she blushed. "Oh papa must be worried! May I speak with him privately?" Safra asked and watched as they all gave various forms of consent and left the room.

She waited a little while longer giving them time to clear the area then answered.

"Safra, my light, are you ok? Where are you? What happened?" a tenor voice echoed in the now emptied room. Safra looked at the small mirror in her hand seeing her papa's concerned face reflected back at her instead of her own image.

"I am ok Papa, calm down please and I will explain," she started and watched his mouth snap shut stalling what was bound to be more questions. "From what I can tell it was all an accident when a spatial magic mage unknowingly activated a finding spell," she said as she turned the mirror around so her father could see the writing. "Please tell me I have read this incorrectly," she added hoping that she'd gotten it wrong. It was the writing of her people so she could read it but it was old and like with all languages they changed over time so it was different enough for her to doubt it's meaning.

"Ah ha!" he father's laughter made her shoulders slump in defeat. "That is my girl. Took her seconds into her first taxidi and she already finds her sýzygos," he crowed moving away from the mirror he was using to hug the people around him.

"Papa!" she yelled trying to catch her father's attention but he was too wrapped up in congratulations from the rest of her family that he didn't hear. When he moved again she caught sight of her best friend.

"Gin," she said a sad smile now over-taking her face. "I am not ready to move on." Tears quickly overwhelmed her and streamed down her face.

"Calm my little Sunflower, one never thinks they are ready for their future," Gin said softly trying diligently to comfort the blond when it was obvious he was unhappy as well.

"But I love you! It could be wrong, that spell does not summon people. The spatial magic could have messed it up. You know just like I that the finding spells are not 100 percent!" she said shaking her head from side to side. The thought of not being with Gin hurt too much. "I cannot know for sure unless I bring him back to the Charm," she huffed stubbornly.

"Safra," he father's stern voice cut through her raging emotions and she paused looking wide-eyed at his serious expression. "I know a similar spell said Ginomai was your intended only for the ceremony to fail and I know this is hard to accept but what is our fundamental belief."

"All happiness and joy," she hiccupped through the tears still silently falling down her face, "is found through harmony and balance."

"Yes my light and now you have another chance. What do you know of this boy?" at her look of shame he continued, "See you must get to know him."

"Wait, is Nurem there?" Safra said anxiously.

"No, she is out hunting, why?" her beloved Ginomai asked.

"I believe she knows him! She spoke of her son Cristoff so often she is bound to know his brother Vander as well. She could tell me about him."

"Your sýzygos is Boscan?" Gin asked with a hint of hope.

"I think so, if they are the same people. How many dragon slayers named Cristoff could there be?" Safra said confused at the now hopeful look in Gin's eyes.

"Boscans are an open, understanding people. Who knows, your Boscan may let me stay with you as a friend or companion. Maybe allow me to watch as you join on occasion. It is something to hope for," he answered her silent question. Safra's heart clenched at the thought but knew it would be better than the lonely isolation he would go through without her.

"Who knows, he might even invite you to join with us if what you say of Boscans is true," she said to lighten the mood and felt a slight ease of pain at the thought.

Gin's expression turned interested. "What does he look like?"

"Oh he is the most beautiful human I have seen and you know how often I used the viewing window," she smiled liking this idea all the more since Gin seemed interested. If losing Gin wasn't an issue then finding her sýzygos was an exciting happy thing. It might be selfish of her but she wanted them both if she could and if this Vander person was her sýzygos she would find out if she could over the next year. She saw her family leave the forest clearing in the background giving her and Gin space to speak. "He is a little taller than I am with rich thick long hair the color of deep mahogany. Burnt red highlights that look naturally bleached by the sun. His eyes are smaller and more slanted than mine but the color of a full bodied Syrah," she couldn't hold back the sigh; it had always been one of her favorite wines and colors. "He has the cutest ears with little black studs on the lobs and he is slender like us but wider in the shoulder and looks to be well sculpted muscle."

"He sounds delicious," his smile turned a bit lecherous, "you think he'd let me have a taste?"

She giggled at the thought but before she could answer another voice did for her.

"I'm sure I would as long as I got to taste back," Vander said stepping out of a shadow directly behind Safra.

-End Chapter-

Thanks to those of you who have commented! I really appreciate the ideas.