Lady Khara waited for Cooro and Babo to return while she sat on a couch with the rest of her servants: EO, Hex, Samba, Sano, and Junichi. After waiting for three hours for him to return Lady Khara finally dispatched Ox to go out and search
for them.

"What do you think is taking them so long, Lady Khara?" Hex as he/she stared silently waiting for them to return.

"Yes, it is quite odd for Babo to miss out on dinner," EO said while she too stood silently waiting for them to return.

Finally, Ox appeared. He appeared through the door. He looked worried, ran with great pace and headed straight for Lady Khara. When he reached her he got on his knees and kicked her legs. But Khara kicked Ox as she found him to be revolting.

" Tell me, Ox, where are my other subjects?"

" Ox," Ox said to Lady Khara. "Ox. Ox. Ox, Ox, OX! OX!"

"I see. I stipulated he would be my butler, but I never thought he'd be a tardy butler." Khara closed her eyes and used her hands to swish her grey hair. " I guess we'll have to teach him a lesson. EO, Sano, find our new butler. If he is
incompliant to be joining us, you have my permission to do with him as you wish."

" Yes, Lady Khara," EO said.

" Umm, are you sure I should really be doing this, Lady Khara?" Sano asked. "I'm not sure I'm best fitting for the job—"

Lady Khara surprised Sano. She got off her couch and ran up to Sano and hugged him around his torso. Sano was surprised by Khara's bold act and his cheeks tinted red.

" I know you can do it, Sano. You are my light of day. You're also the glitz that lights my day. And I know out of every one of my servants you're the one who loves me the most, Sano. So, will you do this teensy little errand for me?"

" Yes, Lady Khara. I will get on it right away."

Both EO and Sano rushed out the room and ran out the door searching for Cooro. While they did, Khara laughed too herself and held her hands over her eyes.

XXX

Cooro wandered through the plains of the desert looking for sanctuary. Cooro carried the wounded cat Gia with both his hands. But after wandering through dunes, hills, and the skeletons of dead buzzards of Khara's landscape. All water
seemed to be lost from evapotranspiration as there was nothing he could do to help Gia was trying to find shelter for her.

" I'm sorry, Gia," Cooro said while he carried Gia. " I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you. If only I was strong enough to protect you. "

" Don't be so hard on yourself , Cooro," Gia said weakly while she was being carried by Cooro. " I should be the one saying that too you."

" B-but you're injured. You're injured because of me."

" Yes, but I'm glad I was able to help you. I've rather grown fond of you, Cooro. How you pet me, how you feed me, I would benefit being your pet."

" Heh. You're surprisingly talkative despite your injury. And as long as we both may live, I will be your master until the end of time. And as your master, I have something I need to show you."

Cooro pulled out a small notebook. The leather of the notebook was red as there was also a scaly pink heart on the cover. Cooro opened the notebook and a picture of his hometown Rudy Gloss City.

" This here is a Memory Transportation Book. It can teleport you anywhere you've been before. However, it can only be used once a day. I can send you back to the safety of my house. I however will stay here as I still have urgent matters to attend too. "

" No!" Gia swat the book away with her paws. She then reached her paws around Cooro's scarf and squeezed it with her paws. " I want to stay with you! What kind of pet would I be if I wasn't besides my master?"

" Gia, a-are you sure about this? It wouldn't be easy staying around someone like me."

" Of course I'm sure. I will stay beside you for as long as I live, master."

" Okay. I will look after you as always, Gi—"

From behind a giant beam of energy came out and hit Cooro behind his back. Cooro fell when he was hit, however he managed to keep Gia safe and got back up again. As Cooro turned around he saw the unwavering, calm face of EO standing behind him.

" So, you were a spy for Fairy Tail all along?" EO said while she walked closed towards Cooro and Cooro stepped back. " That's such a pity. Lady Khara stipulated that she would turn you into a great butler. But if you're not compliant with Lady Khara's orders, then I have no choice but to kill you."

" Well, if it isn't the crazy lady whose obsessed with crusted poo." Cooro smirked when he looked at her. " Yes, I'm a member of Fairy Tail. And beating scum like you who're people's guard dogs should be no problem. It's a good thing
there's only one of them. Once I find a secluded place to hide Gia, I'll take her down—"

" Flashbang!"

Cooro saw a small metal object being thrown over his head. The object soon exploded and bright light blinded him. Cooro quickly covered his eyes with his left hand and covered Gia's eyes with his right hand. Even though Cooro couldn't
see, he could still heard the rumbling sound of footsteps charging towards him.

" What is going on—"

Cooro was pushed by the body of a body-builder. Cooro landed on his leg, the one that was bruised earlier, and he cried in agony as it felt the pressure of the ground. Cooro then turned around to see who pushed him now that the light had
faded. He was daunted seeing the person standing before him too be Sano who he reckoned was his friend until he pushed him.

" I had no idea you were a member of Fairy Tail, Cooro," Sano said to Cooro. " It's too bad you turned out to be nothing more than a spy. I thought we could have a reading session like that time on the slab after Lady Khara went to sleep, but now I'm afraid that session will never come again."

" Sano, don't do this," Cooro said. " You don't have to do everything that brat tells you. You have your own mind. You can be anything you want to b—"

"Enough!" Sano pulled on the sleeves of his black clothes. In his hands the sleeves turned into bright green grenade. Sano pulled the pin of the grenade and raised it behind his back. "I will never permit you to say ill of my lordship!Grenade!"

Sano threw the grenade two feet ahead of Cooro. Cooro, even though one of his legs was trashed, he got off the ground and ran as fast as he could away from the grenade. The grenade exploded and the blast pushed Cooro back. While he was flying, a bright green beam was unleashed from EO's head and pushed Cooro into a giant rock that was sticking out of the dirt.

" Isn't it marvelous, Sano?" EO chuckled as her head glowed bright green. " It's amazing watching people who talk mean of Lady Khara suffer. Oh, I'm going to finish him off with my magic that transforms my emotions into magical blasts."

" No." Sano walked ahead of EO and smacked her hand behind her bald head. " I'll be the one who will destroy Cooro and bring back Lady Khara's good reputation. I'll do it with my magic of transforming my clothes into bombs."

Sano grabbed another piece of his sleeves that was already teared, teared another piece, and he squeezed it in his hand. His hand glowed with bright white light. When he opened his hand a small time bomb was in his hand. Only five
seconds were left on the clock.

" This is the end for you, Cooro! No one will stand in Lady Khara's way!"

Sano threw the time bomb straight towards Cooro. The time bomb landed in front of his face. With the clock about to reach zero—tick-tock, tick-tock, Cooro knew just one thing:

" I'm going to die."

Only four seconds left on the clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock. From past experience Cooro realized that Sano's magic was not to be rifled with. There were only two seconds left on the clock. Tick-tock, tick-tock. At this moment, Cooro could
only think of one thing.

" Gia, you got to go!" Cooro shouted at his small feline wingless pet. " If one of us is going to make it out of this alive it has to be you. "

" I'm not leaving you, Cooro," Gia said back to Cooro.

" I wasn't asking you."

Cooro used all the arm strength he had left to throw Gia behind him. He threw her far but not high. He could see her tiny body as it zoomed past him and landed on a hill in the oasis. Cooro felt relieved to see Gia alright and smiled.

" At least one of us needs to make it out of her alive. What kind of master would I be if I couldn't take care of my pets? Good luck wherever life leads you, Gi—"

It had been well past five seconds. The time bomb however did not go off. Cooro didn't know why it didn't go off, but he used his adrenaline as stimulus to help him get off the ground and ran, nearly falling, towards where he threw Gia.

" Sano, what is wrong with you?" EO screamed behind Cooro's back. " You dare defy Lady Khara's orders and help this oaf escape?"

" Of course not," Sano replied. " That last bomb I threw just turned out to be a dub, that's all."

"Well the next one you use better work, unless of course you want me to tell Lady Khara about your failure to follow orders."

" No. I promise you my bombs will go off next time. Just please don't tell Lady Khara about this."

Sano didn't have any intentions of hurting poor Cooro, but that didn't mean he wasn't going too. Too his surprise, Cooro fell into a dune without paying close attention where he was running. As he watched Cooro roll down the dune, he start
to sensate memories of his past.

" Get away from that kid. He's infected."

" Keep him away from our children. He bears the mark of the Tӓrtus in his eyes."

" That mark is the mark of the devils. It's incurable and if he touches our kids with it they too will die."

Thinking about all the torture he suffered and how he had a mark on his eye that couldn't even spread to people close to him, he remembered what his master Lady Khara had said to him.

" Are you alright? I can save you. I can get rid of that pesky disease in your eye before it completely destroys you. But in return I need you to become a servant of mine. So, what do you say?"

Sano walked towards the dune. He pulled six pieces of fabric from his clothes. As he did he squeezed them and six grenades came out. Sano finally reached the dune and saw Cooro trying to walk out of it.

" Lady Khara was there for me then and she is here for me now. I'm sorry about
this, Cooro, but I just can't fall here after everything she's done for me." Sano dropped five of his grenades while holding one in his hand, and he threw the grenade. " Grenade!"'

The grenade however was thrown above Cooro and exploded in midair. Sano picked up another grenade, pulled its pin, and threw it at Cooro. " Grenade!"

The grenade however was thrown too far ahead of Cooro and exploded on the top of the dune. EO, who was watching Sano miss his target, became angry. And when she was angry, her bald head glowed bright red. Sano however didn't see it and picked up his other four grenades.

" Grenade! Grenade! Grenade! Grenade!"

Sano tossed the grenade's everywhere. One was thrown far left of Cooro. Another was thrown far right of Cooro. And one that also was thrown far left of Cooro. All three exploded and missed Cooro. However, there was one that rolled behind Cooro and exploded, and it blew Cooro away as it burned his back.

" Ah!" Cooro screamed in agony after he was struck by the grenade.

" I truly am sorry, Cooro. But I-I just don't want to go back to the way things were. I don't want to be homeless, unloved, and completely hated. I-I just want to be in Lady Khara's care." Watching Cooro cry made Sano cry. As he did,
teardrop fell down his right eye. " It's the only place I belong in."

Sano could remember everything about his past visually. He remembered how he would sit in an abandoned house, alone, cold, and crying his eyes out waiting for someone to rescue him. But no one in his village came for him. He just
wanted to be loved. But no one ever loved him. The only comfort he had was reading books. That was until the day Lady Khara showed up. He could still remember the words she said to him.

" Hey, are you alone?"

" Alone? Y-yes. It's only me and my books. But aren't you afraid of me?"

" Not at all. I see you have the mark of Tӓrtus though. I can help you. If you come with me, I can cure you of your plague .In exchange, you'll become my servant."

" Will there be people there who will love me?"

" Of course. They'll remember you sentimentally. But while you're my servant, you'll refer to me as Lady Khara."

" I love Lady Khara, even if it all seems one sided. I wish she could look at me, not as a servant, but as someone who would give up his life to see her smile."

It didn't look like Cooro was going to be getting up, which was good. Sano didn't intend on killing Cooro. He and Cooro shared mutual bonds when it came to books. He only wanted to faze Cooro long enough for the scarf wearing boy to
give up and journey back to his home.

" Glad that's over. Now I can finally go hom—"

It was too Sano's surprise, horror that Cooro was able to stand up again. Cooro limply journeyed up the hill trying to reach Gia. Surprised, Sano ripped off another piece of his sleeves fabric and it transformed into a bomb, only he
didn't get to detonate it because EO pushed him down. Looking up her head looked like a volcano about to erupt.

" You've tested my patience for too long, Sano! It's time you give someone disciplined a chance. Emotion Magic: Magma Wave!"

Sano knew nothing good would come from EO. And he was right. A beam made out of made was fired from her bald head. The magma in her beam transformed into a puddle of magma and was about to rain over Cooro and melt him alive.

" Cooro, no!"

Sano slide down the sand dune hoping to save Cooro from being burned alive. He carried the time bomb in his hand that had only three seconds left on the clock. When Sano finally got in front of Cooro, he pushed him to the ground and threw the time bomb over both their heads.

Boom!

The time bomb exploded. As it did, the magma that was about to fall on Cooro dripped everywhere, except it didn't land on Cooro or Sano. A puddle of magma surrounded both Cooro and Sano.

Cooro was mesmerized with Sano's boldness. The sight of it made him speechless. He however grabbed Sano's right shoulder.

" Sano….y-you saved me?"

" Don't flatter yourself," Sano replied. " Lady Khara told us we were supposed to bring you in alive so she could train you to be diligent. Saving you has nothing to do with me liking you or anything."

" Sano!" Khara shouted on the top of the dune. Her head was still red and boiling like a volcano. " You traitor! Wait until I tell Lady Khara about this! She'll be heartbroken to see her favorite servant failed to follow orders!"

" No! Please, don't tell Lady Khara about this. She'll be devastated."

" The choice is up to you. Either kill this oaf right now or I will tell Lady Khara about this."

Sano really didn't want to hurt Cooro. The only thing stopping him from throwing a bomb at EO was how she had him by a loose thread. Trying his hardest not to let everyone down, Sano teared a piece of his sleeves off. The sleeve transformed into a grenade in his hands.

Cooro ignored Sano and rubbed his chin as he pondered to himself. " Let's see. How was I able to use that move from before? Oh yeah."

Cooro's left hand glowed green as it turned into a small cannon. Cooro stared at Sano and raised the cannon above his head. And while he was doing that, Sano hesitantly held the pin of his grenade but didn't pull it and KO's head glowed
blue from glee.

" That's a good boy, Sano. While this oaf's attention is too focused on you, I'll freeze him with my freeze ray. That boy won't even see it coming—"

" Just what do you think you're doing baldy?"

EO shuddered at the sound of Cooro's voice. Cooro spun around and turned to EO. In a flash, a small green ball of light that looked like a cannonball fired towards her. Scared, EO had to fire her beam immediately. She slowed the ball
down, but she didn't have enough power to push it all the way back.

"Kanellos, I order you to attack this stupid girl, now!"

" It's about time you called for my help, Cooro. I was starting to think you were going to ignore me for the rest of your life."

Cooro's body glowed with light. When the light faded Kanellos the dog-eared man stood before Sano. Kanellos acted quickly by taking out a dozen seeds from his shirt. After tossing the seeds in his palm, Kanellos threw them into the sky.

"Tree Spurt!"

The seeds in the air grew into trees. The trees fell from the sky and prepared to fall on EO. Four trees landed around her and trapped her, and the last tree fell on her. EO didn't die from the tree falling on her because her bone structure was twice as inextirpable as any bones in the human body. One thing was clear. EO was defeated.

Kanellos became surrounded by a veil of white light. When the light cleared Cooro was standing before Sano, perfectly still, and looked rather heroic in his eyes. The thing Sano couldn't believe was how he attacked EO before he attacked
him when he was standing right before him.

" I just don't get it. How did he know I wasn't going to attack him? It just doesn't make any sense." Sano tapped on Cooro's right shoulder. Cooro didn't turn his head and just stood at the trees above the dune. " Hey, just now you
knew I wasn't going to attack you. You needed full attention to attack her like that. But how did you know I wasn't going to attack you?"

Cooro turned his head to Sano, tilted his head to the left, said, " What are you talking about? It's because we're friends, aren't we?"

" F-friends?" The sound of Cooro's words made Sano both happy and sad. His eyes swelled up with tears and they dripped with tears of joy. " Yeah, we're friends."