You know, sometimes I just like to write chapters where the characters just talk for the whole thing. And this is one of this times. Also, totally unrelated, but recently I've been really inspired to start writing an all original piece. I dunno, I'll have to start planning it.

Also sorry this chapter is going up a bit late, I was on the road for the last twelve hours. Visiting family far away is hard man.

Enjoy!

"So this is it, huh?" Laxus asked, referring to the paper Drake had handed to him. On that list was the names of everyone that had agreed to come with him and Luna back to Magnolia to fight The Olympians. It was no surprise to him that most of his close friends were coming, including those from Sabertooth. Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus. He'd given everyone the same rundown that the odds were against them, but they all just smiled right back and said that that was fine, and it wasn't changing their mind. He had to admit, he had some pretty spectacular friends.

"Yes," he said. "That's everyone that agreed to come with me to Magnolia." Laxus just stared at the sheet for a moment or two, before he gestured for Natsu to come over. Only the two of them remained in the office, but Drake assumed that was because Natsu was just sitting here coming up with ideas. The Dragon Slayer looked over the list and nodded, handing it back to Laxus.

"Looks good to me," he said. "Nobody was forced?"

"I'd never do that," Drake replied. Natsu nodded curtly, looking at the ground.

"Drake," he said slowly. He wasn't looking at Drake, but the tone of voice the man was using made Drake feel uncomfortable. "You're right at the center of this, so I feel the need to tell you. Do you know what this is about?"

"Luna?" He replied. "Of course I do."

"No, not that." Natsu replied, sighing. "I suppose it's better you know. Not like it'll change the upcoming fight." At this, Drake was reminded of a certain something. And he felt compelled to say something about it now.

"Does it have to do with END?" He asked. This shocked both men in the room, making them look up at Drake in surprise.

"Did Nashi tell you before?" Laxus asked. Drake shook his head, staring down at his hand.

"She came to me herself," he replied, shocking both men even more. "As a thought projection. She told me Nashi was alive, and that she needed my help. She's the one that told me the grave was empty, and spurred me to have Jellal search for Nashi's magical signature. Who is she?" Both men seemed to shocked to speak, sharing a glance weakly. It seemed Drake knew more than they had expected.

"END is...Complicated," Natsu replied, finally finding this voice. "She's Nashi's...Luna's split personality."

"What?" Drake asked, now the one confused. "Are you saying she's sick?"

"No," Laxus said. "It's not a mental illness. It is quite literally another consciousness in her body."

"One imbued with incredible strength," Natsu continued, glaring at the ground. He seemed to be pretty pissed off again, but that didn't surprise Drake at all. "Strength designed to kill the immortal. If I had to guess, The Olympians are after her, not Luna. But they can't get to END without her. She they've done all they've done intending to get END to themselves."

This information certainly answered a lot of questions Drake had, and it made sense when he really thought about it. They had no reason to go after Luna without it, and if END really was a separate consciousness, it would explain why she had disassociated herself from Nashi when she had appeared before him. But how had this split come about? Where had END originated from? So many more questions now presented themselves.

But they were also unimportant to the current problem.

"So what can this do to help us protect her?" Drake asked. This seemed to catch Natsu off guard a little bit.

"You don't have any more questions?" He asked.

"I don't need any more information," Drake corrected. "I have questions, but they won't help me save Luna. So they're unimportant." This seemed to surprise Natsu, but Laxus continued for him.

"As far as we know, Nashi had trouble controlling END's outbursts in the past. You may remember a few instances yourself where she seemed to lack control of an outside force." Drake remembered. Her fight with Luke, with Michael, it made sense now. END had been trying to break out. "She was able to subdue it and make it stop, but I am unsure why END hasn't tried to help us so far. If what you say is true, she remembers the past before Nashi died and Luna came back."

"Which means she's either choosing not to help us," Natsu said. "Or she's being stopped by an outside force."

"So she can't help us, then." Drake said. Sighing, he turned on his heel to leave. "I appreciate you two telling me this. It's good to not be completely in the dark about this. One thing though."

"What is it?" Laxus asked. Drake gripped the door knob tightly and looked over his shoulder, giving both men a glare.

"Once we get back, you tell everyone." He said. "Nothing left out, the whole story as it is right now. We're involved, we deserve to know."

"...Of course," Natsu replied. "I'll hold you to that, though. You need to come back to get the full story." Drake just laughed at this despite his brain drowning in confusion and worry.

"I don't need you to tell me that," He said. With this, Drake left the office and shut the door. As soon as he did, however, he saw his mother standing nearby with a worried look on her face, He knew that she wanted to speak with him, most certainly about what he planned to do in left than twelve hours. Once she caught his eye, she moved over towards him and frowned.

"Do you really need to do this?" She asked. Drake pressed his lips into a line at her question. H hated worrying his poor mother so much, but he did. He did have to do this.

"Yeah, I do." Drake replied with a frown. "I wish there was some other way where I didn't have to worry you, but there isn't." This only caused his mothers frown to deepen.

"Yes, I suppose so." She replied. Without saying another word, she wrapped Drake into a hug. He returned her show of affection willingly, taking in the calmly feeling his mother usually had on him. He needed it right now, especially after what he'd just been told.

"I promise we'll be safe," he said, trying to find a way to ease his mothers worry.

"Don't lie to me," she said with a laugh. "You're going to go out there and fight tooth and nail to save her, I know you will. So don't lie." Drake just snorted at this. She knew him to well.

"Then I promise we'll come back," he said. "All of us, we'll be back after we whoop The Olympian's asses." His mother tried to laugh again for him, but he could tell she was holding back tears.

"There he goes again," she said. "My son the big hero."

"Hero she says," Drake said in a mocking voice. "I'm no hero, I'm just doing whats right."

"As if heroes don't do that."

Back in Sting's office, Laxus and Natsu both remained quiet.

"Are you sure it's best to leave out the whole Zeref part of your explanation?" Laxus asked. Natsu sighed and nodded.

"What good is them knowing that going to do for us right now?" He asked. "I'll save it for when they come back. It won't help them to know it now." Laxus just huffed at this.

"Unimportant information, huh?" He asked. Yes, exactly. Natsu agreed with Drake here.

Unimportant.

"So, you're just gonna lounge around until tomorrow?" Damien made a face and opened his eyes at this, finding Bella standing over him with her hands on her hips.

"What else am I going to do?" He asked. "Not much prep you and I can do. Hell, the others tried to stop us from coming."

"Of course they did," Bella replied as she sat on the end of the couch he was laying on. "We told them we can't access our powers. Why would they want us along as liabilities?"

"Not gonna stop me from going," Damien said. "You?"

"Not a chance."

"Good." Silence came over the pair as Damien closed his eyes again, trying to focus on getting some rest. After all, being a liability was hard work. "Your guildmates seemed happy to see you, huh?"

"Are you sure it's smart to keep the prophecy from everyone again?" Bella asked, jumping right to her point. Damien opened an eye to look at her, and she seemed pretty serious.

"What good is it going to do us now?" He asked. "They already know The Olympians are a problem. One we have to defeat. So whats the point?"

"I don't like how nonchalant you are about this," she said as she grew annoyed.

"What good will telling them a tragedy is coming do?" Damien demanded. "The last thing we need right now is to lower our morale anymore than this. Once we get out of this we tell everyone. Only then. Got it?" Bella just made a face, but nodded and sighed.

"You're right," she said. "We can't tell them now of all times something bad is going to happen."

"Exactly," he replied. "Besides, the tragedy might have been Magnolia's destruction for all we know. Meridia didn't exactly give us a lot to work with."

"And what if it isn't?" Bella asked. "What is something worse is on the horizon?"

"Than we figure it out after we deal with the one right on front of us," he replied. "Listen, I don't like hiding it from everyone either, but it's not going to help us at all right now. It'll only make us feel worse about the whole thing."

"I know," Bella said. "I just don't like the feeling I'm getting about this."

"Join the club," he said as he stretched. "Try and get some sleep, we've got a big day ahead of us."

As if that wasn't already common knowledge among those going.

Drake already knew the sleep he was getting from sleeping on a bench was bad, but it wasn't what woke him from his terrible sleep. That was the sound of the guild doors opening. Lifting his head warily, Drake watched as Luna slipped out of the building, the doors slowly closing behind her. Quickly becoming concerned, Drake sprung up and made his way over to the door, slipping through the cracks before it closed completely. He didn't know what Luna was doing out this late, but he didn't like it. Not at all.

Shadowing her from a distance, Drake kept an eye on her as she made her way through the city. Had she made some kind of deal with The Olympians to hand herself over without a fight? If so, he had to stop her. Watching from a nearby alleyway, he watched as she came to a stop on a bridge over the river running through the city, and looked over the side.

And broke into tears.

She was doing her best to hide it, but Drake could tell she was damn near sobbing over the railing. She probably felt like this entire thing was her fault, on top of being terrified herself. It was amazing she'd taken this long to break down. Looks like he'd have to do his thing again.

"Awfully late to be taking a stroll, don't you think?" He asked out loud, making Luna jump.

"D-Drake?" She asked, whirling in his direction. Yep, tears were streaming down her face. Realising he could see her crying, Luna whirled away again quickly and whipped at her face, sniffling. "What're you doing out here?"

"Same thing to you," he said as he reached her. "Kinda dangerous to be the target of the enemies attention and take strolls alone, no?" She didn't reply to this, just kept her back to him as she tried to compose herself. Looking out over the river, Drake gave her the moment she needed before she took a shaky breath.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Too make sure you're okay," he replied simply. "Didn't like that you walked out here alone. Dangerous thing to do."

"At least it might make sure nobody else dies because of me," she muttered, probably thinking he wouldn't hear her. Sadly, she forgot he had sharp hearing.

"Is that what's bothering you?" He asked. "You're worried someone might die tomorrow?"

"Of course I am!" Luna said, exasperated. "Rocky already gave his life for me, how many more need to if I'm going to be safe?!"

"As many people would be willing," he replied calmly. "You're slipping into your guilt again. Nobodies being held to the sword to do this. Everyone who agreed to go tomorrow is doing so because they want to help."

"Even if they die?!"

"Even if they die," he repeated, frowning at her. "I know you lost your memory, but that's just what we do around here." This didn't seem to satisfy her at all. Drake watched as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

"I just don't get it," she said. "Death is supposed to scare people away, make them second guess their next move. And instead, you people...Just keep walking forward."

"I guess moving forward is better than backwards," he replied as he turned his gaze to the water again. "Besides, it's like I said. We might get attacked again no matter what. Best to take this course of action."

"Because of me!" Luna shouted again. "What did I do?! Why do they want me so bad?!"

"It is quite literally another consciousness in her body."

Drake's conversation with Laxus and Natsu came back to him at this moment, reminding him of the split personality residing inside Luna. The one with untold power that The Olympians were after. It wasn't Luna they were after, it was the consciousness she had inside.

"You have something they want," Drake replied, deciding not to hide it. Fairy Tail had spent long enough hiding END. "A split personality." These words seemed to shock Luna, who took a step back.

"W-What?" She asked. Drake sighed. He didn't know much about it either, but she deserved to know what he did at least.

"You have another consciousness living in your body," he said as he watched her pale. "One that's far more powerful than I can even imagine. It's what they want, not you." Luna seemed quite taken aback from this, which was too be expected. After all, Nashi had probably been too when she found out.

"I-I don't understand," she said, hugging herself. "There's...Someone inside me?"

"Essentially," Drake said. "Nothing invasive, mind you. You've had it forever, before you died. It's what they wanted then too." Luna stared down at the ground, eyes wide. After a moment she raised a hand, staring at it.

"...B-Back in the city," she said. "S-Someone told me not to trust Demeter when she tried to trick me. I-It sounded like me, but it wasn't. A voice I recognised, that I trusted...Do you think...?"

"She reached out to you when you were vulnerable," Drake replied, nodding. "Stopped you from accepting her help. END knew she was an enemy."

"END..." Luna whispered. "That name is so familiar..."

"It's her name," he said. "The other you, anyway. And I didn't hide it from you or anything, I only found out myself a couple of hours ago." Luna stared at the ground for a little bit, but she didn't start crying again, so that was good.

"What does it matter?" She finally asked, making him look at her in confusion. "They're still after me for what I am, people will still die for me."

"No one is going to die," Drake hissed, hoping he could convince her.

"How can you make such a bombastic promise?!" Luna cried, tears coming back. "This isn't a play fight! They killed countless people just to prove a point! Who's to say they won't do it again?!"

"..." Drake knew his words would fail him eventually, and here they did. He knew someone might die, it came with the territory. But trying to reassure someone so sure was difficult.

"You can't, can you?" Luna asked weakly, voice cracking. "You can't promise me because you know it's going to happen."

"Shut up and listen to me," Drake said, growing irritated and grabbing her shoulders. She stared up at him in a mixture of pain and confusion, mouth slightly agape. "You're right, I can't promise nobody will die. It'd be foolish."

"Then why-!"

"But what I can promise is everyone is going to protect you no matter what you say!" He said, making sure he got his point across. "Nobody gives a damn if you try and dissuade us with death or harm! We know it's possible! But you're worth the trouble, don't you get that?!" Luna just stared at him as he said this, so he continued. "Me, Ultear, Simon, Michael, anyone! We know we might die! You're worth the harm! And nothing you say is going to convince anyone otherwise!"

For what felt like a long time Luna just stared at Drake wide eyed, unable to say anything. After a while, she hiccuped through her tears and looked down at her feet.

"I-I really meant a lot to you guys before, huh?" She managed. "Before I became someone else?" Drake rolled his eyes and pulled her into a hug, one she seemed ready to accept.

"Just shut up," he said. "You still mean the world to us, no matter how much you remember. So just shut up." Luna weakly nodded against his shoulder, staying wuiet as he requested. After a few seconds, he heard her sniffle.

"What did I do to deserve such amazing friends?" She asked.

It would have taken him until dawn to explain it to her.

What did I say above? I love chapters that only consist of talking. Next one might be a lot of that too, so look out! I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 315: Beforehand