Will I have enough time to write 400? Who knows!

Enjoy!

"You think we'll allow this?!" Melanie shouted. "Get that kid out here, now!"

Natsu knew the woman had the right to be angry, but he still wasn't going to let her by him.

"You'll have to get by me first," he said flatly. They were back at the guild hall for The Hollows, where they'd extricated Eastyn to after Drakhosz had been taken away by the other Demon Lords. Sadly, the Hunters had followed them back, and now they were leveraging they're numbers against them. Melanie scowled at him.

"You were literally attacked by him," she said slowly, "and yet you still defend him?"

"There's a difference between the kid and the demon," Natsu replied.

"One cannot exist without the other!"

"Do you think killing the kid stops the Demon Lords?" Natsu demanded, "cause they'll come back. You know that. Killing Eastyn does nothing."

"Then we hunt down whoever he goes to and kill him," Melanie insisted. "We can't just let them do as they wish! They're evil!"

"So you'll, what, run around the world killing little kids?" Natsu asked. She said nothing. "You're not doing anything but making more monsters. Quit while you're ahead."

"So you suggest we just let this happen?" Melanie asked. "Great advice. There is no easy way, but something has to be done! Otherwise, what's the point?!"

"Figure that out yourself," Natsu replied as he turned away from her and went for the door. "But if you so much as set an uninvited foot into this mansion, I'll kick all of your asses. Understood?" He got no response from her, so he took it that she understood. Walking inside, he was greeted by members of the guild setting up barricades just in case they came in. Walking past them, he made for Master Xeros standing nearby.

"What did they say?" The man asked as he reached him.

"They won't back down," Natsu answered, "but I gave them a good threat. If they have any sense, they won't come in here."

"Let us hope so," Xeros said. "The last thing we need here is more chaos."

"Mm," Natsu agreed, "where are the others?"

"Neptu and his sister are up in her study," Xeros said. "Your guildmates are with them. The boy is resting still."

"Okay," he said, "and honestly, thanks. For not attacking the kid."

"If I have learned anything from Gin and Anna, it is that demons seem to choose the most innocent hosts," Xeros said, regarding the floor sadly. "They have been dealt a horrible hand. The least we can do is offer shelter and food. And I have your word he won't attack?" Natsu thought back to the Demon Lord meeting they'd seen a few days ago.

"No," he said, "the other Demon Lords seemed keen on stopping that." This didn't seem to please Xeros, but he nodded all the same.

"Alright then," he said. "We'll see."

"We will," Natsu agreed, "I'll leave this to you. I gotta talk to the others." Xeros nodded, and Natsu walked away from him and up the stairs. He could remember the path more easily now, seeing as he'd been back and forth a few times. He paced through the halls quickly, reaching the study's double doors. Opening them, he was greeted by Neptu and Zynna standing behind the desk, speaking lowly. The Cross was paired together going through scrolls, and the kids he was looking after were off to the side. He noted immediately that Nashi was absent. Gin and Anna were also present, though that seemed more of a formality, as Anna was seated on the floor reading a book as Gin stood over her.

"How'd it go?" Zynna asked when she saw him. She looked pretty horrible after her encounter with Drakhosz, but Natsu gave her credit for trying to play it off.

"Things are tense still," he said, "but we'll throw them out if it comes to that. Now, where were we?" Neptu sighed at this and leaned over the table, looking frustrated.

"We were lamenting our lack of progress in finding any useful information," he said.

"Ah," Natsu replied, "right."

"Let's go over what we know again," Ultear said, "I need a recap." Neptu nodded at this, taking a deep breath.

"What we know," he said, "is obviously little. But here's what we've got; we know there are twelve Demon Lords. Right now we can't account for three of them, but Drakhosz threw out names I didn't recognise the other day."

"Mezevera, Barrath, and Archos," Zynna said, "those are the three we couldn't name beforehand."

"Can we guess the gender of the Demon?" Elise asked, "So far the gender of the Demon Lord matches their takeover wizard. So if Hades is one we can narrow it down."

"I'm pretty sure Mezevera spoke when they took him away," Natsu said, "she was a woman."

"That leaves Barrath and Archos," Michael noted, "if Hades is a Demon Lord, anyway."

"Any info on them?" Keita asked. Neptu shook his head.

"No record of their existence in our families records," he said. "But that doesn't say much. No idea what they are."

"Okay," Natsu said, "what else?"

"Drakhosz said they were put in charge of judging Humanity," Neptu said. "He referenced a father, which we can infer is Anhkseram. The reason they have takeover wizards is so they can experience human life and judge us fairly when we die."

"Why?" Gin asked, "couldn't Anhkseram do it?"

"Maybe not," Natsu said, "I don't know much about the big guy upstairs, but maybe it's like a jury of some kind."

"More people means a better chance at a fair judgement," Ultear said, nodding. "Makes sense."

"Speaking of jury," Gin spoke up, "the vision Anna had lines up with that." Gin quickly explained what Quinxotic had told Anna, about the vote. "If we rely on the idea that the Demon Lords require a complete twelve votes to act, then we can say they must act as a complete body or not at all."

"They all have to agree or a case in 'thrown out', so to say," Elizabeth said, "makes sense." A silence came over the group.

"Is that all?" Neptu asked, "Do we have no more new info?"

"One thing," Zynna said, frowning. "Drakhosz threw out another name. Zomrus." Saying the name itself set a chill on the room, one even Natsu felt. He had no idea what or who Zomrus was, but it was clearly evil.

"Anyone know what that is?" Elise asked. No one answered. "Great. Of course it's another blank."

"We know more than before," Ultear said, trying to be grateful. "It's something."

"Natsu," Michael spokes up, "do you remember the cave we went into to find Zoka and Ruli." Natsu made a face as he thought back.

"Yeah, what about it?" He asked.

"Think that could be connected to this?" The blonde asked, "I remember the carvings telling a story. Maybe Zoka and Ruli hid there on purpose."

"I don't know," Natsu admitted, "I wasn't paying a lot of attention, given the circumstances."

"Well Drake pointed them out to us, but..." Michael trailed off, leaving everyone else with that thought. Drake was not with them to point out what he'd seen carved on the walls.

"I hate to be harsh," Natsu said, "but I suspect Laxus and Erza will come back with better information than we will."

"Ouch," Neptu said with a dry smile, "I guess we were your last resort, huh?" Natsu snorted.

"Pretty much," he said. "But this is still something we can use. You have my thanks for that."

"It was no problem," Neptu replied, "but are you guys seriously going to fight the Demon Lords? Over Nashi?"

"Do I need to answer that question?" Natsu asked. Neptu laughed.

"I guess not," he said. "Let us know when you're going, yeah? I'll lend a hand."

"I appreciate that," Natsu said, the two clasping hands. "Make sure Melanie doesn't burn this place down before that happens."

"She won't," Neptu said, "or she'll regret the day she walked into my forest."

"Speaking of Nashi," Elise said, "isn't she out of bed yet?"

"She said her stomach was turning," Ultear replied, "so she stayed in bed a while longer." Natsu frowned at this.

"Well she'll have to get up, we're leaving now."

"Is it a good idea to get her on a train if she's feeling sick?" Keita asked.

"We'll all feel sick soon," Natsu answered. "So it's not really going to matter."

The room was dark. She'd left it that way on purpose.

Flashes flew through her fractured mind.

Nashi was in so much pain. She felt like she was splitting at the seams.

"What is this...?" Luna whispered to herself, "why is this happening to me?!"

More flashes. More pain.

545 had no idea what to do, but she wanted to give up. The pain was so immense, and she couldn't handle it.

"My name is...My...My name is Nashi!" She shouted, "I know I am! I'm..."

Luna knew she didn't believe that. She'd never been Nashi. Drakhosz had showed her that.

Still, she'd somehow thought she'd get away with that. that just saying it was her name would solve the problem. How foolish.

545 groaned as memories flashed past her again, this time of Tartarus and the hell she experienced there.

Where was she?

What was she?

...

Who was she?

There was a knock at the door. Luna groaned at it.

"We're leaving soon, Nashi," Natsu's voice said. She recognised it. "Feel any better?"

"...Feel great," Nashi answered weakly in her moment of clarity. "I'll be out soon."

"...You sure?" he pressed. There was a silence between them that horrified Luna.

"Yep!" She answered, "I-I feel fine. I'll be out after I have a shower!" She waited with baited breath, hoping he didn't enter. He didn't, and she sighed as he walked away. She needed to pull herself together.

Which was she pulling together though?

Neptu sighed as he stood outside the bedroom Ava had guided him too.

"You're saying he's awake?" He asked. Ava nodded.

"He woke up an hour or so ago," she said, "I figured you'd want to know." Nodding in thanks, Neptu opened the door and walked inside. Sitting up in the bed, looking out the window was Eastyn. The scrawny man turned to him as he entered, looking just as defeated as he had before. He had asked for Gin and Anna, who were on their way.

"You let me live," he noted. Neptu nodded as he closed the door and walked inside,

"I did," he replied.

"Why?"

"You know why," he said as he sat down in the chair set beside the bed. Eastyn turned to stare out the window again, saying nothing.

"I just wanted to die, Neptu," he said, "please give me that."

"I won't," Neptu replied, "you don't deserve it."

"Who are you to decide that?!"

"As someone you hurt!" Neptu fired back instantly. "Did you forget that?! Here I am, a victim, forgiving you!"

"So your forgiveness is a blanket I'm supposed to wrap all of the other deaths in?!" Eastyn asked angrily. "I won't! No one who does what I have done deserves to live. I host an evil entity. I deserve to rot." Neptu sighed and leaned back in the chair, inspecting his hands slowly. He tried to come up with something to say, but words failed him. What do you tell someone this insistent? He couldn't find anything. Finally, he settled on something.

"You do remember what I said, right?" He asked, "you'd just be putting his curse on someone else."

"I don't care."

"Do you not? Think about it. Think about some innocent little boy, not even born yet. Or maybe he has been. A baby boy you'll be dooming to suffer the same way you have, all because you want to die. Is that really want you want?"

"I don't care."

"I think you do," Neptu argued, "because if you didn't you wouldn't want to die for what you've done. You're empathetic, Eastyn. You know what's right and wrong. You know cursing someone else would be horrible."

"Of course I know that," Eastyn hissed, closing his eyes. "Do you think I forgot that?! I know it better than anyone! But I can't deal with this anymore. I can't go on doing this. Death is my only release. I have nothing and no one. And I never will."

"...Maybe you can," Neptu said. Eastyn made a face and looked at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Neptu said. The door opened and, with boundless energy, Anna rushed into the room with a bright smile.

"Hi!" She greeted Eastyn, who looked stunned at her entry. "I was told a new Demon Lord takeover was here! I wanted to meet you! My name's Anna, what's your?"

"U-Uh, Eastyn..."

"Eastyn! Nice to meet you! Who's your Demon Lord?"

"Uh..." Eastyn looked surprised at her ease in speaking to him. Neptu couldn't help but smile as Gin walked in as well.

"How's it going?" The other man asked.

"Hard," Neptu replied, "I was hoping you and Anna would have better luck."

"What's your Demon?" Anna asked again, more excited.

"D-Drakhosz," Eastyn said quietly.

"Ooooh, that's a cool name!" Anna gushed, "Mine is Quinxotic, do you know her? She's the Blood Priestess!"

"I-Interesting..."

"Mm hm! Oh, and this is Gin!" Anna bounced backwards and pulled Gin closer. "He's one of us as well! Gin say hi!"

"Hi," Gin greeted with a soft smile, "I'm Gin, Demon Lord takeover wizard."

"I-I, uh..." Eastyn tried.

"What's wrong?" Anna asked, "cat got your tongue?" Eastyn looked to Neptu for help, but Neptu shrugged. He wasn't intent on saying anything. This was on him.

"You won't hurt us," Gin said softly. "It's fine." Eastyn grimaced at this.

"We don't know that, though." he said, "I'm dangerous."

"So am I!" Anna intruded, raising her hand. "I'm dangerous too! We all are! We can be dangerous together!"

"I shouldn't be around a child," Eastyn said, looking towards the window, "I'm not to be trusted, I can't-"

Eastyn stopped as Anna grasped his hand in her own. The room was silent as the girl held his hand, watching it silently.

"I destroyed my home when I was little," she said after a while. "Annihilated my family and everyone else. Dharen says I suffer from...From, um..."

"Ether-nano Containment Deficiency Syndrome," Gin supplemented. "ECDS."

"Right," Anna said, "that. Basically, my body has more magic than it can handle because of Quinxotic. So, it order to stop me from dying, she's had to expel massive amounts of magic whenever it gets to be too much. Wherever, whenever. I don't know how many times I've hurt people." Eastyn watched her with a sympathetic look, looking down at their conjoined hands.

"But!" Anna said, smile returning as she met Eastyn's eyes, "my mommy always said that giving up gets you nowhere! The only way you can get the ending you deserve is if you fight for it!"

"The ending I deserve," Eastyn said, "is de-"

"It is not!" Anna shouted. "Do I deserve to die?!"

"...W-Well, of course not?"

"I hurt people too! Surely that means I deserve it as well!"

"Me too," Gin said. "Surely Anna and I should die as well."

"Of course not."

"Why? What's the difference?" Eastyn had no answer to this. His brow furrowed as he thought, and eventually he scowled and returned his gaze to the window. He said nothing.

"You don't want to die," Neptu said after a prolonged silence, "you just want to atone for all the death you've caused, and think that's the only way. That your death is justice for those crimes. You're wrong. Those people would have died whether Drakhosz used you or someone else."

Eastyn said nothing.

"Your death would just be another in a long list of crimes Drakhosz has committed," Gin added. "Dying and passing on this curse to someone else solves nothing."

"...So what do I do?" Eastyn asked weakly.

"You fight!" Anna shouted, hopping up on the bed in his lap. Neptu had never seen the girl so feisty before. "You wake up and fight! You eat breakfast and fight! Fight fight FIGHT! Show Drakhosz you're better than him!" Anna's expression saddened. "That's how I'm making it up to my Mommy and Daddy, so that's what you should do too."

Eastyn said nothing for a while, just examined everyone's faces in turn. Eventually, he sighed and turned away again.

"You people are insufferable," he said quietly, voice cracking.

Silence.

"But," he added, "I suppose I could give this advice a try." Neptu smiled as the sun shone through the window.

"One step at a time," he said,

"Awesome!" Anna shouted, pulling at Eastyn's hands. "I have to show you the garden! Dharen and I have been working on it for a long time, it's really pretty!"

"Is it? I can't wait."

"Come on, come on!" Neptu watched as Anna pulled Eastyn out of bed and towards the bedroom door, pulling him out.

"Anna will be good for him," Gin said. Neptu nodded and leaned back in his seat.

"I knew she would be," he said, "she's a strong girl."

"I know," Gin turned to him, "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Earlier, in the study, you told Natsu to tell you when the fight against the Demon Lords was starting."

"I did."

"You're planning on fighting Drakhosz again, aren't you?" Neptu pressed his mouth into a thin line.

"I suppose we'll see, won't we?"

And here ends this arc! Now, I also have a surprise for you. If things go as I want them to, the next 'arc' will only be chapter 400. it'll be a long one, but I think it's better than making it last forever. Not enough to cover like ten chapters like we did here. What'll it be, only I know! I hope to see you there!

I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!