Chapter 14 : Eyes

Tenebre's eyes narrowed into slits almost instinctively.

" What about it?" She hissed, then realizing who she was talking to, she quickly bowed down at her waist, " Pardon my-"

Seraphim raised a hand to cut her off as she shook her head,

" No need for that, this is a sensitive issue for both of us afterall." Seraphim's hand unconsciously reached out to touch her dulled silver left eye," Since the main topic of the meeting today is about Pheles..."

The Arcadian Queen took a deep breadth, her steely determined eyes looking straight into Tenebre's, " I figured it's time I came clean on what exactly happened during the Dimensional War."

Tenebre looked at her with a puzzled expression.

" During the Dimension War, i did not simply lose my eye in an accident, Pheles caught me by surprise by opening an unauthorized gate to Arcadia behind me in the throne room.

Seraphim rubbed the left side of her face gingerly, " Taking advantage of the confusion he caused, he used that chance to gorge out my left eye, Pheles believed that by doing so he could blackmail me into marrying him."

Her lips curled up in disgust," He knew exactly the power it held, but before i could give him my answer, Mephisto came with reinforcements with the gate you created from Gehenna, catching Pheles by surprise, surprise at seeing you and especially at seeing Mephisto."

" My eye fell from his grasp and into a portal my dreamweaver angels use to send their woven dreams into the dreams of the Earthlanders, falling into the dreams of a lady by the name of Lucille V. Heartfilia, the great-great-great-grandmother of Layla Heartfilia."

Tenebre's eyes slowly widened as she slowly pieced the pieces together as Seraphim continued to speak.

" As my eye fell from the sky of Lucille's dream, it morphed into the likeness of a silver teardrop and fell into the open hands of Lucille, and the eye, sensing that she was a potential carrier, entered Lucille's dream body, which is almost equivalent to a human's soul, merging together with her."

A pained look flashed on Seraphim's face as she recalled the next moment of her memories,

" It was too much for her, the power of the Oculos Divae, it literally means 'the eyes of the goddess' in a very ancient arcadian language. It forced her to bear the burden of Sight, forcing onto her visions of the past, present and future.

" Its pure unadulterated power was simply too much for Lucille's soul, any moment later her soul would've ripped into shreds, her physical body would've been nothing but an empty shell. I couldn't just let an innocent mortal die because of my indecisiveness, so with everything i had, i took back most of its powers, but i couldn't remove everything for fear of damaging her soul, so a part of its power lingered."

" What's left of it allowed her to see the only glimpses of the future, but at a price, every vision she saw would eat up a portion of her lifeforce, for the eye's power is still too much for a mere mortal to bear. Every unwanted vision she saw, she only got closer and closer to her death."

Seraphim looked rather distressed when she said," But when she finally died, i did not expect the power to be so attached to her that it would get passed down onto her predecessors. With the exception of Lucille, for she got her 'gift' in a different manner, all the others, Lotus, Luxurian, Lenne, Lianne, Layla and now Lucy, had their first visions at the age of 17 and have an average lifespan of 47 years."

Tenebre couldn't seem to form proper words, " Y-you..."

" All of them inherited the signature Heartfilia sunshine blonde hair and hazel brown eyes and all of them only gave birth to a single female child with the gift."

She flicked open a finger, " But only Lianne gave birth to two children, the first being Liam Heartfilia, a son, but after Lianne told him about the family 'gift', he went missing at the age of 5, when Layla was just a 9 month old babe. Unable to shoulder both her grief from losing her son and the curse of the Oculos Divae, she died at the early age of 45, when Layla was 20.

" The 20 year old never knew of her older brother, Lianne carried that knowledge with her to her grave. Layla was special, she was the one who got closest to the secret behind the curse, but she was cursed by another curse that was brought about by Acnologia and died early, but not before she found a seal that could seal up the visions, and using her last dying breath, casted it upon her daughter, Lucy Heartfilia."

Tenebre stood there in front of Seraphim shell shocked and mouth gaping,

" You kept this information to yourself, all this time?!"

Seraphim looked at Tenebre guiltily, her head held low,

" All i can possibly say now is that i'm sorry, for letting Pheles take my eye, for not being able to help, for not telling you this and for keeping this from you."

Tenebre took several calming deep breadths, suddenly looking a thousand years older, " But what can i possibly do now? I can't risk damaging Lucy's soul by ripping away the Oculos Divae from her soul, neither can i just doing any sealing spell that might undo or damage the current seal on her."

Tenebre ran her hand through her hair in one frantic motion, a few stray locks of black-silver hair escaping from her braid.

Seraphim nodded her head, " That might be true, but i may have a solution."

Tenebre's head snapped to look at Seraphim,

" What?"

" After Lucille died, i created a special place in Arcadia, a sanctuary you may call it. All who have died under the name of Heartfilia shall enjoy eternal paradise there."

Tenebre's eyes widened in realization " Which also means..."

Seraphim nodded in affirmation,

" Layla is there."

" Lucy~"

Twitch.

"Luuuucy~"

Tick mark.

" Luuuuu-"

"WHAT?!"

Lucy slammed both her hands down on her study table and stood up, making her writing paper fly of her table as she did so.

" I'm hungry!" Natsu whined, rolling around on her bed.

" You just ate 2 minutes ago!"

" But i'm still hungry!"

Lucy grabbed her hair in exasperation, thinking to herself just how exactly did Igneel feed this son of his, then she realized, Natsu probably got his eating habits from his dragon of a father.

" Ne, Lushee~"

" Yes, Happy?" Lucy said through her teeth,

"Can i have this fish?" He said through a full mouth, pointing at the fish that was already inside.

SNAP!

" Ne, Natsu, did you hear something?" Happy said, munching happily on his stolen fish.

" Yea, did something just... s-snap...?" Natsu's voice faltered when he felt a menacing aura flowing out from behind him. He gulped and slowly turned to look back at Lucy.

Her fringe were shadowing her face, so Natsu couldn't see her eyes, but he was sure he didn't want too judging by her i'm-gonna-kill-someone aura and her medusa-like hair.

" That is IT! Both of you OUT!" She screeched, throwing various items at them at an unnerving speed, all embedding themselves into the wall behind Natsu and Happy as they scrambled around trying to dodge all the flying projectiles.

" But Lushee, then we have no place to stay for tonight!" Happy blinked at her with big, while Natsu gave himself a mental pat on his back for bribing Happy with a week load of fish in exchange for his cooperation.

" I don't...you both...GAH!" Lucy stormed over to her bed, turning off her lamp before she dove in, enveloping the room in darkness, her voice muffled from under the covers as she said, " Fine, but the both of you are going grocery shopping with me tomorrow, and both of you are gonna carry everything, understood?"

" And stay on your futon!"

" Aye sir!" The both of them squeaked, and was under their sheets in a flash, feigning sleep.

Moments later, deep into the night, Natsu was awoken by the sound of Lucy shifting restlessly in her sleep, shifting Happy from his belly and onto a fluffy pillow, and sneaked under her sheets, wrapping his arms around her shivering body and pulling the covers snugly around her body.

" Jeez, why are you always so cold Luce?" Natsu muttered to himself, increasing his body temperature a tad higher to warm her up.

Attracted to his heat, Lucy unconsciously snuggled closer to Natsu's unnaturally warm body, her head nuzzling against his neck, making him stiffen for a moment before relaxing, letting out a satisfied sigh as he breathed in her intoxicating scent.

Lucy shivering soon stopped and she sighed in contentment, making Natsu smile at her innocent looking face, and he too was lulled to sleep by her soothing presence.

As soon as he did, something slithered in the corner of Lucy's room, and a pair slitted yellowish-green eyes peered out from the darkness.

" Tenebre," Marie came up from behind Tenebre and said in a hushed voice, " An hour has passed and most members of the council have already reach a decision." Her eyes slid to look sideways at Seraphim, " Maybe you should continue this... conversation after the meeting?"

Tenebre pinched the bridge of her nose, and looked apologetically at Seraphim,

" I believe i should not waste anymore of their time, seeing that i've already wasted 14 years of it, shall we continue this another time."

Seraphim nodded, " If that is what you think is for the best, i shall abide by your decision, and perhaps i might finally repay my debts to the Heartfilia's with the decisions made then." With that, she glided back to her seat, the gold tips of her wings glittering like 24-carat gold under the light of the braziers.

As soon as Seraphim's out of earshot, Tenebre turned back and asked Marie,

" Marie, what is the time now on Earthland?"

Taking a quick glance at her ever present purple lacrima tab and replied,

" In exactly 3 hours here, which is 3 minutes on Earthland, it'll be midnight, the 17th June X791."

Tenebre looked in the distance, and hummed in thought, her face suddenly cringing as if she ate something bad.

" Ne, are you alright?" Marie looked at Tenebre worriedly.

" Eh? I'm feeling fine, tired, but fine. Why?"

"Well, you were frowning like you were having a major headache, then you groaned out off nowhere and then you smacked yourself in the face." Marie then smiled a little, " Were you thinking about the dragons?"

Tenebre unconsciously let out another groan at that, and Marie sighed, shaking her head, " As much as i want to console you, i'm pretty sure no amount of words can be compared to the earful you'd be getting from them later on."

With yet another groan of dread, Tenebre mussed up her already messed up braid, " What am i going to do about them?"

As soon as she asked herself that, she shook it off, snapping her finger and fixing up her appearance, " Never mind about that, let's go back for now, I don't want a bunch of rabid council members after me if they miss their tea time."

The moment Tenebre stepped onto the raised platform where her table stood, the entire amphitheater went silent, all looking at her with anticipation, curiosity and some in apprehension and hostility.

" Right, now the time to cast your votes, all who are in favor of the reopening of the gates, raise your hands and say 'Aye'."

King Oberon and Queen Titania were the first to raise their hands, then the Celestial King, closely followed by the Dragons and the Otherworlders, then Seraphim and Edo Jellal and last but not least, though rather reluctantly, Mephisto.

" All in favor of the reopening of the gates?" Tenebre asked in reconfirmation.

"Aye." Their collective voices echoed throughout the hall.

A loud band was heard, and the braziers flared, adding the dramatic effect to Tenebre's words.

" It's decided then."

" Wait."

Queen Titania spoke up as she stood up, looking over everyone.

" Before anything else is done, i believe i speak on the behalf of everyone that we should impose some restrictions upon the reopened gates?"

Murmurs and grunts of assent were heard throughout.

" If that is what the Council desires, so it shall be, what are these restrictions you speak of?"

" Firstly, we should implement a kind system or create a kind of token where only authorized personnel are allowed to pass through the gates, and each one of them must pass through the Guardians for identification before they are allowed entry." Seraphim suggested, standing up as well, then adding,

" With Pheles and his minions up and running like that, i'm not sure i, or we, should leave the gates wide open for them to wreck havoc wherever they warp to, especially since Pheles has already mastered the skill of forcing open gates."

Tenebre hummed in thought, then snapped her fingers at Tenebre," Marie, note that down."

" Hai." She said as she typed on her tab, tapping at a certain part of her screen to inform Tenebre about the time, which she replied with a curt nod.

" I'll keep all of you updated on the progress of this request," Tenebre turns to look at the council members, " But i'm afraid that our time here has come to an end."

" As a follow up to this meeting, please send me a list of things in which you think is particularly important for me to know and if you have any other suggestions regarding the restrictions that would be imposed on the gates, send in your proposals via Marie-Line, it'll be put under my highest priority file."

" And with that being said, i bid you all farewell, and till we meet again."

Mephisto and his retainers immediately stood up and disappeared through his gate, and so did Seraphim and her own retainers, the Arcadian Queen leaving a message with Marie before she passed through the gate home.

With a flutter of iridescent greenish-yellow wings, the royal Faerie couple was at the side of their beloved friends in an instant, and the two mustached brothers smacked their hands together and grabbed it firmly in a upright handshake,

" Merry met Old Friend!" The Celestial King greeted in a typical faerie fashion with wide grin.

Oberon pounded the back of his friend, " Merry met Celestial King! Your mustache look just as magnificent as i remembered it to be!"

The Celestial King chuckled deeply with stroking his mustache with two fingers proudly.

" Titania-nee!" Beledonna squealed, discarding all her lady-likeness and pounced onto Titania.

" Bele-chan!" Titania caught the girl in mid air and swung her in a circle, plopping her down and looked her over at arms length, and gasped, " My gosh, what have they been feeding you? You look like a weed!"

" Mostly wild animal blood, a little Lycan blood sometimes as a treat, and some eidolith food every now and then." Beledonna gushed, hopping from one foot to the other like an kid on sugar rush, happy to finally reunite with her idol as she tackled the faerie queen in a tight embrace," I missed you so much Titania-nee!"

" You poor thing," Titania hugged the girl back, she then cranked Beledonna's head up and poked her nose playfully, " Tell you what, after all these gate issues have been settled, i'll invite you to the upcoming Summer Solstice Ball at the Faerie Palace, that should be fine with you, right Tenebre?"

Titania turned her head to look at Tenebre, who looked up from her paperwork at the mention of her name,

" The Summer Solstice Ball?" Tenebre looked at the lacrima screen on her huge marble desk," That's in 4 days isn't it? I guess i could make some special arrangements for her- GAH!"

The vampyre queen latched herself onto Tenebre and squeezed the breath of of her as she gushed, "Oh thank you thank you thank you Tenebre,you won't regret this like ever!"

" Bele, show some restraint." Vidian floated over to the bouncing teenage vampyre with a disapproving frown on her pale angular face.

Titania giggled, like the the tinkling of wind chimes in the spring breeze, and patted Beledonna's head, " It's okay, Vidian, she is just 1780 years old, and this is a special occasion after all, being the first time in a very long time since we've saw each other."

" You kept track of my age!" Beledonna squealed excitedly, just about to pounce at the Faerie Queen again when a hand came down on her head, messing up her elaborate hairdo.

" Oi oi, stop trying the squish the queen would cha?" Fengari ruffled up Beledonna's hair, much to her chagrin.

She swatted at him with her fan, hissing irritably, " Get your hands off me you canine!"

The man simply yawned loudly as he held the girl at arm's length, her flailing arms barely even touching him.

" Does this happen all the time?" Oberon asked, eyeing the scene before him with amusement.

" Pretty much," Vidian's sigh sounding like an entire army skidding to a halt in the sand, " And poor Nezhirt gets dragged in almost everytime."

She pointed at the poor white-blond haired man who was getting leg grappled by Beledonna just because he was too slow in replying to her demand for help.

" So, how are things in the Faerie Court?"

Oberon's wings twitched restlessly, " There's been several mild disturbances in the balance of the seasons, and i've received reports of several unidentified shadowy figures wrecking havoc in the different seasonal sections, even my ministers are troubled by it."

Jerking his head backwards, he gestured towards his four fretting ministers of the four seasons behind him, the respective areas they were pacing at scattered with a myriad of different things, from autumn leaves, spring flowers to the occasional falling of snow.

Titania reach out to grab his hand and clasped it tightly, nodding at him reassuringly, she then smiled brightly at their suddenly still onlookers, " But no worries, the Summer Solstice Ball will still go on, with some help from Tenebre perhaps-"

" It's starting again."

All heads turned to look at Tenebre, her frozen-still body the same sheet white hue as her face, the papers from her still hands falling and scattering onto the marble floor,

" What is?" Igneel said as walking towards the small group that formed round Tenebre's table, with the rest of the dragons following behind him,

" Another vision has started." Tenebre breathed, lifting her frightened eyes to look at all of them.

Natsu awoke to the sound of Lucy whimpering and the deathly tight grip she had on his vest, clenching at it so hard he could just barely make out the sound of her nails scratching holes through the fabric.

" Lucy...?" He pushed himself up from the bed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes groggily, when he finally took a good look at the fretting blond, he frowned,

" Lucy?"

The blond tossed about in her troubled sleep, whimpering softly as if she were in pain and her clothes clinging onto her damp skin as she broke out in cold sweat.

Natsu winced, slowly prying open her clenched hands from hurting her own hands and his, but the one grabbing his arm refused to budge

" ...no" She mumbled, Natsu barely heard her even with his sensitive hearing

" No?" Natsu asked himself, confused, " No what?"

" NO!" Lucy suddenly screamed out, her shout causing him to jerk back violently in shock and waking Happy up at the same time.

" Natsu...?" The blue cat mumbled, " What's happening...?"

Lucy trembled violently, tear flowed freely from her tightly closed eyes as she tossed and turned in bed, barely restrained by Natsu's arms as he shook her in an attempt to wake her up,

" Oi Luce! Wake up, Luce!"

She did not, but she continued screaming and mumbling incoherent words,

" NO! ...Ten...su...tsu!"

Natsu was frantic, he has never seen Lucy act like this during a nightmare before, sure, he was around when she had some about her dad and her mom, but all she did was to toss around in bed for awhile before going back to sleep.

" Natsu, what's happening to Lucy?" Happy landed beside him, looking at the blond with wide, fear filled eyes.

" I don't know! But go get Wendy here, fast!" Natsu gritted his teeth, his voice tight with worry.

" Aye!"

As soon as Happy zipped out the window, Lucy's eyes flew open and Natsu felt fear clog up his throat when he saw the vacant dead look in her eyes, both of them in which had a small silver teardrop in the middle of her brown irises.

She went stark still in his arms, her body arching up in an inhuman angle as she let one last ear piercing scream before flopping limply back into his arms, sending Natsu into a panic mode at how cold her body was and at the blankness of her eyes.

" Lucy! H-Hey, answer me! Snap out of it!" He grabbed her face with both his hands and forced her unresponsive body to look at him, "Lucy!"

" Don't just sit there and shout out her name you buffoon! Do something!"

Acting purely on instinct, Natsu grabbed Lucy into a protective hug, the look in his eyes almost feral, and he let out a guttural roar at the figure hidden in the shadows,

" Show yourself!"

" Whoa there, it's me, Serpe!" The said person stepped out from the shadows with both his hands up.

" What are you doing here?" He growled, instinctively holding Lucy's body closer to his.

" Tenebre sent me here to keep an eye on her," Serpe's eyes flicked over to her lifeless form, and he quickly made his face to her, placing a cool hand on her forehead then frowning," It seems like she was right to be concerned."

Natsu looked up from Lucy's pale face and at Serpe, barking at him frantically," What do i do?"

" Follow your damned instincts, you idiot! You're her protector, don't just stare at her then, do something!"

Galvanized into action, he did the first thing that came into his head.

He kissed her.

Half of him screamed horrifyingly like a girl and grabbed at the hair of his other half, who crackled triumphantly while pumping his fist in the air, whooping victoriously, " Finally!"

His entire mind itself was in shock, so much so that he didn't even realized when his entire body was engulfed in a golden-red flame, surprisingly not burning anything when it twirled its way around Lucy's body in a protective embrace.

Only when his mind finally registered the softness of the blond's lips on his own chapped ones, did he finally break contact, quelling his inner self's cry of dismay.

Diverting his attention to the more important matter at hand, he allowed himself a sigh of relief when he saw the slightest bit of color return to her cheeks.

Her eyes opened blearily for the slightest of moments, and she let out an almost hopeful sigh, " Natsu...", before her eyes snapped shut once more, the blond beauty falling back to sleep, her breathing even and her face calm.

With Lucy still in his arms, Natsu looked down at her wearily and let out a long sigh as all tension and worry making its way out his system.

" You're in so much trouble my friend." Serpe said, attempting to act nonchalant even though worry was still very evident in his eyes.

Natsu looked up at the green-haired man, blurting, " Huh?"

" Yep," Serpe said, " You just stole her first kiss."

.

.

.

" What?" Natsu growled, glaring at Serpe who took a startled step back at his violent reaction," My mat- my best friend just started screaming bloody murder from out of nowhere, some weird teardrop thingy appears in her eyes and now all you're worried about is the fact that i stole her first kiss?!"

With much restraint, from fear of waking Lucy up after just putting her to sleep, he seethed through gritted teeth," Her first, her second or third. I don't care. As long as it keeps this from happening to her ever again, i'll do it a million times if i have to."

For as long Serpe could remember, the last time anyone raged at him with so much passion, he winced visibly, was Tenebre, when he almost tried to kill himself not long after Tenebre became his master.

Putting aside the fact that he might get sent back to the Celestial Realm in a relatively, he then corrected himself, really painful way, Serpe couldn't help himself, and blurted out,

" Do you really think she's just a best friend to you? Cause from the way you look at her and her at you, it doesn't really seem like the both of you are just best friends."

Natsu cheeks had just the tiniest bit of pink of embarrassment, but Serpe was on a roll, emboldened by the fact that he rendered the hot tempered dragonslayer speechless, and he pressed on,

" And if you don't even know what's happening to her, then how can you possibly protect her?"

It was only when he felt the temperature in front of him flare out suddenly that he finally realized he crossed the line, way past the line.

" Oh shit."

Tenebre paced back and forth in front of her table, with much difficulty due to an extra load on her leg, biting at her impeccable nails, a nervous tic she got from Layla, which much to her dismay/ good fortune, grows out every time she bites them off.

" Tenebre!"

Tenebre froze in mid-step at the sudden shout of her name, almost stepping on the extra load that yelped when she suddenly stopped, and snapped her head back to look in the direction of the voice, her eyes directly meeting a certain red-haired man's onyx black eyes,

" Don't you think the floor is already clean enough from you dragging her around?" Igneel folded his arms and looked at the girl with both pity and amusement.

Tenebre scowled darkly at the girl grappling her leg, and then directed that same glare back at him,

" Tell that to this thing on my leg, if it weren't for you and your stupid mouth, i would have been out of here a long time ago."

Her sentence only made the arms around her leg tighten even more.

" Jeez, I only meant it as a joke, i didn't think she'd take it that seriously." Igneel said, resisting the urge to flinch when Tenebre's glare intensified, if looks could kill, he'd be dead at least a few million times already.

" Hey, just chill would cha? I'm pretty sure that idiot son of mine would do something, anything, to help his chosen mate." Then he muttered darkly to himself, " Even though he's too fucking dense to realize it...!"

" Igneel, language!" Grandine chided, smacking the back of his head to place special emphasis.

It was also then that Tenebre felt the tell-tale pull on the back of her head that signaled an incoming telepathic image,

" Yo Tenebre, ya there?"

Tenebre rolled her eyes mentally at him, deadpanning, " You're speaking directly into my mind, how can i not be here?"

" Right right, just so you know, Blondie here just got another vision and from the looks of it, the second seal just broke."

Tenebre's eyes widened and her face paled considerably at that piece of news.

Unaware of the mental conversation going on in her head, all those present around her started getting worried, even Marie, who was still clinging onto her leg.

" What?! So fast?! How- It's getting stronger? But it's power should've been depleted from being passed down through seven generation!"

"Yep, and stop shouting in my head, jeez, you're giving me a headache..."

" How am i supposed to know, and jeez, stop yelling in my head, i already have a headache and i'm in the middle of being vaporized by a very angry dragon slayer."

Tenebre groaned out loud, " What did you do this time?"

Serpe answered hesitantly, " I may or may not have accidentally urged him to take Heartfilia's first kiss to shock her out of her trance...?'

Tenebre went silent, before spitting out, "... What?"

" And i may or may not have added in the fact that he's incapable of protecting her?"

Tenebre groaned out loud once again, face palming herself at the same time. Her sudden actions making those around her slowly inch slowly away from her, questioning her mental stability.

" You idiot," She hissed in her head venomously, " You just made the worst mistake of questioning a dragon's ability to protect his mate."

" Oh shit...I forgot."

" You...you...GAH!" She exclaimed out loud, startling those around her as they took several more steps away from her.

" Is this normal?" Igneel mouthed the words at Marie, who mouth back a single word,

" Very."

" Oh come on, we ain't got time fer this!" Metallicana growled grumpily, tapping his metal studded boots impatiently.

" Agreed." The two hooded figures echoed together.

" And ya ain't going no where till you've heard every damned word we've got to say." The metal studded man continued.

Tenebre paused in her attempt to pull Marie from her legs, and looked up at the whole party of dragons, " It's about the dragon slayers, right?"

" It's about our children." Kori corrected sharply.

" Are you questioning my ability to protect my mate?"

Serpe eyes widened in both surprise and apprehension, the first at Natsu's unintentional slip of the tongue, the next at the heated, almost feral, glare the said person shot him, the snake zodiac feeling the heat emanating from him from where he stood.

" Gah... Ah i mean, shouldn't you... i don't know, find out more about what's happening to her like, urm, from Tenebre? At the same time more about your mate situation?"

The moment he said that, certain parts of a fragmented memory suddenly flashed past the pinkette's head,

" ...important one... never let go... incomplete...other half..."

Natsu's scowl deepened as he grit his teeth in frustration, hating himself for not remembering such an important part of Igneel's teachings, especially so since it involves his mate, his Lucy.

His eyes trailed over to his blond princess, caressing her pale moonlit cheek with a single finger as he swore to himself to shield her from all harm, even if it costs him his life, and cursing whatever being that's out there for inflicting such pain onto her.

" Whatever Tenebre has to tell me about, she'd better tell me every single detail the fucking moment she returns."

Taking a deep breadth to contain his anger, his steely gaze landed back on Serpe, and he pronounced determinedly, " Cause i swear, on my life, i'd do anything to fix this condition of hers, and if there's anyone that dares to come in my way..."

" I'll destroy them."

" One more thing, " Natsu rounded on the snake zodiac with narrowed eyes, " What the fuck are you even doing here?"

Serpe sweated under his fiery gaze, " Erm, Tenebre sent me here to keep an eye on blondie, i mentioned that didn't i?"

" And where exactly is Tenebre?"

" She's... urm...busy?"

Natsu continued to stare him down.

Serpe grab his hair in frustration, and blurted out whatever that came to mind," GAH! I can't say much okay? All you need to know is that she knows more about Lucy's condition than i do, a condition that may or may not put Lucy's life in peril, and that she's busy settling some official business that may or may not make your greatest wish come true okay?!"

The instant those words slipped from his tongue and the same moment he saw the fury leave Natsu's face and replaced with one of utter bewilderment and horror, he realized his mistake and immediately berated himself harshly, muttering darkly as he smack himself repeatedly on his head," I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that."

" Master, the recovery team has returned." A soft voice feminine voice purred.

The shuffling of robes was heard as a voice boomed from behind a shadowy veil." That's good, bring them in."

"Yes Master."

The woman bowed bowed as she gestured for the huge steel reinforced wooden double door to be opened, revealing a disheveled looking Jackal behind it, his white hair a leafy brown mess with unidentified brown-black stains on his cloak.

He strode forward swiftly and knelt down,

" Master Pheles, i've returned."

" You're all that's left of the recovery team?"

" Yes Master," Jackal said with his head still bowed.

The figure behind the veil, Pheles, went silent for a moment, then, tossing his head back, he laughed.

" HA! As expected of the Gatekeeper! She lives up to her bloody reputation!"

Jackal's fists clenched tightly as he said through gritted teeth, his crimson eyes glaring holes into the cold obsidian marble floor he knelt on as his entire body trembled with rage for a reason his comrades could not fathom, " She also mentioned that she didn't like your choice of a 'gift' ."

"Oh really?" Pheles sounded genuinely saddened," That's a shame, but no worries, for there are many more gifts and surprises awaiting her!"

" Now off with you!" He suddenly barked as his demeanor took a one-eighty turn for the worst, " Your presence is no longer needed here. In fact, all of you, out!"

" Yes Master." The disheveled white haired man replied curtly, bowing jerkily one last time to the veiled figure before making a hasty retreat back out.

The remaining occupants did so with just as much haste, leaving the cold and empty throne room with only the two behind the mysterious veil.

Pheles started to laugh, it started softly before escalating, soon he was almost howling, his crazed voice echoing throughout the huge empty room and sending chills down the spines of those who stood guard outside.

" Soon, my dear, soon..."

From behind the veil, Pheles bent down and lifted the girl's face by her chin, her sun-bleached blond hair trailing off her limp lifeless face as she stared blankly into thin air, not even bothered by the state of her nakedness, and he grinned madly, leering at her with a mixture of lust, madness and want.

" You'll be mine soon..."

AN: Annnd that escalated quickly, man, is this what happens when i actually get in the Zone? ( Sports anime/manga reference here people~ The Zone, get it, The Zone? ) Man, did i somehow activate some batshit crazy part of my brain while typing that?

Whatdaya think? Did i go a little too loco this chapter? Lemme know in the reviews! I'm always curious to know what's going on in all your head when you read this crazy thang of mine!

Ja Ne!

~KanaeHitomi~