A/N: It has been too long since I updated. I started this chapter a little bit ago but it took a bit to work out to flow. Thank you to all of those who've continued with me on this adventure. It's my first story and man the length of it is daunting for a first go. It's why I have a handful of shorts done sporadically already.

-Chapter 32-

The last thing Lucy could remember was not being able to breath after a disorientating flash of light robbed her from seeing anything but dark spots. She could remember the panic as she had struggled to inhale but no matter how hard her lungs worked it never seemed to be enough until a different darkness slowly stole away her sight and, subsequently, consciousness. So when Lucy woke it was in that complete state of confused panic, heart pounding rapidly in her chest as she gasped for air hungrily. She knew nothing except her mate and her hatchlings were in danger, too much danger, as well as a notion that they were far, too too far, from her nest and the tatsu.

Cristoff shifted, unsettled feelings filtered through his bond trying to force him from the uneasy sleep he had finally managed to drift off into for first time since arriving. It wasn't until he realized the comforting weight of his mate on his chest was gone that his dark eyes opened and he took stock of what his dragon soul had been trying to tell him; Lucy was missing and terrified. His growl caught in his throat when his scan of the room found his mate nearby but in a state that would require he be cautious and controlled.

Carefully Cristoff got up from the cot they'd been sharing eyes locked on the female he knew was his mate but was having trouble between resolving what his instincts and senses were saying. What he was seeing wasn't possible without a dragon's personal influence or being implanted with a dragon lacrima and Cristoff was fairly certain Lucy hadn't come across either since they've met.

Sure she may have technically seen 5 real live dragons recently, one for each of the Draco keys she was now contracted to thanks to the thoughtful New Year's gifts from Farron and Arman, but none of those dragons had the magic Lucy was displaying at present. He'd made a point to get a feel of each of his draconic siblings and their magic so if they were ever caught in battle he would not accidentally attack them if Lucy summoned them. It also helped his dragon soul not feel threatened when his mate borrowed her spirit's powers because her entire magical signature would change to match her spirit. The same went for her dragons; if she was using Gyzor's magic to zap Bickslow it still registered as Gyzor's magic just channeled to Lucy's will even though she was technically a mortal dragon and not a spirit from a constellation. His dragon still had issues when she borrowed Gemini's powers.

They way Lucy felt right now was different from anything he'd felt from her before. It was like her own celestial magic was morphed into an actual dragon, like she had become an actual dragon, as opposed to her borrowing some random dragon's magic. The magical signature was too similar to her normal one but with twisted into a dragon style. If it weren't for Safra taking the time to discuss what to look for in magic between dragons, dragon slayers, humans and fairies he might not have known even this much of what was going on.

Gone were the milk chocolate depths that he loved so much replaced by solid black as if some twisted artist had blotted out her eyes with ink, black scales that almost swallowed the light in the room framed her eyes, ran down her neck and arms fading into a brilliant platinum where new sharp claws tipped her fingers as evidenced by the deep gouges left behind from her frantic attacks at the magic resistant wall.

Lucy was all snarls and frustrated screams, lips curled back showing even her canines had grown longer, as she tried to rip through the resilient surface by strength alone magic having proved to leave nothing but scorch marks. Years Bosco has used puriglass to keep their own criminal mages locked up but within view because of its natural ability to withstand magical influences of all types. You couldn't teleport through it, shatter it, melt it or even cut through it if the attack was in anyway magical in nature. It even stood up to most blades and hammers without showing any sign of damage so the groves Lucy was leaving on the surface, while not significant in aiding in an escape, was impressive.

She was at once his mate yet not his Lucy. This must be the dragoness he's previously only seen glimpses of until now in her full glory no doubt riled up due to her being pregnant in this situation.

The acrid metallic smell of blood broke through his shock and Cristoff found himself across the room in a flash pinning Lucy's arms to her sides as he held her against his chest and rumbled soothingly to calm her flaring instincts.

"You are only harming yourself zlatíčko. Please stop. This is not good for our little ones." The effect was almost immediate as Dragoness Lucy slumped in his arms.

"They are well?" The worried panic was evident in her voice as onyx eyes locked with his

"Yes."

"Mate… is well?" she hesitated.

"I am well only if you stay calm." Cristoff gently kissed Lucy's forehead.

"Too much danger. Cannot calm."

Cristoff's eyes gentled as the unshed tears of his mate welled in her eyes feeling her body tense again. "Sleep," he commanded gently. "Sleep little dragoness. I will protect us all."

Slowly Lucy's eyelids blinked trying to fight of the call of dreams. Each time her lids opened more and more of the black receded until the warm brown of her eyes was back, claws and scales gone. He was surprised his mate had managed to stay awake. Did that mean the dragoness and Lucy were truly separate entities and my spell only affected the one in control?

"Oh Cris what's happening to me?" Lucy clung to his chest. She'd remembered everything that happened but it was like she'd been trapped inside her own head while some primal need took control. That had never happened before. She'd felt the need to do something, act a certain way, before but it was still her in control. This…this had not been.

"I don't know," he didn't bother mincing words or trying to lie, "but we will figure it out. For now you have to be strong for me alright Lucy? I need that beautiful mind of yours clear and looking for ways to get us home."

Lucy meekly nodded her head. He was right. Of the two of them she sadly had much more experience being captured and judging by her surroundings this wasn't even the worst confinement she's found herself in even if her mate wasn't right by her side to help. This was just something else to survive.

Eyes filled with determination Lucy looked up into the peace her mate provided and just like that she needed him, needed to feel his warm body under her hand, have him feel her to the brim with everything he is.

Their lips crashed together, the couple quickly shedding their inhibiting clothes ignoring the world outside. The only thing that mattered in that moment were each other. The situation was bad but they were still alive and unharmed, still capable of doing much.

As much as Lucy aggressively came at him, Cristoff took it slow. Controlling their pace until she calmed, gentled in his arms. Only then did he push into her welcoming ready heat letting his entire body drag back and forth over her with each gentle rock and flex of his hips. He needed to hear her heavy breaths, feel her strong rapid pulse under his hands, and see the pleasure on her face as he lifted a single leg adjusting the angle.

It took all his concentration to ignore the way Seven's Kingling stood right on the other side of the puriglass wall another man at his elbow watching them intently. Stars he wished he could put both men to sleep through that shit glass. He would have both men collapsed to the floor in a second hopefully bashed their heads on the way down for their nerve to encroach on the sacred intimacy Lucy and he were sharing. Mind you, he preferred dealing with Nuryev over the Pergranedian scientists any day. Still didn't mean he liked the guy or how his eyes tended to linger on his mate.

"Hmm, Thaine with the female showing dragon slayer traits as well we're going to have to make additional alterations to the room. She managed to scratch the wall and I do believe the male would be able to do more damage with enough incentive." Calculating green eyes swept over the imprisoned pair once more before he turned and swept from the room his attendant following in his wake while recording furiously the no longer audible dictations of his master.

Cristoff pushed down his hate at being treated like a mindless animal of some science project and focused back on the woman in his arms completely. If she'd noticed their temporary guests at all or his temporary distraction she didn't show it.

"I love you so much."

"I love you to my dear beautiful Lucy."

For the rest of the night no words were exchanged as the pair lost themselves in each other until enjoying the slight reprieve of tension and worry. Lucy succumbed first to the bone melting exhaustion leaving Cristoff free to wrap his body around her delicate frame to cover and protect her from prying eyes.

"What is happening to you?" he whispered hands ghosting over the damaged flesh of one small delicate hand then the other until his healing magic left no trace of the cracked and torn nails her previous attacks had caused. Each episode Lucy had where she went all dragoness around him was lasting longer than the one preceding and left further changes to her human body making it more into one like a dragon slayer sported.

The whole situation was weird. As a dragon slayer, even in dragon force, none of them lost their minds to the dormant piece of dragon soul they harbored in their bodies; he didn't even know that could happen. With Lucy… it was almost like there was a young dragoness, all instinct and no reason, growing and possessing her body. Would a day come when Lucy would be lost to this dragoness? That was unacceptable.

If only he could speak with his mother. If only Nurem would come out of hiding. Arcnologia was confirmed dead now so why would she continue to remain hidden even from him? He could really use her wisdom right now.

-DTRE-

Safra crawled on the floor searching for her hand held viewing mirror. She lost it chaos the day Vander had died, albeit briefly, but had put off looking for it afraid of the bad memory it might bring up. Now, with preparations of war being made she could no longer keep her head buried in the sand. Using a standard com or her skini might have worked while she'd been stuck here in Pelerno but there were just somethings that would be easier to accomplish with the portable viewing device aboard an airship; for one she wouldn't have to be locked away in her travel home since there was no open space available to keep it setup. Bad memories or not, she needed to find it.

By now she's searched her skini and the Pradesh home, spoken with the house keeper and various other staff members and still nothing. The last time she remembered having it was in Vander's room where she'd seen exactly what the Kurino woman had done to her sýzygos so she was here again determined to leave no corner left unturned.

She felt him, hands covered in shadows ghosting up her hips, before she sensed him enter the room. Arms encased her waist as a firm heat pressed against her back.

"How does anyone expect me to get any work done with you and Gin constantly teasing me?" his skilled fingers danced across her exposed skin.

"Who is the one teasing whom?" Safra struggled to answer her arms suddenly feeling weak.

"I was not the one with my barely cover ass in the air." He nipped at the tip of her ear loving the way she shuddered beneath him.

"I-I…nngh ooooh…am t-tryinnng t-t-to fiiiiind- Shit Van." Her voice trembled loving and hating the way he tormented her caged body, "my finding mirror," she practically yelled out before all coherent thought was lost.

The shadowquip mage stilled for only a moment remembering he'd picked it up and put it in his void storage pocket some time ago before continuing his assault. That could wait for later. Right now he needed a distraction from all the horrible things his mind was conjuring up that Lucy and Cristoff might be experiencing; he'd been on several missions as a Blood Hunter into that country and seen firsthand what happened to their prisoners. What better way to shut those thoughts down than giving his finance a little attention?

-DTRE-

"Given the updated flow rates now that your newest slaves are being harvested again this time at a lower rate we estimate the lacrima should be at maximum capacity by the end of the month sire."

Karadin listened intently as he watched his newest Pradesh pet give his favors to the woman, his mate, carrying his progeny. It wasn't much of a consolation to not having the man himself but the picture quality was good; sound would have been better. Still it was fascinating to watch their interaction, the tenderness the obviously powerful man showed. It…didn't disgust him like that normally did. That obvious show of weakness was more like a show of control, a way to dictate what he wanted from the woman in a subtle way. Different from how he, himself, acted but Karadin could still appreciate it for what it was – manipulation wielded like a surgical blade.

Glancing at the readings from various monitors a slow smile curled up his lips. Them having sex was actually increasing the magical output they could safely siphon from the pair which meant he wouldn't likely have to wait all that much longer. Everything was going perfectly now except…

"How are the modifications to the serum coming along?"

"Better than anticipated your highness. We've already isolated the how the Succubus venom interacts with both males and females and are now starting on isolating the key components that grants compliance and arousal."

"How long?" the pregrandian monarch demanded already feeling the anxious anticipation of feeling the male slayer's hard body writhing under his hands, his hot tight channel taking in every inch he had to offer. The sooner his scientists could modify the succubus venom to work universally on men and women the sooner he could trace the delicious planes of that man's body with his tongue.

"We hope to have results by the end of this week only…"

Karadin's eyes narrowed at the sound of hesitation. "What?" He demanded more than annoyed with the continuing distraction.

"We don't have any pregnant females to test it on to know if it would cause a miscarriage."

"You're telling me that out of the dozens of female slaves I own in the pits none of them carry?" Sure he might loss potential profit from destroying one of the gladiator's offspring instead of selling them but that was such a small sacrifice to ensure he got the lunar slayer in his bed and kept the unborn children healthy. The boys she carried would grow into the perfect men he could use to control his soon to be expanded holdings.

"They were all sold off last week."

"Well go to the slave markets and buy more if you have too. They'll be cheap since their usefulness at working will be limited. Do I need to hold your hand for everything?" He was not happy. This nonsense would delay his conquest yet again but he wasn't stupid and would never compromise his greater plans for lust. What was important was to find a way to breed the dragon slayer so Pergrande would have an entire line of dragon slayers loyal to only him. They would be his enforcers after the wars were over whether this nonsense about gods proved true or false. Karadin knew he would need powerful and intelligent males in order to keep both Bosco and Minstrel under his thumb after he used either Hroth or his berserkers as the initial invading forces. His senators were loyal enough and could be trusted to rule appropriately in his name for a time but not many were terribly bright so they would have to be replaced before too long. The dragon slayers he could raise to his standers, make them loyal only to him and entrust them to rule under him keeping his reign uncontested for generation to come.

"I will see to it personally sire. I do have one more thing…We've finally been able to go through all of Nuryev's research on dragons and dragon slayers as well as verified certain aspects…" A silent snarl had the lead scientist speaking faster. "Any stress experienced by either of the mated pair is felt by both and they feed off of the mage from the other. The symbiotic relationship is quite facinatin-"

"Get to the point before my patience is pressed too far," Karadin warned.

"The serum has proved to cause high levels of stress even in willing test subjects that might prove to be unsafe for the pregnant female. I've already got my men into looking into solving that issue," the man rushed to say before earning more of his king's ire. "Only, how attached are you to the Prince of Seven?"

"Why?"

"Well, I've been studying him and his magic. With a touch of his hand he can control the mind of anyone. If his powers were brought to bear on the female, she could convince the male to do whatever she asks. We could use an already well known hallucinogen on his that should have no ill effects on her, put the new magical restraining cuffs we've been designing for the pair on them and you would have a complicit lusty lover trained in giving pleasure. The hallucinogen will ease his willingness, her permission will let him perform and the cuffs will ensure his magic can't purify his blood of the drugs since that will be fed directly to the female where it will be trapped useless in her body."

"I like this plan and most of everything we have already. I've also seen the way Nuryev eyes the woman no matter how hard he tries to hide it his tastes, they do unfortunately tend to stray that way," Karadin says not even trying to hide his disgust. "I'm sure if I give her to him he will do whatever I ask."

"If you are sure I am in no position to question. It seems to me it would be just as easy to drain his magic into a lacrima so you would not have to rely on anyone else to do as you will," said Uther. He hated the Sevenese upstart taking over his lab and gaining favors from his King. He needed him out of the way but knew to act on that against his king's wishes would see his off worse than dead.

Karadin closely considered the idea. Having the ability to control the minds of whomever he touched was seductive...

"No, the process could kill him and he still has much value to me outside of his magic. That mind is making my plans come to fruition far faster than we'd anticipated as well as I still need him as a figurehead to rule in Seven. Maybe his wavering loyal can even be firmed up if I give him the female. I do see that he is not currently content with his current role and breaking him without losing his skills is impossible or else his mother would have already done so. Even better the woman has recently proven to be just a bit more interesting." He smirked remembering what he saw when she finally woke up not very long ago. It seemed that she might be a dragon slayer as well and if so…well she could be part of his breeding program to a greater extent. Maybe give her to the prince as his queen once they found a way to separate the pair and let them create more dragon slayers too. That would give Nuryev a little autonomy, the woman he desires and keep the rare gem of a man grateful to him for life. Yes, he liked that plan very much.

"If we can find another mage with magic that has similar effects capture or buy them whatever the costs. In the meantime continue working on the serum. Go now, I have much to consider."

-End of Chapter-