"Father, I didn't think you would be back so soon." Ziph began, but his father silenced him.

"What do you think you are doing? I thought that you were out looking for a container for your mother and this is what you decided to do instead. You really are a shameful child." Cetus said to him. Cetus's gaze went to his son's companion, but as he looked over her, he couldn't help but feel like he had seen her before. The powder puff came to mind. Bickslows beloved Lisanna. This girl looked like her, but she was far too young to be Lisanna. This had to be… Cetus began to laugh. "Xenia, I presume."

She backed away, even though Ziph held her against him. "How do you know my name?"

This was rich. "Oh my, I didn't think I would get a chance like this. For something this…perfect to drop into my lap, I must have the luck of a god."

Xenia felt chills continue to go down her spine. The rooms temperature felt like it had drop significantly and her breaths were making steam in the cold. Ziph pulled her tighter against him. "Father, what are you talking about?"

Cetus's eyes looked demented. "Ziph, be a good boy and hand over the girl."

Ziph backed away. "Father are you mad?" He knew that his father was insane, but this wasn't like him. Something was wrong and Ziph knew it.

Cetus became stern. "I won't ask you again, boy. Hand over the girl!"

Xenia looked at Ziph, but the boy didn't look away from his father. "Ziph, just do what he says." She didn't want him to get hurt.

But Ziph wasn't listening to her. "Where is mother at?" As he looked around, he could no longer see the container that his father had placed her in.

"That isn't important, Ziph. She was an imposter anyway." Cetus growled. "Pretending that she was my precious soul was a waste of my time."

Ziph backed up. "But you loved mom. She was your everything."

"She was a lying whore!" Cetus snapped. "So of course, she would product a lying son as well. You've been nothing but a distraction from the beginning." Cetus's magic filled the room. "So I guess that means that you will share her fate."

Ziph grabbed his throat. It felt like all of his lungs were being crushed inside of him. The pain was unbearable.

"No!" Xenia screamed as she panicked. Her eyes began to flash a series of different colors in a futile attempt to save him.

"Give up, girly." Cetus said with a chuckle. "You will follow him soon enough."

Xenia turned back to stare at the demon, only to find that Cetus looked less human than before. As each second went by, he was becoming more like a monster in appearance. "You can't kill him! If you do, you'll die!" She shouted at the demon.

Cetus froze in place. "What do you mean, child? Speak!"

Xenia glared at him. "Your life is connected to his. He's the real Cepheus!"

Cetus laughed. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I'm the real Cassiopeia!"

They all walked into a room in the council building. The King was tied up and Remy couldn't help but feel relief as he looked down at him. "Finally, you will die for your crimes."

"What about the demon, huh? Are you just going to stay here and let it destroy everything?!" The King snapped.

Ivan chuckled. "We will take care of it, but first you will reveal everything."

"I will do no such thing!" The King growled. "You're going to kill me anyway."

"Who said anything about killing?" Remy said. "I think there's been enough of that. The people deserve the truth. Its time they got it."

"And it would be better if they received it from the horse's mouth." Ivan stated.

"If you won't talk. We'll make you." Vik said.

The King looked down. "And what makes you think that they will believe me. Once they discover that you are involved, they'll consider it false."

"Not if we show them the evidence as well." Arma said, holding up what looked like a small drive. "All of the documents over the last 50 years, are in here."

The King paled. "I don't have any other options, do I?"

Makarov shook his head. "No, you don't."

"I would take their offer; they're being quite generous." Laxus stated, crossing his arms.

"More than I would like, but that's that." Warner chimed in.

"I'll be ruined." The King said.

"You already are, so why not give your daughter a better chance than you did. Tell them the truth, then step down. Give the crown to the proper ruler." Remy said.

The King sighed. "Fine. I will do it. But first you need to get rid of that demon."

Remy smirked and turned back over to Ivan. "Who wants to go?" Ivan gave Remy a nod, as did Vik, Warner, and Laxus.

"The rest of us will stay here and keep an eye on everything. "Makarov said. "You guys bring Bickslow back."

They all grabbed on to Remy and disappeared from site, leaving them alone with the King.

The door busted open and they prepared to fight, but it was only Lisanna and Mira. "What's going on?" Lisanna asked.

"No one's told us anything in a while." Mira looked down to find the King tied up.

"Everything's going to be fine." Makarov said. "We just have to trust them."

Remy and the other's landed right outside of the palace. "His shield really is down."

Vik nodded. "Let's get in there. He has to be somewhere."

Ivan turned to Vik. "Lead the way."

Vik gave them a nod again and they made to follow. As soon as they were inside, they heard Cetus's voice booming in the halls. "What did you say?!"

"You heard me!" Remy froze. He knew that voice. But why was Xenia here?

Upon hearing it, they had all burst into a run. "Don't try me girly. I can tell if you're lying."

"Then you know I'm right then." Xenia said.

Cetus sounded like he was walking around. "I cannot deny nor can I confirm your words. But I must as how you obtained this information."

"The old hag told me everything." Xenia answered.

"What old hag?" A strange voice asked as it coughed.

"So she's showed her face. I wondered when she would show up." Cetus chuckled. "If that's the case, then I will spare that boy's life."

"He's your son!" Xenia snapped at Cetus.

"I have no son. I've never had a son." Cetus roared.

"What about Perseus?" Vik said coming out of the darkness first. "He was your son, wasn't he?"

"That boy was nothing but trouble from his birth on. Just like Ziph here." Cetus said glaring at the intruders.

"But Perseus belonged to your precious Cassiopeia." Vik said angrily.

"No child of mine was ever grateful to me. Perseus may have been all high and mighty, but he was still a mortal. A disgusting mortal." Cetus snapped.

"Then you've only wanted her soul. You don't love her at all. You just wanted to collect her like some plaything!" Vik said angrily.

Cetus laughed darkly. "What are you talking about Vik? I already have collected her. She's mine." Through the darkness, the demon latched onto Xenia and pulled her against him. "Isn't fate a cruel thing?"

Remy, Ivan, and Laxus were in shock. How as that possible?

BANG! They whole room turned to find Ziph standing there with what looked like a fire poker in his head. On that end, Xenia could see it, the outline of a butterfly. "Ziph NO!"

"It's the only way!" Ziph shook his head. "I can't watch this anymore. I've done too much damage."

"Think about what you're doing boy!" Cetus snapped. But as Ziph made to move the poker into his chest, it was stopped by Cetus's shield. "Did you think it's going to be that easy?"

Vik suddenly realized everything. "Cepheus's soul is in that boy."

Ivan and Remy turned to look at their son. That meant that Ziph had to die to get rid of Cetus.

"We have to help him." Laxus said surprising them all. "The boy knows what has to be done. It would be a crime to not follow his wishes."

"Laxus is right." Warner said, letting his eyes change. "Let's give the boy a proper send off."

Ivan didn't like this and from the look of if Xenia didn't want this to happen, but he couldn't deny the boy what he wanted either.

Cetus laughed. "Like any of you are going to get a chance to do that!"

The shields appeared around them and soldiers began to spring from the ground.

Vik sighed, allowing himself to fall into that darkness. He would let Perseus out. That's all he could do for now.

Dragon roars and bullets began to fly through the air knocking down the fake soldiers. Shields around him burst and were rebuilt as if they were nothing.

Perseus only walked forward and soon found himself looking down at the boy with the red hair. "Are you really in their father?"

Ziph's eyes changed, a sad smile appeared on his face. "I just keep running into cages, Perce."

Perseus shook. "You really want me to kill you?"

"I'm ready to die, son. I've been ready for far too long." Cepheus's eyes turned to Xenia. "Your mother will release her the moment I die. The girl will live and I can finally be with Cassie again."

Perseus smiled sadly down at his father. "Of course, you have to look like this when I have to kill you."

"That's just how things are. You're stronger than that though." Cepheus said. "Please let me go now. I've cause enough grief."

"What is he then?" Perseus asked.

Cepheus sighed. "My greed, my lust, the wrath within me, he's is everything that I feared and more."

Perseus nodded. "This will kill me too, won't it."

"We don't belong in this time. It's time that these people had their lives back." Cepheus said.

Around them, Xenia shook as she watched the conversation. Cetus was far too busy as her grandfather's kept his attention. She watched as shield after shield was broken, all the while, she worried about Ziph.

"I love you, father." Perseus said, grabbing the poker and pushing it deeply into the body below him. Ziph didn't even scream, he just spit up blood.

Vik froze as his body went cold. Perseus had vanished. He tried to call the darkside of himself, but it was gone.

Cetus let go of Xenia as he felt to his knees. He grabbed a hold of his head and began to scream in agony. His soldiers turned to dust and everything around them disappeared, including the building.

"Ziph!" Xenia leaned down and tried to get the boy to say something.

He only smiled up at her. "You're still just as pretty as ever, Xenia. You know that?"

She shook her head. "Don't talk like a crazy person…" Tears fell from her eyes as she looked down at him.

"I was glad that I met you." Ziph took the last of his energy and leaned up and kissed her check. "Live."

His body disappeared from under her hands and Xenia froze completely as she began to sob. Ziph was gone. He was dead. There wasn't even a body left.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at her uncle. "It's what he wanted. He's finally free, Xenia."

Tears filled her eyes. "But…"

"He was a prisoner in his own body. There was nothing else that could have been done." Vik said, he offered her his hand. "He wants you to live. Do that for him."

Xenia took her Uncle's hand and turned as she heard an awful coughing sound. Cetus was no longer there, but another man was hacking up something nasty.

She walked forward as a massive plug of black mucus hit the ground and the man made to stand up. "What is this place?"

"Papa?" She said looking at the man's back.

Bickslow turned and stared at the young woman in front of him. She looked like his Lisanna…but she had his eyes. An image of a small baby entered his mind and he covered his mouth. "Xenia…" He looked around to find that everyone around him had aged. "How much time has passed?"

Xenia launched herself forward into her father's arms and in seconds, Bickslow was tackled to the ground. He tried to turn his head, but he found one parent there, he turned his head to the other side to find a brother.

Bickslow tried to think, but no one answered him. Cetus was gone. "Did I die?" He asked.

"It was like you were dead, dumbass!" Ivan said with a smile on his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Remy chastised him.

Bickslow pinched himself. "I'm free?" He looked down at his hands. He never thought that he would ever have his body to himself again. He was alive.

"Looks like it." Laxus said, smacking him on the back.

Vik chuckled. "How does it feel?"

Bickslow stared at his younger brother. "You got a lot taller."

"Well it's been 15 years." Remy said. "It's to be expected."

15 years… Cetus took 15 years of his life away. He looked over at his daughter. He had missed everything. Bickslow looked around. "Where's Lisanna?"

Xenia perked up as she heard her mother's name. "She's fine."

Bickslow sighed in relief. "She's going to smack me, I'm sure of it."

Laxus laughed. "You're right about that."

"Why don't we go home?" Remy said. "I think we've all seen enough of this place for a life time."

Bickslow nodded. He still felt out of it. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he could use his magic anymore, so he grabbed onto his father. He didn't know where they were going anyway.

They appeared in a strange room. He looked over and found the King of Fiore tied up. Master Makarov was next to the King. The Old Man smiled. "Welcome back."

Bickslow heard a voice just outside of the door. "When do you think they'll be back?" Her voice pierced him. It had been so long.

Bickslow moved away from the group and towards the door as it opened. The moment his eyes fell upon her; it was almost as if he was falling in love again.

"Bickslow…" She stared at him in disbelief. She had to be dreaming. Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Is it really you?"

He smiled. "I'm sorry I took so long, Liz."

She was moving. She didn't know when or how, but she was running right towards him. Her arms looped around his neck as she pulled him down into a kiss, but unlike all of her dreams, he was warm as he wrapped his arms around her. He was real. "It really is you."

"Yeah, it's me." Bickslow couldn't think of anything else. All he could do was look at the woman he loved. "I missed you, Liz"

"I missed you too." She said, not daring to remove herself from him.

Xenia giggled. She had never seen her mother look so happy before. Maybe things were going to work out now. Finally, they could all be one happy family.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

The next chapter will be the last one. Thanks for reading and putting up with me.