"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Natsu had immediately bellowed. "WHY WOULD–"

Erza had to place a hand over Natsu's chest to stop him.

"Why her?"

Despite the calm in her voice, her eyes along with the others were fierce, as though everyone was ready to pounce should she say one wrong word.

"She is quite literally the beacon of hope for the people now. Jude was treated like a hero for what he did. They would listen if they knew she was Jude's daughter." Vanessa explained.

"But she's a mage." Gray pointed out.

"So was Layla."

Lucy's head shot up, looking at the brunette, flabbergasted with the new information.

"My mum?"

"Of course. She herself lent her aid to the rebels. You can ask your spirits."

Lucy's vision blurred as she took a few steps back, one hand on her head.

"Lucy!" Natsu quickly caught her.

"I-I need sometime alone."

"But–"

"Please." She squeezed his hand softly, emphasising her point.

Pouting, the boy complied.

It didn't take long for them to find Lucy a place to think. Kyle had lent them his native home albeit reluctantly but Drake had insisted so he complied. In a biting manner, he had suggested she made her self-pitying routine fruitful by using the training room and to everyone's surprise, she did.

"Open the gate of the Goat: Capricorn!"

"Milady." He greeted. However, it didn't take long for him to realise what she was seeking.

"Capricorn…"

Capricorn had immediately knelt in front of the blonde, head down from guilt.

"I apologise Milady, but Lady Layla had made me promise."

Lucy sighed, unable to get mad at her precious spirit.

"What about now?"

Capricorn caught the light-hearted tone in her voice and looked up from the ground, a sad smile on his lips.

"I'll tell you everything." He breathed, preparing himself to tell the tale. "Your father is actually a descendant of a Bellum clan called Sixir, who are well known for their sorcery prowess. This lead to their banishment as sorcery was still a foreign concept back then. However, as generations passed, wizardry was finally widely accepted and this was when the banishment placed upon the clan was lifted. Most of the clan members returned, but some didn't. It is believed that the magic had died in those who didn't return, but actually, it had only became dormant within them. Some believed it was due to their 'corrupted' bloodline as they had married non–mage spouses."

"But you don't believe that."

Capricorn smiled before continuing.

"As even more generations passed, some of the old blood was awakened in some of the descendants and the power they weld proved to be quite… destructive."

Lucy's lips tightened into a thin line as the word ricocheted through her brain.

"Of course, it depends on the person."

A curious brow was raised and Lucy asked, "What do you mean?"

"If a person with destructive nature possess great power, the power they wield would naturally be destructive. However, give a person with constructive nature power, and they would naturally wield a much more constructive power."

Lucy let out a soft laugh.

"That sounds like something you would say."

Glad to have comfort her, Capricorn continued.

"It's not just your father. Others of Sixir descent are disappearing one by one."

Lucy looked dumbfounded, "What?!"

"As for the members of the existing Sixir clan in Bellum, I'm not too sure. Perhaps you could look for them for more information." He suggested.

Lucy considered it for a moment before sighing.

"Thank you, Capricorn." Then, as she closes his gate, she adds on as though it was an afterthought, "For everything."

Capricorn raises his brows momentarily, wondering why the sudden sentimentality before he disappears.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Lucy released another arrow with amateur accuracy, ignoring the glare Loke was shooting her way. She frowned, seeing the arrow lodge nowhere remotely close to the target board.

"Do you even understand what you're getting yourself into?!"

"Artemis didn't master the bow in a day."

"I'm not talking about the bow!"

"Loke, you're raising your voice."

Loke immediately pursed his lips in an attempt to calm himself down.

"It's not that I don't trust Capricorn, but right now, Bellum is a mess. You heard what Kyle and the old man said, they hate mages! You'd probably get murdered before you even get to Sixir's Main Hall and the people most certainly won't let you lead them."

"Loke, I get it. But there are some things that I have to do, questions I need answered and I can't do that if I don't take risks."

Loke's expression wavered at Lucy's words. Noticing it, she smiled a little as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I want –no– I need to do this. This isn't just about me anymore. I can't stand this chaos and if I can do something to fix this, I want to at least try. Besides, if you're really worried for me, train me, you can help me get better." She finished with a wink.

Sighing in resignation, Loke nodded. Just then the door to the training room opened and Kyle stepped in, alarming the both of them.

"How long have you been there?" Lucy asked in a sceptical tone.

"Long enough."

"I can't say that eavesdropping is an appreciated art." Loke complained but Lucy stopped him.

"Peace Loke." Then, she turned her attention back to Kyle. "You want something?"

He seemed to hesitate a little, contemplating his decision one last time before setting his foot down.

"There's an underground tunnel 'at leads ta the East side of town from the hideout. There're lesser guards an' revolts there an' it'll be easier ta sneak in ta the Sixir's Main Hall."

Realising what Kyle was telling her, Lucy and Loke's eyes widened at the man's cooperation.

"Are you sure about this?"

Kyle shrugged and turned on his heels to leave.

"Although I'd recommend ya ta master the bow first an' build up a plan."

Loke and Lucy exchanged glances before smiling a little in appreciation for their frienemy's* help.

A/N: Frienemy is a friend yet an enemy at the same time, a status similar to a rival where you're supposed to be friends but you don't get along or you're enemies but you get along well... if you get what I mean...

"Here's the map of Liemberg." Drake said as he straightened out the parchment on the strategy table. "We're currently here, in the West side of the city. The tunnel starts from the hideout and leads to the East end of the town."

"That's pretty far off." Erza comments.

"But it's quicker than taking the ground level. Not to mention less… chaotic." Lucy rebuts.

"We can always trash them!" Natsu suggests, only to have all eyes in the room look at him is disdain.

"We want to stop the chaos, flame–for–brains, not enhance it." Gray tells him off.

Turning back to the map, Drake continues.

"After reaching there, you need to double back to central where Sixir's Main Hall is by ground."

"That's actually pretty tedious and time consuming, no?" Levy points out again but Drake retrots.

"Well, it'll be a lot more inconspicuous. After all, we need Lucy's arrival in Bellum to be kept a secret for as long as we can. If word gets out, well, there'll be a lot of trouble."

Erza reluctantly agrees.

"Alright, we can't have all of us charge in there since the chances of getting caught is a lot higher so only three of us will accompany Lucy to Sixir's Main Hall while the rest of us will subtly draw the attention of the guards to the West side to make things easier for them."

Then turning to Lucy, she asks, "How are your bow skills?"

"As good as Natsu can ever be." She admitted in embarrassment, earning a 'Hey!' from the said boy.

Joel then steps in, "Remember what I taught you?"

Recalling their time spent in the train ride to Xioa, Lucy smiled a rather smug smile that almost matched Joel's.

"Hell yeah."

A/N: Wow... I took forever to complete this one... I'm sorry folks but I was rather down and out of it because of a certain manga's ending =.=... and I had also hit a contradiction that popped into my story. So in order to fix it, it took more time... but well, here ya go! Chapter 15! Hope y'all enjoy it ^^