Well then, it's certainly been a while hasn't it guys? I'm so sorry about that. I've been preoccupied the last few weeks. It's, well, infinitely more important than this story, suffice to say. If I could solve the problems I'm having by deleting it, I would in a heartbeat. But I can't, and I won't. It's not important, not here anyway. No reason in telling you guys, eh? Not your concern.

Enjoy!

The town that was graced by the rising sun was small, and had seen it's fair share of hardships. But even then, as the sun rose, the residents woke up and went about their daily business, granted with a little caution. As was to be expected, what with what had been going on.

Ultear Fullbuster had been staring at the wall of her apartment for a while, watching the sun rise on the wood. She slowly rolled over and stared at her roof, trying to convince herself that she wasn't tired. She knew she was, she hadn't gotten any sleep. So instead of laying around and hoping for sleep to claim her, she stood and walked to her closet, throwing on her outfit for the day. After she got dressed, she walked over to her dresser and stared at the mirror, observing the bags hanging beneath her eyes. She frowned.

"I should have gotten some sleep..." She muttered, reaching for her brush to straighten out the curls in her hair. "But if I can't fall asleep, what can a girl do..." Absentmindedly brushing her hair gave Ultear some time to think about what lay before her for the day. The past few months of her life had felt like a bad dream, one she hoped she would wake up from soon. Deep down, however, she knew there was no waking up from this.

This was real.

Putting her brush down, Ultear looked back up to see many of her hairs curls coming through. She wasn't opposed to her hair being curly, but she really didn't like just how violently it did curl. Deciding it wasn't important, she turned and exited her room into the main living space of her apartment, making for the kitchen. She searched the fridge for anything to eat, but didn't find anything worth cooking. She was too tired anyway. Closing the fridge, Ultear grabbed a banana and leaned on the counter, chewing it slowly. She blankly stared at the wall as she ate, allowing herself a moment of peace after tossing and turning all night.

It had been almost a year since Nashi had died.

Tensing up at this invasive thought, Ultear spared a thought to wonder why she could never stop thinking about what had happened that day. She couldn't recall a day it didn't cross her mind, and stay there for longer than she was comfortable. She felt like she was living in some sort of horrible dream, but no matter how many times she pinched herself she couldn't wake up. She still remembered when they found out what had happened.

She'd never forget that.

Ultear did her best to soothe Simon's self inflicted injuries when he attacked the door with ice as Elise and Steph hammered away at the weakened doors still standing.

"Does it feel any better?" She asked. Simon winced.

"Yeah, thanks." He mumbled. "I should've controlled myself, I'm better than that..."

"Spare the self loathing for later," Elise said as she punched a hole in the weak door in their path, causing it to collapse. "We're lucky we're still alive."

"Then she should keep looking," Simon hissed. "Not turn back for the boat." The group fell silent at this, and Ultear pursed her lips together tightly. She knew turning back wasn't going to help them find Nashi and Drake, but Elise hadn't even caught their scent. they needed to make sure Damien hadn't been hurt, nor their ride away from the fake Mount Olympus. One thing at a time.

It took them a while to get back outside the mountain, but once they did they found Damien sitting on an outcropping, watching the waves silently. He turned as they approached, looking pasty and freaked out.

"You guys..." He mumbled. "You didn't...?"

"No," Elise cut him off, clenching her fists. "We didn't." Damien looked horrified, looking down at the ground slowly.

"What happened?" Steph asked. "I thought the mountain was supposed to collapse on top of us."

"Clearly it didn't," Simon said. "Which means Nashi and Drake are still in there, and they may be hurt."

"There was no explosion," Damien said, making the others grow silent.

"...What?" Ultear asked, confused by Damien's words. Damien didn't reply right away, but soon he looked back up at them.

"The mountain didn't explode," he said. "Something struck it from above. I don't know what happened either, but it looked like it-"

"I smell them!" Elise shouted, interrupting Damien. "Nashi and Drake! I can smell them!"

"Where?!" Simon asked. Elise didn't answer right away, inhaling deeply. After a few seconds, she looked upwards. Ultear followed her gaze right to the mountains peak.

"Up there," she said. "At the peak! They're at the peak!"

"How do we get there?" Steph asked.

"I got it," Ultear said. Raising her arms, water from below raised up and circled their feet. Ultear stopped moving her hands, and the water turned to a sheet of ice. Raising her arms, the ice carried her and the others up the side of the cliff, swiftly approaching the mountains peak.

"How the hell did they get up here?" Simon asked.

"I don't know," Damien replied. "But I bet they had something to do with why the blast got redirected." Ultear made a face and looked over at him.

"What does that mean?" She asked. He shrugged her off, face still pasty.

"I'll explain later," he said. "Right now let's just confirm they're alright..." After a few more seconds, Elise gagged.

"What?" Steph asked. Elise pinched her nose, looking irritated.

"Something's burning," she said. "It smells horrible."

"The mountain just got hit," Ultear said, crossing her arms as they moved closer to the peak. "I imagine a lot of stuff is on fire." Elise shook her head slowly.

"No," she said. "It...It smells like flesh." Ultear's stomach twisted at this, but the thought left her mind as they reached the peak of the mountain. Stepping off of the ice and back onto the mountain, Ultear looked around at what lay around them. A giant hole had been punched into the floor, which revealed a office underneath. A scorched body lay off to the side, but Ultear's eyes were drawn towards what lay at the epicentre of the peak.

She recognised Drake easily enough, from his coat, tan skin and maroon coloured hair.

What she didn't immediately recognise was what he was clutched close to him as he knelt on the ground. From what Ultear could see, it was a charred corpse.

It had pink hair.

Ultear felt her head began to spin the closer they got to Drake, who didn't seem to even acknowledge their presence.

"...Drake...?" Steph asked. "What...?" Drake didn't say anything in return, he just cradled the burnt corpse lightly, face twisted in pain.

"Nashi please..." Ultear heard him whisper, voice cracking from emotion as he rocked back and forth, body clutched close to him. "Nashi wake up...Nashi please..."

Nashi.

Ultear felt tears rushing forward as she stared at the body Drake held close to him, her legs giving out underneath her. The longer she stared at the body, the more lost she felt. This wasn't real, this couldn't be real.

Ultear vaguely heard someone puke off to her left, but she couldn't figure out who it was.

"No..." Elise whispered weakly, voice also cracking. "No, no, no..." Despite his wounded arms, Simon ran his hands through his hair, staring at Drake and Nashi wide eyed before turning and walking a short distance away, staring off into the distance. Damien was staring at his feet, staying dead silent.

"Nashi..." Drake murmured, clutching the body even closer to himself as tears started to stream down his face. "Nashi please...Nashi...NASHI!"

Ultear would never be able to forget the sight of Nashi burnt corpse in Drake's arms. After that, she'd lost all sense of direction. What were they supposed to do? How were they supposed to continue? For a long time Ultear didn't have an answer to that question, and neither did the others. Nashi's death had thrown them all out of order, and they hadn't been able to correct it.

Deciding it was time to get her day started, Ultear moved away from the kitchen and towards her table, where a closed envelope lay. She had penned a letter to her parents the night before, so she would send it off today. Picking up the envelope, she paused and stared at the other piece of paper on the table. It was a letter she intended to write to her friends back at the guild.

Since she'd taken this job months ago, Ultear hadn't really spoken to any of her friends. She didn't have a clue as to what they were supposed to say anyway. After months of not speaking, to just write them all of a sudden? She wasn't so sure she could. Even so, she missed them dearly. She wanted to know how they were doing as well, and she doubted her parents would tell her. The truth, anyway.

Shaking her head and sighing, Ultear turned and exited her apartment, envelope in hand. Once she was out in the sunlight, she felt a little better, but only a little. As she walked towards the mayors office, she looked down at the envelope in her hand. Ultear wondered how everyone at home was doing. Had Nashi's death permanently changed everyone? Were they working past it? She hoped so, because she certainly wasn't. She couldn't lie to herself and say that she didn't take the job as a possibility to heal away from everyone else, but it really wasn't working. She still had a lot of sleepless nights due in part to not being able to think about anything but Nashi, and it was really affecting her mentally. She was tired all the time, and her temper was all but gone. It really wasn't healthy, and she knew it.

"Good morning Ultear!" Ultear was snapped from her thoughts as someone said this to her. Turning, Ultear saw a man smiling at her.

"Hello Mr. Vise," she greeted politely, smiling. Mr. Vise laughed at this.

"How are you this morning?" He asked. "You looked tired." Ultear nodded and rubbed sleep from her eyes.

"Haven't been getting a lot of sleep recently," she said. "Working and all that."

"I bet! You've been hard at work for the mayor recently, but don't forget to take care of yourself too, you know?"

"Yeah," Ultear answered, going through this conversation on autopilot. "I'll remember that. Speaking of that, I should get going. I've got a busy day ahead of me." Mr. Vise nodded at this.

"Don't let me keep you," he said. "You are here to help, after all." Nodding, Ultear took her leave and walked away from the man, sighing quietly as she did so. She wasn't in the mood for small talk, so she kept her head down to avoid any further encounters. Soon she arrived at the mayors office, and walked inside. The dark soothed her aching eyes a little bit, but she was still exhausted.

"Good morning Ultear," The mayors secretary said. "The mayor wants to see you."

"I know, thank you." Ultear said, walking past her desk and towards the large pair of double doors to the mayors office. She opened them and walked inside, revealing Mayor Dean standing by his window watching the city. Mayor Dean was a middle aged man with short brown hair, but judging from his facial expression he looked much older. He turned as Ultear entered, smiling.

"Hello Ultear," he said. "How have you been?"

"Fine," Ultear answered, stifling a yawn. "What did you want to see me about?" Did your men get another lead?"

"We'll discuss that in a moment," he replied, sitting down at his desk. "I wanted to talk to you, not business related." Ultear raised an eyebrow at this, but slowly slid into one of the chairs opposite his desk at his gesture. She really didn't know what he wanted, but it raised a few walls in her mind.

"What is it?" She asked. Mayor Dean looked down at his desk, smile fading slightly.

"How are you?" He asked, eyes gliding back to Ultear warily. She shrugged.

"Tired," she answered.

"I meant about everything that's happened to you." Ultear shifted in her seat, and Mayor Dean sighed. "I'm not dumb Ultear, I can see you shoving it down. This can't be easy for you." Ultear glared at her legs as he said this, unable to find words.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Really?" He asked. "Your friends murder was heavily publicised. I know you can't have moved on already."

"So what's the issue, then?" Ultear demanded.

"I called you back to where a young girl was murdered, one you knew closely, after a friend of yours died. You aren't okay, don't act like you are."

There it was.

Ultear hadn't told anyone, not even her own parents, but the town that hired her wasn't any town. It was a town she'd worked with before.

Keiko's town.

It had been so long know she wouldn't doubt anyone for remembering, but she didn't take this job just because. She'd taken is because she needed to. She felt responsible.

A few months after Nashi's death, she'd gotten a specific job request from Mayor Dean. He said that someone else had taken up the moniker on The Enchanted Blades, and were tormenting the town once more. That was why she was here. That was why she was still here. She needed to finish this, like she should have a long time ago.

It was her her responsibility.

"So what if I'm not?" Ultear asked, fists clenched.

"Shoving your emotions down doesn't help you," he said, watching her closely. "All it does is make you feel even worse when you boil over." Ultear watched Mayor Dean closely before she looked down at her hands, flexing them quietly.

"I don't know what you want from me," she hissed. She heard him sigh deeply.

"I can't tell you what to do," he said. "You aren't my daughter, and I won't treat you like a kid. But, I think you should take time and grieve, instead of bottling it up and trying to do to much. It's no good." Ultear stared down at her hands quietly, not responding to what Mayor Dean was saying. She knew deep down he was right, but she didn't want to hear it. Not from him anyway.

"Is that everything?" She asked. Mayor Dean made a face at this, but leaned back in his seat.

"Yes," he said. "My men found a hideout a few days ago. They've requested your presence."

"When are they heading out?"

"Three days."

"I'll be there." With this, Ultear turned and went to leave the office.

"Hey," she was halfway out the door when Mayor Dean spoke up again. Looking over her shoulder, she found the man watching her carefully.

"Keep in touch with your family," he said. "Family is important."

"I do," Ultear said.

"You know what I meant." The two watched each other before Ultear huffed, leaving the office. She didn't have time to talk about her feelings, she had a job to do.

Ultear stared up at her roof, trying to force her eyes to close so she could get some sleep. She'd been here since leaving the mayors office, and intended to try and sleep for the next three days. The last thing she wanted was to be sleepy on the battlefield.

The mayors words came back to her, and she frowned. She was doing just fine, she didn't need to grieve properly. Sure she was tired, but that was really it.

I wonder how the others are doing...

This thought stuck to Ultear for a moment, making her frown even deeper. She hadn't written to her friends, even though she'd tried too. She just didn't know what to say to them. But, the more she thought about it, the more she felt like she should.

Sighing, Ultear for up from her bed and walked to her desk, where the blank piece of paper was. Sitting down and picking up a pen, Ultear stared down at the paper silently. She didn't really know how to address it too, because there was no way she was going to try and write five letters. Finally, she decided on Drake. She worried about him the most, honestly. When she'd taken her job to come out here, Drake was drowning in liquor basically every day. Ultear hoped he was better, but as she wrote the letter, she honestly didn't know.

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

It had taken Ultear what felt like years to scratch out the small letter to her friend, but she felt lighter after finishing it. Deciding it was good enough, she wrapped t in an envelope and put if off to the side. she'd send it out with her parents letter later.

Returning to her bed, Ultear felt her eyelids weighing down on her, and sleep claimed her much easily this time.

"Good job today boys, we got most of them," Ultear said to the small troop of men she'd accompanied to take out a sect of The Enchanted Blades.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Ultear." One of them said. Most of the men shouted in agreement, but Ultear laughed and waved them off.

"I'm sure you boys would have been fine," she said, yawning. It was late, probably almost midnight now, but it had taken them a fair amount of time to get back from their mission.

"You guys go ahead and lock them up," Ultear said, referring to the men the troop had dragged back with them. "I'll go and leave a message for the mayor." Leaving the men to their own devices, Ultear walked for the mayors office. She knew he was probably asleep, even though he always tried to wait up for them to return. It wasn't a big deal either way, but Ultear was supposed to tell him how it went when she got the chance, so it was his own fault if she woke him up.

Pushing the door to the building open, Ultear could tell it was probably empty. Once she reached the mayors office, his secretary looked up and smiled.

"How'd it go?" She asked. Ultear yawned.

"Good," she replied. "Got a lot of them this time. Hopefully we can root out the leader soon. Is the mayor in?" The secretary shook her head.

"No, he went to bed an hour ago," she said. "I'll be sure to tell him that it went well, you two can discuss it in the morning." Ultear nodded, that worked for her. Even though she doubted she'd get any sleep, she was exhausted from the fighting she'd done that day.

"Thanks, I need to go to bed," she said, turning to leave.

"Ultear, wait." Ultear made a face and turned around as the secretary looked around her desk. "I've got something for you." Ultear slowly walked back to desk, confused but curious at the same time. After a few seconds, the secretary pulled out a piece of paper with a jumble of numbers on it.

"What is this?" She asked, staring at it in confusion.

"You got a call today," she said, smiling. "Young man named Drake asked for you by name. That's his number, he said to call when you got a chance."

Ultear had been nervously walking around her apartment for the better half of a few hours, trying to figure out if she should call Drake or not. She didn't know if she'd get a answer, as it was early in the morning, but she felt an undying urge to dial and hope for the best. Would Drake even pick up this early? She didn't know.

Regardless, Ultear found her phone in her hand, waiting for her to dial a number. She stared at the pad for a few moments, taking one last contemplation before sighing and dialling the number Drake had left with the mayors secretary. She brought the phone to her ear and waited as it called the number.

The phone rang once, and Ultear's stomach turned.

The phone rang twice, and Ultear considered hanging up and going to bed. She was sure Drake would understand.

There went the third ring. Well, looked like he wasn't going to answer, better go to be-

Click!

Ultear's eyes widened as the ring stopped as the phone was picked up. Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard a yawn on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" A male voice asked. It was deeper than Ultear recalled, but the turning in her stomach told Ultear it was undeniably Drake. She could tell by the mild irritation in his voice. For a few seconds she remained totally silent, unsure as to what she could say. Realising he might be close to hanging up, Ultear took a shaky breath.

"Drake?"She asked, sounding so hopeful she felt disgusted. There was silence on the other end of the line, and Ultear waited for him with baited breath.

"...Ul?"

Yeah I like chapters with basically no forward movement of plot. This is just a catch up chapter. Both for me and Ul, honestly. We haven't seen her in a bit so who cares. I'll do my best to upload more frequently, but I can't promise anything. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 286: Catching Up