Since meeting Drake and Elise out on the road, the four had returned to Silaris. They'd all returned to The White Wolves guild hall, and had immediately been served drinks for the trouble they had gone through. Takara was very confused as to what was happening, seeing as Drake and Elise kept speaking in hushed tones. Neither had asked her or Jason anything yet, and she was starting to get antsy.

"So, uh, what was that you said before about helping each other out?" She asked in an attempt to break the silence.

"Sorry about our behaviour," Drake said as he finally spoke up. "We're just trying to figure this whole thing out."

"Could you explain to us, then?" Jason said.

"That would require us to understand this ourselves," Elise said. "Why don't you guys help us out. What's your story again?" Takara made a face at this. She didn't know how many times she'd have to explain it.

"I told you," she said. "My name is Takara Yamanaka. My brother got kidnapped by The Olympians over ten years ago, and I'm trying to get him back." Jason nodded at this.

"We were both imprisoned by them for the last decade or so," he continued. "We only escape less than a week ago, and this was the first place we found."

"And you just so happened to run into us, members of Fairy Tail." Drake said. "Whom you were told could help you find your brother."

"Yes," Takara replied. "That's what happened."

"What's your brothers name?" Elise asked.

"Tetsu," Takara answered immediately. "Tetsu Yamanaka." Takara noticed as soon as the name left her mouth, both's eyes widened a bit.

"Say what?" Drake asked.

"Tetsu," she repeated, thinking maybe he'd misheard her. Both exchanged a bewildered glance, as if they could not believe what she had just said.

"There's just no fucking way," Elise insisted.

"Elise-" Drake started.

"No!" Elise said. "There's just no way in the Twelve Hell's that all of this is lining up for us right now! It's got to be some sort of trick!"

"She's not lying," Drake replied. "I can hear her, remember?" What did that mean? Whatever it meant, it seemed to soothe Elise's irritation somewhat. She sat down in a huff, crossing her arms as she stared at Takara.

"Smirk for me," she instructed.

"Huh?" Takara asked.

"Smirk like you're being sarcastic," Elise clarified. "I need to see something." Takara looked over at Jason with a raised eyebrow, but he shrugged at her. Seeing as she had nothing to lose, she smirked in Elise's direction. The woman examined her for a good, long while before she growled.

"It's his sister alright," she muttered. "Same damn look on her face."

"I saw it too," Drake replied. "You really must be Tetsu's sister." Takara's heart skipped a beat at this, her eyes widening."

"Y-You know my brother?" She asked weakly. Her heart was beating so fast she could barely hear her own thoughts. Was Nashi right? Did they know where to find her brother?!

"We do," Drake replied. "He's a friend, actually. Known him for a bit now. Nice guy."

Takara almost didn't hear him the first time. Had he really just said that? He'd admitted to knowing her brother, right? To knowing Tetsu?

"I thought The Olympians kidnapped him?" She barely heard Jason ask over the mental cheering she was doing.

"That's a long story," Elise said. "One more fitting for when he get on the road."

"I agree," Drake said. "But now I want you to tell me something. Call in a mutual exchange of information." Drake leaned forward in his seat, purple eyes growing dark and more serious.

"What?" Jason asked.

"Who told you to search for Fairy Tail?" He asked. "Do you have a name?"

"Nashi," Takara answered immediately, coming back to reality at this question. "Another inmate told me. Her name was Nashi."

Both Drake and Elise stared at her for a moment, neither saying a word. Had she said the wrong thing? Did they believe her?

"Drake?" Elise asked, sounding as though she could barely breathe. Takara saw Drake's ears twitch a little under his hair. His eyes widened.

"She's telling the truth," he replied in a whisper. "They know her...She spoke to them!"

"Seriously?!"

"Yes! I can see it, she's thinking about it an-! Wait. Why isn't she with you guys?"

That was kind of the problem.

Takara didn't have the heart to admit that Nashi had gotten abandoned in Tartarus. Thankfully, or unfortunately, it seemed she didn't have to say it. Realisation dawned on Drake's face.

"She's still in there, isn't she?" He asked, his voice almost a whisper. Takara could only nod weakly.

"We did everything we could," Jason said. "We almost all got out, but there were so many guards...She stayed behind to fight them off, and we couldn't risk going back for her." Silence fell over the table, Takara not willing to say anything. After being so desperate to find her brother, she had to tell these two that the one they were looking for was still stuck because of her.

Her eyes widened as she heard steep groaning. She looked over weakly at Drake, watching the mug slowly get crunched in his fist. His face was stoic, jaw clenching. Elise was watching him warily, seemingly concerned.

"Don't get mad," she warned him. "They still have valuable information for us, they did more than enough for us."

"...I know...Damn it, I know." Drake's face relaxed a bit, but Takara could still tell he was mad. Well, that was an understatement. He honestly looked like a storm was raging in his head. How much of that was anger directed at them, she had no idea.

"I'm not surprised you guys had to leave Nashi behind because she tried to save you," Elise said, chuckling quietly. "It's so like her it hurts."

"Yeah..." Drake agreed quietly, staring down at the table. "Definitely."

"Ignore him," Elise said as both her and Jason watched Drake carefully. "He's just being a worrywart. Tell me, is there anything you guys can tell us about the prison? Location? Entryway? Anything?"

"Sure, I can tell you you won't be able to get in any time soon," Jason replied, Elise raising an eyebrow. "Tartarus is one-way, generally. As far as I know, the only people who can access the prison from outside are the likes of Hades and his confidants."

"How did you two get out?" Elise asked.

"There's a teleportation platform," Takara replied. "There's probably no way to access it from the outside." Elise hummed at this, drumming her fingers against the wood.

"That's disheartening," she said. "I'd hoped you could provide us a location so we could raise hell in there and free everyone."

"I would advise against that," Jason replied. "At least I would for just the both of you. The Olympians wouldn't stand for that. I'm sure Zeus would find all of you and-"

"Zeus is dead," Drake said abruptly.

Silence once again came over the table, Jason and Takara at a loss for words. Zeus was dead?

"W-What?" Jason asked, sounding shocked. "H-How do you know? H-How did he-?" Drake shared a glance with Elise, who shrugged.

"It's another long story," he said. "But trust me, the guys dead. The other Olympians, as far as I know, are scattered. No clue where they are or what they're doing, but they've been quiet for the past few months." Takara didn't know what to say. After all this time, all these years, she found out that the name who orchestrated her suffering was dead. It wasn't really wrong to say it angered her, she was glad he was dead. But part of her was mad. Mad that she hadn't been there to do it herself. To have been apart of it.

"How did it happen?" She asked, feeling as though she had to know.

"Unimportant," Drake answered, surprising her. He sounded like he wanted to avoid the topic, and she sensed pressing them wouldn't do her any good. "What I want to know is this; Was Hades in charge of the prison?"

"Yes," Jason said. 'He's been the de facto warden since the beginning." Drake hummed at this, bouncing his knee.

"This lines up with everything we've known about the prison," he said. "Seems you guys weren't kidding with us. Question remains whether or not you're enemy agents, but I'm willing to take that risk."

"What about you guys?" Takara asked, now curious. "Is Nashi a friend or something?"

"That's putting it lightly," Elise answered. Her tone was light, but Takara could sense the pain in her voice. She was hurting. "We've been friends since we were babies. All these years. We lost her a year and a half ago. Only just now finding her. Kinda." That time frame lined up nicely with how long Takara presumed Nashi had been in Tartarus, so that made sense.

"I'm sorry," she said. "That must have been rough.

"Hm," Drake said. His tone told her she was right. "Alright, we've wasted enough time here. We should head out now. Let's say goodbye to Eric and be on our way,"

"Where are we going?" Jason asked as both Drake and Elise stood.

"Back to our guild," Drake answered. "We'll head back to the docks, sail across the sea Emerald Sea back to Fiore and then to Magnolia. Unless either of you have a better idea?"

Neither Jason or Takara answered. They didn't.

It only took the rest of the daylight available to them to get to the port town of Emerald Edge. After that, the four of them found a boat, the same one that had sailed Drake and Elise to Minstrel in the first place. The crew was perfectly willing to sail back to Fiore when Drake tossed a hefty sack of money to the Captain, and they left as the sun set over the docks. Takara watched the sun reflect off of the water, which lived up to the name emerald. The water was green and sparkly, but she couldn't fathom why. Algae, maybe?

"Admiring the view?" A voice asked. Takara turned to see Drake standing behind her, watching her carefully.

"I've never seen anything like this," she said as she watched the water glitter. "The sea is so beautiful."

"Yep. Captain told me the water's so green because of a species of fish that affects the flow of ether. Turns the water a nice green colour."

"So that's it," she said. "I would have guessed algae."

"Maybe that too." Silence fell upon the pair as they watched the sun setting.

"Where's Elise?" She asked.

"Gambling with the crew below deck," he answered. "They've got debts to settle from our last trip. She can play poker with pros but can't bake a cake." Takara chuckled at this.

"She can't?" She asked. Drake shook his head.

"No. Last time she tried she blew up the kitchen." There was a laugh at this, before the quiet returned. As they watched the sun, Takara felt pangs of guilt. She needed to say something.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" Drake asked.

"For leaving Nashi behind," she answered. "She was right in front of me and I...I couldn't save her. I could have, but I didn't." She turned to look at Drake, who was watching her carefully. His eyes were so full of backstory Takara didn't understand, but she could tell he'd seen his fair share of horror. He took a deep breath and looked down at the water, not saying anything for a moment.

"You know," he said. "Had we met three months ago, I'd probably have attacked you for leaving her behind." Takara didn't say anything, just watching him. "If there's one thing I can attest to it's this; blaming yourself for the choices of others only leads to pain. No matter what you do or try, people are going to do what they want. I learned that the hard way. No matter how you feel, Nashi's decision was to throw herself into a horde of enemies to save you and Jason. Your decision was to take the chance she gave you. Or, I guess Jason made that decision. And now you feel bad because your decision wasn't what you wanted." He looked at her as he said this, his eyes scanning her.

"I don't know much about you, Takara, but I can tell this much; you're kind. The idea of leaving her behind after she gave you an opening is eating you up. But you know, not every decision someone needs to make is one they want to make. If I could have my way, I'd be at home, with all my friends, laughing and having fun. But I'm out here, who knows how far from home. There's nothing I personally could have done differently to avoid this. It was beyond my power. I'm rambling, but my point is that you can't beat yourself up over others peoples choices. All you can do is try to make the most of what the choice gives you, and you did more than enough with the chance she gave you."

Takara watched Drake quietly, not sure what to say. She sighed and looked back at the water as it sparkled, trying to hold tears back.

"Your wise beyond your years, Drake." She said with a small laugh. "Most guys your age are just getting drunk and picking up women"

"Trust me, I'd rather be getting drunk if it was possible." He replied as he crossed his arms. "But like I said, other peoples choices brought me here. And I've done my best to do what I think is best." Takara was about to compliment his train of thought when the door to the cabin burst open, revealing Jason.

"Drake," he said, his blonde hair messy and his face sweaty. "You might need to come downstairs. Elise is on a roll in Blackjack and she's threatening to take the sailors future paychecks. Some of them are getting pretty rowdy." Drake rolled his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose at this.

"I can't take her anywhere man, I swear." He moved to go below deck, but before he went he turned back to Takara. "Don't lose sleep over this, Takara. We'll get her back. I promise you that."

"How?" She asked. He made the gall to shrug.

"Dunno," he replied. "But we will. Besides, you need the sleep to meet your brother. Did you forget that?"

With the whirlwind of activity the last few hours, she almost had."

Chapter 355: Her Home