The girls had laid still on the ship's deck for many minutes, trying to collect themselves after the storm and the fight. It was only when Loke came out of the hold that they began to stir.

"Oh, you're all okay!" He cried, running to them. He slung one arm around Lucy's shoulders, squeezing for a moment. Lucy, hearing the raw emotion in his voice, chose not to reprimand him.

"Yeah, we're all fine. A little battered, but fine."

Loke looked around, inspecting everyone for any visible injuries. Lucy was true to her word; scratches and bruises seemed to make up most of the damage.

"I heard some very strange things—what happened?"

Lucy finally returned Loke's hug, enjoying the warmth after such a stressful fight. "There was… I'm not sure how to describe it. A storm-demon-dog thing."

"A storm-demon-dog thing? What the hell does that even mean?" Loke balked at the strange answer.

"I'll be honest, we're just as confused as you."

Loke shut his eyes for a moment, telling himself that everyone—and everything—was all okay. A deep breath expanded his chest and calmed his brain. He opened his eyes upon release. Lucy smiled at him. "Feel better?"

"Yeah." Loke pulled back, standing. Lucy stood with him, brushing the dirt and debris from her legs. It didn't do much besides smear the dirt that was already on her, considering that she was still drenched.

"Uh, by the way," Loke asked, pointing at the man crumpled on the ground. "Who the fuck is that?"

Lucy stopped suddenly, still in the awkward half-bent position she was in. "Oh… right." She straightened. "Uh, I think that dude summoned the big beast. Maybe the storm, too. Erza pulled him up."

Loke's jaw dropped. "Then what the fuck is he doing here? Christ, just drown him!"

"You know better than that, Loke." Erza said sternly and without humor, joining their conversation. "We, Fairy Tail, do not kill our enemies."

"Except for when we do."

Erza glared at him. "It's happened previously, but we only do it for good reason."

Loke just shrugged, not agreeing, but choosing not to continue with what was due to result in a dead-end debate. "Well, what are we gonna do with him right now?"

"I'm not sure. Perhaps we can keep him in the hold until we reach shore. Upon that moment we will…" Erza drifted off, thinking. "I'm not sure, actually."

Fati rolled onto her back, chiming in. "I'm a city government employee and a scene detective. I will deal with it."

"Well, well, well!" Loke chortled. "A government woman! So, is there a government man arou—?" Fati's long rain jacket connected with Loke's face, the force of the hit splattering droplets from the jacket into the air. The wet rubber stuck to his face, stopping any air from entering or leaving his mouth; as well as stopping his sentence. Fati removed and tossed her bonnet at Loke too, just for good measure. The sudden weight of the jacket tipped Loke backward, onto his heels, until he fell resoundingly onto his ass.

He pulled the jacked from his face. It made a popping sound as it separated from his face and Loke gasped for breath. "Probably not, then." He wheezed, consoling himself.

Lucy just rolled her eyes. "Let's start getting the ship back to port."

"Nah, that's a bad idea. It's going to be night soon. If we had a full crew we could navigate at night, but I don't want to take that risk with only a few people." Fati informed, standing shakily. She still hadn't completely recovered; despite being a very active and fit person, she wasn't as used to these stressful situations as the wizards were. The mental drain took a much greater toll than the physical. Still, she stood, watching the sky for a moment to ascertain their location. "We've drifted quite a bit. We'll make the most of the daylight and then drop the anchor for night."

The group broke up, returning to their designated jobs across the deck. Fati went to the helm, assuming control of the wheel. The grain of the wood rubbed unpleasantly against her palms, re-aggravating the wounds she received from being thrown across the ship. She took a mental note to check for splinters later.

The floorboards vibrating under their feet signaled to everyone that the lacrima had been woken up. Fati strained her weakened arm to turn the wheel, the rudders creating waves behind them. The ship lurched forwards from magical energy, heading in whatever direction Fati willed it to. She wanted to move as fast as possible, hoping that they could get back to port before too late in the afternoon tomorrow.

Fati allowed her mind to drift, enjoying the gentle laps of the waves, the soft rocking of the ship, the misty breeze across her face, as her familiar job calmed her.

Night fell slowly. Some finished their jobs: they sat and watched the sun as it dipped below the long, almost infinite, horizon. People didn't lie, an ocean sunset really was a necessary sight to see. Lucy wished briefly that she were an artist, just so she could capture the image on canvas. The orange sun stood in harsh relief to the sky—which was rapidly becoming darker—and reflected a yellow and white streak across the water, perpendicular to the horizon line. Directly under the water's highlight, a soft green-to-blue-to-black gradient was barely visible, displaying the intense depth of the ocean.

Some distance from the semicircle of the sun, stars began to come out of hibernation. It was more than Lucy had ever seen in the city. Light pollution was not an easy concept for most people to understand, but this sight alone was enough to drive the point home. Rather than being sparse, uniform specks, the stars were clustered into groups, every individual star being unique in size, hue, and brilliance. The stars weren't points of interest to break up a uniform night sky, the sky itself was made to hold all of the stars within.

'No wonder the Ancient Philosophers were so obsessed with the stars…' Lucy thought, happy that she got to see this even once.

The sunset didn't last long, only a few minutes. Despite that, it was a profound and beautiful experience. Mere seconds after all sunlight had dissipated, Fati yelled to her makeshift crew.

"Alright, that's that!" She alerted them. "Drop the anchor and get to the hold. We'll recuperate and rest."

Fati abandoned the wheel, herding everyone into the belowdecks. "Erza!" She called. "Come help me with the anchor."

"Yes, ma'am!" Erza responded immediately, knowing an opportunity when she saw one. She followed Fati to the bow of the underdeck, where the chain locker was. Lucy and Loke sighed in relief, not having to do any more strenuous work.

Fati slapped the inside of the hull, right above where the anchor was stored. "Alright, here it is. We're gonna unfurl the chain, hook the anchor into the sand, and then turn off the lacrima. Got it?"

Erza nodded, gripping the spinning handle that would release the chain. She began to spin it counter-clockwise, hearing the chain clank against itself as it moved. It was surprisingly tough to move, especially when pushing down. After passing the bottom of the turn, the weight of the chain forced the handle up to the top within mere moments, almost clipping an unexpecting Erza's chin. Fati's hands soon joined Erza's, helping her to drop the anchor.

Their already exhausted muscles were burning by the time Fati called off their work. The thick chain had been completely unraveled, currently drifting uselessly underneath the boat.

"Okay." Fati panted, shaking off her aching arms. "Alright! Come follow me."

Fati led Erza to the lacrima. There, she explained Erza's role. "You're gonna have to listen to my yells from the prow. You're going to turn up the power when I say 'up' and turn it down when I say, well, 'down'. Once the anchor is hooked I'll yell 'off', then you just turn it off. But listen, Erza, I need you to be quick."

"I will, Fati." Erza said immediately. Fati nodded. She left, going above-deck, presumably towards the helm.

Moments later, Erza heard a dim but distinct yell, "Up!". She promptly placed her palm onto the lacrima, willing it to exert more magic. She couldn't tell if it was doing anything, but she didn't hear another yell, so Erza just kept the lacrima how it was for about a minute.

"Up and bring it high!" Fati yelled. Green light flickered across the wall as the lacrima reached its maximum potential. This time, Erza could feel the actual movement of the boat increase, her feet slightly unsteady.

"Down!"

"Up to the top!"

"Down slightly!"

Erza followed every one of the orders promptly and exactly, though she didn't fully understand why she was doing it.

"Up to the top!"

"Off!" Fati cried out the final step. The lacrima shut off suddenly, rocking the boat. Erza took her hand from the smooth crystal sphere, stretching her fingers. Was that it? It was a lot less intensive than she thought it would be.

Fati came back down to the little area where the lacrima lay. She smiled at Erza.

"Not too bad, right? The anchor should be hooked into the ocean floor now."

"It was much simpler than I thought it would be." Erza agreed. "How exactly did you do it, however?"

"Eh, it's not too complicated. Once the anchor fell to the ocean floor, we just needed to settle it into the sand and get one of the hooks under something secure, like a rock or sand bank. By bringing us to top speed, we hooked in. It's just to stop us from drifting away."

"I didn't expect anchors to work like that! I thought their weight alone was what stopped the ship." Erza said thoughtfully.

"If the anchor was that heavy, then the ship wouldn't be able to set sail with it on board." Fati smiled. "C'mon, let's join the others. I'm sure they're waiting for us."

Lucy and Loke were not waiting for them. Lucy had quickly passed out in one of the beds, snoring without restraint. Loke, not wanting to go home but also not allowed in the bed with Lucy, was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, watching her intently. He recognized their entrance with a grunt before returning to his watchful position.

"She must've been tired…" Fati whispered, closing the door quietly behind her and Erza.

"Yeah, she fell asleep as soon as she got in bed." Loke chuckled, throwing a fond look Lucy's way. "I was just keeping watch for her."

"That's good! That's an honorable thing to do." Erza commended, much louder than she should. Lucy rolled over in her sleep, grumbling something.

"Well, I'm gonna head to the next room to sleep. Have fun with… keeping watch, I guess." Fati said, waving slightly.

"I will, too." Erza joined in.

Both girls slipped out of the room, heading to different bedrooms in the cabin. Loke sighed softly, decompressing his muscles and allowing himself to relax completely in the chair. Today had been rough on him, too. He glanced again at Lucy. She'd probably be fine, right?

He held his stare for a few more moments. He stood, fixing his suit. He needed to rest. A brief light filled the room as Loke moved from Earthland to the Celestial realm.

One of Lucy's eyes opened. 'So, he left…'

Her eye closed again, her brain too tired to keep it open for much longer. Her sleepy sounds filled the room once more.