Cetus snarled as his beloved coughed. She looked even worse than she had a couple of days ago. Flare looked up at him weakly.
"Cetus…" Her voice was strained as she reached towards him.
"Hold on, my love." He had taken her hand and was hoping that this wasn't the end. Not after he had worked so hard to get her back. "You can't leave me again." He wished that he could find that witch, then he wouldn't have to be separated from his love again.
"I don't want to leave you. I would never leave you willingly." She said sadly. "Tell me, where is my baby?"
He gave her a sad smile. He had no idea what Ziph was doing, but this was not the time for one of his pranks. Flare could leave them at any moment. "He's gone to do me a favor." He lied. He didn't want to see her cry again.
She only smiled weakly. "That's good. He's going to be a good man someday, just like his father."
He made to smirk. There was no way that Ziph would ever been considered good to anyone besides him and his wife. Now that he thought about it, he could only imagine the poor soul that had come in contact with his son.
Ziph chuckled to himself as he watched that poor excuse for a man lead Xenia out of town. He hated that man's intentions towards his Xenia. She wasn't made for the likes of him. Her blood was greater than that.
Then there was that traitor, Lily. What was she doing outside of Miresa? What the hole that he made still there? He didn't expect it to go untouched. Something had to be happening at home for his father not to notice.
But that wasn't his problem. Whatever it was, his father could take care of it. At least he told himself that. Maybe he should go and check. It wouldn't hurt anything, which meant that he couldn't go after Xenia just yet. He laughed to himself. It wouldn't take much. He could easily come back for her later.
Xenia sighed. She was very bored. This wasn't her idea of fun at all. She wished that she could just teleport to Fairy Tail. It would have saved them the trouble of walking, but her grandparents thought it would do her some good to reflect on everything that had happened.
"You know, you could look happier." Gunner said.
She glared at him. "Yeah, like I would be happy about being toted around that countryside like a piece of luggage."
Gunner glared back. "I figured that you would be happy to be away from that guy."
She looked away from him and sighed. "I am, but that doesn't mean that I'm out of the woods yet. He could be anywhere."
"So you think that he is following us? Why?" Gunner asked.
"Because that's what he does." Lily said sadly.
She began to feel a little bad for arguing in front of her cousin. Xenia had only seen an ounce of what Ziph was capable of. Lily had seen that her entire life. "Why don't we talk about something else?"
Gunner seemed happy enough to change the subject. "What do you want to talk about then?"
She hadn't thought about that, but before she could think if of anything, Lily spoke. "What is this Fairy Tail like?"
Xenia giggled. "Well expect a lot of loud, rowdy mages."
"Are they nice?" Lily asked, looking nervous.
Gunner laughed. "That group is nice to anyone, unless you've done something to them that is."
Lily smiled. "So I can make some….friends?"
At first she was taken aback by the idea that someone couldn't have friends, but then again, her cousin had never been outside of those walls. "Trust me, you will have plenty of those in minutes."
Lily's smile grew. "I can't imagine it."
She laughed, but then her hand brushed against something. She looked over to her side to find Gunner blushing. Their hands were rather close. She could tell what he wanted. She laughed on the inside. This would serve Ziph right, if he was watching.
She reached over and took Gunner's hand and the boy turned even redder. At the same time, her own heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect that. Did she like Gunner and not realize it? She did know him sense they were kids; they had just grown apart over the years. He had been allowed to fight and train, she wasn't. He had been surrounded by both of his parents, she had not. If anything, his family was intact. He had a mother, a father, a grandparent over at Lamia Scale, an aunt, and now more grandparents. She had been without a family for so long that she barely knew the term anymore. Sure, she had Grandpa Remy and Grandpa Ivan, but she didn't know her father. She barely knew her relatives from Fairy Tail.
His grip became tighter, but she didn't pull away. She suddenly felt at ease, but she couldn't figure out what had been stressing her out. Maybe she did have feelings for Gunner. She just didn't know that they ran this deep.
"Gunner, Xenia! Look!" Lily said excitedly.
She looked away from Gunner and over at the city in front of her. She had thought that she would never see it again. She felt nervous. What would her mother think when she saw her again? She felt a small amount of pressure on her hand and looked over at Gunner. He must have seen her anxiety. "It's going to be okay." He said, smiling at her.
She could only nod. She was far too distracted now. How could she go back to being just his friend now?
Kitt sighed as he walked with Edvin. They had been called to go to Fairy Tail. He didn't understand why they had told him that Edvin had to go with him. His boyfriend wasn't a mage, but he figured that didn't matter.
"Why did I have to come?" Edvin complained.
"I don't know." Kitt said. "But at least you get to see what I do for once."
Edvin rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Magnolia was still a rather large city. He didn't mind going to Fairy Tail, even if it brought back bad memories. He still missed his best friend and lover. Edvin missed Vik too. They didn't talk about him much. It hurt too much. Vik had to be dead. It had been far too long and Cetus wouldn't want to keep him alive. Vik would have been hard to control.
The doors to Fairy Tail were open and he took a deep breath before dragging his lover through the doors. Eyes landed on them, some of which looked away quickly, but there was one set that didn't leave.
Lisanna was walking towards them. "Lisanna…" He was surprised when she hugged them.
"I thought you had lost hope." She said tearfully. Kitt looked over at Edvin, who only shrugged. "Have you heard anything?" She said looking between the two of them frantically.
"No. We got orders to come here, but I don't know why." Kitt admitted.
Edvin sighed. "I hope this wasn't just a hoax to get me out of the house." He punched his lover in the arm. "OW!"
"Use some tact." Kitt said.
Lisanna made to laugh as more Fairy Tail mages came closer. The more Kitt looked over them, he could see some familiar faces. All of which had been there that day. The day his life went to shit.
"We weren't expecting visitors." Makarov said coming forward.
"Then why are we here?" Edvin stated.
"It really doesn't make any sense. You said that you got orders to come here?" Freed said.
He nodded and looked at Edvin. Was this really a hoax to get them out of the guild and talking to people again? If it was it was a cruel joke.
"Why don't we sit down and talk?" Laxus said, motioning the bar to get them some drinks.
Lisanna shrieked and everyone turned. Kitt froze as he saw a young girl with white hair. Lisanna began to shake. "Xenia?"
The girl blushed. "Mom…" She would have finished talking if she hadn't been tackled by her mother.
Lisanna began to cry into Xenia's shoulder. "I thought I wouldn't see you again."
"Mom…I..I can't breathe." Xenia said.
Two more people entered the guild. A boy with purple hair and darker skin and a little girl with black hair and green eyes. He didn't know either of them.
Lisanna turned and looked at the boy. "Gunner?"
The boy smiled. "It's been a while, Miss Lisanna."
"You've gotten so tall!" Lisanna glopped him as well. "How are you parents? Are they with you?"
He shook his head. "No, they are working. As am I."
Lisanna looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Kitt wondered as well. He remembered this boy when he was a baby, it was kind of hard to imagine him working as a mage now.
"I'm Xenia and Lily's bodyguard." Gunner stated.
"Bodyguard!" Lisanna said, looking at her daughter.
"It's a long story." Xenia said looking embarrassed.
Makarov walked forward, he was looking at the other girl. "You must be Lily." The young girl nodded. "That's a pretty name." She was shaking in fear.
"I wouldn't push her too much, Makarov. She came from Miresa." Gunner said.
The whole room froze. Kitt turned to look at Edvin. Was this why they had been called here?
The girl had flinched at hearing the name of the country. "Can we not talk about that place? Daddy, said I didn't have to talk about it anymore. He promised."
Makarov gave her a smile. "Mira, can you go take Miss Lily here and get some ice cream for her?"
Mira smiled and came over and took Lily's hand and led her away.
Makarov looked serious the moment Lily was out of sight. "Now spill."
Gunner sighed. "There is a small hole in the shield. So far three people had crossed the border. Two of which were friendly and the third being a threat."
"And the girl?" Laxus asked.
"She came with her father. They saw and opportunity to get out and did. Sadly, her mother is believed to be dead on the other side." Gunner said.
"So she is here for protection then? Why is Xenia under the same protection?" Lisanna asked.
"Because the third that entered was the son of Cetus and he has taken an interest in Xenia." Gunner stated.
"Gunner!" Xenia had turned red.
"Well it's the truth. He came here looking for you. And we already know that he was betrothed to Lily. Both of you are at risk." Gunner argued.
"Cetus had a son…." Lisanna said. Her eyes went wide.
"Is that the guy from the road the other day?" Everyone froze as they saw Maky and his group of friends come into the guild.
"What do you know about this?" Laxus glared at his son. The boy had clearly kept information from him.
Maky scoffed. "That bastard was just weird. He wouldn't stop looking at Xenia like she was a scrap of meat. I didn't expect him to be that strong."
Xenia looked very embarrassed. "Can we not talk about that?"
"I still don't know why you agreed to go with him," Maky said, sounding annoyed. "He was being a royal bastard and you let him play you like a violin."
"Maky, that is enough!" Makarov chastised his great grandson. The old man then turned his attention back to Gunner. "So what about Lily's father. Where is he?"
"Vik is back at the council going over everything. That guy knows more about Miresa than anyone." Gunner stated.
Edvin stared at Kitt. "Did he just say Vik…" Kitt didn't know what to think. It couldn't be. There was no way that Vik was still alive.
"Vik's knowledge will be useful. My dad said that it makes sense that Vik would have survived all of that. He used to be an assassin and spy. He knows how to walk the walk and he did it well." Gunner stated.
Suddenly that Lily girl came running across the room to Xenia. "Are they talking about Daddy?" Xenia gave her a smile and nodded. "Daddy didn't mean to do all of those things. He was forced into it. Mommy said that it was the only way we were able to survive."
Kitt felt his heart drop. Vik had a wife or at least made a child with a woman. He couldn't believe it. Part of him felt betrayed, Vik was his and Edvins. They had an agreement.
Lisanna leaned down next to the girl and gave her a sad smile. "What about your mother?"
"Daddy said that she had to be dead. Cetus must have killed her." The girl cried.
Kitt suddenly felt guilty. He shouldn't have been mad. It had been 16 years. He couldn't have expected Vik to stay that faithful for that long. Vik had to be lonely.
But where would they go from here? He wanted to see Vik again and get some answers. He just hoped that Vik wanted to see them.
Vik sighed as he walked back and forth. Arma giggled. "You don't need to act so restless."
"I'm just worried. Now that I know that Ziph is out there, I'm uneasy." He said looking up at the sky.
She walked over to him and fixed his collar. "She's in safe hands." She knew exactly what to say.
He gave her a smile. "Thank you. I'm just glad that Lily will be safe at Fairy Tail."
She sighed. "I just wish that Rosa had come back with you."
He looked down at her. "I wish that was the case, but we were running out of time."
"I miss her, Vik." She looked up at him.
He knew that he shouldn't be doing this. He had just lost his wife. He wasn't straight. He was a gay man. But he wanted to comfort Arma somewhat. He leaned down and kissed her. Which shocked her for only a second. She kissed him back to his surprise. He figured that she would push him away but she didn't.
"Stay with me tonight." Arma said, he could already see the sadness in her eyes. It was the same sadness that drove him into Rosa's arms all of those years ago.
He tilted his head against hers. "Lead the way."
Bickslow woke up and looked around. Where was he? This wasn't the same place he had been before.
He looked down and found a sleeping woman with red hair and froze. Who was she and why did he feel nothing but hatred for her?
To Be Continued…
Author's Note
Damn Vik, you are just a man whore at this point. There will only be about 10-15 more chapters left of this story. What will happen to everyone? You'll have to wait and see.