Chapter 300. How the hell did we get here? Sometimes I don't believe it myself. I know I'm mentioned it before, but before this story, I've never even come close to something like this. Most of my stories ended up unfinished no matter how much I liked them. What was different this time? I'm still trying to find that out.

I'd like to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your support. I'd never have made it this far without the support you guys show me every time I upload. I not only do it because I love it, but because you guys do too.

This chapter may be extra long, and with some fun inside.

To chapter 400!

Enjoy!

As Bella trudged through the snow, a frown graced her face. It was extremely difficult walking with a cane through the snow, and she was worried that she might fall over and hurt herself. She still had minor injuries, so the cane was a must. At least she wasn't tuck with that walker anymore. It had been a pain in the funeral home.

In that day.

Bella stared up at the building in front of her, unable to force a smile out of herself.

Nashi was dead.

She still wasn't sure she believed it. Part of her wanted to walk into this building and find out it was prank. But she knew it wasn't. She knew this wasn't something Fairy Tail would have lied about. She was gone. She really was.

Bella didn't know what had happened, nor did she know what exactly the group had been doing when she died. But she was gone.

"Are we ready?" Mami asked, dressed in her best black dress. Taro sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"No," he answered. "Nashi's dead."

"Thanks for reminding me," Akio hissed, looking upset at Taro.

"We're at her funeral," Ken said with a frown on his face. "Best get reminded now and prepare yourself."

"Can we just shut up already?" Bella demanded, casting an angry glare at her guildmates as other guests and people entered the building. "We aren't here for ourselves. We're here for Fairy Tail." This seemed to bring the others back down to earth again, and Mami nodded.

"Yeah, let's get inside." Going with the others, Bella already met a challenge at the front door. She stared onward as a flight of stairs stared back, a frown on her face. She was still using the walker due to her injuries, so getting up the stairs was more of a two or three person job for her currently.

"I got it," Taro said, grabbing Bella's walker. Akio and Ken hoisted her up gently, and together the three carefully carried her up the stairs with Mami watching for anything wrong. Bella ignored the searing pain in her back as the boys carried her, it wasn't important. Not right now, anyway. Once they had finally reached the top Bella was released, but being on her own gave her no more comfort. Even was she made her way inside her entire body moaned with the effort she was using. She was barely able to get around her house during the day, how was she going to make it around a tightly packed funeral house?

She'd make do. Whining wasn't on her agenda.

Once they'd walked inside, Bella saw many people she both did and didn't recognize, all donning black clothes for the occasion. Bella had demanded she too wear a black dress, even if it wasn't ideal and showed off many of her unhealed injuries. She didn't really care, though. She wasn't going to a funeral in sweatpants and a hoodie, as was suggested. Ignoring most of the guests, namely because they weren't the groups biggest concern, they soon came to pair of double doors that were propped open. Inside were many more recognizable faces were. Bella was no fool, she knew this was the main room with the coffin. Taking a deep breath she followed the others inside, not exactly sure what to expect.

But what she got was pretty damn close to her expectations.

All around the room friends and family of the Fairy Tail guild were spread out. Most she laid her eyes on were in terrible state, either clinging to anyone who came close like Ultear, or taking shots out of a flask like Drake over in the corner by himself. Seeing people she cared about in such a state made Bella's stomach turn, but that wasn't even the worst part. Towards the far end of the room was a coffin, lid closed tightly. This, however, was not the worst part. Bella could distinctly smell strong air fresheners in the room, especially in the direction of the closed coffin. She didn't have a lot of details, but she knew full well why this was.

It was to prevent the smell of death encompassing the room.

Taking another look around the room, Bella's eyes fell on Damien, who was also by himself in the corner of the room. He was exuding an aura that instinctively told Bella approaching him was a bad idea, but this had never stopped her before. Gritting her teeth, Bella began the slow and painful advance towards Damien. Most saw her and did their best to make a lane for her, which she appreciated. Speaking would only tire her out more. After what felt like an entirety, she finally made it to Damien. He hadn't looked up at her, which wasn't at all a surprise. She was willing to bet he'd been staring at his feet for a while. Deciding it was time to speak up, Bella cleared her throat.

"Hey," she said. "What a nice way to greet a friend." This seemed to spark a reaction in Damien, who looked up at her. his eyes were sunk in, and he looked incredibly sleep deprived. Overall, it wasn't a way Bella had ever wanted to see her friend, and in pained her to see him suffering so much.

"...Bella?" He asked weakly, voice hoarse. She smiled as warmly as she could, hoping to up his spirits.

"You got it," she said. "How're you holding up, big guy? You okay?"

"..." The lack of response wasn't unexpected, and Bella tried to laugh it off.

"Come on, don't just stare at me. Talk to me."

"...What are you doing here?" This was not an expected response, and Bella made a face.

"Huh?" She asked. Damien stood and stared right at her, looking quite serious.

"What are you doing here?" He asked again. Before Bella could come up with a response, Damien walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"You're hurt," he said, gently pushing her towards the seat he'd just vacated. "Please sit down before you hurt yourself."

"...I'm fine," Bella replied, ignoring the rush of relief in her body as she sat. "You don't need to, I'm not here for help."

"Please just sit," he said, looking pained. "It'd be a weight off my shoulders." Bella watched Damien closely as he pulled up another seat and sat next to her, returning his gaze to his feet. Bella took her time coming up with something to say, because she still wasn't sure how too approach the scenario.

"How're you holding up?" She finally asked. Damien gave her no response, so she looked over at him. "Please talk to me Damien, you're not well."

"I'm fine," he answered hollowly. Bella scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, alright." she said. "And I'm in peak physical form. Come on Damien, I know you're hurting. I am."

"...I couldn't do anything." Bella looked over at Damien as he said this, his hands now over his face. "I was powerless. Because of those injuries I got from Quinn, I was helpless."

"Don't talk like that," Bella replied. "It's not healthy."

"But I knew," Damien replied. "I knew something would go wrong. I knew it would, but I still couldn't stop it."

"How could you have known?" Bella asked, sitting forward a little. "Expecting it sure, but knowing? That's a little hard to believe."

"I knew," Damien repeated, growing angrier the more he said it. "I knew. I knew but I couldn't do anything."

"Stop it," Bella said, putting a hand on his shoulder. She gently pulled him closer, and wrapped him into a hug. She could feel him shaking against her, which made her frown. "You did everything you could have."

"I could have done more." He said, still leaning into her.

"Sshh," Bella replied as she ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to soothe him. "You did everything you could. I'm so glad you're still here. I'd miss you way to much."

"I...I..."

"Sshhh," Bella said again, voice lower this time. "You did everything you could. Sometimes...Sometimes that isn't enough." For a while longer the pair sat there, unmoving. Bella continued to run her hand through his hair as she cradled him close, doing her best to soothe him. She moved her eyes all around the room, making eye contact with a few more people she knew as they arrived. She met eyes with Terra, who was watching her worriedly. Terra raised an eyebrow, and Bella shook her head sadly. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do to soothe him, and she was sure Terra already knew that. It wasn't hard to guess. Sitting there for a while longer, Bella soon got an idea.

"Hey," she said, nudging Damien. "Do you want to say goodbye?"

"...Huh?" He asked. Bella frowned as her idea came fully to her.

"I was going to go and say a few words. Do you want to as well?" Damien didn't reply to her right away, but soon he got off of her and nodded.

"Yeah, sure." he said. Bella smiled, and reached for her walker. Before she could though, Damien had pushed it closer for her. Thanking him quietly, the two injured Demon Lord takeover wizards hobble over to where the coffin was. Waiting for the few people in front of them to finish saying their words, Bella and Damien soon got their chance.

"Hey Nashi," Bella started, taking the initiative. She hobbled closer to the coffin and put a hand on the lid. "I know...I know you and I weren't particularly close, but...I still considered you a friend. You were such an amazing girl, it was clear to see. To see you pass so early..."Bella felt her emotions trying to get the better of her, but she wouldn't allow it. Not in front of Damien. "...It's so painful. Knowing you're gone is nearly unbearable. But we'll bear it, because you gave your own life to save those you cared about. What greater kind of sacrifice is there? Please, rest easy. Your family is safe. You did it." Unable to say anymore, Bella looked back at Damien with a weak smile. This didn't seem to make him happy, as now he had tears rimming his eyes. Stepping up to take his turn, Bella watched as the man bit his lip.

"Nashi..." He manged to get out before collapsing to his knees, head resting on the casket. "I'm...I'm so so sorry. We could have brought you home. We should have been able to. But we left you there on that God forsaken island. I love you. I love you so much. And...And now you're gone. How're we supposed to get on without you? Did you even consider that? I'm sure you did, you were so thoughtful..." Bella forced herself to stay strong as Damien started to cry against the coffin.

I need to do whatever I can to help Damien. It's what Nashi would have wanted. For all her friends to move on.

"I knew, Nashi...I knew someone would die! But I was powerless! Please...You have to forgive me..."

I just hope he really doesn't believe that...

"I knew...I knew..."

That was the day that everything had changed for her and Damien. As Bella finally reached civilization, she took time to look back on the time they'd spent together in the past year. Because the last year of her life had been quite different than what she'd expected.

She also hadn't expected him to visit that day.

"Ugh, who wrote this garbage?!" Bella hissed, slamming the TV remote against her bed. She honestly couldn't believe that someone got paid to write this terrible show. She really did hope that they got fired.

It had been roughly two months since Nashi's funeral, and Bella was in no better condition than she had been then. She knew that her recovery was going to be slow, as she had nearly died. But at the same time, she had hoped she wouldn't need her walker by now. Oh well. What could she really do? Seeing as she was mostly bedridden these days, Bella had Mami and the guys set up a TV in her room so that she didn't need to move as much. She was still doing her walk to the park daily in an effort to get her strength back, but so far it didn't really seem to have an effect at all.

Ignoring the terrible soap opera on in front of her, Bella's mind drifted back to Fairy Tail. She knew that the amount of time that had passed was no where near long enough for them to heal, but from what she'd heard the group was suffering terribly. Drake was just drinking his life away, and Elise was distant and uncommunicative. Ultear was hiding herself away. Simon, from what she had heard, was a constant lit fuse. His anger could be set off by anything, and anyone. Damien was quiet as well, but from what she'd heard he was quite lenient and helpful around the guild. The same could be said for Steph, but she had taken on a more proactive roll. All in all, it wasn't very good. Bella worried for them a lot, but she knew there wasn't much she could do. Even still, she hoped that they bounced back one day, and once again began to smile.

How long that would be, she didn't know.

Before Bella could somehow zone back into the show on TV, she heard a knock at her door. Thankfully she had her bedroom door open, so she could yell for whoever it was to come in.

"Come in!" Bella called, sitting up a bit so she looked more presentable. She heard her door open, and someone walked inside.

"Bella?" It was Damien's voice that called out to her, making her raise an eyebrow. Why was he here? "Are you in your room?"

"Where else would I be?" Bella asked. She watched her open door as Damien came through it, a weak smile on his face.

"Hey," He greeted.

"Hiya," Bella said with a smile. "How're you doing, big guy?"

"I'm good," he replied. "How're you? Feeling any better?"

"Eh not so much," Bella replied, lifting and lowering her stiff muscles underneath her sheets. "Still really stiff and struggling. I am able to walk around my house though, so that's fun."

"Nice," Damien said. "I'm glad it's getting better." Bella nodded, happy he seemed to be cheering up a bit.

"How about you?" She asked. "Any better?" Damien shrugged as he twirled his cane around.

"I'm still pretty stiff myself," he said. "Sometimes my back really hurts. But I'm working through it."

"And mentally?" Bella asked. She knew it was a risky question, but she wanted to know. She saw Damien's smile flicker slightly at her question, but it only wavered slightly.

"I'm doing better," he replied, looking down at his feet as his smile became sadder. "I'm still struggling to understand why this had to happen, but...I'm working on it." Bella nodded, playing with her sheets.

"That's good," she said. "You still think you could have stopped it?" Damien didn't say anything at this. "Because you couldn't have."

"...Yeah," Damien said, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I know. It's hard, but I know." Bella was thankful he accepted that, at least. It was better than the alternative.

"So why're you here?" Bella asked, allowing her smile to grow sly in an attempt to lighten the situation. "Wanted to see me? You're such a sweetheart." Damien let out a weak laugh.

"Yeah," he said. "I wanted to see how you were doing. Well, that and I couldn't hang around that guild hall any longer or I was going to lose my mind." Bella knew that wasn't a lightly made statement. Judging from what she knew, he wasn't making a joke either.

"Well, I was about to go for my walk to the park today, care to come with me?" Damien nodded at this, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Sure, sounds nice." he said. Nodding, Bella kicked off her sheets and sat up, staring at her closet with a frown. She knew it was still a struggle to dress herself, but she didn't want to appear weak in front of Damien. There was silence for a bit, before Damien cleared his throat. Bella chuckled at this.

"You're perceptive, aren't you?" She asked with a smirk. "Or perhaps you were anxious for the opportunity to see me naked?" Damien only frowned at this.

"Would you like help getting dressed?" He asked. Bella masked her confusion at this response. Usually when she teased him he got upset and shut her down. This time, he was being nice and considerate.

Then again, this wasn't 'usually'.

"Yes I would, thanks." Bella said, confused still. Damien nodded and walked over to her closet, quickly picking out a blue t-shirt and jeans. He walked back over to her, and Bella lifted her arms up above her head. Damien struggled at first to get her shirt off, so Bella wiggled a little bit to help him. Soon her shirt came off, leaving her completely exposed above her pants. She expected to see Damien staring, but he wasn't. He maintained eye contact with her, barely a blush even on his face.

"Bra?" He asked simply. Bella shook her head.

"Straps hurt this," she said, pointing to a fading slash wound on her shoulder. "Thanks though." Damien nodded and helped her throw the shirt on. Bella began to pull down her sweatpants, making a face as she thought to herself. She had expected Damien to be red in the face doing this, but he was barely reacting. Why though?

"You're pretty quiet, Damien." She said as he finished pulling off her pants for her, leaving her in her underwear. "Am I that difficult to look at? Scars to hard to look at?"

"Don't talk like that," Damien replied, smiling up at her. "You're beautiful." Bella scoffed at this, even though she felt happy he said that.

"When were you my biggest supporter?" She asked. Damien shrugged as he pulled her pants all the way up.

"What did I tell you back when I first visited you after the fight with the Demon Hunters?" He asked with a smile. "I don't want you feeling down." Bella made a face at this.

"You know that goes both ways, right?" She asked. "I don't want you feeling down either. I got your back, you know?" Damien just watched her with a smile.

Wading through the townsfolk silently, Bella relived these memories painfully. Both because thinking back to her injuries at the time made her back hurt, and she felt bad for Damien. He'd been in such a bad place for so long, seeing him smile like that was odd.

Of course, that wasn't the oddest thing he'd said to her.

"Wow, congratulations!"

"I know right?" Bela said with smirk as she twirled her cane around in her hand. "Winter said I've recovered enough to ditch the walker!" Damien smiled at this.

"That thing wasn't really your look," he said. "I'm glad it's gone."

"So am I, honestly." Bella replied, casting the walker an irritated look. "It's such a hassle to get around with one of those things."

It had been another month and a half since Damien had first come to visit Bella, and since then she had recovered enough to officially ditch the walker. Now she got to rock a cane instead, which was way better in her opinion. The walker made it incredibly difficult to get around tighter spaces, so ditching it made her very happy. She still felt a lot of pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. Overall she was healing well, and it felt great too.

Damien had been spending a lot of time hanging out with her recently, which she appreciated. He was one of the only people who really understood her, and she felt like they had grown much closer recently. She understood why he did, she couldn't imagine how hard it was being home, what with his friends suffering like they were. Both Elise and Ultear had gone away, Ultear on a job. Nobody knew where Elise had gone, but Bella hoped she was well. Everyone remaining was still suffering.

Not only that, but he was being extremely nice to her. Instead of being sarcastic and shoving her away, Damien was nice and seemed to have turned over a new leaf. Why though, she had no idea. She wasn't going to complain though, she liked this new Damien. Deep down though, she knew he had changed because of what had happened to Nashi. His reasoning wasn't clear, but she knew it had to do with Nashi.

"So, what should we do to celebrate?" Damien asked with a smirk. Bella only rolled her eyes at this.

"It's not my birthday, jeez." She replied. "We don't need to do anything special." Damien chuckled.

"Yeah, it's not like you fought off death and regained the ability to walk without a metal contraption to help you," he replied. "No big deal."

"You know what I meant," Bella replied with a smile. "I'm just glad I'm getting better." Damien nodded, looking down at his own cane.

"Wish I could say the same," he replied. "I still need my cane."

"I worked every day to get away from that walker," Bella said. "I don't think you've done the same." Damien shrugged.

"Whatever," he replied. Silence came over them as Bella kicked her walker closer to the edge of her room. She didn't need it anymore, and it was in the way. "Hey,Bella?"

"What's up?" Bella asked, shoving things out of the way to get her walker into the closet.

"I've been thinking."

"Shocking." Bella said, smirking to herself. She could practically hear Damien rolling his eyes.

"Shut up," he said. "I've been thinking a lot about us." Bella raised an eyebrow at this and turned back to look at him, ignoring the rapid increase in her heart beat.

"Huh?" She asked, getting more confused as he remained silent. Damien nodded.

"Yeah, and that promise I made you." He replied. Bella didn't really know why she felt disappointed and angry.

"Promise?" She asked, shoving the disappointment down. Damien nodded.

"Yeah, when Steph and I came to visit you when you first woke up from your coma." he replied, playing with his cane. "You were upset because you nearly lost control of Meridia."

Now Bella remembered.

With everything that had happened since then, she'd forgotten about that conversation. Damien had promised her that he'd help her find a way to maintain control, so she'd never be worried about losing control ever again. With the memory coming back to her, Bella frowned.

"Now I remember," she said. "What about it?"

"I've been thinking about taking a break from my guild," he said, eyes on the floor. "I can't be around there anymore. Not after what happened, and how I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Are you still on that?" Bella demanded. "You did everything you could."

"But I knew someone would die, Bella."

"How?" Bella demanded. "There's no way in hell you could have known-"

"Xisplate told me," Damien cut in, watching her warily. This stunned Bella into silence. "He told me someone was going to die. Warned me months in advance. Yet when the time came, I couldn't do anything about it." Damien looked down at his feet angrily. "All I do is cause my family pain. I made them think Steph was dead, made them worry about me after Quinn, and nearly got you killed. On top of all of that, I couldn't stop a death I knew was coming. I don't want to hurt my loved ones anymore." With this, Damien looked back up at her, eyes determined. "I want to get stronger. To control this power to help my family, not tear it apart. To not hurt them anymore."

"Damien..." Bella started. His goal was admirable, but his reasons were all over the place. He was using half truths to justify his anger at himself, but Bella could sense there wasn't much she could say here. He was going to think that way no matter what she said.

"Do you want to come with me?" He asked again. "I'll be leaving in about a month, and I don't want to return until I have a better grasp on my power." Bella watched him for a moment, unsure. She thought about what he was saying, and if she agreed.

Then she remembered the anger she felt at Quinn. How close she came to attacking the others in her rage. Bella took a deep breath at this.

"I'll come," she said. "I want to use my power better as well. To protect the people I love better." Damien nodded, a smile on his face.

"Great," he said. "It would have sucked to go out there alone." Nodding, Bella turned to face him fully.

"What do we do if we can't find a way to get stronger?" She asked. Damien watched her, determined.

"We'll find a way."

Right, that was how she'd ended up out here. Damian had wanted to come and get stronger, to be able to control his takeover. The goal was admirable, and Bella shared in his determination to get it done.

As she walked through the town looking for a place to get breakfast for herself and Damien, Bella frowned. They had come out here to better control their powers.

That wasn't what ended up happening.

"I think here will be good," Bella looked around the small clearing that Damien had picked out. It wasn't anything special, just a opening in the trees with a small pond nearby.

"Yeah, it'll work fine." Bella said, sighing in relief as she threw the backpack off of her. She had to carry if all the way out here, and she didn't like the strain it put on her back. They barely had anything with them, but the trek here had exhausted both of them.

And now she was alone, in the woods, with Damien. For some reason, Bella's stomach was turning.

"So, do we set up camp now?" Damien asked, turning to her with a smile. "Or do we wait until tomorrow?"

"Let's do it right now!" Bella said, starting to feel excited. If this training paid off, she'd be nearly unstoppable."We need to get this done as quickly as possible!" Nodding, Damien ditched his own backpack and turned to her.

"Want to go first?" He asked. Bella raised an eyebrow at this.

"What am I doing?" She asked.

"Simple," he replied, raising his arm. "Take over into Meridia." Bella raised an eyebrow at this.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Why?"

"Before the Games I was doing some training of my own like this." Damien replied. "Xisplate had me take over into him and hold it for as long as I could. It's a good way to gt used to such a powerful form. Are you ready?"Bella stared down at her hand at this unsure. Now that she was really here, ready to practice, she felt nervous. Would she be able to control Meridia? Or would the anger and the voices of the damned get the better of her?

"Okay..." She murmured.

"Scared?" Bella was startled by this and looked up to find Damien watching her with a soft smile. "You don't have to worry about a thing. I'm right here." This didn't really do much to soothe the fear she felt, but she gulped and nodded. Raising her hand above her head, Bella took a deep breath.

"Takeover: Demon Meridia." She said.

Nothing happened.

No magic circle, no darkness, no nothing. It was like she'd done nothing.

"Uh, you feeling okay?" Damien asked. "Nothing's happening."

"I can see that," Bella replied, staring at her hand in irritation. "Takeover: Demon Meridia! Takeover! Takeover!" Bella growled in irritation after none of these calls worked, lowering her hand to glare at it as though that was the problem. "I don't know what's happening. It's not working."

"That's weird," Damien said. "Maybe I should try." Damien too raised his hand above his head. "Takeover: Demon Xisplate."

Again, there was no reaction. Bella felt her stomach sinking as Damien was unable to do anything either. Something was wrong.

"This is bad," Damien said, looking at his hand in confusion. "We can't access their power."

"Why though?" Bella asked, confused as well. "Do you think it has something to do with our injuries from Quinn?"

"I'm not sure," Damien replied, looking back at her. "I was talking to Xisplate at Mt. Olympus, so I don't know if our injuries have anything to do with this." Now Bella was concerned. If Damien had spoken to Xisplate, that meant something might have happened.

"What do we do?" She asked. Damien watched the ground for a moment before he sighed.

"We set up camp and try again in the morning." He said. "And if we can't get this to work...Something is horribly wrong." Bella nodded, looking down at her feet.

"So we just wait for a sign."

Bella absentmindedly picked out fruits from a stand and dropped some Jewel for the vendor, walking away to find more food. The memories of her training camp with Damien really melded together after this point, Day in and day out the pair spent all day meditating and attempted to get into contact with the Demon Lords, to no avail.

If the months that had passed, they had made absolutely zero progress, and Bella was convinced that something was seriously wrong. She had been able to speak to Meridia her entire life, and now there was total silence. They couldn't access their powers, or talk to the Demons, or anything. It was as though they were gone completely. Bella didn't even know if she was capable of talking to the Demons anymore.

Damien, however, had never given up.

Bella ignored the burning in her throat as she took a shot from the flask she had under neath her sleeping bag. It was her first sip, but perhaps not her last. She knew Damien was outside meditating, but she couldn't deal with him right now. They'd been out here for four months, and he was still trying to get into contact with Xisplate. His resolve refused to let him quit, and it pissed her off. He didn't know any better than she did, why was he acting like it would work?

For the last couple of months, Bella's head was swimming when it came to Damien. The guy confused the hell out of here with his sudden change in action, and it forced her to react the way she had. Now she had these...These feelings in her head, one's that wouldn't go away. They pissed her off nearly as much as Damien did, because he had it so hard to hate him. He was still nice to her and barely reacted to her teasing, which only made her angrier. Couple that with his refusal to give up, and Bella felt like she was losing her mind.

Sighing, Bella stood and stumbled out of the tent, wanting to get an apple for their stash. She had to walk past Damien, who was meditating like she guessed.

"Hungry?" She heard him ask.

"Yeah, what of it?" She demanded, taking the apple out of the bag. It was getting colder, so taking their food into the tent was probably a good idea.

"I just asked..." Damien muttered. Bella ignored him and went back inside the tent, taking another shot from her flask. Stupid Damien, being so determined. It really pissed her off. She picked up the book she'd gotten in town and flipped open to the page she'd left on, reading silently. It wasn't much longer before Damien joined her in the tent, but she ignored him completely. She didn't care what he had to say.

"Hey, Bella?" He asked. Bella rolled her eyes. Oh boy.

"What?" She demanded, taking another bite out of her apple.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "You've been acting weird recently." Bella scoffed at this. So he had noticed.

"I suppose that's what happens when you're irritated," she snapped, glaring a him. He only raised an eyebrow.

"Why're you irritated?" He asked. When Bella looked inward, she really didn't know. She was just pissed off.

"You," she decided. "You're my problem. Out there meditating like it'll help. Just accept it, they're gone."

"I can't," Damien replied. "Something's gone wrong, we need to figure it out. You should be helping me."

"Helping you do what?" She demanded, growing angry. "Sit around with my legs crossed for another four months?! No! Its pointless, Damien! We lost our powers against Quinn, just accept it!"

"No!" Damien shouted back, now showing he was angry. A first since he had started to act different. "I won't give up! I know Xisplate is still with me! Something's wrong!"

"And what do you plan to do about it?!" Bella asked, getting to her feet and getting in Damien's face. "Let's just sit around and meditate everyone! While we're at it, let's pretend we have a fucking clue what's going on around us! Fuck sake Damien, it's over! Just accept it!"

"No!" Damien shouted back, not giving up. "I came out here to help us, and I'm not giving up until I do! If you have such a fucking problem with that, go home! I'm going to find out what's wrong with or without you!"

"Oh so you don't care if I'm out here at all, do you?!"

"...What?" Damien asked, lowering his voice. Bella, however, was too drunk to stop her rambling.

"I came out here with you because you asked, and I wanted to learn how to control my power! What have we actually done since then?! You didn't want me here, you just asked out of courtesy!"

"What are you talking about?" Damien asked, confused. Bella gritted her teeth as he still was unable to grasp what she was saying. How was he so blind? It was obvious to her!

"You're so fucking dumb!" Bella shouted, pushing him with her hands. "Being nice to me all of a sudden! Wanting to help me with something you can actually help with! Spending so much time with me! You...You fucking asshole!"

Bella decided her best curse of action now was to kiss Damien while he was surprised by her yelling.

She really didn't know why she did it, but she didn't mind that Damien didn't pull away from her. After a while of doing all the work, Bella was pushed away.

"You've been drinking," Damien said, looking serious despite the red on his face. "Where are you hiding that?"

"It was only a little bit," Bella replied, quickly trying to get back in close. Now that she'd gone ahead and done that, she felt a strange sensation in the back of her head. Despite this Damien kept his distance.

"Bella you're drunk, you're not thinking straight." He said. "I'm not going to take advantage of you."

"I'm trying to do that to you, asshole" Bella replied, still struggling with him. "Come on. Am I not good enough?"

"I never said that."

"You're implying it," Bella whined, pouting at him. "You had to come into my life and make me feel these things. At least take responsibility for it."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Damien demanded. This was insane. She wasn't going to get through to him like this. Growing impatient, Bella grabbed Damien and turned around, shoving him. Damien tripped over his own feet and landed on his face, groaning in pain from the surprise attack. Working quickly, Bella flipped him over and straddled him, staring down at him.

"Stop acting like the protagonist of a long running show here," she hissed. "You know full well what I'm talking about. Why're you being so dumb about it?"

"I don't want to hurt you too," Damien replied, watching her carefully. "All I manage to do is hurt those I love. I don't want to hurt you either."

"So you figured that the best course of action to avoid hurting my feelings was to reject my advances?" Bella demanded. "Ugh, you're so thick headed."

"I'm sorry..." Bella gritted her teeth at this.

"You better be," she replied. "You did this to me. You made me feel these things." With this Bella went in again, but this time she wasn't met with resistance. Her lips met Damien's, and she felt her mind going blank. She had enough focus left to wonder what the actual hell she was doing. How the hell had she come to the conclusion that this was the best course of action? She was just angry with him, she didn't mean to start all of this!

Despite that, Bella relished in the fact that Damien's arms had snaked around her waist, pulling her closer. She enjoyed the closeness of their kiss until she felt like she couldn't breathe, and she broke away from him. Both of them stared at each other panting for a moment, before Bella's hand moved on it's own.

Her hand had moved downwards and was now fumbling with Damien's belt. Unable to get it off with just one hand, Bella cursed under her breath and sat up, using both hands to angrily undo the thing.

"Bella," Damien said, voice serious. Through her muddled mind and emotions, Bella managed to hear this and looked up at him. He looked dead serious, and even the blush had faded from his face.

"What?" She demanded, still fumbling with his belt buckle. "I'm trying to do something over here."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked. "We can still turn back, you know. We don't need to do this."

The sensible part of Bella's brain acknowledged that he said this, and that he was absolutely right. What were they doing? They ween't a couple, they were just friends. Hell, they hadn't come out here or this, they'd come to train.

"Are you saying you don't want too?" Bella asked instead of voicing her concerns. Damien didn't reply to her, and she laughed. "Stop worrying about me, I'm the one who started it."

"Are you sure?" He asked again. Bella watched him closely before her hands finally got his belt buckle to undo. She defiantly ripped it from his pants and stared at him with it in her hand.

"You've been so nice to me for so long now," she hissed, tossing the belt aside. "So...For just this once...For old times sake, can you get rough with me?"

"Bella-"

"Shut up already," she said, starting to lift her own shirt up. Tossing it aside as well, Bella drove her hands under Damien's shirt and got in close to his face. "Just shush please. We'll talk all we want later." Damien just stared at her, eyes still unsure.

"What if I hurt you?" He asked. Despite the panic she felt inside, Bella just laughed.

"So what?"

Just remembering the night she had spent with Damien caused blood to rush to Bella's face. She still couldn't believe she'd done that, that they'd done that. The morning following was one of the most awkward Bella would ever experience, because it was clear both felt like the mist had cleared. Instead of being controlled by their hormones and some primal urge, their brains took control again and they realized what had happened.

"I'm such an idiot..." Bella hissed as she trudged through the snow back towards camp. "How could I let myself do that? Things are never going to go back to normal with us now."

Somehow, she found that wasn't as much of a concern as she felt it was.

"How'd the shopping go?" Bella looked up to find Damien in the same seated position he'd been in when she left, eyes closed. She shrugged.

"Alright," she replied, looking down at the bag in her hand. "Not much in the winter, it seems."

"Yeah, that's what happens to farm towns in the winter I guess." Bella nodded and tossed the bag inside their tent, walking over to Damien. She watched him meditate for a moment before she frowned.

"You need to shave," she said frankly, staring at his beard. Damien opened one eye and stared at her.

"You think?" He asked, running his hand through it. "I kind of like it."

"Don't let it get out of hand, Lumberjack." she said, sitting down next to him. "Or I might have to do it myself."

"Very funny." Damien replied, closing his one eye again. "What to meditate with me?"

"And waste my time?" Bella asked. "Nah, I just wanted to sit down."

"Come on, give it a go. You know something's wrong." Of course she did. She knew that the two couldn't access their powers for some reason, and they couldn't even talk o the Demon Lords to boot. They'd tried meditating forever, what was the point?

Despite this, Bella felt an urge to give it a go. Sighing, she crossed her legs and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She blocked out all other sounds in the forest around her, and focused on her powers. The faint connection he felt to Meridia. Try as she might, she didn't feel any different.

"Who did it?! Huh?!" Bella was jarred from her meditation as a voice she didn't recognize yelled nearby. Looking around, Bella found she was no longer in the the forest meditating with Damien. She was in a dimly lit room, SO dim in fact she couldn't make out where exactly she was. Looking around, Bella saw a group of twelve people standing in a circle over an odd black table, glaring at each other. One, Bella recognized immediately.

"Meridia?" She asked. The Demon paid her no mind, just listened to the others yelling. "Meridia?! Meridia! It's me!" Despite her yelling, Meridia barely reacted. Bella watched as the demon slowly turned to her, and raised a finger to her lips. The universal signal to keep quiet. Confused but understanding, Bella silenced herself as Meridia turned back around.

"You can stop asking," One in born adorned armor said. He had silver colored hair and dark red eyes, and he towered over the others easily. "The one who did it isn't going to speak up."

"And we can't act until we know who set them free." One with a hood over her head said. Bella couldn't see much to identify her, but she had blood red lipstick on her lips.

"We need to figure this out," another one of the beings said. "One of us broke the sacred laws of our duties. Someone let a soul back into the living."

Bella's eyes widened as she realized what she was watching. Every Demon Lord was standing in front of her, debating something. And that something was that they'd let someone live again.

"This is ridiculous," another one said. This Lord, a man, had bright red hair and eyes. Around his belt he had a multitude of knives and swords. "I want to go to causing pain, the fact that we're still figuring this out is stupid."

"Was it you, Drakhosz?" Meridia asked. "Did you want to kill someone all over again?" The red haired one, Drakhosz, laughed.

"Please," he said. "Killing them is no fun, only the pain of torture is. Of course they die eventually, but that's the fun! How long can they last?!"

"Stop joking around," Xisplate said. Bella recognized him easily enough. "We need to know who let a soul back into the living, and why." Bella watched, but the argument soon became drowned out by white noise. She faded from the area, and soon only herself and Meridia remained.

"Bella," Meridia said without turning to her. "A tragedy will soon befall your plane."

"Huh?" Bella asked. "What're you talking about?"

"One of the Demon Lords broke our sacred code," she said. "One of us allowed a soul to return to the living."

"I know that," Bella said. "But what tragedy? What're you talking about?"

"I can't say anymore," Meridia replied. "I don't want to break this code as well." Bella was so confused. She had so many questions, and presumably no time to ask.

"Where have you been?" She asked. "What's happening? Why can't I talk to you anymore or use your power?"

"I cannot speak any longer," Meridia said, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry Bella, I can't answer these questions yet. Just please be vigilant, and now that tragedy is coming."

"Give me more than that!" Bella shouted. "Please! I need to know more!" Meridia remained silent for a moment, before she sighed. As Bella vision began to fog up and disappear, Meridia turned to her fully. As Bella's vision of the area finally disappeared completely, she heard Meridia speak once more.

"When the King rises, humanity will find salvation in the end."

Woo that's a long chapter! BUT FALLEN THIS ISN'T A MONDAY WHAT ABOUT YOUR UPDATE SCHEDULE? Yeah cut me some slack guys, it's a long one. I apologize if it feels disjointed, I tried my best link it together fluidly. Remember, this whole chapter covers like a year or so. So take it with a grain of salt.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get, I dunno, fifteen for chapter 300?

Who am I kidding, this shit sucked.

Chapter 301: Last but not Least