The entire group of mages were sitting with Princess Hisui in the parlour of her bedroom suite in the castle, having tea. The couch, only meant for 3 people, housed five: Erza, Jellal, Levy, Gray, and Juvia. Gajeel sat in one of the arm chairs opposite Hisui while Natsu and Lucy sat together in a third arm chair. Cana preferred to stand behind the couch, Arcadios beside her. He glanced at Cana and smiled, then gave her a little wink. She returned a weak smile. Was he flirting with her? Now?

"So you're 2 months along now?" Hisui asked Lucy, smiling at the young couple.

Lucy nodded, "I suspect so. I suppose that's what happens on a 4 month honeymoon," she chuckled, "There's a part of me that really wanted longer with just Natsu," she reached for his hand and squeezed it, "But I think after our last misadventure, we both realize that there's no time like the present. We're going to live every moment we have together."

Hisui nodded, maintaining her smile. She loved this couple. They were so good together. When everyone thought Lucy was dead, it was the hardest thing in the world to keep the secret that she wasn't dead per se.

She glanced at the other couples, acknowledging that all of them had something to lose. Juvia and Gray had been together for a while now, but Gajeel and levy, as well as Erza and Jellal were relatively new couples. Cana had just come into her new level of power. None of them had an obligation to take this mission. She was counting on the fact that they would understand what was at stake.

"So these are your findings on candidates for the mission. Welcome to you all – and thank you for coming." Hisui stated.

"We couldn't locate Gildarts," Natsu replied. "Gray, Gajeel, Levy and Juvia were shoo-ins. They're all powerful and have a good diversity of magic power that work well with each other. But we were surprised to learn Jellal has joined Fairy Tail. He will be a good candidate, as will Erza and Cana."

"You just used some pretty big words," Arcadios laughed. He and Natsu did not really get along well, "Does your brain hurt now?"

Natsu shot him a glare.

Hisui clasped her hands, recapturing everyone's attention and diffusing a potential fight right then and there, "Excellent. Very good choices. But what about Laxus and Mirajane? I thought for sure you'd select them. Or perhaps Bisca and Alzack…or Elfman and Evergreen for that matter."

"Laxus and Mira are getting married," Lucy said softly, "Bisca and Alzack have their little girl to worry about and Elfman and Evergreen not only have their own little one, Everden, but are expecting again."

Hisui nodded, "So Gray, Gajeel, Levy, Juvia, Erza, Jellal, and Cana…you're willing to hear me out?"

They all nodded.

Natsu cocked his head, "What is the mission anyway? I take it it's dangerous, based on the fact that you gave us exclusion criteria of being single, powerful, and able to leave for long periods of time."

Hisui was quiet for a moment before looking up at their faces. It was unusual to see the princess so worried. She was often unconfident, especially after the Dragon gate incident. She had expressed before that she didn't have a lot of friends and was thankful for her Fairy Tail self-appointed friends.

Hisui took a deep breath, trying to choose her words carefully as she knew Natsu was about to get very riled up, "Do you remember what I told you before? That Tomo and I are not actually father and daughter?"

Juvia nodded, "You're the Celestial Princess, daughter of the Celestial King and Atria, Celestial Queen. But I didn't really understand the story of why you'd be banished here."

"Okay. Bear with me here. You know part of the story, but not all of it," Hisui took a deep breath, "I'm not good at telling this story since I was only recently told myself. At the time when I told you parts of it, I'd only just learned my true identity. It seemed surreal that of all the places the Celestial King could have chosen to hide me, he chose to make me princess of Fiore. There must have been more subtle places to put me than here."

She paused, offering the mages across from her more tea. Gray leaned forward and helped himself, but the others sat back, waiting.

"When Antoine was threatening the Celestial Kingdom with regular, random attacks, there was a larger force behind it. Antoine was not always a demon. When my fa-….the Celestial King killed him as a human, he went to hell and asked a very specific demon there to become a demon so he could exact his revenge. It was also in the best interest of this particular demon to grant Antoine's request."

She paused, letting the mages absorb this information before continuing.

"This particular demon was at one time a Celestial prince…the Celestial King's brother, to be exact. Andromeda. Lucy, I know you've done your homework on the stars."

"Andromeda is the brother solar system to the Milky Way," Lucy stated, starting to put pieces together.

Hisui nodded, "You see, there wasn't always a Hell. Long, long ago, there was Celestial War of epic proportions. It seems Andromeda is the older of the two brothers, but for some reason, it was my fa-…the Celestial King who was chosen to be the King. We cannot comprehend the vastness of this universe. There are countless star systems and countless Celestial Kingdoms. The Celestial King and Andromeda were but two of the princes of the skies. Their father is the galactic emperor, but we won't get into that. As they ruled neighbouring areas, the Celestial King was named king for their region of the heavens."

She paused, taking a drink of her own tea, which was now cold, "Andromeda tried to slaughter the Celestial King and forcibly take over as king. He slaughtered countless Celestial spirits. As a result, when the Celestial King finally apprehended him, he was kicked out of the Celestial Heavens to what we know now as Hell. When my mo-…Atria was attacked and put into the egg urn, she was in the Celestial gardens. Nobody understood for a long time how the demons had managed to get into the Heavens. Not until my father thought to check the gates of the neighbouring Andromeda. Everything there has been sealed now. The Andromeda system is essentially vacated now. It's a dormant area, not to be seen again."

"Okay," Gajeel said slowly, "so Brother A got all pissy because Brother B was chosen to be King, while he'd remain a prince, so he had a hissy fit and attacked Brother B and killed a bunch of dudes. Then, Brother A got sent to hell, let Antoine become a demon alongside him…what's that got to do with you being Princess of Fiore?"

"It doesn't," Levy corrected, "This was before she was ever born. When Antoine fell in love with the Celestial Queen, Hisui was just a child. This was long before that."

"The devil, my uncle if you will, recognizes that if he kills me and the Celestial King, he will end the line to the throne and be free to put himself on the throne, and then his heir. The Celestial King sent me here, both because he loves Earthland and wanted a kind and gentle ruler (Tomo) to guide Fiore, and to protect me in case there was another way into the Celestial Heavens. If the devil cannot identify the King's heir, she will be safe. Or something like that. I'm just gathering this from what I've been told."

Hisui sighed, "I don't know my parents. I find this whole thing….daunting. All I've ever known is here in Fiore. I love the people of Fiore. Up until you disappeared, Lucy, I'd never even laid eyes on my parents," she said, almost forlornly, "Or at least not that I can remember. I've always been here in the castle and Tomo has always been my father."

"That's hard," Lucy agreed, "They brought you here to protect you, but you grew up all alone."

"So what's happening now?" Cana asked. She noted Arcadios had edged a little closer to her, but she welcomed his body heat.

"The King approached me when you, Lucy, went to the Celestial Kingdom to heal. He told me that one day soon, it would be my turn to wage war. I was asked to help you return to Natsu by guiding Natsu in the right direction, which hopefully I did. But being that I don't actually know my parents, I could only do so much. When the Celestial King, Queen, and I met up at your wedding, they approached me as I was leaving town and told me that now that Antoine's plan has failed, Andromeda will be more likely to make his move in locating me. Recently, he's appeared before me again, saying that his informants have warned him about a bounty out for information about me. I need your team of mages to infiltrate hell and take out Andromeda before he starts another war."

"That's stupid!" Natsu slammed his hands down on the table, upsetting what was left of Hisui's cold tea, "You can't send mages down to hell to take on the devil! It's suicide!"

Hisui cringed back at Natsu's sudden anger, even though she'd already had an inkling he wouldn't take this well, "I don't have a choice! He's mobilizing, or at least the Celestial King has reason to believe he is. He's going to try to assassinate myself and the Celestial King. The balance of the universe will be destroyed!"

Lucy reached a calm hand to Natsu's waist, beckoning him with her eyes to sit down. He complied, but he was shaking with anger.

"What you're telling us," Gray said with a low growl in his voice, "Is that essentially, you're hiring assassins to protect your own ass. You're no better than the devil is."

Hisui shook her head in protest, "There is no choice! Do you understand what will happen if the Celestial King's domain collapses?"

"The Celestials will cease to exist," Lucy realized, "My spirits!" She thought of every one of her spirits, Aquarius included. Beyond that, she realized how all the people on Earthland loved the stars and counted on them for so much – the sun, the rain…everything that made Earthland prosper. Earthland would also cease to exist.

"More than that," Hisui continued, "The demons of hell will literally have control of Heaven and Hell. You've seen an example of how they would rule. Tell me, Gray – am I selfish now?"

Gray was pale, "I'm sorry," he whispered. His eyes traveled to Lucy's stomach – what kind of world would that baby be born into?

"I need you to take Andromeda out," Hisui said with finality in her voice.

"And how do we do that?" Cana asked.

"With this,"Hisui took out a card-like flat piece of paper, "This is an entrapment parchment. It will ban the trapped being into Andromeda. There is no return. The threat would be permanently terminated."

Natsu took the card, turning it in his fingers, "And how do they get close enough?"

Hisui's eyes were shadowed by her bangs. She whispered in a low voice, almost so low that Lucy couldn't understand. Still, she felt all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and Hisui whispered. But Natsu had dragon hearing and he heard it clearly.

"The house of Aranthros," she stated ominously, "We will infiltrate the House and use them to gain access to Andromeda."

"It's really risky," Levy said, "What if we can't pull it off?"

Hisui sighed heavily, "Then the Celestial Heavens cease to exist and Earthland shortly after that. I doubt Earthland will survive the chaos. Those that do will be at the mercy of the demonic kingdom."

"How can we disguise ourselves enough to get into Aranthos?" Jellal asked, "Mystogen is not going to work in a demon house. We'll be torn apart."

"Cancer," Hisui replied, "He's not only talented with his scissors, but he can disguise you as well. Between him and Virgo, that is."

"And what if we can't get close enough to Andromeda to stop him?" Erza asked, "It's not like we can just walk out of the gates of hell."

"We'll all die," Levy said, trying to swallow the giant lump in her throat.

Hisui nodded, tears brimming her eyes, "I know what I'm asking of you. I cannot put fault on any of you if you choose not to do this. But if you don't, my only other choice is to wait for the imminent attacks on Earthland and the Celestial Heavens. It may be too late then. As it is now, the next plea for help will be to the guilds in each city to mobilize war units to defend the cities against any attacks that may be coming. You are our first defense, but I think it's necessary to set up the 2nd defense as well. Natsu, if you are unable to join the first defense due to your new circumstances, I'd like you to play a large role in protecting Magnolia."

The room was silent for a few moments. Each mage glanced around to the other mage's faces.

"I know it's not a great plan!" Hisui said, hints of panic in her voice, "But you won't be alone. We'll send the Royal Guard with you for back up."

Another long moment of silence passed. Hisui searched their faces, praying they wouldn't turn her down. The uncertainty on the others' faces played into her anxiety.

"I'm a demon slayer. This was always my destiny," Gray said, standing up from the couch and moving across the room. He glanced at Juvia, apologizing with his eyes, "I'll go."

"Gray!" Juvia yelped, her voice panicked momentarily before she caught herself. She took a deep breath, "If you're going, I'm going too."

She took her place by Gray.

"I should handle the card. Card trapping is one of my specialties," Cana said, taking it from Hisui. She gave the princess a crooked smile, "I knew I quit drinking for a reason. Turns out, I have a purpose in life after all."

"The ultimate way to exonerate myself to myself," Jellal said, standing beside Cana. It was true he'd been exonerated by the Magic Council, the Crown, and Fairy Tail, but he still hadn't forgiven himself for his wrongdoing. He promised himself if they could complete this mission, he would be able to fully and completely move on.

Erza followed him without a word. They'd made the pledge already that they were now together. And that meant following him to the depths of hell. Jellal had given up everything he'd built in Crime Sorciere for her. She likely would have made the same decision without him, simply because she's Erza.

Lucy and Hisui's eyes filled with tears as one by one, the 7 mages took their place. Gajeel held Levy's hand. Levy would be the navigator once they made it there, Gajeel the brawn. Natsu tried not to look at them. It was killing him that he would sit this one out. But he had a family to protect.

"Thank you," Hisui whispered.

Lucy's hand traveled to her stomach, the same ache that Natsu was feeling pulling at her. They should be up there too. But they could not and would not risk the baby, nor would they separate ever again. She offered a silent prayer that all her friends would have that opportunity too – to have what she and Natsu had.

There was nothing more to say. The 7 mages were told the mission preparations would start in the morning. Arcadios showed them all to their perspective rooms, not that anyone would get any sleep that night, pausing to talk with Cana as he delivered her to her room last.

"I've watched you over several years," he said softly, "You were really great at the Grand Magic Games. I can't help thinking you've changed though. What is it about you?"

She smiled, despite her somber mood, "I'm the same person I always was. Just looking for a way to prove myself."

He nodded as she let herself through the door, "Goodnight Cana. I hope we get to talk more."

"Good night, Arcadios," she said as she shut the door behind her.