Joel brought a tray of tea towards the two girls, settling it down on the table between them. It was odd, Lucy thought, to see Joel acting like such a gentleman, but she had better things to worry about at the moment. Having taken a sip of tea, Lucy returned her attention to Vanessa only to find her staring at her with great intensity.

Lucy sighed. "Okay, I'll try."

Vanessa only nodded as she sat up straight and began, a grim expression tugging on her angelic face.

"Your father... had he told you about how he lost his estate?" She began with a question.

Lucy looked away in shame, "No."

After all those years throwing a tantrum and claiming that her father had never took the time to understand her, she realised she had been just as bad. Never seeing from her father's view, shutting his world from hers. She was such a child and it pained her to never have reconciled with him properly. And now, she never will.

Vanessa nodded.

"Your father was a smart man. Smart and hardworking. He never gave up on the things he set his heart to, a truly admirable man..."

A side I never got to see... Her heart wrenched.

"...and he did not lose his estate due to the lack of his ability."

Lucy's head shot up, eyes narrowing as she considered the array of meanings the sentence could have held, be it good or bad.

"What are you implying?"

Vanessa looked towards Joel and he picked up a file from the study table.

"We found letters. Coded letters sent from certain powerful men to ambassadors of another country."

Lucy took over the file and opened it hesitantly, stealing a glance at Vanessa who nodded before reading its contents.

Dear -

I am an Ambassador of Bellum. For the sake of precaution, I have coded this message. I have investigated Jude Heartfilia's heritage to find that his existence might pose a threat to the peace in Bellum and if it does, your investments will be affected. Please see to it that he is eliminated before it is too late.

"The names have always been deliberately scratched off the letters as soon as the recipients received it." Vanessa explained.

Joel nodded and continued, "This letter was found in the possession of Duke Burma when he was arrested under suspicion of corruption."

Lucy shot her head up, turning to Vanessa. Vanessa only smiled.

"It seemed like whoever he was working with finally decided that he had exhausted my father's use and decided to remove him from the picture too. The day after his trial, he was 'mysteriously' found dead in his prison."

Lucy stared at the women in front of her. Her expression was hard. How much pain did it cause her to know that her father had been a villain and a victim at the same time, losing his life over a folly in the name of justice? How does it feel for her to tell the daughter of a man her father had harmed that it was her father's fault her father lost everything? As the questions flooded her mind, Lucy realised just how strong the woman in front of her was, seemingly fragile yet so much stronger than she had expected her to be.

"Wow..." Was all she could muster.

Vanessa's smile faded as she gestured to the file in Lucy's hand.

"This letter was the trigger that brought our attention to you and your family."

"And that's when we began intercepting letters and fishing for more information." Joel finished for her.

Lucy returned her attention to the file, flipping the page to read the next letter.

Dear -

If what you say is true, then I do agree with you that Jude Heartfilia poses an immense threat to our plans and that he should be dealt with respectively. However, his death will only act as a catalyst to the advancement of the rebel movement. Thus, my peers and I have come to the conclusion that in order to effectively elongate the rebel movement, we should have him stripped of his title first, let his name be forgotten in time before we act upon our plans.

Your's Truly

Lucy swallowed hard. Heritage, rebel movement, threat… what did all of this have got to do with her father? What is it that made it inevitable for her father to lose everything he ever built? The last thought made her blood boil.

Lucy quickly scanned the other letters. All of them talking about some rebel movement, all talking about how her father was a key player needing to be removed from the 'game'. And it angered her. She was about to burst into rage when Joel placed a calming hand on her shoulder, reminding her about the here and now.

Lucy smiled weakly, thanking him for the reminder before turning back to Vanessa.

"So what would you have me do? I doubt that you telling me this was only to explain what happened to my dad."

Vanessa smiled, a sad smile, before answering.

"You're right. The reason I had Joel bring you here today was to ask you for your help."

Just then, the door to the corridor opened, revealing Drake and Kyle as the two men walked into the room.

Back in Ghiaccio...

"Why Vanessa?" Erza asked, demanding Gray to explain himself.

"Because she is the daughter of Duke Burma who, after losing his title, had his power transferred to her."

"What does that have got to do with Lucy?" Wendy asked, curiosity pounding through her head.

Gray held out a hand, telling the child that he was not done talking.

"And there was a rumour."

Everyone held their breath, waiting for him to continue.

"That she was supporting a rebel movement in Bellum."

"What?!" Levy gasped.

Treason is a heavy offence punishable by death. Should one be caught supporting a rebel movement -be it for another country or your own- could result in unquestionable execution for disrupting peace between nations.

"And they're dragging Lucy into this mess?!" Natsu bellowed, fist lighted and ready to cause mayhem.

Erza sent a punch into the flame head's abdomen, causing him to fall over and quell that flame.

"I still don't see how it has to do with Lucy."

"Me neither." Gray finally confessed.

It was true, despite the thrashing and freezing he gave those brutes, they had no idea what was going on. Claimed that they were just lackeys and that no details were ever given to them. So long as they did as they were told, they were paid. They've only heard names drifting through conversations and opted to give it to him so long as he let them go. And he did, but not before he knocked them out cold and threw them out into the blizzard to freeze their asses.

"I only got the names, the rest was research."

Gray couldn't lie that he, too, was shocked when he first uncovered the rumour. But there was no doubt that the name he got was Vanessa Burma and all the more no doubt that the name Burma was a noble's name and no one else could've gotten that name. In other words, there was no doubt that the Vanessa Burma named was the same Vanessa Burma who was rumoured to be supporting rebels and that sent his stomach in a twist of foreboding when he finally realised what Lucy had been dragged into and immediately made his way to the team.

"In any case, it seems like we gotta find bunny girl quick." Gajeel surmised.

Levy nodded. "And to do that, we got to find Vanessa Burma first since she is the biggest figure head that we have at the moment."

Gray agreed, glad that the team was finally on the same page as him. He turned to Natsu, seeing if he had any objection or complaint now. But Natsu was gone and the team felt a pang of dread when they finally realised his missing presence.

Xoia

Lucy shot off her seat, hands on her keys before anyone could stop her. It wasn't his face, no, he was wearing a mask, but the way he walked, his build and his complexion, she won't forget -can't forget- what this man did to her.

"Gate of the lion, LOKE!"

Before Lucy even needed to explain the situation, Loke leapt at the man, yelling, "REGULUS IMPACT!"

But before his attack could land on Kyle, Drake stepped between them, raising his hands to catch his hit. And he caught it. He actually caught the attack in his palm and the duo were stunned.

"Calm down." He said, a stoic expression on his face.

Loke turned to Lucy, awaiting her order, while Lucy stood there, completely frozen over by fear.

"Lucy." Vanessa spoke, grabbing her attention. "It's okay. They're one of us."

"Eh?" A mix of relief, confusion and fatigue hit her like a tidal wave as she fell back into her chair, Loke catching her halfway and lowered her slowly.

"I-I don't understand."

Drake let out a sigh as he made his way into the room, bowing before Lucy, taking both her and her stellar spirit aback.

"Actually, more precisely, he is one of yours." Vanessa corrected herself.

Lucy blinked once, then twice.

"What?"

A/N: Woah, this chapter was hard to write all the more so since I'm suffering from a cold right now (Having a blocked nose and running nose at the same time is not nice). Well, this chapter should have quenched most of the questions that you guys have buuuutttttt also gave birth to more questions =P So much information and PLOT TWIST! Haha! Jkjk. Well, I hope that this actually shed some light on the situation. aaaand LOKE'S BACK! XD Remember to R & R! Thanks guyssss ^^