An almost consistent weekly update?! Don't get your hopes up, it's not likely to happen often. Just doing my best!

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"Nashi's alive, and she needs you. Before The Olympians get to her first. Bring the others, and save her."

Drake wandered through Magnolia aimlessly, replying the message from this 'END' in his head. She'd only been able to get this through to him before she disappeared, leaving him in the snow by himself in the middle of the night. For a long time, he sat there on the street staring at the area where she had stood only a moment ago. For even longer, he was unable to discern why he was losing his mind now instead of earlier.

And yet, deep down inside, his instincts told him he was perfectly sane.

Looking up, Drake found himself at the cemetery. Why he ended up here so many times over the past few days, he didn't know. And yet, here he was, standing at the entrance looking out at the endless waves of tombstones. Drake entered silently, following the path he had many times before, towards Nashi's grave. Soon, he found himself there, and he stared down at the grave silently. He considered his actions for a moment, wondering if he was really going to do this.

He had too.

He needed to know.

Taking a deep breath, Drake activated his sound magic, and he felt in bounce around the cemetery. He felt it bounce from grave to grave until he'd mapped out the entire cemetery, but that wasn't his goal. He felt the magic dig into the ground, deep below were Nashi's body lay. He felt the outline of the casket, and his magic seeped inside.

The casket was empty.

No bones, no bugs, no nothing. The grave was empty. Nothing but empty space.

Drake stood there silently, not moving for a long time. Finally, he collapsed to his knees, snow stinging him with the cold.

The casket was empty.

Totally, utterly empty.

This wasn't right. Drake had seen her in her casket, he carried her through town, and he lowered her down into the ground. He knew she was down there.

And yet, she wasn't. She, her corpse, it was gone.

"Nashi's alive, and she needs you."

Drake's hands scrunched up in the snow, and he gritted his teeth. This didn't add up. The grave was empty, he was seeing things, and he was being told Nashi lived. Had he officially lost his mind? Was he insane? Were insane people even aware they'd lost it?

For a long time he sat there in the snow, mind too muddled to come up with something he could do.

"Drake?" Drake lifted his head slightly as someone called to him. He looked over his shoulder weakly, vision blurred from how fast his head was spinning.

He saw a woman standing a ways behind him, face wrapped up in a scarf. His eyes widened.

"...Nashi?" He asked weakly. He heard the person approach closer, and they finally came into view.

"What're you doing out here?" Lucy Dragneel asked. "You're going to get sick sitting in the snow."

Drake was sure he was being tortured now. Lucy approached him, giving him a sad look.

"Drake?" She asked. "Are you feeling alright?" Drake didn't respond, he just let his gaze slowly fall to the ground. He was still seeing things.

"...I don't feel good," He muttered, clenching his fists. He looked back up at Lucy, who was still eyeing him quietly.

For a moment, Nashi's face flashed on hers.

Drake's shouted in surprise and backed up quickly, slamming his head into Nashi's tombstone hard. He felt lightheaded now as he collapsed into the snow, barely able to see straight now.

"Drake!" He heard her shout. "Are you okay?! Drake!" Drake felt himself be pushed onto his back, and Lucy's blurry face appeared in his vision. He laughed weakly, icy tears trailing down his face.

"Why?" He asked. "Why is she haunting me? What did I do?"

"What are you talking about...?! Drake...? Drake...!" If Lucy was asking Drake a question, he couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. Soon everything fell dark, the last thing he saw being a pair of concerned chocolate coloured eyes.

They were so familiar.

Drake jerked awake and immediately winced, the sun shining directly into his eyes. He groaned as a headache hit him full force, forcing him back onto his back. The scent that filled his nose was unfamiliar, which raised an alarm in his head. Where was he?

"Are you awake?" Drake managed to open his eyes through the pain and saw Lucy kneeling in front of him, smiling warmly.

"...Lucy?" He asked weakly. "What the...Where am I?" Lucy chuckled.

"My house," she said. "I took you here when you knocked yourself out last night." Drake made a face at this. What was she talking about?

"What?" He asked. A warm cup was forced into his hand, which smelled like tea.

"You were at the cemetery at like three in the morning," Lucy said. "Elise went to your place and you weren't there, you worried everyone." The memories from the night before flooded back to Drake, and his eyes widened.

The empty casket.

Drake gulped and looked down at the tea in his hands as Lucy stood up and walked away from him, leaving him to his thoughts.

"What were you doing out there?" She asked him. "You looked horrible."

"...I got drunk," Drake replied, lying through his teeth. "Bad idea, I started seeing shit." He'd been as sober as ever the night before, at least sober enough to know it wasn't liquor causing his visions.

"Got to be more careful," Lucy said. "You almost really hurt yourself. Wendy said you were alright though, so thank God for that."

"...Yeah," Drake agreed, sipping the tea quietly. "Thank God..." Looking around, Drake recalled how long it had been since he'd actually been inside the Dragneel's house. It must have been years, at the very least. The house was very much what he remembered, very homely and comfy. And yet, Drake was on edge and nervous. He was confused about what he saw and what it meant. Was Nashi alive? Who was END? Why had she contacted him? How had she? The longer Drake thought about it the less he understood. This didn't make any sense to him at all.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Drake looked up as Lucy asked this, seeing her smiling down at him. He shook his head, and she sat down next to him on the couch, silence between them.

"Sorry if I embarrassed you the other day," She said, looking over at him with a smile. "I didn't mean to." Drake raised an eyebrow, before realising she was talking about what she'd said at Angela's office.

"Don't worry about it," He replied, playing with the cup in his hands. "I had to hear it, so thanks."

"I'm glad I got through to you," she said, smiling. "No one deserves to feel so sad."

"...How have you been?" Drake asked, looking up at her. "Since it happened, I mean." Lucy looked at him for a few seconds before she looked down at her own cup of tea, staring at it for a bit.

"...I've managed," she said. "It's hard, realising your first born is gone. That I'll never see her again, and...That she died before her old mother." Drake looked down at his lap as she said this. "But...I keep busy. I try to keep my mind off of it. She's gone. There's nothing I can do to change that. I focus on Luke and Natsu, and make sure that everything goes smoothly. It's all I really can do." Drake looked up at her and, for the first time, he noticed how old Lucy looked. She was young, even for a mother, but as she stared blankly out the window near them he finally noticed just how old she looked. Tired, too. How many years had Nashi taken off of her life, he wondered.

"...Yeah," He agreed, looking out the window. "I can only imagine how hard it was on you. I loved her sure, but...She was your daughter." Lucy sighed shakily, taking a sip of her tea.

"I miss her," she said. "Everyday, I miss her. But, she's gone. There's no point in trying to wish she was here now, I'll just remember her how she was. My little girl, my biggest source of pride. Even until the end, she made me so proud."

"Nashi is alive,"

"...That's a nice sentiment," Drake said, ignoring the urge in his head to tell Lucy about the empty casket. If he was losing his mind, he didn't want to worry her like that. He'd never forgive himself he did something like that.

"By the way," Lucy said, interrupting his thoughts. She leaned over around the couch and picked up Drake's jacket, pulling out Ultear's letter. "This was in your jacket. It's a letter from Ultear, too. How long have you had it?"

"A few days," Drake replied, gingerly taking the envelope in his hands. "I haven't found the time to open it." Lucy smiled at him.

"I think you should," she said. "Ultear has been gone for a while, you must miss her terribly." Drake nodded, and drove his fingernail underneath the seal of the envelope. He lifted it and pulled out a single sheet of paper, which was covered in more of Ultear's neat writing. He unfolded it and looked towards the top, beginning to read.

Drake,

I'll be honest, I sat here for about half an hour trying to find a way to start this letter. At first I didn't want to write one, and for this exact reason. I don't know what to say, and after how I up and left, I don't know if you even want to speak to me. But, after so long without you guys, I've grown to miss you. So, I decided to write. So, I suppose I should ask how you are? I hope you're well. I know, well, that you weren't when I left. You were drowning yourself in alcohol, trying to escape what happened. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I know the others must have been. I hope they were, anyway. I've been okay, if you were curious. After what happened at Mount Olympus, I had a hard time coping. The very idea of Nashi being dead, it's still hard for me to fully accept. But, she's gone. I know.

This is a fucking terrible letter. I'm so sorry you had to read this, assuming you didn't throw it out as soon as you got it. If you ever want to get in touch with me, I'll leave the number to the mayors office with you. Call them, and if I'm around, I'll be sure to talk. If I'm not, they'll tell me you called, and I'll get back to you whenever I can.

I hope to see you guys soon. I don't know how much longer I'll be out here, but hopefully it isn't long.

Sincerely, and awkwardly,

Ul

At the bottom of the letter was a jumble of numbers that Drake assumed was the phone number she was referring to. After a few seconds, he sighed.

"Can I use your phone, Lucy?" He asked. She smiled widely at him.

"Sure," she said. Drake stood and walked over to the phone in the corner, slowly dialling in the number Ultear had given him. After he finished it began to rang, so he swallowed his pride and waited as it did so. After three full rings, the call was answered.

"Mayor Dean's office, how can I help you?" A woman's voice asked. Drake sighed. It wasn't Ul, he could tell that much.

"Hi," he said. "My name is Drake. Ultear Fullbuster gave me this number." The woman hummed.

"I see," she said. "She told me you might call. Unfortunately she's out working right now, would you like me to leave a message for her?" Drake stayed silent for a moment, unsure as to what he wanted Ultear to know.

"Uh, just tell her I called." He replied. "I can leave a number with you, if that's okay."

"Of course, I can do that." Drake rattled off his own phone number to the woman, who he could hear writing it down. "Is that everything?"

"Uh, yeah." Drake replied. "That's everything."

"Okay, I'll pass the message along when she returns. Have a good day!"

"You too..." The woman hung up, and Drake stayed, listening to the beep of the disconnected line.

"I'm proud of you," Drake made a face and looked back at Lucy as she said this.

"Huh?" He asked. Lucy laughed.

"You're making strides in the recovery process," she said, sipping her tea. "It's a stark contrast to how you've been acting the last few months." Drake looked down at his feet, mind flashing back to the hallucination that spoke to him the night before.

"Right," he said. "Recovery."

After saying his goodbyes to Lucy, and thanking her for taking care of him, Drake set off for home. He was still confused as hell about the message from END, and if it was real. That or he was going crazy. He wasn't sure which option he preferred, honestly.

Once he arrived home, Drake noted that something was off.

Mainly, there was three creatures on his couch, watching his TV, eating his food.

Drake was greeted by the sight of Elise sitting on one side of the couch, Steph on the other, and his cat on Elise's chest. The three had a mountain of snacks, liquor, and various others things between them. Drake made a face.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" He demanded, seemingly startling the girls.

"Drake!" Steph exclaimed, jumping to her feet and rushing to hug him, which took him by surprise. "Where were you last night?!"

"I was out," he mumbled, rubbing her back weakly. "Not missing for a week."

"You worried us," Elise said, still on the couch, but looking back at him as Steph released him.. "I came here to crash again and you weren't here, and it worried me."

"So you decided," Drake said, gesturing to the mess before him. "To eat my food, drink my booze, and camp on my couch?"

"Duh," Elise asked, giggling as she stuffed popcorn in her mouth. Drake sighed.

"I'm missing you less and less by the minute," he told her frankly. She snorted.

"Love you too, Drake." She said. Drake made a face as he walked around.

"I didn't realise my apartment was our new hangout," he said, moving the food so he could sit down in the middle, between both girls. "What're you watching?"

"Some shitty romance movie," Steph replied, sitting down as well. "Really only on as a distraction." Drake watched all of ten seconds of the movie before he tuned it out, getting wrapped up in his thoughts. He thought back to the night before, and what the mirage had told him.

Drake growled as he concocted another word to describe what he'd seen. Mirage, hallucination, vision, all of these things described what he'd seen as fake or not really present with him.

But Drake knew it was real. It had to be.

He'd seen her, he'd smelt her. It was unlike any other time he'd seen her face around town, it was real. She'd stopped his fist, for crying out loud. The coffin was empty. She had to be real. But how was that possible? What had happened? If it was real, what did she mean by saying Nashi needed him? What was wrong? Was she in danger? Where even was she?

"Holy fuck Drake, do you see this acting?" Elise demanded. "It's awful!"

"Why're we watching it then?" He demanded.

"Lazy day," Steph replied. Change the channel if you want." Drake rolled his eyes and reached for the remote, changing the channel to watch something else.

"Saw it last night," Elise said as something else came on, so he changed the channel again.

"Saw it," Steph said. Drake changed it again.

"Shit movie," Elise said. Drake tossed the remote at her head, which struck her lightly before bouncing off. She cast him an irritated look, but grabbed the remote and started flipping through quickly. Drake leaned back and relaxed, waiting for her to pick what they were watching. This hadn't been what he imagined they'd be doing, but he really didn't mind. He needed something to get his mind off of the night before anyway.

Drake was startled back into consciousness when his phone rang. He looked around sleepily, finding himself on his couch in his living room. Steph and Elise were curled up under blankets on either side of him, his cat on Steph now. There was some low budget movie playing on his TV, on a low enough volume that it wasn't disturbing them.

The phone rang again, and Drake saw both girls frown in their sleep and shift around. Deciding to save them the trouble, Drake sprung from his spot as quietly as possible and made his way to the phone, where it was still ringing. Yawning, he answered it to prevent more ringing and lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?" He asked sleepily. There was silence on the other end of the line, which confused him. After a few seconds, a shaky sigh was heard from the other side.

"...Drake?" Drake made a face, before his eyes widened.

"Ul?"

Gotcha! Sorry for the wait guys, school and all that. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 285: My Responsibility