Thank you all so much for your support! I love you guys so much for supporting me like this! This chapter is obviously filler, but don't worry, I'll have a pretty satisfying revelation soon... *evil cackle*

Lynn: It's okay, didn't expect many to know it.

Derpulies: Thank you so much! I hope you can enjoy reading about Guildless as much as I love writing her. I'll keep dropping my hints, and I'll give you a clue: you'll want to remember a name in this chapter- it's very important- and a certain feature of Guildless's.

Chapter 12: A Healing Hand

Lucy kneeled next to Guildless' fallen form, timidly touching her arm. "Guildless?"

"Y-you know it..." Guildless managed a weak thumbs up.

Lucy smiled, gently helping Guildless sit up against a rock. "That was amazing!" She hesitated. "But what happened at the end? You were acting kind of... evil."

Guildless murmured, "Almost lost control... Arc of Night is difficult... It takes more energy than I really had... I was trying as hard as I could... not to lose the spell... had to focus..." Guildless was hoping that her lie would hold up. She couldn't let them figure out what was happening. It would devastate all she'd been trying to build for the last three years.

Luckily, Lucy bought it. "It's okay. Try and get some rest. You just beat the leader of the Oracion Seis!"

From a few feet away, Brain mused, "Yes... I never imagined I would fall like this... losing a battle to a Demon's Shadow wizard."

The joy of victory was now the shock of fear. The guild wizards looked at Guildless, her face hidden beneath her mask.

Guildless found that lucky, because, under her mask, she was panicking. Why? WHY? You couldn't just keep quiet, Brain! I have to protect my identity. They can never know what I really am. Lucy was too ignorant to know my face, but if they saw... oh no...

"Sore loser... aren't you, Brain?"

Jura narrowed his eyes at her, seemingly not convinced.

Brain accused weakly, "You wouldn't let the Saint fight... you needed the credit... to go back to your guild in glory. Removing the competition... I never thought Diviner would fall to such lows."

Guildless tried to sit up but gasped in pain at her side. "Lying coward!"

Brain looked back to the sky, seeming to forget she was there. "Please hear my words, Midnight. You're our last remaining hope. You must not allow the six prayers to disappear. They are our only hope of keeping him at bay."

Jura was curious of his last words but first turned his attention to Guildless. "Is what he said true?"

Guildless clutched her bleeding side, defending, "No! Of course not! It's a fact that I hate Demon's Shadow with a passion... Most of the dark guilds I've dissolved were under them. It's Brain's attempt at dividing us."

Jura paused, then nodded. "Very well. I had to ask." He thought, Though Demon's Shadow seems to be recurring around her. Hoteye had mentioned she was a reformer... Hmm. I'll have to keep an eye out for any trickery, though she would have most likely struck before now if she wished to defeat us.

Guildless slouched back, letting her head fall back a bit. Lucy noticed the fine lines that were the scars that traced her face and barely showed before disappearing under the black cloth around her neck. If she hadn't known to look, she never would've noticed with how little they showed, despite being decently wide.

Suddenly, a new voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey, guys!"

Lucy exclaimed, "It's Wendy!"

Carla sniped, "Just as I thought. Only those hooligans could make such a ruckus."

Happy weakly greeted "Carla!" before falling back on his face.

Wendy fretted, "We're in trouble! I think this city is headed straight toward my guild for some reason!"

Gray soothed, "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay."

Wendy suddenly noticed Brain, then Guildless. She backed a step from the masked wizard, though Guildless seemed to be unconscious. "Sh-She's with Demon's Shadow!"

The guild wizards became rigid again. Jura moderated, "We've heard this accusation before. Guildless has done nothing but help us thus far, though, so we will trust her."

Guildless called drowsily, "Thanks for that vote of confidence."

Wendy looked a bit confused but nodded. "Okay, I believe you. I'm sorry, Guildless."

The weakened wizard responded in a lackadaisical voice. "Fine, fine..."

Wendy saw how battered she was, offering, "You look like you've been through a rough fight." She walked over. "Here, let me heal you."

Guildless protested as Wendy started healing the wound on her side, "Kid, save your strength. I've been in worse situations than this."

Wendy said, "I won't use too much magic healing you, but you need to be able to at least stand up."

Guildless sighed. "... Thanks, kid."

Gray got back on subject. "His buddy the Snake Charmer is over there."

Wendy marveled (lol), "Wow!"

Lucy explained, "From what we can gather, this creepy Brain guy is also the one who's been controlling Nirvana. Now that he's out cold, the city should stop any moment."

Carla wasn't so sure. "It doesn't sit well with me. He is down, but did you ever find out his reason for targeting our guild?"

Gray shrugged it off. "Nah. I think it's just 'cause that's the kind of thing villains do."

Jura confessed, "I still have some lingering concerns, but the worst is over."

Natsu moaned, "No. I don't think so..." Looking up, he begged, "Guys, please... stop this thing."

Wendy looked over her shoulder at him. "Oh, you poor guy! Have you been poisoned too?"

Gray and Lucy shook their heads in disappointed unison.

Carla asked, "So what's your problem, tomcat? Don't tell me that you're too weak to stand."

Happy sadly admitted, "Yes, ma'am."

Wendy suddenly pulled her hands away from Guildless, seeming a bit surprised. No. I must've been imagining it. But it was so strange... I couldn't sense anything underneath her bandages. It was like that part of her body didn't even exist. "All done!"

Guildless touched the hole in her shirt that let her coppery abdomen feel her cold hand's touch. Standing, she still seemed amazed by Wendy's power as she saw only smooth skin where bruises and blood had been. "You... You've got some talent, kid. Thanks."

Wendy tilted her head slightly as she smiled. Under her mask, Guildless smiled sadly. Wow. If she had a little darker hair, she'd look just like Gale- no! No thinking about them. Diviner, Gale Force, Scribe, Doppelganger... I have to forget them all.

"-less? Guildless?"

The lone mage suddenly looked up to see Lucy's concerned face. "Sorry. Thinking."

Lucy nodded understandingly. "I was just saying we should head to the throne. That's where the controls should be."

Guildless gave a quick bob of her head. "Then we shouldn't waste any time. Let's go."

The group managed to make their way to the tower, despite Natsu's being motion-sick. Yet at the top, there seemed to be nothing.

Gray frowned. "Now I'm totally confused."

Lucy agreed, "No joke, me too."

Gray continued, "You would think there would be some kind of control panel or something up here."

Guildless suggested, "Unless Brain either wasn't controlling Nirvana after all, or he put it on autopilot somehow."

Lucy worried, "And if it is, then it may be programmed to fire as well."

Off to the side, Natsu suddenly leapt up, yelling and jumping. "Oh yeah! I'm back! I feel a million times better! You're a lifesaver, Wendy! You got to teach me that spell sometime!"

Wendy sadly said, "But... It's my Sky Magic. Sorry." But Natsu was already gone.

Shaking Lucy's shoulders, he exclaimed, "Wow, I don't feel like I'm riding anything anymore! Hey Lucy, summon one of your trainer boat spirits for me."

Lucy prepared to yell, but Guildless swiftly cuffed Natsu in the head. "We have more important issues, Natsu! We have to stop Nirvana."

Natsu rubbed the side of his head, glaring at Guildless. "I know that!"

Guildless retorted shortly, "Then act like it."

Lucy asked, "Did Hoteye- I mean, Richard- lie to us?"

Jura cut off, "No. I believe him to be a man of his word."

Carla voiced, "There is a much more pertinent question at hand, or should I say, a different way the question of how to stop it should be phrased. There are no visible controls, the royal throne is empty, and the one assumed to be piloting it is defeated. So instead we should as why is it still functioning the same as it was before?"

Gray repeated, "Like Guildless said, if it's on autopilot, there's not a lot we can do."

Wendy sniffed, looking down as tears formed in her eyes. "Our poor guild is in trouble..."

Natsu assured solemnly, "Don't worry. I won't let this thing hurt your friends. I owe it to you. I'll stop it, I promise."

Guildless muttered, "Reckless idiot." She sighed. "Though the same probably holds for all of us." I know she's not Gale Force, but she looks so much like her... I can't help but want to protect her. I can at least feel like I've done something for someone like Gale in my life.

She glanced down at her hands, ever wrapped in black bandages. Not a monster. Not yet. Soon, though... It won't be long.