I am telling you in advance, I am not good at writing fight scenes right now :D If you could advise me for any future fights, that'd be great. I'm still working on it.

One of the students attended to Lucy, patting her forehead with a soaked cloth. She had been out cold ever since they had taken her back from Laki, and was in need of recovery.

E.N.D. was watching over her whilst reading a scroll.

"Mm...Master..."

E.N.D.'s ears perked up as he heard Lucy calling for him in her sleep.

Her arms moved around as if she was trying to grab hold of something, "Urgh...Master...Master..."

E.N.D. sighed, rolling up his scroll, then stood up to walk to the side of her bed. He rested his hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. Lucy immediately reached for his hand, saying, "Master...it's so painful..." It seemed that she was traumatized by the constant drowning in the dungeon.

The other students in the room were about to say something about Lucy's sleeptalking but decided not to.

"It's okay," he noticed their worried expressions. "I'll take care of him."

"Then, I'll go check on the medicine," one of the students said. Everyone, except for E.N.D., proceeded to leave him alone with Lucy.

E.N.D. placed his palm under Lucy's cheek and allowed her head to rest on it. She continued to call for him, prompting him to say, "It's alright," as he patted her shoulders. "I will protect you."

She said something else that was rather peculiar, "That goddess...she's not worthy...of my master... Not worthy..."

E.N.D. smiled.

"E.N.D."

E.N.D. saw an uncommon visitor at his doorstep, "Your Highness. What brings you here so late at night?" It was one of the princes of the Heavenly Clan.

"Father heard that you'd be fighting Laki Olietta. He told me to come have you reconcile with her," the man told him. "You know that the Heavenly Clan and the Demon Clan don't get along as much as before. That Demon Lord Mard Geer would find an excuse anytime to start a war with the Heavenly Clan. If the relationship between the clans sinks over this small fight, it really isn't good for any of us.

"E.N.D., do you really have to fight her?"

E.N.D. nodded, "Yes. If not, I won't be able to give Fairy Mountain the justice it deserves. This place is sacred—why would I let someone just break in and kidnap people whenever they want? Don't you agree, Your Highness?"

He slowly nodded, "You're right."

"You don't need to worry, and His Majesty doesn't need to worry either. This is something between me and Laki Olietta."

"Father, that is what E.N.D. said." the man who had gone to speak with E.N.D. about his fight with Laki had come back to the Heavenly Palace to report his findings.

The Heavenly Lord stroked his beard in thought, "When that student of his was given the Jade Tailed Fan, I was really shocked. Now E.N.D. was angered because of him and wouldn't even hesitate to battle Laki... If I get the chance, I'd like to meet him, to see what abilities he has that would make E.N.D. favor him so much."

E.N.D. and Laki were hovering in the air, their swords pointed at each other, with their auras clashing. It was the day of their appointed duel.

"Woahh," most of E.N.D.'s students had come to watch him battle the renowned goddess, despite knowing that they probably weren't supposed to. "Look!"

Laki made the first move, teleporting to E.N.D's location to strike him with a slash of her sword. The battle continued with a lot of the clashing of swords and teleportation from one spot to the next.

Laki knew she was going to lose, but made a final effort of conjuring multiples swords to shoot at E.N.D. after a seemingly endless bout of sword skill. As expected, E.N.D. tamed the swords and turned them against her.

Her attempt to dodge was a failure.

"Master won! Master won!" the students exclaimed.

"Our master is the God of War, how could he lose?"

"That's obvious. Master wouldn't lose!"

Laki only had her sword to keep her from dropping to the ground, "...I've lost. I've been miserably defeated."

E.N.D. coldly ordered, "Then move out of Fairy Mountain."

He was about to leave until she called out, "E.N.D.!"

He tried to be polite, "What else do you have to say?"

She slowly stepped towards him with a look of longing on her face, "Back then, during the Great War between the Heavenly and Demon Clans...we were comrades. But now...it's all gone."

He crossed his arms in annoyance, "We were merely acquaintances. Don't overexaggerate the truth." He suddenly turned his head towards the large group of students.

They scurried to hide behind a giant boulder, in hopes that he didn't see them.

E.N.D. rolled his eyes and pretended that he didn't see them while walking away.

The students let out sighs of relief, "Master breaks yet another woman's heart."

"He dotes on Seventeenth the most. Who told her to go mess with Seventeenth of all people?"

"Enough, we should go back. Master already noticed us."

"Let's go, let's go."

Lucy slowly opened her eyes to the dimly lit room filled with candles. She had a major headache, and she didn't really remember how she got back in her bed when she was being drowned by a psychotic goddess.

Oh. Right. Master saved her.

Lucy clenched her chest, feeling a newfound warmth spread inside of it.

One of the students coincidentally walked in at that moment and saw that she was awake, "Seventeenth, you're awake? Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm alright now. I honestly thought I'd be stuck in that water dungeon for another ten days or something."

He laughed, "You passed out as soon as you were out of that dungeon. You would cling onto Master's hands all the time while you were asleep, and would refuse to let go."

"Huh?"

"Master was upset when he noticed your distress, so he stroked your back and comforted you by saying 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Your master is here.' You were just like a little girl."

She shook her head, pushing the covers off of her body, "I need to see Master."

"Oh, about that, Master is fighting with Laki Olietta right now."

She straightened her clothes out, "I still need to see Master."

"With your speed, he'll be back before you even reach there," he reasoned.

As they were talking, Jet had also arrived inside the room, carrying a tray of food and tea, "Senior, and Seventeenth, you're awake? Here, have something to eat." He placed the tray on a table. "Oh, Master told me to tell you that you need to write thirty-thousand copies of 'Eternal Suffering' in half a month as punishment."

Lucy gawked, "Thirty-thousand copies!?"

Jet nodded, "Also, there's a woman in the drawing room who says that she's from Magnolia."

Lucy raised her eyebrow in wonder, "A woman?" Who could it be?

A woman with short, silver hair was sitting on the steps, holding a scroll. She occasionally glanced inside the halls of Fairy Mountain. It was evident that she was waiting for someone. She noticed Lucy and a muscular blonde student walking towards her, and immediately stood up to receive them.

...So it's Yukino.

Yukino thought to herself, There's someone who actually looks so much like Lucy? And it's a man?

Lucy cleared her throat, speaking to her senior, "...Where did this lady come from?"

Yukino greeted her, "Lucas, my name is Yukino Aguria."

"So, you are from Magnolia. I think I've heard them mention you before," Lucy pretended that she didn't know her.

"Yes, my sister told me that you've been with Zeref for thousands of years."

"Uh...yes, I've lived with Zeref and often call the royals of Magnolia as my brothers just like Lucy Heartfilia did."

"Lucy?" Yukino remarked. "Speaking of her, I haven't seen her for thousands of years."

"Ah, ah," Lucy mechanically nodded. "Anyway, this is my senior brother, Laxus Dreyar, the prince of the Lightning Kingdom."

Yukino hurriedly turned to Laxus, "I did not know of your status as a prince, please forgive me for being impolite."

He waved her off, "Past identities don't really matter here at Fairy Mountain. We're all E.N.D.'s students, so just speak to us all the same."

Yukino nodded, "Okay."

"Since you two know each other, you should talk," Laxus recalled something that he had to do. "I'm gonna go now." Lucy and Yukino nodded, watching Laxus walk away.

After he was gone, Yukino held out the scroll that she was carrying earlier to Lucy, "Lucas, this is a letter from Michelle. It contains everything that she's entrusting towards you."

Lucy took the scroll, "A letter from Sister? Why didn't she just come herself?"

Yukino grinned, "There is a baby on the way, and all of the immortals of Magnolia had gathered to witness it."

"Eh!?" Lucy was astonished. "When I left, she had just gotten married. To think that she is already having a baby. Do they know the gender of the baby? Wait, with Zeref around, it'd be hard not to know. Err, anyway, let me read this." Lucy unrolled the scroll to read the contents.

Lucy,

Yukino is being forced by her sister to marry a bear of a man! She ran all the way to my home. My husband was afraid that she would be found, so I thought of you.

Fairy Mountain is a sacred place...no one would think to look there. Let Yukino hide there for now as a favor for my husband.

Lucy thought to herself, Me!? Why doesn't she deal with this problem? Why throw it at me? Then she continued reading.

I also feel that leaving you with this kind of problem isn't right, but in Hargeon, Zeref and I are the only ones. Zeref is a man and I am pregnant. How could we take care of her? You are a woman and have known Yukino since your childhood. I would feel better if you were to take care of her.

Oh, by the way, Yukino doesn't know that you're Princess Lucy of Magnolia. I didn't tell her.

Michelle

Lucy sighed. This was a really bothersome task. She handed the scroll back to Yukino, "I've finished reading it." She groaned, "Sister just left you to me...I really am in a difficult position..."

Yukino began to sniffle, "S-Since you find it so difficult of a task...then I, I..."

"EH!?" Lucy began to panic. "Wait, don't cry, don't cry! Uh...I have to ask Master if you can stay, so just wait for me here."

Yukino nodded with tears glistening through her eyelashes.

"Don't cry," Lucy said again before heading to E.N.D.'s room.

On the way, she met Laxus.

"Senior?"

"Seventeenth, aren't you keeping your cousin company?"

Cousin?

"Ah, there are some things that I need Master's permission for. Um...Senior, do you think I should keep Yukino here?"

"Since she's having some difficulties, why not? It wouldn't be a problem for her to stay a while," Laxus replied.

"Will Master allow it?"

"Well..." Laxus explained. "Back then when Laki had an unrequited love for Master, she moved her entire home to here. He didn't think much of it and even told us that those who come here are guests and that we should do what we can. Yukino is only going to be staying here for a while. Master will probably be lenient."

Lucy still had some lingering questions on her mind, "But this place is full of men. Where will she stay?"

Laxus didn't really know how to answer.

Unknowingly, E.N.D. had been listening in on their conversation and had answered for Laxus, "In your quarters. Fairy Mountain is full of men, it would be an inconvenience for her no matter where she stays. She came to see you, so she will stay with you."

Lucy tried to object, "But I am also a male..." Until she saw the look on E.N.D.'s face, "Uh, on second thought, Master is right. Since she came to look for me, I should be the one taking care of her."

E.N.D. nodded in satisfaction then recalled the punishment he'd given Lucy, "How are the copies coming along?"

"Huh?"

"Didn't Jet tell you?"

Lucy let out a breath of despair, "Master, after thirty-thousand copies of 'Eternal Suffering' my finger will fall off! Can it be a...smaller number?"

"No."

"Alright Master, after I take care off Yukino, I will take on my punishment," Lucy decided in that moment that she would run off to avoid E.N.D. from telling her constantly to make those copies.

"Uh, then, Master, I will get back to organizing," Laxus couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.

Lucy had guided Yukino to her new space for the time being, "This is where you'll be staying from now on. It's right next to my quarters, so if you need anything just tell me."

Yukino was grateful, "Thank you for taking me in."

"Don't thank me," Lucy threw her manners out the window. "If it weren't for Master, a woman would never be allowed into Fairy Mountain. You can get settled in, I have things to do."

"Ah, wait!" Yukino stopped her. "Er, while you were in Hargeon, has anyone ever told you that you look like Lucy?"

"Well, people would often say that. They would even say that we looked like twins!" Lucy was getting used to lying about her identity.

"Anyway, I honestly don't think that hiding here will stop my sister from marrying me off to that bear."

"Have hope," said Lucy. "Maybe things will get better after a night's rest. Alright, I don't have much longer, I have to get started on my punishment."

As Yukino gazed at Lucy's back, she could feel herself involuntarily grinning.

Lucy ran up to the lotus pond while staring at one lotus in particular. If anyone were there with her, they would begin to think that she was crazy, because she started talking to it.

"Little Dragon Lotus, starting today, I'll have to copy thirty-thousand copies of 'Eternal Suffering'...I won't be able to look after you," she smiled softly at it. "I'll take care of you when I come back." She tapped one of the Dragon Lotus' leaves and waved goodbye to it as she left.

No one had seen that lotus glow a fiery orange in response.