A/N: Thanks for all your support and comments everyone. It really keeps me going. Next chapter is the invasion so like 2-3 chapters left in the story, that's including epilogues. I'm soooooo close Woot woot!

Chapter 33

Kaleb was starting to think he had the worst luck out of all his siblings. It wasn't rational, hell it wasn't even sort of true considering everything they'd each been through but right now he was frustrated. It didn't matter that he knew Zen had suffered more than any in his family could imagine given he'd grown up for decades as a slave in the god forsaken country they were currently en route to or that Emzadi had lost her first love to the fickleness of dragon slayer magic she hadn't had a choice in receiving. Every single one of his siblings had gone through an especially difficult childhood; it was part of why Arman had adopted who he had.

Still, it seemed like while his family was finally finding their happiness he got the joy of being caught up in some never ending romance-less riptide pulling him further away from what he really wanted in life, a partner and children he could dedicate himself to and love.

No, he, Kaleb Pradesh, was now officially pinning after the one person who'd ever turned him away. A brilliant man who actually wanted him just as much if not more but refused to act of his inclinations for some incomprehensible reason. Kaleb didn't even have the chance to press the point and maybe work things out because of Karadin's ploys, whatever the fuck they were, had them flying thousands of miles to war where death was a very real possibility.

Was his life not full of enough trials up to this point that he didn't deserved someone who could stimulate him both mentally and physically, to cuddle with during the night? His magic had caused him frequent nightmares and migraines throughout his life to the point he'd had to wear a lacrima around his neck at all times to help take some of the conscious strain away. He was the master of the largest mage guild in the world with over 4,000 mages, he was a Holy Knight, Wizard Saint and now fucking adopted by the God Apollo with even more responsibility piled on his shoulders. What more did he have to do to earn a helpmeet in this life that he wouldn't eventually become bored or disillusioned by?

Freed Justine was just some such person, an elegant beautiful man with a mind to match his own, was all he'd ever wanted for himself and now the fucking world was conspiring against him to keep the rune mage just out of his reach. He was going to bring Pergrande to its knees if it was the last thing he did.

Kaleb looked back up at the monitor on the bridge of the airship committing one final look of the noble greenette to memory before tucking all that back to the recesses of his mind so he could focus. They were only an hour from Pergrande's capitol and he could not afford distractions; one millisecond could be the difference between life and death in battle and he had a responsibly to the mages of White Sea that had been asked to come fight to keep them safe as best as he was able and bring them home.

-DTRE-

Freed sighed silently as he looked out at the night sky focusing on the bright moon hanging over the land so his mind didn't wander to pale lavender eyes and long platinum locks. Until now he'd kept his interactions with the mindbending mage limited in order to control his growing obsession with the man. That, it seemed, was no longer a luxury he had. Even avoiding Kaleb on ship didn't stop Freed from feeling his presence there, gently prodding at his mind, looking for answers he wasn't ready to share yet, if ever.

Cursing in a rare fit of angst, Freed clutched the railing, the only physical expression of his internal torment. Why oh why did he have to be this way? Why couldn't he be like a Boscan and freely share pleasure with anyone he found attractive without strings? No, he had to be obsessive and clingy when he found someone he truly admired like Kaleb…or Laxus. His heart had already taken a beating longing after someone he knew he could never have did it really need to seek out another? Was it his fate to go through life longing for such powerful, untouchable men? To be drawn in like a moth to their brilliance until the pain consumed him leaving nothing but an empty husk?

Straightening his spine Freed smoothed out the invisible wrinkles on his coat and fixed his cuffs before he returned inside. Now was not the time for selfish, angst ridden, unproductive thoughts. Two very good people were most likely suffering unknown torments and a battle was just on the horizon. He could always think about Kaleb later when this was over and he was back at home in Magnolia holed up in his library with a glass of scotch.

-DTRE-

Bickslow eyed Freed as he crossed the canteen, back straight as a pole, shoulders bunched tighter than virgin's ass. It was obvious, to him at least, that something had happened between his friend and older brother and it had not turned out well. Bicks knew what sexual frustration looked like, years spent in the sexually repressed Fiore made him far more familiar with blue balls then any man should have to be in order to have some semblance of a respectable reputation and the fact that both Freed and Kaleb were in this weird limbo dance and would be until they got Cris and Lucy back was just plain fucked up. Pergrande couldn't have picked a worse time to fucking start something. Nothing was going how he'd planned.

"I know that look," a quiet voice called him from his thoughts. Looking up he saw the red hair and concerned eyes of his mate before he pulled her in his arms and buried his face in her stomach grateful Erza had stopped wearing her armor most of the time now.

"What's wrong?" Erza queried as she ran her fingers through Bicks blue black locks.

"Besides the obvious?" His muffled reply was almost desperate.

"Yes," Erza stiffened at the reminder not that she needed it. Lucy was her first real "girlfriend", a sister in more than just arms. The fact that she was pregnant and in as much trouble as she was in, was never far from her thoughts. She also felt the constant pain and anxiety her mate felt over his brother and good friend being taken but that was separate from what he was feeling now.

"I'm sorry kočička. It's just…I've watched Freed moon over Laxus for years so when I saw that same look in his eyes but for Kaleb? Someone I knew could and would most likely return his feelings? Mavis, it was such a relief they are so perfect for each other. I, well... I fucked up."

"What did you do?" Erza finally prompted after the continued silence stretched out doing nothing but building more tension.

"I may have worked with Lucy to orchestrate a meeting between the two at White Sea's New Year's Eve party that would clue Kaleb into how he felt only…"

"It didn't work out."

"No it didn't… and before I could corner either of them Lucy and Cris got snatched and we were preparing for war." His arms around her waist tightened. "I just wanted them to be happy like us, give Kaleb a chance to work his magic on Freed since it was obvious Freed wasn't going to take any sort of initiative on his own. They both deserve each other not this shit."

"Give it time Bickslow. What will be will be and there is little we can do about it except show our support."

"That's deep babe." Bickslow fought a wry grin. "Where'd you pick that up? One of your stories?" Bickslow gripped his mate's ass knowing full well the naughty stories she preferred reading contained nothing but smut with vague storylines; fun for their experimentation but not much substance.

"No," Erza squeaked. "It," she cleared her throat, "It was in one of those delightful cookies you introduced me to. True wisdom delivered in a sweet crunchy pastry." There were stars in her eyes at the memory.

Bickslow bit back his chuckle as he stood and pecked his beautiful mate on the tip of her nose. Only she would take the vague messages in fortune cookies to heart and find depth but that's why he loved her. There was a childish innocence in her heart that she protected with all the hard layers of her personality and he loved it when it came out to play with his much more visible adolescent behavior.

He was still worried for his family but the woman in his arms right now made it bearable, his little cookie made everything bearable.

-DTRE-

"Oh fuck that's right. Take it all you worthless piece of shit!"

Karadin's lip lifted in disgust involuntarily. He was here to ensure the final testing of the altered succubus venom went smoothly not watch two of his researchers get their rocks off with the recently purchased male and female emaciated slaves as they tested the bounds of induced compliance. It would be one thing if anyone involved in the process were the least bit attractive but this was just pathetic watching wiry limbs tremble with minimal effort, it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"How are my slayers handling their new accommodations?" he questioned letting a memory of that pair having sex supplant what he was watching. The more he watched the couple the more he understood Cristoff's and Nuryev's fascination with the woman. All soft exaggerated curves she may be but it was obvious she was physically strong, her magical power output potential was higher than most of his berserkers and hell even he could appreciate the symmetry and proportion of her features; it was a sign genetic strength he approved of. With the likelihood of birthing only males added to the mix he might even consider lowering himself to siring an heir on her personally before giving her over to Nuryev.

"The new restraints are working perfectly sire. With Cristoff's magic funneling directly to the female his body had been unable to purify his system of any of the safe compounds we've tested. It is likely they can be separated for extended periods from now on. We are also able to syphon more of her magic without ill effects to the fetuses' development while her bindings have proven effectual in preventing her from using magic."

Karadin finally looked at the man. That had not been an original feature in the specialized cuffs designs and it had taken some…persuasion…to get that feature included instead of relying on the room to contain her. He understood the complications of essentially trapping the magic within the woman instead without locking the magic away completely but there was no way Karadin was going to risk her using magic to summon some unknown entity since they couldn't use the general magical drain like they did before with the lunar dragon slayer already being drained of almost all his magic; he didn't want them dead before his mini slayers were even born yet.

Having the new room setup had been so frustrating he eventually had to leave all the details in the hands of Nuryev so he could focus on getting the pleasure room he'd used for Cristoff later ready. Oh, and with the drug finally showing no negative side effects that future was tonight.

Not only were the vitals of both the male and female slaves normal, Gods they were actively participating now when only an hour ago they were screaming and/or crying. Just thinking about the large raven dragon slayer's full lips around his cock, teeth dragging and nipping at his skin, those powerful thighs and ass bunching with every thrust had his mouth watering.

"Sire, the lacrima for the summons is finally full!" a young boy called out of breath before dropping into a low bow.

"Explain." The command would brook no subterfuge. Karadin had just gotten a report saying there were at least 2 more weeks until it was filled.

"There was -" he gasped, "a huge magical surge. We had to bleed some out so the crystal didn't crack."

Karadin was already moving from the room toward the section where the magic harvesting was occurring. It seems he couldn't look away from his monitors for a second before shit hit the fan. While this meant he would be able to summon the God of Winter closer to the season's peak, he hated surprises. They meant that his had missed something and he hated missing anything.

-DTRE-

Are you sure this is a good idea? With my magical stores so low I won't be able to help you if this goes too far. Cristoff cupped Lucy's cheek his forehead pressed against hers as he struggled maintaining some semblance of confidence. Ever since they'd overheard some of the servants talking about plans for a pleasure dungeon and eyeing him lustfully Lucy had been more than a little determined on getting them both free and away snarling at any and everyone that so much looked at him. This plan, while not as dangerous because his magic was flowing to her direct, still had his hackles rising.

Sometimes you just need to have a little faith, Lucy thought placing a tender chaste kiss on his lips.

I love you.

I love you too. Lucy stepped away from her mate's warm embrace and took a deep breath to settle her nerves. Summoning a silver key shouldn't be hard but she knew it would take a wealth of magic to hopefully flood the system that syphoned her magic whenever they fluxed above her normal resting levels.

Eyes locked on her mate Lucy let loose a storm of magic. The huge magic circle under her feet flicked as she pushed more and more magic trying to stabilize the pathway, something hard enough to do without the physical key in her hand but not impossible when it's for one of her mate's dragon siblings. She'd decided requipping the actual gate key – something that is normally super quick and easy – would waste too much magic and time given their circumstances.

"Lucy stop! You're using too much power!" Cristoff yelled over the torrent of magic.

"No I'm so close! Open Gate of the Drag-" she stopped abruptly, eyes rolling back, magic suddenly nonexistent.

"Lucy!" Cristoff was across the small room in no time catching her lax body before she hit the floor not quite capable of biting his growls when he tried to instinctively call his magic only for it not to come. He felt blind without it!

Laying her on the floor Cristoff slowly made his way through checking her vitals like a normal, non-magical, healer did. He'd have to thank Xally for using him as one of her guinea pigs while she was working for her MD when he saw her next.

-DTRE-

"Tell me there will be no long term damage." Nuryev's voice was flat but his eyes promised death if he didn't get the answer he was looking for.

"No we knocked her out before she could do anything worse than temporarily lower their magic levels below the determined threshold."

"At least the safety worked." Nuryev pinched the bridge between his eyes. He'd gotten all of 30 minutes of rest after being awake for 36 hours straight before these Pergrandian idiots they call scientists stormed into his room panicking. Already anticipating the shit storm Pergrande's king was going to rain down Nuryev wanted to do nothing more than go back to sleep. There was no reason why either of their blood pressure should be so low still.

"What the hell is happening down here? I thought you said you had everything under controlled but now I'm being told that my dragon slayer is not stable enough for me to take him tonight? I want answers Nuryev!"

Fist clenched the Sevenese prince found what went wrong. "It seems your people are so incompetent they can't even correctly enter data in correctly," he said before shoving his tablet with his recommended settings clearly outlined at the Pergrande ruler and pointing at the same settings currently set.

"Your man fucked up the decimal place and had she got even 10 pts lower she might have not survived taking the unborn slayers with her."

Karadin's eyes narrowed on the screens he was looking at jaw clenched so tight he was sure he was in danger of breaking a tooth. "I want this Gristle in my thrown room 10 minutes ago; an example needs to be made of people who make mistakes. Uther, we move the summoning of Hroth up to Midnight tonight. It seems my evening is suddenly free. Why are you still standing here? Move," he ordered looking at Cristoff clinging to the woman on final time before he turned to leave. This Gristle man had just signed himself up for hours of torture, one for every hour Karadin was missing with the lunar dragon slayer because of his ineptitude. Yes, his inevitable death was going to be slow.

-End of Chapter-

I'm going to be working on Pradesh week to celebrate Desna's Birthday so look out for that.